Christian’s Legacy Accepting Scholarship Applications

LAFAYETTE – Christian’s Legacy, a fund of Community Foundation of Acadiana, is accepting scholarship applications from high school seniors and college students.
Christian's Legacy scholarship benefits a student enrolled in and currently attending a Louisiana school whose immediate family member was an organ donor. This scholarship is available to graduating high school seniors and currently enrolled college students who are in pursuit of a degree, in any field of study, from any two or four-year college or university in Louisiana. An electronic scholarship application can be found at www.cfacadiana.org/christianslegacy.com.
This scholarship is a one-time payment of $1,000. The application deadline is June 25, 2018.
Applicants must upload a one page personal essay describing the experiences and/or attributes that uniquely qualify you to receive this scholarship award.
Students must obtain and upload to this application, the following documents:
· High School Students (only) - high school transcript AND letter of acceptance to the college or university you will be attending
· College Students (only) - most recent transcript of college or university you are attending
· Applicants must have the organ donor's legal next of kin contact Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA) at familyservices@lopa.org, prior to the June 25 application deadline, to give LOPA permission to verify with Christian's Legacy Scholarship Selection Committe that their loved one was an organ donor. This verification will only be used for the purpose of vetting the applicant's scholarship eligibility. This information is NOT required to complete the on-line application.
· The scholarship recipient will be announced in August.
Natalie LeJeune of Lafayette was the 2017 recipient of a $1000 scholarship awarded by Christian’s Legacy Fund. LeJeune is a marketing major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL).
“We are proud to be able to assist a very deserving student. The mission of Christian’s Legacy fund is to assist donor families. We hope to be able to continue offering this scholarship for many years to come,” said Jennifer and Hans Nelson, founders of Christian’s Legacy.
Christian’s Legacy Fund was established after the tragic death of Christian Nelson who died in 2013. Christian’s family decided to donate his organs which saved numerous lives. Since then, his parents Jennifer and Hans Nelson have actively educated the community about the importance of organ donation. The family works closely with the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA), an independent, not-for-profit organ and tissue recovery agency who maintains the Louisiana Organ Registry.
Community Foundation of Acadiana’s core purpose is to build legacies and improve communities by connecting generous people to the causes they care about. CFA is one of south Louisiana’s premier philanthropic organization benefiting our region, with a particular focus on the parishes of Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Martin and Vermilion. CFA has realized cumulative gifts exceeding $227.5 million and has made cumulative grants of more than $110.4 million. Learn more at www.cfacadiana.org.