Scholarships

When Livia suddenly passed in 2014, we had no idea  that 3 years later; we would be embarking upon a new journey of giving back, to honor her memory!

In 2017, The Stilke Family decided to honor and acknowledge kids; who like Livia and Mason , overcome life's challenges.  Being parents, we saw the daily impact that a rare disease can do to a child and the stress it causes.  Amid doctor appointments , tons of blood draws, testing, specialist visits; it got to be stressful.  But Liv and Mason always saw the bright side of life, and always taught Dave and I the true meaning of courage, strength and perseverance.  

Through our journey of grief, we realized that we no longer could look forward to the many milestones she would have and of course the day Livia went to college.  Something she talked about often when making our many trips through the UWM campus for doctor visits. 

It took us 3 years, but we decided to pay it forward.  Knowing how our children, despite their health issues, stayed optimistic and rose above the many challenges life threw at them; we chose to honor kids facing the same challenges.   

Each year, we ask for each applicant to write a brief story about their health challenges and how they persevered over them.  Every year, the response is unreal.  It is always so hard to choose just two and someday, we hope to be able to extend the scholarship program into something much bigger.

We know as adults, life can get scary.  Now imagine, you are a kid, diagnosed with a health issue and you still have to go to go to school and try to keep up with everything going on around you.  Our two children have always taught us so much more than we ever imagined; and truth be told, these kids who apply for our scholarships are going to do amazing things with their lives!  It was time for us to acknowledge these kids and honor all that they have been through.  

We couldn't do any of this without your help from our generous supporters.  YOU help us make these kids dreams come true!  Thank  you for your support in helping us not only honor Livia, but to help someone else's child reach their goals!