Character Does Matter Service Projects – 2012
The Travis Manion Foundation, named after Fallen Hero Travis Manion and started by his family, has awarded Eric’s father a $4,500 challenge grant as part of the “Character Does Matter” program. These funds will be matched by Eric’s family and given to students in the form of three $3,000 scholarships to those students participating in service projects organized by Eric’s dad and demonstrating leadership potential. Completing an essay about Eric is also part of the scholarship criteria. The scholarships will be awarded along with the annual $5,000 memorial scholarship in the spring of 2013. After presenting the Character Does Matter program to Severna Park high school in April, students were given the opportunity to put their learning to work right away in the form of service projects set up by Eric’s father. The service projects took the form of two Habitat For Humanity Build Events as well as writing biographies for the Fallen Heroes Portrait project, a separate foundation Eric’s father is involved with.
The Habitat build events were held on June 14th, 2012 and July 11th, 2012. Students from Severna Park and Dematha high schools participated in the events. The students helped with the building of three homes in downtown Baltimore for low income families. The kids worked very hard, learned some new skills and had fun doing so. Special thanks to Sam Stanton, program director for the Character Does Matter program, for her hard work in supporting these service projects. Great job students!
