INSPIRATIONAL KATIE SHOW FEATURE
Chinese Dollars for Scholars recipients Amy Kao (2008 recipient), Hewett Chiu (2009 recipient) and Jia Wen Li (2012 new immigrant recipient) appeared on the "Katie" show on October 28, 2013,
together with Scholarship America scholarship recipients spanning several decades with a touching thank you to Scholarship America founder Dr Irving Fradkin. Dr Fradkin, an optometrist from Fall River, MA, had an idea over 50 years ago that, if everyone in the community gave just one dollar, they could send all the children in the community to college. Since then, Scholarship America, the organization that grew out of Dr Fradkin's vision, has distributed more than $2.9 billion to 1.9 million students (as of 2013). Marching through the audience in caps and gowns, the recipients sent a wave of applause and emotion through the live audience.
Amy Kao explained to Dr. Fradkin that her father became unemployed just as she was applying for college and so her family was faced with the difficult decision of sending her to a local college with more affordable tuition or her dream college. Thanks to her Dollars for Scholars Scholarship, Amy was able to attend and graduated in 2012 as an Andrew Carnegie Scholar, in Top 10 of her class and won the "Most Distinguished Service" award. She is currently working as a consultant for Deloitt. Hewett is pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience with a minor in chemistry and a Masters in Public Administration in Health Policy, Management, and Finance. While in school, Hewett started his own nonprofit to bring healthcare access and resources to patients and has assisted nearly 1000 patients. Jia Wen is currently a sophomore at Stanford University.
November 19, 2016 It is with sadness that we share the passing of Dr Fradkin at the age of 95. He will be remembered fondly for his exuberance, can-do spirit and perseverance. His passion for helping students saw no limit and, he had a true vision for how to make our country stronger and better through the achievement of higher education.
"The most valuable asset this country has is not gold or oil, but the minds of young people." Dr. Irving Fradkin (1921-2016)
