The primary mission of Martha C. Day Scholarship Foundation, Inc. (Foundation) is to provide college scholarships to qualified needy students who are legal residents of Brownsville/Liberty City in Miami, Florida. Notwithstanding the information below, Foundation reserves the right to make awards on its own and to evaluate third party nominations of prospective award candidates.
Applications shall be mailed to reach Foundation no later than May 31, each year. Any application received after May 31 will be discarded. After processing and reviewing the applications, Foundation will decide how many scholarships to award in a year as well as the respective value of each award. Each applicant will be contacted, no later than July 15, by email, and notified of the result of their application. Successful candidates and prospective award recipients will, in addition, be notified by a formal letter of the award, mailed no later than August 1 of the same year. It will be up to Foundation to decide whether to transmit the award funds on behalf of the student to the student’s school or directly to the student. Once the funds have been transmitted to either the school or the student, if the student later decides to drop out of school before the end of that academic year, he/she will be legally required to return the funds to Foundation immediately. Each award recipient shall submit their transcript to Foundation at the end of the each academic semester without being reminded to do so. By accepting the award, an applicant is indicating his/her obligation to comply with this requirement. Finally, every applicant, whether successful or not, is eligible to reapply in subsequent years as long as Foundation is in existence.
It is imperative that every applicant comply with the spirit and letter of the Application Process or their application will be disqualified. Please read the following carefully.
Application Process
All college and college-bound students who are US citizens/legal residents and who are residents of Brownsville/Liberty City, Miami are eligible to apply. The application process begins with a prospective applicant submitting by mail to Foundation an application package. The application package includes a cover page, an essay, a reference letter, a passport photograph and transcripts (see details below). The application period is between January 1st and May 31st every year until Foundation ceases operation.
Qualification:
A prospective applicant must be a US citizen or legal resident, must reside within Brownsville/Liberty City, Miami, must have an average minimum GPA of 2.50 out of 4.0, if in college and must provide proof of such. Any interested person, if currently in high school, may submit an application if he/she plans to attend college in the fall of the same year, provided they also submit a copy of their acceptance letter from the college.
Cover Page:
A one-page typed single line spaced document displaying the following information:
Full name (First, Middle and Last)
Home address
Mobile phone number
Email address
Date of application
Essay:
A typed two-page maximum essay about the applicant and why they are applying for scholarship is required. The essay must provide information about the applicant’s current education status, provide information on applicant’s financial need and indicate applicant’s desired course of study. It must also inform Foundation about how the applicant intends to further the work of the late Martha C. Day in the community, either currently or after graduation. Finally, the applicant must attach proof of qualification (see above). An essay suspected to have been written NOT by the applicant shall be cause for disqualification. Similarly, any attempt at plagiarism will be cause for disqualification.
Reference Letter:
A reference letter, signed and dated, from a non-relative is required. The author must include his/her printed name, address, phone number and email address. Please note that Foundation may contact the author for additional information about the applicant based on the contents of the reference letter.
Exhibits:
The exhibits to be attached, as applicable, include a copy of latest college transcripts, a copy of latest high school transcripts, a copy of letter of admission and a recent color passport photograph of the applicant.