Hartzell scholarship hits $250,000 mark

Staff report

Youngstown

The Youngstown State University scholarship fund in memory of slain Youngstown police officer Michael T. Hartzell has hit the $250,000 mark.

YSU and Hartzell’s parents, Howard and Mary Kay, will celebrate the milestone at a luncheon at noon Monday in the Presidential Suites of Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus. At the luncheon, the latest scholarship recipients will be honored.

“I would never have guessed when we started this scholarship fund that we would reach the quarter-million-dollar level,” Howard Hartzell said. “It is a reflection of the support that we have had from so many people and businesses throughout the year. Michael would be proud to see his legacy live on in this way.”

Hartzell was shot and killed April 29, 2003, as he sat in his police cruiser in downtown Youngstown. He was 26. His parents created the scholarship in memory of their son. The scholarship is funded through proceeds from an annual charity golf outing.

The fund has distributed 55 scholarships worth more than $60,000 to the children of police officers throughout the Mahoning Valley area.

The next golf outing is scheduled for July 29, 2012, at Knoll Run Golf Course in Lowellville. For more information on the golf outing, contact Jennifer Gaffney at 330-755-2499, or visit www.mhartzell-charity-golf.org/.

For more information, contact the YSU Foundation at 330–941–3211. Log on to www.ysu.edu, “Give to YSU,” to make an online gift.