Worker’s Memorial Scholarships, Aug. 13

A workplace death or a life-altering injury can have a profound effect on a family, including their ability to finance higher education. Each year, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) Workers’ Memorial Scholarship program provides awards to help surviving family members reach their educational goals. Oregon OSHA, a division of DCBS, will honor 2015 recipients of the Workers’ Memorial Scholarship during a public ceremony at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, in Room 260 of the Labor and Industries Building in Salem. The recipients include: – Nicole Beck, Gold Hill, Beck graduated in 2015 from Crater Academy of Health and Public Services. She plans to study nursing at Rogue Community College. Beck lost her father to a logging accident and is receiving a $1,000 award. – Daisy Maldonado Dominguez, Wilsonville, A 2014 graduate of Wilsonville High School, Maldonado Dominguez is studying English at Portland Community College and aspires to be a lawyer. Maldonado Dominguez’s father lost both arms in an agricultural machinery accident. She is receiving a $500 award. – Kassandra McCabe, Springfield, McCabe is a 2014 graduate of Marist High School and is attending Oregon State University. She hopes to become a surgeon or physical therapist and is majoring in pre-medicine. McCabe’s father became paralyzed and later blind following a logging accident in 2002. He died in 2013. She is receiving a $1,000 award and is a past Workers’ Memorial Scholarship winner. – Amanda Shaffer, Medford, Shaffer is studying psychology at Rogue Community College and hopes to be a mental health counselor. She received her GED in 2003. Her mother was a road construction foreman and was struck and killed by a logging truck. Shaffer is receiving a $500 award. One other award recipient wants to remain anonymous. “While nothing can make up for the tragedies these families have endured, we hope the awards help these promising students achieve their goals,” said Oregon OSHA Administrator Michael Wood. Award recommendations are made by Oregon OSHA’s Safe Employment Education and Training Advisory Committee, an advisory group with members from business, organized labor, and government. Oregon OSHA presents the awards annually to help in the postsecondary education of spouses or children of permanently and totally disabled or fatally injured workers. The 1991 Legislature established the Workers’ Memorial Scholarship at the request of the Oregon AFL-CIO, with support from Associated Oregon Industries. The Workers’ Memorial Scholarship is open to any high school graduate, graduating high school senior, GED recipient, or current college undergraduate or graduate student who is a dependent or spouse of an Oregon worker who has been fatally injured or permanently disabled while on the job. Interest earned on a DCBS fund derived from Oregon OSHA civil fines and penalties funds the awards.