Orion receives $1M scholarship gift

The Quad Cities Community Foundation and Orion Community School District are pleased to announce the newly created Wendell H. Moore "Dream Big" Scholarships. Orion High School principal, Nathan DeBaillie, announced the scholarship fund during an all-school assembly on Wednesday – the first day of classes for Orion students.

The scholarships were established through the estate of 1959 Orion High School graduate and Barjan Products owner, Wendell H. Moore, whom many knew as "Buzz." With assistance from his attorney, John A. Slover, Jr., Buzz established a one million dollar estate gift at Community Foundation. This gift is a permanent, endowed fund that will go on forever to benefit Orion students through annual distributions that are awarded as scholarships.

The scholarships are for Orion High School students and students of other high schools who live in Orion, Illinois. They will be awarded for the first time in 2013, as part of the estate gift becomes available, with the amount available to be awarded growing over time as the full one million is distributed from the estate.

Buzz's intention with the Wendell H. Moore Scholarship Fund is to allow those students with respectable grades to have the financial support they would only generally find if they were the top of their class. Community involvement and work history will also be considered. This scholarship allowed Buzz to give opportunity to others who are growing up in Orion as he did and who are hard-working, motivated, and deserving.

The scholarships may be renewable for the students' four years of schooling beyond high school, whether that is at a trade school, community college or traditional four year college or university.

The scholarship fund is managed by Community Foundation, which manages more than $60 million in endowed funds such as this one for 17 counties in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.