Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship begins ninth year of helping nurses in 2019

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(POINT PLEASANT, NJ) – The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund begins its ninth year of helping the nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center in 2019 providing formal nursing educational scholarships to eligible applicants.

The scholarship fund was established on January 15, 2011 to honor the memory of long-time Point Pleasant Boro resident Barbara Konopka Forfar or “Foof” as she was called by her colleagues in the operating room, and her forty-four years of dedication to the nursing profession with all but three years of her service associated with the Ocean Medical Center or its predecessor hospitals.

The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund, which is a member of the Ocean Medical Center Foundation family of funds, provides monetary assistance to qualified nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center who desire to continue their formal education in nursing profession in the form of scholarships.

The scholarship fund awards one (or more) nursing scholarship during September of each year to eligible applicants.


During its eight year history (2011-2018), The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund has helped thirty nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center continue their formal nursing education.


“Looking back to 2011, we were really unsure on how all of this was exactly going to turn out. We talked initially with representatives from The Ocean Medical Center Foundation in January that year and decided to move forward to establish a nursing scholarship fund. Barbara was a strong advocate for the continuing education of nurses so we thought lets try to help some nurses with their formal education in Barbara’s memory. Since then, the public awareness and support just grew and grew. We knew we had something very special going on when our first fundraiser in 2012 at the Point Pleasant Beach Elks was filled to capacity” mentioned Walt Konopka, Chairperson of The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund Advisory Committee.

“What is really incredible is hearing all the stories during the past eight years from our scholarship recipients on just how Barbara touched them in some way. Some recipients knew of her, some just heard about her and some worked alongside her. All of them had something really special to say about her. All of the recipients are very passionate about the nursing profession and about helping others just like Barbara was. Hearing all of their comments about Barbara just makes it all worth the effort as we continue into our ninth year and beyond” Konopka added.

To qualify for the scholarship, the applicant must be an employee or nursing student at Ocean Medical Center and must be enrolled in a RN program, an upper division program (RN to BSN) or advanced degree program (MSN, PhD) in nursing.

All Ocean Medical Center nurses and nursing students from all OMC practice areas are eligible to apply. The scholarship must be used to supplement tuition, fees, lab costs, books or educational supply expenses.

Since its inception, the scholarship fund has held multiple “Rock for the Nurses” fundraisers at various locations including the Elks Lodge and Jenkinson’s in Point Pleasant Beach as well as The Idle Hour in Point Pleasant Boro.

At their 2013 nursing scholarship fundraiser “Rock for the Nurses-Rock for the Shore”, The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship fund teamed-up with the United Way of both Monmouth and Ocean County to help provide some help to Hurricane Sandy victims at the Jersey Shore.

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In 2015, the scholarship fund’s “Rock for the Nurses” fundraiser, which featured the return of country rockers Kinderhook to Point Pleasant for the first time in more than thirty years, set all-time financial and attendance records.

Plans are already in the works for the scholarship fund’s “Rock for the Nurses 10 Year Anniversary Fundraiser” which will be held in the spring of 2020, the details of which will be announced in the future.

“On behalf of the entire scholarship committee, I would like to extend a very sincere thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout our eight year history, including everyone who attended any of our fundraisers, all of our passionate donors, all of our fundraiser volunteers, all of our fundraiser partners, all the outstanding musicians, some of the best the Jersey Shore has to offer, who donated their time to help us and of course The Ocean Medical Center Foundation and Hackensack Meridian Health. We could not have accomplished our level of success without all of them. We are planning some exciting things for 2019 and beyond so stay tuned” Konopka finished.

ABOUT THE BARBARA FORFAR NURSING SCHOLARSHIP FUND:
The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund was established on January 15, 2011 and is part of the Ocean Medical Center Foundation family of funds.

The fund provides monetary assistance to qualified nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center who desire to continue their formal education in nursing profession in the form of scholarships and awards one (or more) nursing scholarship during September of each year to eligible applicants.

The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund was established to honor the memory of long-time Point Pleasant resident Barbara Forfar or “Foof” as she was called by her fellow nurses and other colleagues in the operating room, and her forty-four years of dedication to the nursing profession with all but three years of her service associated with the Ocean Medical Center or its predecessor hospitals.

To qualify for the scholarship, the applicant must be an employee or nursing student at Ocean Medical Center and must be enrolled in a RN program, an upper division program (RN to BSN) or advanced degree program (MSN, PhD) in nursing.

All Ocean Medical Center nurses and nursing students from all OMC practice areas are eligible to apply. The scholarship must be used to supplement tuition, fees, lab costs, books or educational supply expenses.

For more information about The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund, including how to make a donation to the fund, log on to the official website at www.forfarscholarship.org or connect with The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund on Facebook or Twitter.

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STORY PHOTO DETAILS: Barbara Konopka Forfar: 1965 graduation photo from St. Joseph’s Nursing School, Paterson, NJ (left) and 2010 in the Operating Room at Ocean Medical Center, Brick, NJ (Photo courtesy of The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund)

POST PHOTO DETAILS: A collage of photos throughout the eight year history of The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund (Photo courtesy of The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund)

LINK TO STORY ON OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
https://www.forfarscholarship.org/news/barbara-forfar-nursing-scholarship-begins-ninth-year-of-helping-nurses-in-2019

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