The ARA Foundation is honoring the American Rental Association’s first president with the new Leonard Hawk Founders Scholarship. The scholarship, worth $3,000, will be awarded to the Foundation scholarship program’s top applicant when selection of the 2010/2011 recipients is made next summer.
“When I formed the club of 21, I wanted this,” said Hawk, referring to his original call to rental business owners in 1955 that led to the formation of ARA. “I feel this might live on longer than I will.”
Charlie Neffle, chair of the ARA Foundation board of trustees, said the trustees wanted to recognize those who created ARA with this new scholarship. “As a board, we were looking for a way to commemorate the founders of the American Rental Association and particularly Leonard Hawk. He played a key role in the creation of ARA and provided key leadership as the first president,” Neffle said.
Hawk served as ARA president from 1955 to 1958 and was one of the inaugural inductees into the Rental Hall of Fame in 2001. He is retired from his rental business, A-1 Rental Centers, in Moline, Ill., and lives in Silvis, Ill.
The new scholarship is one of 38 total administered by the ARA Foundation.
Applications for all scholarships are now available on the Foundation’s website, www.ARAfoundation.com.
