Every year, through the RAC Foundation, Radio Amateurs of Canada provides grants and scholarships to worthy community programs and to young Amateurs who are enrolled at the post-secondary level in Electrical, Electronic and Software engineering. Students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs are also considered on a case by case basis.

Once again, we are pleased to announce the granting of two scholarships of $500 each to two Canadian Amateurs who are studying at Canadian universities. The first recipient is Ezra Widajat, VA3EAW, who is in his second year of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University. In his letter to RAC, Ezra said how honoured and grateful he was to be receiving this award. The second recipient is Jean-Philippe Dube, VA2PE, who is studying Computer Science at the University of Ottawa. If Jean-Philippe’s name sounds familiar it is because he also received a RAC scholarship last year. While at home he likes to provide assistance with the maintenance of the local repeater.

It is thanks to the continued generosity of Amateurs from all parts of Canada that we can support a whole new group of young talented Canadian Amateurs who will contribute to our hobby for years to come. On behalf of Ezra and Jean-Phillipe, thank you for your continued support of this program.

In addition to the Scholarship and Grants Program, RAC also has a Youth Education Program (YEP). Two great examples of how RAC scholarships and the Youth Education Program (YEP) are benefiting young Canadian Amateurs were featured recently in the July/August 2017 issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine. RAC was pleased to support the Regina Amateur Radio Association (RARA) by sponsoring a booth at the STEAM 2017 Festival of Learning as part of the Canada-Wide Science Fair (on page 13). In addition, the RAC Scholarship Program also supported the Manitoba High Altitude Balloon Flight Day event which was featured on the front cover and on pages 18-20 of the magazine.

RAC operates the RAC Foundation in cooperation with the Community Foundation of Ottawa (CFO) which administers and invests the donated funds and disburses the earnings from those invested funds to grant applicants, based upon the advice of the RAC Board. All grant applications should be submitted to the RAC Foundation for processing and recommendation.

If you wish to donate or require further information about the RAC Scholarships and Grants Program, please visit http://wp.rac.ca/grant-information/ or contact me at ve3xt@rac.ca.

For more information on the Youth Education Program, please visit: http://wp.rac.ca/youth-education-program/