Funded Youth Programs / Community Outreach Projects

It’s all about Partnership

The Palm Beach Gardens Police & Fire Foundation provides grants for numerous youth related programs throughout the year to continually build the connection between our young people and public safety professionals. Several Public Safety Officers also serve as youth leaders in areas of sports and community leadership. They continually discuss public safety programs and policies with our local youth.

One of the more successful programs funded in part by the Foundation are the Departments’ Explorer Posts. Exploring is a program to bridge the gap between youth and public safety by providing an education that involves them in police and fire operations as well as interests them in public safety as a career. The program is open to youths between 13 and 21 years old. Their participation includes projects such as doing public safety work at community events, directing traffic at events and helping with crime prevention programs. Participants go through a six-month training course, and are expected to devote a one-year commitment to the program.

The Foundation has also provided funding for youth related programs such as:

A partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
A Foundation girls basketball team managed by members of our Detective Division
Sponsorship of the Annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics
Purchase of Crime Prevention materials for distribution to schools and youth groups

Other community outreach projects include:

The sponsorship of the Police Department’s 2009 and 2010 Citizen Police Academies
The sponsorship of the Palm Beach Gardens Police and Fire Rescue Explorers’ Annual Golf Tournament
Funding an update to the Department’s commemorative recognition program in Police HQ
Sponsoring the Department’s girls basketball team – a part of the PBG Youth Athletic Association
Donating to the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary – an organization that helps our officers on a daily basis

There are many more worthwhile projects that we’d like to be able to fund. Through your generous donations many of those will be possible in the coming months and years.

Thank you again for ongoing financial assistance.

Herb & Penny Wender Scholarship Program

The Palm Beach Gardens Police & Fire Foundation has established an educational scholarship program to assist qualified individuals in their pursuit of continuing education.

The Foundation’s “Herb & Penny Wender Scholarship Program” consists of individual scholarships in the amount of $5,000 each, which will be awarded at the conclusion of the current academic year. Funding and final selection decisions are solely at the discretion of the Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.

Prospective applicants should carefully read the guidelines and procedures and provide the necessary information on the appropriate application forms.

Eligibility

The primary objective of the Herb & Penny Wender Scholarship Program is to provide financial assistance to dependent children of Palm Beach Gardens Police and Fire Rescue Department employees, and current active members of the Police and Fire Rescue Explorer Posts. A two-year employment requirement applies to dependents of Department personnel.
Applicants must be seeking undergraduate, graduate or technical studies at an accredited post-secondary educational institution and be enrolled and accepted for either full or part-time studies.
Applicants must only use scholarship funds for tuition, fees and educational institution housing.

Selection Criteria

The selection of the scholarship recipients will be made by the Foundation Scholarship Committee taking into consideration the following criteria:

The applicant’s record of scholastic achievement with a minimum requirement of a 3.0 grade point average.
The applicant’s record of prior community service.
The applicant will provide a recommendation from an instructor, coach, supervisor or other adult they have worked with.

Application Process

Application forms may be obtained from the Administrative Assistant to the Police or Fire Chief. The completed application package must then be returned to the Administrative Assistant for uploading to the Department Intranet no later than June 15th. Documents requested from third parties such as the applicant’s school transcripts and letters of recommendation must accompany the application. Applicants should keep a complete copy of all materials submitted. Application forms will no longer be accepted by mail or delivered other than as set forth above. Applicants will be notified of the Scholarship Committee’s decision on or about July 15th.

Judging Procedure

This is not a needs based scholarship, but financial need will be considered. All personal information and scholastic information will be used for verification purposes only. Applications will be judged on the following criteria: (1) Academic achievement (2) Community/volunteer achievements (3) Financial need (4) Other criteria as deemed important by the Committee.

Please note:

Applicants not submitting a complete application package will not be considered.
Application packages turned in after the deadline date will not be considered.
Employment information for sponsoring Department employees will be verified for all applicants.
Applicants must be prepared to appear personally for an interview by the Scholarship Committee.
Scholarship recipients may be required to submit a brief questionnaire and a picture of themselves. These items may be used on our website and/or in articles written about our scholarship program.

If you have any questions regarding your application, please email us.

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