Young Lawyers Division Selects Recipients For NCBF Endowment’s Hubert B. Humphrey Justice Fund Scholarships
The Young Lawyers Division has awarded scholarships to two deserving college students, both of whom plan to enter the medical profession. The recipients hope to improve the world by serving and assisting others.
The scholarships are made possible by the North Carolina Bar Foundation Endowment’s Hubert B. Humphrey Justice Fund and are given to children of slain or permanently disabled NC Law Enforcement Officers. In 2023-24, the scholarship awarded $6,001.
The 2023-2024 recipients are:
- Emily Grace Almond
- Max Huss Macchia
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Applicants must be the natural, adopted or step-child of a North Carolina Law Enforcement Officer permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty.
- Applicants must submit their application on or before 28 years of age.
- Applicants must provide proof of enrollment or admission as a full-time student to one of the following:
- an accredited four-year college or university; (undergraduate program)
- an accredited community college or technical college; (undergraduate program)
- an accredited law school.
The application process for 2024-25 will open in the spring of 2024. More information and application details are available online.
Emily Grace Almond
Emily Grace Almond is a sophomore student at East Carolina University, where she is a nursing major and a member of the ECU Honors College. Following graduation from ECU, she plans to work as a nurse in a hospital’s emergency department and to pursue graduate school to become a nurse practitioner. She anticipates graduating in May of 2026.
Last year, she was selected as a recipient of the scholarship.
Almond’s father, who was a police officer with Cary Police Department, was injured while on duty. As her father received treatment from hospital nurses on staff, she realized she wanted to help others in the same way that the nurses had provided care for her father.
In her application, Almond explains how the financial award will assist her in earning her degree:
“This scholarship will help relieve some of the burden and allow me to make an impact in the lives of others. With the help of this scholarship, I will be able to be a caring and loving nurse like those that my family was blessed with during such hard times.”
Almond is thankful to the North Carolina Bar Foundation for this scholarship, which has helped her to pursue her academic and career aspirations.
Remarking on what it means to her to receive this award, Almond says, “Receiving this scholarship means that I am supported and will have the necessary resources to achieve my dream of becoming a nurse.”
“This scholarship has significantly decreased the financial burden placed on my family as I pursue my college degree,” continues Almond. “Being able to go to a four-year university has allowed me to get even closer towards reaching my lifelong goal of becoming a nurse.”
Outside of her coursework, Almond gives back to her community, works part-time and is involved on ECU’s campus. She serves as a weekly volunteer for the Pitt County Adapted PE program, where she helps elementary and middle school children with special needs during their physical education classes, and she is a CNA/MedTech at a nursing home. At ECU, she is a member of an on-campus Christian ministry for women called Delight.
Max Huss Macchia
Max Huss Macchia is a first-year student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a pre-nursing major and will obtain a minor in Spanish for the Medical Professions with the goal of graduating in 2027.
Macchia’s father was an officer with Caldwell County Sherriff’s Department and was injured while on duty.
Speaking of his gratitude for receiving this award, Macchia says,
“This scholarship helped me get to the school of my dreams, and now that I am here, it motivates me to work harder. I think about how I could have been paying massive amounts of money to come here. However, the burden of that was lifted off of my shoulders because of the NC Bar Foundation. I made it to my dream school with the Bar Foundation’s help, and now I have been concentrating on my studies and doing my very best that I can to show the bar that they did not choose wrong.”
He says that the scholarship will help him to achieve his career goal of becoming a nurse. He hopes to practice in North Carolina, and, later, in other parts of the globe.
One of his goals is to assist populations in need:
“After graduation, I plan to work in rural areas of North Carolina as an emergency department/trauma nurse to gain experience. After some time, I plan on taking my work internationally by working with a nursing organization, which will send me to critical areas of the globe. Additionally, when I return from overseas, I hope to begin working as a travel nurse who specializes in rural or underprivileged parts of the nation where health care is not affordable or obtainable for some.”
Before attending UNC, Macchia gained firsthand experience in health care, which furthered his interest in the medical field. After shadowing health care workers in an emergency room setting at a local community hospital, Macchia observed how delays can occur when Spanish-speaking patients must wait for an available translator. To be able to converse with Spanish-speaking patients, Macchia decided to pursue a minor in Spanish during his undergraduate degree.
Macchia has joined several organizations at UNC that are dedicated to service. He is a member of Carolina Puppies Unite People, which partners with local animal shelters and helps to train service dogs. He also is a member of Carolina Pediatric Attention Love and Support, which gives students opportunities to serve as volunteers with current or previous oncology patients at UNC hospital, and Kesem, which creates a summer camp experience for children whose parents have cancer.
Speaking of his work with Kesem, he says, “All year long, we prepare for summer camp by raising funds and going through training to be a counselor.”
In his personal statement, he writes about how he later hopes to join the Peace Corps in Latin America.
Jessica Junqueira is communications manager for the North Carolina Bar Association.