Waterfowl Festival has received $500,000 in support of its William A. Perry Scholarship Fund in 2020.

The donation came from the estate of Joan Richards, a photographer who exhibited at the fall event for many years. Ms. Richards expressly hoped that her gift would help the program expand to include non-traditional students and would enable an increase in awards for festival youth volunteers.

For 2021, the Waterfowl Festival has awarded $20,000 in scholarships to eight student volunteers from the Scholarship Fund: Quinn Chambers, West Virginia University; Grant Foster, Salisbury University; Bree Haufe, University of Maryland; Billy Haufe, University of Maryland; Chris Kaminskas, Coastal Carolina University; Eric Milhollan Jr., University of Maryland; Sarah Morris, Hendrix College; and Lukas Nilsen, University of Detroit Mercy.

Every year in late spring, students from across the region who have been youth volunteers for the festival during the prior two years can apply for scholarship consideration. Named in honor of festival co-founder Bill Perry and his wife, Betty, the program provides monetary support to festival student volunteers from across the region in their college or trade school pursuits.

To qualify for a scholarship, students should be attending a college or technical school, be in good standing maintaining a B average (3.0 GPA), and have volunteered significant time as a festival youth volunteer. Scholarship applications will be open again in the spring of 2022.

High school students who are at least in ninth grade are encouraged to become festival volunteers this year in order to be eligible to apply for scholarships in the future. To become a Waterfowl Festival Ducksitter, complete the form online.