Inaugural ASPSF Day of Giving Raises $34K for Single Parents
Nonprofit Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund (ASPSF) held its first Day of Giving on National Single Parent Day on March 21.
In total, 163 supporters raised $34,090 to support single parent students. Additionally, 11 cities declared March 21 as ASPSF Day of Giving: Cabot, Conway, Fort Smith, Harrison, Helena, Hot Springs, Jasper, Jonesboro, Maumelle, North Little Rock, and Sheridan.
“We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the incredible generosity shown during the inaugural ASPSF Day of Giving,” ASPSF CEO Jenn Morehead said. “Thanks to our supporters, we not only met but surpassed our $25,000 goal. This success is a testament to the power of our community coming together to create brighter futures for families.”
Sponsored by Arvest, ASPSF Day of Giving was a 24-hour statewide event that gathered supporters across Arkansas to lift up single parents who seek to improve their lives and the lives of their families through higher education. Community members could participate by donating online, taking the Single Parent Juggling Challenge, becoming an ASPSF Ambassador, or stopping by The Filling Station in North Little Rock to celebrate single parents with music and food.
“Oftentimes, being a single mother is looked at as a flaw or a handicap — a situation that someone put themselves in,” said Destiny Hall, a spring ASPSF scholarship recipient. “While being a single parent is not always ideal, it creates resilience and strength.”
RECORD-BREAKING SPRING SCHOLARSHIPS Another way ASPSF celebrated National Single Parent Day — first declared by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 — was by distributing scholarships to single parents. On March 21, about two dozen spring recipients from Faulkner and nearby counties received their scholarships at a celebration in Conway.
Like nearly all the 10+ ASPSF scholarship ceremonies held across the state, the Conway event included a professional development workshop. Morehead led a presentation about resume writing and interviewing. A key part of the ASPSF program is to pair financial aid with wraparound services like workshops and mentoring so recipients are ready to enter the professional workforce once they graduate.
In total, ASPSF awarded 550 scholarships totaling $786,000 to low-income single parent students in March for the spring semester. This is the highest number of scholarship awards and scholarship dollars ASPSF has awarded in a single semester since at least 2023.
This increase is all thanks to generous donors, including those who contributed to the ASPSF Day of Giving. Every dollar raised from the March 21 fundraiser will help hardworking single parent families break the cycle of poverty through education.
“Thank you for seeing the potential in myself and the others trying to better themselves and their children,” said Hall, a full-time student at Arkansas State University-Newport. “Thank you for helping my dream of becoming a registered nurse and being a woman my son can be proud of come true.”
For more information, contact ASPSF Chief Communications Officer Jen Lawrence at jlawrence@aspsf.org or 501-550-6304.
About Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund: For more than 30 years, Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund has worked to create stronger, more educated, and more self-sufficient families. Through scholarships and services, ASPSF opens doors for low-income single parents, helping them pursue education, secure employment, and transform the future for their families. With the help of volunteers and community support, ASPSF creates multigenerational change, transforming lives for both single parents and their children. For information about scholarships, volunteer opportunities, and ways to give, visit www.aspsf.org.
Extra Year Of Eligibility Granted For Classes of 2020 & 2021
The COVID crisis in 2020 and 2021 was one that turned the sports world upside down. Games and entire seasons were canceled leaving the high school and college graduates of 2020 and 2021 feeling short changed. What could’ve been their shining moment that college and of professional scouts could key in on was swiftly taken away. This was very noticeable in college sports and the outcry of “not fair” rang so loud that the college powers that be gave student athletes an extra year of eligibility to make up for the loss of playing time. But what about the high schoolers who were merely one touchdown, home run, or three pointer away from becoming a division one athlete and raking in some serious NIL money in college? What didn’t they get their extra chance? Well, that chance is coming sooner than many would think. An entity known as The Arkansas Sports Corps Of Knowledge recently passed an amendment that would allow athletes who graduated in the years of 2020 and 2021 and extra year of eligibility starting April 1st, 2025.
The announcement not only came as a shock to the former student athletes themselves, but also to the coaches that will definitely gain extra mature players. Hartford football head coach, Barney Fife, is extremely excited to get some of his student athletes back into the mix. “To have some of our younger players gaining extra knowledge from those who have played before is an absolute blessing,” said Fife. “Sure, there will be some of smaller, less athletic players lose playing time and possibly even get hurt as they go up against twenty two and twenty three year old grown men, but that’s a risk we’re willing to take. I love this new ruling implemented by the ASCK”. Even Y City’s basketball coach, Beatrice Taylor, voiced her praise on the new amendment. Taylor was quoted as saying “this is evidence that fairness is still alive and present in high school sports. Our returning girls have already let their bosses know that they will only be working part time this upcoming season to allow them to re-pursue their dreams”.
With the excitement of this ruling going through the roof for some, other have some reservations on the matter. Area parent and little league coach, Floyd Lawson, is dead set against this new ruling and claims that if this is allowed to continue, they’ll be no stopping other amendments that lean along the same lines. “What’s next”, said Lawson, “are they going to start paying high school players NIL money just to be on the team? It’s all hog wash if you ask me”. While Lawson’s concerns are legitimate, his rant in the interview were overheard by a couple of ASCK board members who swiftly have brought up a Pay For Play System idea to the table which will now likely brought up and passed next April 1st when the ASCK committee resumes.
For the time being though, graduates of 2020 and 2021 can start stretching and practicing their post-game celebrations because they’ll be coming off the benches today. They say if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball, and these adult athletes dodged a big ball bringing them one step closer going back to their old school stomping grounds.
