Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
1 NW OOIDA Drive, Grain Valley, MO  64029
Web site: www.ooida.com
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Contact: Norita Taylor, norita_taylor@ooida.com 
Headquarters: (816) 229-5791

For Immediate Release

OOIDA Scholarship Program Announces Selection of First Four OOIDA Scholars

(Grain Valley, Mo., March 12, 1999) – The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. (OOIDA) is pleased to announce they have awarded the first four scholarships of the OOIDA Scholarship Program. The OOIDA scholarship committee selected this first year's OOIDA scholars from among applicants from across the country. All applicants wrote a 500 word essay titled, "If you have it, a truck brought it: the impact of trucking on American lifestyles.

OOIDA scholarships are available for children, grandchildren, and legal dependents of OOIDA members.

The OOIDA scholars for the 1999 school year are:

	Matthew P Cole, son of Rodney P. Cole, of Northglen, Colorado. Matthew is enrolled in the Denver Auto and Diesel College, with a Diesel mechanics major. $1,000 scholarship award.
	Mara L. Hamel, daughter of Maury E. Hamel of Edgerton, Wisconsin. Mara is enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, with a major in special education. $1,000 scholarship award.
	LeeAnn Zimmerman, daughter of Havey Zimmerman, Jr. of Massillon, Ohio. LeeAnn is enrolled at Malone College, with a major in accounting. $500 scholarship award.
	Tabitha Palmer, daughter of Charles G. Phipps, of Matoaca, Virginia. Tabitha is enrolled at the Southside Regional Medical Center School of Nursing, with a nursing major. $500 scholarship award.

(Pictures are available in .JPG digital format upon request)

The OOIDA Foundation, Inc. Scholarship Program has been assisting the children, grandchildren and legal dependents of OOIDA members in their efforts to gain a higher education since 1998. The students are selected in a blind evaluation conducted by the Scholarship Advisory Committee.

Awarded scholarships are renewable for three (3) additional years.  Tax-deductible donations to the OOIDA Scholarship Program can be sent to the OOIDA Foundation, Inc., 1 NW OOIDA Drive, Grain Valley, Missouri 64029.

OOIDA, the international trade association of professional owner-operators and drivers, is headquartered in Grain Valley, Missouri.  Small business truckers represent nearly half of the total class 7 and 8 trucks operated in the U.S.

Founded in 1973, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is comprised of more than 162,000 owner-operators, professional drivers, and small business truckers from all 50 states, and Canada.  OOIDA represents the interests of this nation's more than 350,000 small business trucking professionals in the legislative and regulatory processes at both federal and state levels.

1 NW OOIDA Dr.
Grain Valley, MO 64029
e-mail: ooida@ooida.com
Website: ooida.com

Fax (816) 427-4468
Local (816) 229-5791
Toll Free (800) 444-5791

OOIDA Foundation Scholarship Program