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VFW Post 6097 Creates Endowed Scholarship at Lindsey Wilson University

'A scholarship to help any veteran is a legacy well left by any of us.'

by Duane Bonifer

COLUMBIA, Ky. (09/14/2026) — Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6097 in Columbia are joining forces with Lindsey Wilson University to give veterans and their immediate family members a helping hand with higher education.

The post's members and friends have started the VFW Post 6097 Endowed Scholarship at Lindsey Wilson.

The need-based VFW Post 6097 Endowed Scholarship is open to an immediate family member of a U.S. military service member who died in the line of duty, known as a Gold Star family; a recipient of the Purple Heart, another military valor award or a recipient's immediate family members; a combat veteran; or a veteran's immediate family members.

Recipients of the scholarship are expected to maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

VFW Post 6097 Commander Russell Lunsford said he got the idea for the scholarship when he and his wife, Janice, supported an endowed scholarship of the late Lindsey Wilson Hall of Fame men's basketball coach Don Green, who Lunsford played for.

"It's an opportunity for us to help veterans with their higher education, their spouses and their children," said Lunsford, who is a 27-year Army veteran.

The VFW Post 6097 already sponsors college scholarships for graduates of Adair and Russell County high schools, but Lunsford said the post wanted to start a scholarship connected to Lindsey Wilson.

"The guys really like the idea of doing it," he said.

Lunsford, who attended Lindsey WIlson from 1969-70, gave former post Commander Joe Hare credit for helping turn the scholarship from an idea into reality.

"Joe had a big hand in it," said Lunsford. "He's how I get a lot of things done."

Hare said he was glad to play a part in creating the scholarship.

"A scholarship to help any veteran is a legacy well left by any of us," said Hare, a Vietnam War combat Army veteran who received the Purple Heart and attended Lindsey Wilson in 1968. "I said if this is a way we can help veterans, then that's what we need to do."

Lunsford said he likes that the VFW Post 6097 Endowed Scholarship also received contributions from area residents who are not military veterans.

"Anyone can contribute to it," he said. "It's such a great way to honor a member of the family or a friend who was a veteran and had a big influence on your life."

For more information about the Lindsey Wilson VFW Post 6097 Endowed Scholarship, contact LWU Director of Annual Giving Travis Smith '05 at smithtr@lindsey.edu or 270-384-8511.

Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.

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Former Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6097 Commander Joe Hare, right, presents a check to Lindsey Wilson University Director of Annual Giving Travis Smith ’05 endowing the VFW Post 6097 Endowed Scholarship at Lindsey Wilson.

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