JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On the first day of Black History Month a local organization is expanding the way that it helps the community.
First Coast Community Development, which is run by Marine veteran Charlie Griffin, will offer ten $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors who plan to pursue a STEM major at Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Northeast Florida.
This latest example of giving is just the latest way that Griffin has tried to help the community.
In July 2022 First Coast News first told viewers about Marine veteran Charlie Griffin and the free health clinic that he was starting with Dr. Albert Chester.
That clinic is now located at 525 Newnan Street in downtown Jacksonville.
"After filling out the information, the patient will come back to this area," said Dr. Chester while giving a tour of the health clinic. "Here they'll do their initial HIV screening, get the results and talk to our counselor."
They still offer health screening services, but what they give to the underprivileged doesn't stop there.
"We're giving away shoes," said Griffin. "Dr. Chester and I are buying 200 pairs of shoes, we're going to give away 200 pairs of shoes to the people who come in the door."
Griffin also uses his retirement checks to pay for meals for the homeless every Saturday. And the generosity goes beyond that.
Griffin brought his daughter Carly Griffin into the fold as First Coast Community Development's Director of Public Health.
Carly Griffin recently graduated from FAMU with a degree in biology and pre-med. She will also oversee a scholarship program for graduating from high school seniors who want to continue their education at HBCUs in Northeast Florida.
"Going to an HBCU changed my whole view, my whole experience," said Carly Griffin. "Being able to learn and network with people who look like me and people who are interested in my development is something that's important to me."
Ten scholarships of $1,000 each will go to seniors with plans to study STEM fields.
"For a lot of people, the biggest obstacle in continuing education they face is money," said Carly Griffin, "how are they going to pay for school, school is very expensive."
Charlie Griffin also wants to know how the scholarship recipients plan to make their community a better place to live. Part of the scholarship process is for applicants to write a 250-word essay about how they will make their community a better place after graduating from college.
"Just having kids see what we're doing and say, you know what, I want to contribute to the community that I'm living in," said Charlie Griffin. "Just giving them a footprint or a foundation to say I want to be involved in the community."
Charlie Griffin, who is a Marine veteran who has dedicated his life to serving the people of Jacksonville, now works with his daughter to foster the next generation of young people to support the community.
"We just want to highlight those black people who have been the guiding light, who have been innovators, who have helped establish the ground so we may walk behind them," said Carly Griffin.
To be eligible for a scholarship through First Coast Community Development, students must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA and submit a 250 word minimum essay on "How he/she will help their community once completing college" to the email: charlie.griffin@fccdinc.org
Scholarship submissions are due by May 5, 2023 at 11:59pm EST.