Scholarship winner on the way to helping community

The recipient of the first Friends of the Graafschap Fire Department Scholarship has a headstart on community service.

Elina McGee, 18, of Fillmore Township, graduated from Hamilton Flex in Hamilton Community Schools this year and has already earned her emergency medical technician license.

She is applying for a phlebotomist position at Holland Hospital while planning to attend Hope College in the fall to study nursing.

“I live right next to the former Graafschap Fire Department building,” she wrote in her essay for the scholarship. “I have loved growing up here and learning about the history of our small community and the people who make it so special. It has become a tradition for my family to participate in the July 4th Pancake Breakfast, and I find it is so inspiring to see how the community comes together to celebrate our country’s independence and the first responders that help protect us every single day.”

McGee is passionate about becoming a nurse.

“God planted this dream in my heart at an early age to help people. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be in the medical field so I can care for people when they are having their worst day and show them the love of Christ,” she wrote. “My EMS training has not only strengthened that desire but also given me a solid medical foundation to build upon as I continue pursuing this calling.”

McGee is the daughter of Christopher and Rebecca McGee.

She credits her EMS instructor Kimberly Schrader and EMS paraprofessional Robin Carillo as strong influences on her desire to go into the emergency medical field. Schrader encouraged her to apply for the scholarship which was awarded last month.

Friends of the Graafschap Fire Department is a 501c non-profit that raises funds through the July Fourth pancake breakfast and from private donors.

Applicants for the $500 scholarship had to be in the Graafschap Fire Department response area and submit a 500- to 700-word essay that could include their education plans, how they would use the money or what it was like growing up in the area.

McGee’s essay was chosen by a panel of local retired educators and a journalist.

“The members of the Graafschap Fire Department, judges, and supporters of the FOGFD would like to thank all applicants for their essays,” said Capt. Dave Grumney of the fire department. “They all were well written by ambitious young adults and are all headed in a good direction!”

For more about the Graafschap Fire Department, visit here.