For 25th Year, College Scholarship Run by NuFactor Will Honor Hemophilic’s Memory by Helping Others

NuFactor Specialty Pharmacy is seeking applicants for next year’s Eric Dostie Memorial College Scholarship, established 25 years ago to honor the memory of  an inspirational boy with hemophilia who died at age 5.

Every year, 10 people are selected to receive the $1,000 scholarship. It is open to college students who have a bleeding disorder or a family member with one. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and enrolled full time in an accredited two- or four-year program.

Applicants must also write an essay explaining how their education will be used to serve the public and to encourage self-improvement and enrichment. In selecting winners, judges consider scholastic achievement, community service, and financial need. 

The deadline is March 1, 2019. Visit this site for more information and to request a scholarship application, or call 800-323-6832.

“It’s an honor to reach the scholarship’s 25th year,” Patrick M. Schmidt, FFF Enterprises chief executive officer, said in a press release. “We look forward to extending this opportunity to another 10 students in helping them reach their goals, and at the same time, carry on Eric’s memory and aspirations of helping others.”

By all accounts, Dostie touched many lives through his upbeat outlook, humor, and generosity of spirit. He lived in Easthampton, Massachusetts, and hoped to one day become a scientist and invent a hemophilia cure in the form of a “chocolate pill.” He died on Aug. 27, 1994.

Last year’s scholarship winners were BriAnna Sperry, Cullen Embry, Emily Sampson, Jack Brogan, Justin Najimian, Kaitlin Musick, Kaylee Karcher, Malia Jackson, Nicholas Hebert and Ryan Balog.

Other hemophila-related college scholarships may be found here.

NuFactor, based in Temecula, California, is the specialty pharmacy of FFF Enterprises, a distributor of plasma products, vaccines and other pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals. It aims to solve problems of therapeutic affordability, availability and safety among chronically ill patients, and provides philanthropic support to the patient communities it serves, including hemophilia, immune deficiencies and peripheral neuropathies.

Hemophilia is a rare inherited disorder in which blood doesn’t clot normally. Treatment includes regular replacement of the patient’s deficient clotting factor. The disease occurs in roughly one in 5,000 live births, most of them male.