Fort Salonga Teen Nets $20K Scholarship, Shares Stage with Obama

This story was posted by Jennifer Sloat. It was written by Leah Bush.

A Fort Salonga teen was awarded a $20,000 scholarship recently for his work with veterans at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Max Freeman, 17, who graduated from Kings Park High School this year, was awarded the top Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship from the Disabled American Veterans foundation. He accepted the scholarship at the organization's national convention on Orlando, sharing the stage with President Barack Obama.

“Max has helped homeless veterans find homes, apply for jobs, and he set up accessible personal computers for nursing home residents,” said National Director of Voluntary Services Ron Minter. 

“Using his musical skills, he has entertained nursing home residents and worked on numerous special projects, including creating a music data base for surgeons while they perform surgery.”

Freeman volunteered at the Northport VA center for five years and accumulated 1,200 hours assisting veterans. He plans to use the scholarship to study computer science at George Mason University in suburban Washington, D.C. and continue contributing to the lives of injured and ill veterans through the use of advance computer technologies. 

“Max is an outstanding young man,” said DAV National Adjutant Marc Burgess. “He is a five-time gold recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for his contributions on behalf of veterans at the Northport VA medical center. He’s also an academic honor student.”