After a 10-year lapse, the F.A. Mackenzie American Legion Post No.165 will again begin offering scholarships for any Bayonne resident currently enrolled in a nursing program who needs financial assistance.
The program, done in conjunction with the Bayonne School of Nursing, is offering up to $2,000 for students.
The Mackenzie Post began nurses’ scholarships in the 1970s and continued to sponsor eligible Bayonne residents, male or female, until 1994 – when they had sponsored eight people.
But enrollment in nursing schools was declining to all time lows. Recently, this has changed, as people, First Vice Commander Victoria Del Regino said, are going into nursing as a second career after being in banking and business.
Students can get their license to practice after two years of training.
“Mike McCabe,” she said, referring to the head of the EMT ambulance service in Bayonne, “said some of his EMTs might be interested.”
Henry Sanchez, a past post commander, suggested that the post re-establish the program because of the shortages of nurses in the area.
“If he or she is a Bayonne resident and is going to a nursing school, he or she can apply,” Sanchez said, “although he or she would have to meet the other qualifications for need.”
Del Regino, a nurse who served in the military during the late 1960s, supported the move, emphasizing the post’s support for the community, state and nation.
“There is a need for nurses, and we are able to help students,” she said, encouraging people to apply. Del Regino said she and other members of the Nurses Scholarship Committee – which examines the qualifications and requirements – has been actively recruiting candidates.
Post Commander Betty Badgett said they had even gone to the Bayonne School of Nursing to see if students needed assistance there.
Del Regino said they had not received applicants yet and intended to work with the administrators to encourage needy students to apply.
Vice Commander Joyce Demarco agreed with the move.
“This city needs more nurses,” she said, hoping to encourage male and female candidates to seek a career in nursing.
The post is also trying to locate past recipients of the nurses scholarship with the intention of inviting them to the next post installation of officers, where students might meet with them.
The deadline for applying is Feb. 15. Bayonne residents can obtain the eligibility requirements form by writing to Commander Badgett at P.O. Box 1753, Bayonne N.J. 07002. Past participants interested in attending the post meeting should contact the same address.
Post members are also asking residents for information in locating past and potential future recipients.
The nurses scholarship committee, which makes the final determination, consists of Del Regino, Demarco, Badgett, and Sanchez.
Contact Al Sullivan at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com