David ‘Wagga’ Hunt scholarship to honour two supporters

WASHINGTON, DC:

Two outstanding Jamaican philanthropists are to receive special recognition at this year’s David ‘Wagga’ Hunt Scholarship’s red carpet gala, set for Saturday, March 8.

The Washington, DC-based scholarship foundation will recognise renowned dental surgeon and Kingston College alum, Dr Maurice Miles. Also to be honoured is chairman of Jamaica Howard University Affinity Network (JHUAN) and Howard University board member Donald Christian.

Both Mr Christian and Dr. Miles are being recognised as generous philanthropists to the Jamaican diaspora and for community leadership. Besides, recognition is to be bestowed on Dr. Miles’ medical leadership in the United States, and on Mr. Christian, a partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Washington, DC, for his business and community leadership in the United States.

Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States, Audrey P. Marks, serves as patron for the gala, which will be hosted in the atrium of the National Education Association building in downtown Washington, DC. She will also deliver an address and present the awards.Chairman of the Foundation, Christopher Hunt, remarked how, “each new year brings renewed optimism to our mission of offering scholarships to deserving students at Kingston College (KC) and Calabar High School (Calabar)”. Scholarship awards to designated beneficiaries honour the late David ‘Wagga’ Hunt, youth mentor and coach for whom the scholarship is named. “It is in that spirit that we always strive to set new fund-raising targets as we seek to increase disbursement amounts and the number of scholarships awarded yearly.”

He said that for the 2023-2024 school year, “we increased our scholarship amount by 50 per cent to $150,000 per student. Recipients are funded, starting from Grade 8 through to Grade 13”.

The scholarship covers tuition, books, lunch, and other school-related expenses. “To date, we have disbursed over $36 million in scholarships and school-related expenses. In addition, we provide personal computers for all our scholarship recipients.”

Mr Hunt added that scholarship recipients must display commendable academic performance and aptitude, be involved in extracurricular activities, and be deemed to need financial assistance.

The chairman said that the number of awards has increased in recent years, and the goal is to continue offering scholarships to deserving students at the beneficiary schools. “As we embark on our 16th year of operation and the 11th year of our in-person gala, we are pleased with our growth and the deepening bond with the community. We are very active with the Jamaican students matriculating at Howard University in Washington, DC, through mentoring and providing a homely atmosphere.” Established in 2009, the David ‘Wagga’ Hunt Scholarship was named for the late Kingston College (KC) past student, football coach and co-founder of Meadhaven United Football Club. He died in 2007.

One of Jamaica’s most notable track and field analysts, David ‘Wagga’ Hunt, had at one time served as general secretary of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association; and was, among other things, former general secretary of the Minor League Football Association; former Jamaica national under-17 football coach; and KC’s, Calabar’s, and Meadowbrook High School’s Manning Cup coach.