More than 100 former refugees now living in the United States and Israel were awarded education scholarships — totaling $89,000 — by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
During the Israeli awards ceremony held Wednesday in Jerusalem, HIAS presented 36 students with awards of $500 each. Twenty-six of the students were from the former Soviet Union and 10 were from Ethiopia.
Earlier this month, during the organization’s annual meeting in New York, HIAS gave 71 immigrant students $1,000 scholarships. Of the U.S. recipients, 68 were from the former Soviet Union, two from Iran and one from Syria.
The scholarships are awarded to high school seniors, university students and graduate school students based on educational achievement and community service.
“By granting these awards, we hope to encourage these exceptional students to continue their pursuit of higher education, personal aspirations and their dreams,” said Donald Fleishaker, chairman of the 1996 scholarship committee.
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