EL MONTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Southern California District Council of Laborers (SCDCL) awards scholarship money to the dependent children of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) members in Southern California. Now in its 21st year, the Mike Quevedo, Sr. Scholarship Fund provided $207,500 in scholarship monies to 81 students for the 2016 academic year. The grand total in scholarships awarded for the 2016 year was the highest amount ever awarded in a single year.
Southern California District Council of Laborers (SCDCL) Business Manager, Armando Esparza said, “I am so proud of our union for supporting young people with their college education. Assisting them with their education is an investment in their future and the future of our country. After all, it is they who will someday lead this country to bigger and better days for all of us.”
The Mike Quevedo, Sr. Scholarship Fund is a non-profit organization created for the purpose of raising scholarship monies and honoring its namesake. Mike Quevedo, Sr., came to Southern California from New Mexico at the age of 16 in 1926. Mike began his construction career in 1940, worked his way up through the ranks, and eventually became Business Manager of Laborers’ Local 300 in Los Angeles. A labor pioneer, Mike Sr., believed it was important to give young people in the community a chance to improve their opportunity in life by attending college and this scholarship fund continues that legacy.
Since 2000, the Mike Quevedo, Sr., scholarship fund has provided more than $1,400,000 in scholarship monies for nearly 900 children of LIUNA members in Southern California. Student recipients have attended local community colleges and universities throughout California, as well as ivy-league institutions across the country.
