Deborah McBride Scholarship Award Winners Announced!!

Less than two years ago, in the midst of overwhelming grief and anxiety, I wondered if any life mattered at all if society as a whole did not remember who we were. Would anyone remember Deborah McBride, the mother of our children, my wife and the kindest, most beautiful and pure soul I’d ever met?

IN an almost panic, I formed a non-profit in the name of our wedding song, “The Luckiest” Foundation, and then created a scholarship in her name with the hopes that I could attach her name and legacy to young people who had begun to embody her ideals.

I brought in Deb’s family, so we could help better tell the story of Deb’s life while enacting good in the world, by giving a $10,000 scholarship to a student at Columbia HS in our community South Orange/Maplewood, NJ, and a $10,000 scholarship to a student at her Alma Mater, West Irondequoit HS in Rochester, NY.

Today, I am happy to announce, along with her sister Colleen and her brother, Chris that we not only have fulfilled on that promise, but have gone beyond, just as Deb would have done.

Senior Claire Wissel, of Maplewood, NJ wrote a beautiful essay about how her family has been impacted by health challenges and how her parents’ guidance towards acting locally in order to make an impact in her community has helped her find a path towards studying Political Science with a concentration in Public Policy at Lehigh University. Just like Deb, she wants to further help serve the under-served, as she had been in her work with a local food pantry.

Senior Edwin Zhang of Rochester, NY wrote an essay about stepping out his comfort zone by advocating for a large solar project to be in installed on top of Deb’s and his HS in Irondequoit. After a feasibility study was approved, an almost ~$20mm solar project was chosen to help address a real environmental issue with a goal of reducing human impact on our environment. Edwin helped select the contractor and now will continue to help create solutions through his pursuit of an engineering degree at MIT.

But in addition to these $10,000 winners, we read some amazing essays we could not turn away from. At WIHS, we selected a second student, Olivia Belculfine to receive a $5000 scholarship and at CHS we selected three other students:  Ellie Tamir-Hoehn, Owen Shubart and Scarlett Friedland to receive $5000 each, as well.

We wish we were able to give even more than we are giving because each of the students who submitted were worthy of their efforts. This is not hyperbole, there we so many outstanding essays, that we were blown away.

These six outstanding young people will, in total, receive $40,000 from the Deborah McBride Scholarship!

We’re confident that Deb’s legacy will continue for generations to come. We are fully funded for next year and yet we are only emboldened and looking to make an even greater impact than this year. Look for information with an Oktoberfest Event later this year and the Second Annual Féile McBride in March of 2027!