Jamboree 2011: Grant for young researchers

Do you know a young genealogist who might benefit from attending a major regional genealogy conference?

The Southern California Genealogical Society's annual Jamboree is an amazing event for beginners as well as advanced researchers.

Now, thanks to one of our intrepid geneablogger colleagues, there's a fund to assist young genealogists to participate in the 2011 event, which will be held June 10-12, in Burbank, California.

Denise Levenick, who writes The Family Curator, has set up a fund in honor of her mother Suzanne Freeman, who died in August 2010. Writes Denise: "At the time of her death, Suzanne was still searching for her elusive Winsor cousin."

A longtime youth volunteer, Suzanne deveoped an interest in family history and enjoyed the growing number of young student genealogists. Our geneablogger community met her during the past two Jamboree events where she assisted in the Geneablogger Welcome Bag project.

According to Denise's press release, young genealogists are invited to apply for the 2011 Suzanne Winsor Freeman Memorial Student Genealogy Grant established by friends and family to honor Suzanne’s Freeman’s lifetime of service to young people and to assist young genealogists seeking to advance their genealogical education.

The first grant will be awarded to a student attending the 2011 Jamboree. The award includes $500 toward conference expenses.

Rules and regulations:

-- Applicants need not be a currently registered student, but must have been a enrolled at a college, university, or secondary school within the last 12 months, and be 18-25 years old.

-- Complete guidelines and application are available online at The Family Curator blog. The application deadine is February 15, and the award recipient will be announced March 1.

Suzanne Winsor Freeman was born January 5, 1933 in Olathe, Kansas to Arline (Kinsel) and Frank Ammi Brown, and grew up in Orange and Santa Ana after her family moved to California in 1937. She purchased property in Green Valley, Arizona in 1982 and became a full-time Arizona resident in 1997.

The Suzanne Winsor Freeman Memorial Student Genealogy Fund honors her love of service and of family history. The purpose of the fund is to assist young genealogists by offering grants to advance their genealogical education, including funds to attend genealogy conferences and workshops.

Suzanne enjoyed researching family history online and frequently posted queries that resulted in new family connections. She supplied stories and anecdotes for TheFamilyCurator.com, the blog written by her daughter Denise Levenick, and also appeared as a guest blogger at ShadesoftheDeparted.com.

For more detailed information on how to make donations, via any Wells Fargo bank branch, to the Suzanne Winsor Freeman Memorial Student Genealogy Fund at Wells Fargo Bank, Green Valley, Arizona, contact Denise Levenick.