SAVE Church Youth Scholarship Fund!

The Scholarship:

Many Assyrians are caught in a cycle of poverty due to being immigrants, or the children of immigrants. The youth of Mar Mari Parish have long endeavored to escape this poverty by pursuing a higher education. The Norman David and Boris Mirza Scholarship was created in 1995, by Norman’s wife Alice David, to provide funding for these Mar Mari youth seeking a better life through attainment of a college education. The scholarship was started with a humble $4,575.00, and has grown over past 26 years to assist 101 students pay for tuition, room and board, and books. It has awarded $144,930 to these students thus far, collecting funds from fundraising, tag sales, auctions and donations. Despite the scholarship’s history of successful philanthropy, its continuation has been endangered due to financial hardship caused by COVID-19. If funding is not acquired, this will be the first time in 26 years that there will be a halt in awards given. This is why this GoFundMe page was created, at Alice’s request. We are earnestly and desperately asking for your help. Your donation will go directly to the a Mar Mari youth member’s college education, helping them pursue their dreams and changing the course of their lives. If you can help, any amount is greatly appreciated!

Thank you and God bless you all!

The Back story:

This scholarship began in 1995 in Norman David’s memory. Norman passed away from cancer in 11 months in January 1995. He was 58 years old. Boris Mirza passed suddenly in April 2003, at the age of 64 from a heart attack. In 2008, the scholarship was re-named to join these two friends together. They both shared a calling to help inspire our youth to pursue their educational goals.

Norman and Boris were both recognized as men of faith and respected by all who knew them. They were officers of Mar Mari Parish, and played active roles at the groundbreaking of the church building. They both played very active social roles and selflessly invested themselves in the youth. Besides having strong faith and having a strong desire for everyone to know Jesus as their savior, they believed in the power of education. They tried to inspire our youth to have hope and determination by serving as advisors. They often helped our youth figure out how to fund a college education, and mentored the financial aid process. They believed that the only way to break the cycle of poverty within our Assyrian community was in our faith, our support of one another, and through educating our youth.