Kerry Magro, an adult with autism and owner of KFM Making a Difference (a New Jersey based non-profit corporation), announced his organization’s award of college scholarships to six young adults with autism; Joshua Mack, Patrick Landrum, Abby M., William Ploughe, Catherine Contillo and Keisha Deeds. With this latest round of scholarship awards, Kerry Magro and KFM have now awarded 13 scholarships in the past 3 years.
Joshua Mack (from Ladson, SC), Patrick Landrum (from Sacramento, CA) and Abby M (from Deltona, FL) are showing the world that autism doesn’t define them. These three amazing young adults will now be getting aid for college as the winners of the fall 2014 “Making a Difference for Autism Scholarship” from the KFM group. In addition, KFM Making a Difference is giving out three honorable mention scholarships to William Ploughe (from Bryan, OH), Catherine Contillo (from Paramus, NJ) and Keisha Deeds (from Ardmore, PA).
“As the scholarship program gets more recognition and more applicants, it makes selecting winners that much more difficult,” says Kerry Magro, founder and CEO of KFM Making a Difference. “In the end we decided, based on the quality of this year’s applicant pool, to award scholarships to six young adults with autism.”
Joshua (who is attending the College of Charleston) said on winning the award, “I will do my best to represent the scholarship program in my making a difference for autism.”
Patrick who is currently attending California State University said, “This means a lot to me because I come from a low-income family. Being diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome gave me the strength to pursue my dream of becoming an actuary. I will continue to give back to the community because this is what I love to do.
Abby who is attending Daytona State College and hopes to one day attend The University of Florida said, “First a HUGE thank you for having this scholarship program and for selecting me as the winner! I’ve applied for so many scholarships and am honored to be selected.”
In fall of 2012, KFM Making a Difference launched its scholarship program. Today (with Joshua, Patrick and Abby’s awards) KFM has now given out 13 scholarships in total nationwide, helping 10 autistic adults to go to college. Kerry Magro, who turns 27 this month, started KFM Making a Difference in 2009. What most don’t know about Kerry is that he was diagnosed with autism at 4. Today, Kerry is an accredited professional speaker who travels the country discussing autism and disability related issues.
Today, according to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 68 children will be diagnosed with autism while more than 500,000 young individuals with autism will reach adulthood within the next decade. Last year U.S. News & World Report highlighted KFM Making a Difference as one of the only non-profits to give out scholarships to adults with autism in the U.S pursuing a post-secondary program: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-scholarship-coach/2014/04/17/find-college-scholarships-that-support-students-with-autism
KFM Making a Difference will now be looking ahead to its spring 2015 scholarship application period, anticipating award of scholarships to additional talented autistic adults from the community. The deadline for this scholarship will be Monday, May 4th at Midnight U.S Eastern Standard Time. For more information on KFM Making a Difference and how you can apply for the next scholarship please go to http://www.kerrymagro.com/blog/ for more details.
