For a second consecutive year, Aladdin Food Services will sponsor up to $2,500 per semester in scholarship ($5,000 annually) for its student employees.

Twenty students taking classes on campus work for Aladdin Food Services.

“We hear about the struggles our student employees are going through with keeping up with paying for school,” Food Services Director Levi Briggs said.  “And we wanted to help.”

To apply for the scholarship, a student must be a junior or senior, employed by Aladdin for at least one semester before the scholarship application, and must continue their employment for the duration of the semester the scholarship is awarded.

An applicant must also write a 500-1,000-word essay on one of four essay topics.

The application window this year was from Aug. 14-Sept. 1. Winners will be announced Sept. 23.

“The school reads the entries and picks the winners,” Briggs said.  “They are allowed to split each semester and award amount.”

Tynair Anderson was the college’s first winner of the scholarship.

“My college experience was somewhat difficult,” Anderson said.  “I was a double major student who studied criminal justice and psychology while simultaneously working for Aladdin to help pay for my education.”

Anderson comes from a single-parent household and had to primarily pay for her own tuition.

“Winning the scholarship was extremely beneficial for me,” Anderson said.  “I went from working whenever I could to avoid being kicked out due to financial difficulties to being able to focus solely on my studies for two semesters.

This semester, a student application came in from senior Mason Hamer, who’s been with Aladdin since fall 2019.

“In my time with Aladdin, I have washed dishes–millions of dishes,” Hamer said.  “But staying busy keeps me out of trouble.”

Hamer’s topic for the scholarship essay? “The taste/aroma of certain foods evoke memories from our past. How has food impacted your life and what are some of your food memories?”

“I wrote a paper to the best of my ability with skills I acquired, learned, and improved on while attending four years at Ferrum College,” Hamer said.  “I would love to feel like I had made some money from the piece of creative art I wrote.”

Students meeting application requirements and not winning or submitting on time can reapply in the spring semester.

“After our first year of awarding the scholarships and talking to those winners, they both mentioned feeling relief they were able to catch up with their bill or finish having it paid off,” Briggs said.  “Aladdin cares about student workers, and we wanted to find a way to help.”

Applications for the spring semester open Jan. 7 and close Feb. 3.

Those winners will be decided on Feb. 24.