July 3, 2012—Two IAFF members and two children of members have been awarded Union Plus scholarships. Union Plus grants scholarships annually to students attending accredited post-secondary institutions. Recipients are selected based on academic ability, social awareness, financial need and appreciation of labor.

The IAFF honorees include: Green Bay, WI Local 141 member Daniel Chatham; Waukegan, IL Local 473 member Henry Gruba; Salt Lake City, UT Local 1645 member Richard Boden’s son Tanner Boden; and Buffalo Grove, IL Local 3177 member Randall Buttliere’s son Rocco Buttliere.

Chatham is seeking a degree in fire and emergency response management to help the union become more proactive and improve internal and external communication.

“My desire is to be a service-minded leader and a positive force for change,” he says.

Gruba, a 20-year veteran fire fighter, is pursuing a master’s degree in fire service and homeland security management. He believes that advancing his education will expand his skill set so that he can help his fellow union members stay safe on the job.

Boden will be a freshman at Utah State, where he is majoring in marketing with minors in statistics and graphic design. “All this has been made possible by the lessons I have learned from my father,” he says.

Buttliere is expanding his natural ability to build by going after an architectural degree. Rocco knows that families, like buildings, need a solid foundation, and he is grateful for the example that his parents’ longtime union membership (his mother is a UFCW member) set.

REPOST (Courtesy of IAFF.org)