Gill Scholarship Foundation approaching milestone year

By Jen Cowart
Posted 2/3/16

With the spring and summer months just ahead, the PS3 Ronald A. Gill Jr. Memorial Scholarship Foundation is set to hit a financial milestone in giving, even as those behind it prepare to reach an …

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Gill Scholarship Foundation approaching milestone year

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With the spring and summer months just ahead, the PS3 Ronald A. Gill Jr. Memorial Scholarship Foundation is set to hit a financial milestone in giving, even as those behind it prepare to reach an emotional milestone in living with the loss of a son, father, brother, and friend.

“This July 16 is the 10th year for the golf tournament,” Ron Gill Sr. said. “March 25 will be nine years since Ronnie’s death. That date falls on Good Friday this year, but we are still intending to have a memorial service for him that day.”

The Gill family has worked tirelessly to keep their son’s name and legacy alive, working hard to ensure that others do not have to deal with the financial burden they were left with upon Ronnie’s death in a tragic accident during a Coast Guard mission. In addition to dealing with the unimaginable, the family was left responsible for paying off Ronnie’s college loans, which were not forgiven, even in his death.

When thinking of how to create a living legacy for Ronnie, his family decided to create a foundation that would allow others to pursue a post-secondary education without the same financial burden.

The family has kept to its goal, and through the foundation has sponsored multiple fundraising events each year, including the well-attended motorcycle run each spring, local dress-down days at City Hall and throughout the city schools, and a golf tournament each summer. This year’s dress-down day will take place on March 18, providing many who can’t attend the other events a chance to participate in another way.

“May first is the eighth year for the motorcycle run,” Gill said. “With two successful upcoming events, we’re on track to have raised $250,000 since we started the foundation. That’s a quarter of a million dollars, $200,000 of which has been given out to Cranston kids. That’s scholarship money, money which never needs to be repaid.”

Already, $225,000 in scholarship money has been given out since the foundation’s inception in 2008, thanks to the generosity of donors and participants in each of the foundation’s events each year.

Pre-registration is already being accepted for this year’s motorcycle run, a hugely popular event every spring. It begins at Cranston High School West, where Ronnie was a student, and after a 100-mile ride – including stops at the Rhode Island Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery and Scarborough Beach – ends with a full lunch at the Cranston Country Club.

For more information about the upcoming motorcycle run and the Ronald A. Gill Jr. Memorial Scholarship Foundation, visit rongilljr.org.

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