VFW, Sport Clips Award Nearly $700,000 in Scholarships to Veterans The financial burden of the fall semester will be made easier for 158 veterans

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Aug. 18, 2020) - The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is proud to announce 158 student veterans from around the country have been named recipients of the VFW's "Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship" for the fall 2020 semester, totaling nearly $700,000 in assistance. See the full list of 2020 fall semester recipients<https://vfworg-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/VFWSite/Files/Media-and-Events/Articles/2020/2020FallHAHScholarshipRecipients.pdf>.

"Transitioning veterans are often faced with stressful challenges when they return to civilian life, and attending school to finish a degree during a global pandemic has certainly amplified that stress ten-fold," said VFW National Commander Hal Roesch II. "With so much uncertainty surrounding the upcoming school year, the VFW, together with our great friends at Sport Clips Haircuts, is thrilled to be able to make fall semester a little less stressful for these military and veteran families."

"With the current environment we're all living in, it's more important now than ever to support our nation's veterans and service members with this scholarship program,"said Sport Clips founder Gordon Logan, a U.S. Air Force veteran and Life member of the VFW. "The Help A Hero Scholarship continues to provide significant financial assistance to so many who are pursuing their professional goals and Sport Clips is proud and honored to assist so many deserving recipients."

Established in 2014, the Help A Hero Scholarship program awards service members and veterans with post-secondary scholarships of up to $5,000 to help them achieve their educational goals without the burden of student loan debt. To date, the Help A Hero Scholarship program has awarded nearly $8 million in scholarships to more than 1,750 service members and student veterans.

Cory Breegle, an Army veteran and 2020 fall scholarship recipient attending Pratt Institute, said, "This scholarship will help me pursue a success that nobody in my family has achieved. I wish to become not only the first to graduate college in my family, but to be a professional in the field of architecture. I will become a licensed architect, and with this scholarship, I will be able to continue to focus on my goals and pursue them relentlessly, like my military service taught me to do."

Help A Hero scholarships are awarded twice a year to help cover the cost of tuition and fees of service members and veterans in the rank of E-5 and below. Scholarship applications are currently being accepted for the 2021 spring semester. Apply for a Help A Hero scholarship today<http://www.vfw.org/scholarship>.

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About Sport Clips Haircuts: Sport Clips Haircuts is headquartered in Georgetown, Texas. It was established in 1993 and began franchising in 1995. The sports-themed haircutting franchise, which specializes in haircuts for men and boys, offers online check in<http://www.sportclips.com/checkin> for clients, and is ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the "Fastest-Growing Franchises' and #17 in its "Franchise 500." There are more than 1,800 Sport Clips stores open in the U.S. and
Canada. Sport Clips is the "Official Haircutter" of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), offers veterans preferential pricing on haircuts and franchises, and was named a "2018 Best for Vets: Franchises" by Military Times. Sport Clips provides "Haircuts with Heart<https://www.sportclips.com/about-us/haircuts-with-heart>" through its annual Help A Hero fundraiser that has contributed $8 million to the VFW; national partnership with St. Baldrick's Foundation, the largest private funder
of childhood cancer research grants; and other national and local philanthropic outreach. Sport Clips is a proud sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing's NASCAR drivers Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr. and Denny Hamlin, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Indy Car driver Santino Ferrucci, and partners with numerous NCAA and professional sports teams. To learn more about Sport Clips, visit sportclips.com<http://www.sportclips.com/> For franchise opportunities, visit sportclipsfranchise.com<http://www.sportclipsfranchise.com/facts-stats/no1-haircare-franchise/>.

About the VFW: The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is the nation's largest and oldest major war veterans organization. Founded in 1899, the congressionally chartered VFW is comprised entirely of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, Guard and Reserve forces. With more than 1.5 million VFW and Auxiliary members located in over 6,000 Posts worldwide, the nonprofit veterans service organization is proud to proclaim "NO ONE DOES MORE FOR VETERANS" than the VFW, which is dedicated to veterans' service, legislative advocacy, and military and community service programs. For more information or to join, visit our website at
vfw.org<http://www.vfw.org>.

Media Contact: Randi K. Law, communications manager, rlaw@vfw.org<mailto:rlaw@vfw.org>