Leslie Groy Scholarship (PHNAC)

Leslie Groy in Ghana, West Africa

The Leslie Groy Scholarship is now administered by the Colorado Nurses Foundation.  Visit the CNF website to apply for the Leslie Groy Scholarship.

The Leslie Groy Scholarship is available for PHNAC members.  Our intent is to provide an opportunity to assist Public Health Nurses in attaining undergraduate degrees or advanced degrees in course work advancing public health and public health nursing.  The scholarship is $1000 that can be awarded to 2 people each year.

How to Apply 

The procedure for obtaining a scholarship application is as follows. The applicant will: Follow the link from the PHNAC web site to the Colorado Nurses Foundation. Complete the CNF application, the information specific to the PHNAC scholarship below and submit the application with all other information to the address on the CNF application.

• In the essay that you must write for the CNF application you must include your educational goals and your 5 year career goals related to Public Health Nursing in Colorado.
• Verification of current PHNAC membership

The Colorado Nurses Foundation application is posted on their website in August with a deadline of return by November (specific dates will be posted with the application.) Awards will be made, awardees notified and funds dispersed in January.

The PHNAC scholarship fund is supported by donations as well as silent auction proceeds, which occur at the business and annual meetings of PHNAC each year. We encourage all PHNAC members to contribute to this fund and/or participate in the silent auctions.

For questions on the PHNAC Scholarship process, please contact Glenda Miller, gjmiller@jeffco.us.

The Leslie Groy Scholarship

The Leslie Groy PHNAC Scholarship Award is dedicated to an exceptional nurse whose work exemplifies the nursing ideals of caring, commitment and compassion. In the summer of 1993, this young nurse traveled to Ghana, West Africa to discover what became for her, a personal and professional devotion. Leslie tirelessly dedicated herself to the mission clinic in Kumasi, treating such diseases as malaria, intestinal parasites, guinea worms, sickle cell anemia and malnutrition without the benefit of doctors or modern facilities. She taught the importance of primary and public health care to Ghanians so that they could teach and assist their own people in their own communities.  She also traveled to the Northern Villages to provide education and to care for the sick.

After returning from her first tour abroad, Leslie was elated at her career choice as a nurse in a developing country. It was obvious to those who knew her that her greatest reward and experience was in serving the people of Ghana. She played a vital role in the growth and success of the clinic in Kumasi, and was an important part of that community during her service there. It was in her work as a nurse in Ghana that Leslie felt her calling.

After 14 months of nursing service in Ghana, Leslie died after contracting a virulent form of malaria. Her family shared that she was one, unlike most, who had the courage and love in her heart to travel thousands of miles from her home to a third world county to serve the physical and spiritual needs of those less fortunate.

The qualities that Leslie demonstrated in her role as a nurse caring for underserved populations in Ghana are examples of the kind of commitment, knowledge and compassion that public health nurses practice in a variety of ways. Leslie’s mother, Bonnie, who was an involved public health nurse and the Public Health Nurses Association of Colorado are proud to dedicate this scholarship in honor of the service and dedication that Leslie demonstrated. In honoring the memory of Leslie Groy through the awarding of scholarships to worthy applicants, we illuminate the practice of public health nursing and the potential we all have to touch the lives of so many.