ST. LOUIS —
There's still plenty of time to donate to this year's Folds of Honor campaign sponsored by Schnucks. Shoppers can round up at the register through the fourth of July. All this month, 5 On Your Side is highlighting local scholarship recipients.
Eric Curry is singing the praises of Folds of Honor. Curry believes he was born to perform.
"Means the whole world to me. Ever since I was little, I used to always enjoy singing,” said Curry.
His dad, Travers, agrees.
"He always had this voice, just this heavy voice,” said Travers Curry.
A rising sophomore at St. Charles Community College, Eric is working towards an Associate's degree in Music and in Performance Art.
"Really when it comes to just being able to perform for people, being able to share this with the world, to be able to share my love for music," said Curry.
Eric's getting help paying for his education thanks to his dad's service in the U.S. Army.
"Besides the basic infantryman, I was an operating room specialist. I was the person that stood next to the doctor and passed the instruments,” said Travers Curry.
After nearly 18 years, a training accident left him disabled. He retired in 1991. When it came time for Eric to go to college, they learned about Folds of Honor.
"I know when they have the round-up in the grocery stores and we want to. I've always done that. I just hadn't thought about it. And then it was brought up. Did you know he's eligible?” added Travers.
Folds of Honor provides scholarships to the spouses and children of America's fallen or disabled service members. Eric applied for and was awarded up to $5,000.
"It was for extra help because there are some things that the ‘A-Plus’ scholarship wouldn't cover. And some of these expenses were hundreds, hundreds of dollars,” said Curry.
"You know, it's trying to get your children through school, to college. That shouldn't be an event that shakes the family finances to the core,” said Travers.
Folds of Honor is on a mission to pay it forward by honoring Staff Sergeant Curry's service by helping his son.
"It was my privilege to serve. And that's something I ingrained in my children that this is home and you stand up for home. And I didn't think anybody owed me anything. I do think it's nice that somebody it's really nice that somebody says, let's see if we can help someone out and give them a hand up,” said Travers.
"Thank you for doing this for the families of veterans, of the fallen and the disabled veterans. Thank you so much. Because of this I'm able to go out here and pursue my dreams,” said Curry.
Folds of Honor has awarded 35,000 scholarships since its mission began in 2007. Schnucks has contributed $4 million in the past 4 years. Shoppers can help raise money for the annual campaign sponsored by Schnucks by rounding up at the register when buying groceries. This year's campaign runs through the Fourth of July.