KANSAS CITY, June 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hundreds of thousands of American working professionals and entrepreneurs are working to restart or reinvent their careers due to the COVID-19-related recession. The family of the late Henry W. Bloch is offering them a helping hand: free tuition for the first semester for graduate school programs at his namesake school of management in Kansas City.
Believed to be one of the first scholarship programs in the nation aimed specifically at working professionals suffering financial hardship due to the coronavirus recession, the Bloch Helping Hand Scholarship provides awardees free tuition for their first semester in graduate school at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
“We know what Dad would do in this difficult time; he would seek out unique ways to help those most in need,” said his son, Tom Bloch, chairman of the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation. “With this program, the school that bears his name is honoring his generous spirit to help those who have suffered unprecedented hardship and uncertainty by providing a pathway forward and upward through education.”
The scholarship is funded by the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation, set up by Bloch and his family before his death in 2019. Helping Hand Scholarships are available to working professionals living in Greater Kansas City who have suffered meaningful economic loss as a result of the pandemic. Applications are available at this link. The initiative is expected to help approximately 100 students restart their careers.
While the scholarship program is limited to residents of Bloch’s Kansas City hometown, the family and school are hoping to set an example for others to follow.
“Henry Bloch was a visionary, innovator, and leader. From his home in Kansas City, he and his brother Richard essentially created a national service business category with H&R Block,” said Brian Klaas, dean of the Bloch School of Management. “Providing scholarship support during these challenging times is a fitting legacy of Henry Bloch’s lifetime of leadership and service, and we are grateful to the Bloch Family Foundation for working to address an important need within this community."
The Henry W. Bloch School of Management emphasizes programs that link Bloch students and faculty with business partners throughout greater Kansas City. For students, these strong connections offer opportunities to learn from leaders in many of Kansas City’s most successful organizations. The Bloch School full menu of resources includes career coaches, entrepreneurship mentors, social media skills builders and deep connections to Kansas City’s business community, providing opportunities for internships, full-time jobs, mentoring and project-based learning.
A native Kansas Citian, Henry Bloch was a devoted champion and supporter of the city and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, which he attended when it was the University of Kansas City. He later graduated from the University of Michigan after serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Focused on advancing educational opportunities for a broad range of students, Bloch committed $50 million to support scholarships to UMKC alone.
Starting in the 1970s, Henry Bloch was featured as “America’s Tax Man” in a long-running series of television commercials that helped build H&R Block into one of the most widely recognized brands in American business.