History and Vision of the Heid Scholarship Foundation
Orange County Businesswoman and Santa Ana High School Alumni Joan Heid founded the Dennis John Heid Memorial Foundation in 2009 after years of contemplation about how she could make the best and biggest impact on her community. Assisted by her lifelong friends Richard and Susan Hawley, she formed the Foundation in memory of her brother, whose life was cut short at 19 by cancer. Rich, having a background in accounting and Susan, having a background in education were incredible assets in the formation and execution of the Foundation. All three had an amazing college experience at the University of Southern California, and having been given the tools through education to succeed, their hope was to perpetuate access to higher education to a promising, ethical, and goal-oriented High School Senior. Joan’s philosophy that education is the key to a better society drove her to create the scholarship foundation that serves the community she and her siblings grew up in. Joan, in the last seven years of her life, was committed to finding and assisting hardworking, deserving high school candidates that, without the help of the Foundation, would find it extremely difficult to live out their dreams of a college education at their school of choice and graduate free of debt. Although she passed away from cancer herself in 2016, the Foundation continues to fulfill her vision of more access to education in her memory.
The Foundation currently offers three types of scholarships. The Heid Scholarship is a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board, supplies, books, and tutoring. The Hawley Spirit award, named for Richard and Susan Hawley who were instrumental in the creation and operations of the Foundation, is a set amount scholarship awarded to students for use at the University of their choice, and is also in memory of Richard Hawley who passed in 2016. The Denny Award is a $1,000 scholarship for use at the students’ University of their choice.