Marina Bennett Butler Award

This is a campaign to establish the Marina Bennett Butler Mi'kmaw Nursing Scholarship.

Marina is my mom. She was born in the Mi'kmaw village of Seal Rocks, Newfoundland, in 1938. She became an RN in 1959 and worked in a variety of different nursing specialties. She is also an accomplished artist, and lifelong runner. In her early 50s, she graduated from the University of New Mexico with another degree, and in her 60s and early 70s, she spent the bulk of her time on volunteer projects, many of which involved working with older people in nursing homes.

Today, she is dealing with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. Our family established this nursing scholarship in her name to help Mi'kmaw nursing students in Newfoundland attend Western Regional Nursing School on the west coast of Newfoundland. This is an award of $1,000 to one Mi'kmaw student per year. In order for the award to continue annually in perpetuity, we need to raise approximately $20,000 to be deposited with Grenfell Campus, Memorial University, to which the nursing school is attached. This would ensure that there will ALWAYS be a nursing scholarship specifically for Mi'kmaw students. I am employed with Grenfell Campus as the Aboriginal Affairs officer, and also hold an appointment as Adjunct Professor in Humanities.

Any donations you wish to make will be so greatly appreciated, and although communicating is difficult for my mom these days, she knows about this award and was very touched when we told her we were creating it. Her big concern at that time was whether she was going to have to give a speech! She's a doll. :-)

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