Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, announced that the Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Program has awarded a scholarship to Erika Mitchell of Mesa, Arizona.

“The F.O.P. sees the Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Program as part of its obligation to our extended law enforcement family,” Canterbury said. “When Mrs. Mitchell lost her husband in the line of duty, she became a single parent and a sole supporter of her family. This scholarship is designed to help families in these circumstances.”

The Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Program, created by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, is administered by the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation to assist the spouses of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Police Officer Larry Brian Mitchell was an officer with the Gallup Police Department. On 5 May 2001, he was the first one on the scene of a SWAT team call and was shot three times. He is survived by his wife and five year old son.

The scholarship enables recipients to receive personalized career counseling at one of the more than 1,900 One-Stop Career Centers, where they will develop an individual employment plan to help them reach their career goals. F.O.P. Grant Liaison David Heshley will accompany Mrs. Mitchell on her initial visit to the Mills Memorial Computer Learning Center to meet with her Career One-Stop Case Manager. While Mrs. Mitchell is currently undecided on how she wants to utilize the scholarship, she looks forward to the guidance of her Case Manager at the One-Stop Career Center to help her meet her career goals.

“By helping families like Erika’s, we honor the memory of law enforcement officers, like Officer Mitchell’s, who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty,” Canterbury said. “This family will be one of the many that will benefit from the Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Grant Program.”

The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest law enforcement labor organization in the United States, with more than 318,000 members.