Scholarship created in honor of fallen Kansas City paramedic Graham Hoffman
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Graham Hoffman will continue to help others, even after his death.
HeroFundUSA, Inc. created the Graham Hoffman Firefighter Paramedic Scholarship Fund. The scholarship will be awarded to people pursuing accredited firefighter or paramedic training programs in the Kansas City metro.
The Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association plans to help fund the scholarship. Participating restaurants across the Kansas City area plan to donate a portion of their sales from Saturday, May 3, to the scholarship fund.
Sam Silvio is the owner of Em Chamas Brazilian Grill; he comes from a family full of firefighters and is one of the owners who is raising funds for the scholarship.
“My brother was working that evening and was the acting chief and captain of the station that Graham was assigned to that evening when he was working overtime,” Silvio said.
After Hoffman’s tragic passing, they knew they wanted to do something, so they called Darrell Smith, the CEO of HeroFundUSA, a non-profit that supplies safety gear for first responders.
“We were putting our heads together on how we could raise money and where we could contribute it to,” Silvio said. “That’s when we came up with his scholarship. It’s a way to keep his memory alive. Hopefully out of something like this, something really good can happen in the future.”
Within the hour, people started donating.
“We want this to also encourage other young people who want to enter the first responder field particularly, to apply for a scholarship to paramedic school to train to do what Graham Hoffman has done for his community,” Smith said.
Both Smith and Silvio said it’s important to remember that every day, first responders risk their own lives to protect ours.
“One of the things we encourage people to do is whatever you do when you hear a siren, stop what you’re doing and say a little prayer, not only for the people that the first responders are going to help but pray for those first responders too,” Smith said.
A full list of restaurants participating in the fundraiser will soon be provided.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to Hoffman’s scholarship fund, but can’t make it a participating restaurant, can also donate online.
The 29-year-old died on April 27, while trying to help a patient. He was working overtime for the Kansas City Fire Department at the time of his death.
Hoffman’s funeral is scheduled to take place Friday afternoon at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri. Visitation begins at 11 a.m. with the funeral starting at 1 p.m.
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