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ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION JUNE 9, 2021 Page 8 History of the PSAI Scholarship Program By Jeff Wigley, Past PSAI President Continued on page 9 E ducation is one of the fundamental principles on which the PSAI has been built. For a half-century, the Association has worked diligently to properly provide materials, programs, and training to educate company employees, supervisors, owners, and customers. The PSAI works hard to teach the public about the importance of our industry as well as working with governmental entities regarding the proper protocol for sanitary, environmentally friendly restroom service and disposal. Of the many benefits that PSAI members enjoy, the Scholarship Program is one that has a long- lasting and far-reaching impact on the young people of today who, in turn, become the leaders of tomorrow. The PSAI's Original Scholarship Program Looking to increase the interest of young people in the portable sanitation industry, the PSAI Education Committee received Board approval for the implementation of a Scholarship Program in 1997. Two students—one an incoming freshman and one an undergraduate—would each be awarded a $500 scholarship for their use. The PSAI In Action newsletter from January/February 1997 lists the requirements as: • Scholarship recipients must be a PSAI member company employee or child of an employee. • Applicants need certain GPA and SAT/ACT minimum scores. • The student has to be majoring in business, environmental studies, waste treatment, or a related field that "demonstrated an interest in portable sanitation." • Applicants have to complete a short application and submit an essay that discusses the value and importance of portable sanitation. From 1997 until 2003, some 14 students benefited from this Program and $14,000 was raised to fund this effort. "We Can Do So Much More" Ned Carpenter shared these words with the Board in 2003 as he was presenting his ideas for a larger and more beneficial program to help young scholarship recipients. Longtime PSAI member, board member, and PSAI President from 1998–1999, Ned is an inspirational leader and a hard worker. Having worked with his father during the "infancy" of the industry in the early 1970s, Ned is an advocate for the impact that portable sanitation can have in the community and in the world. He actively served on PSAI's board in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. "When Ned talks, people listen" is an accurate description of his longstanding role in the PSAI. According to Ned, "I knew of the $1,000 Scholarship Fund in the yearly PSAI budget. An event in 2000 changed my views as to what our Association was capable of accomplishing." Ned Carpenter