WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — Applications are now being accepted for the Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) College Scholarship. Students interested in pursuing a degree at any accredited U.S. college or university on a full-time basis are eligible to apply.

Applicants must be a full-time employee, child, or grandchild of a TCATA member company in good standing. Also, the employee must be employed by the sponsoring company for more than a year.

Applications and supporting paperwork must be received by Sunday, April 30.

The $2,000 scholarship will be awarded to an applicant anticipating a freshman entry to college, who was previously accepted as a freshman, or is an underclassman continuing education at an accredited U.S. college or university on a full-time basis.

Applicants must engage in studies during the fall semester immediately following receipt of the scholarship award. The program doesn’t apply to graduate studies.

While it’s desirable that those receiving scholarships select courses of study that will prepare them to participate in and materially contribute to the textile care industry, it’s not mandatory, TCATA says.

The application form, the list of required documents, and a poster for TCATA member companies to share with their workforce are available on the TCATA website. For more information, email Business Manager Luci Ward ([email protected]).

TCATA’s scholarship is in memory of Dean Allen and Max Zimmerman, both of whom contributed greatly to the Association and the textile care industry.

Until his death in 1980, Allen spent 42 years distributing laundry and drycleaning equipment for Allen and Vickers, a family business based in Atlanta, while he supported TCATA projects and strived to improve the textile care industry. He was twice elected TCATA president.

Zimmerman, who died in 2000, started his own drycleaning company in the early 1950s and invented one of the first spray finishes for fabrics. He upgraded the textile care business by promoting awareness and increasing understanding of problems faced by various industry segments, serving on the TCATA board and as secretary-treasurer. He received all three major TCATA awards during his lifetime.