TABOR, S.D.- US Bank and Freedom Alliance recently awarded three Gold Star families with vehicles at the end of May in their Driven to Serve initiative.
Keely Schild, a South Dakota State University graduate from Tabor, was the recipient of one of the vehicles during the ceremony at the US Bank Stadium.
“I’ve been a scholarship recipient from Freedom Alliance for the past three years,” Schild says. “So they reached out to me because they were trying to find Gold Star students in the Midwest area, so they just reached out to me and asked me if I’d be interested. And I thought, well, I might as well. So I filled out the application, and then I did two interviews with them, and then I found out that I was the recipient of one.”
Freedom Alliance also helps Gold Star students with their educations.
“They give scholarships to Gold Star students who lost a parent in the line of duty, and I’ve had that scholarship for the past three years. So they’ve helped me with my college tuition and like books and fees, so all of that,” Schild adds.
SFC Richard Schild, Keely’s dad, was killed in action on December 4th of 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq. The tight-knit town of Tabor continues to honor Richard Schild and his family.
“They’ve really supported my brother and I through everything and there’s always been people there to help and support us,” Schild adds. “We had our neighbors start something to memorialize my dad because he did have such an impact in the town. So they started the Rich Schild Memorial Fireworks, which is the kickoff to Czech days, which is really big in Tabor.” The fireworks are on June 16th this year. “That’s something that everyone looks forward to, and it’s just like my dad’s family and friends can get together.”
In the future. Keely hopes to run her own business. “I went to South Dakota State University. I actually graduated from there last May with my degree in interior design, and now I’m going back to school at Mitchell Technical College for small business management. I hope to get a job in the interior design industry and further down the road to possibly open my own design firm.”
If you’d like to find out more about the Rich Schild Memorial Fireworks, click here.
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