Two aspiring sheriff’s deputies recently received scholarship awards to help them in attending the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Academy, sponsored by the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department at Jamestown Community College.
Luke James Papke, a 2019 Salamanca High School graduate, and Dezmine Adams, a 2019 Olean High School graduate, each received $1,500 from Deputy Wayne Krieger and Carol Krieger Memorial Scholarship in support of their education at the sheriff’s academy.
This fund, established in memory of Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Krieger and also memorializing Mr. Krieger’s wife, Carol Krieger, supports an annual scholarship for a student attending the Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Academy.
This fund also supports a scholarship benefitting graduating seniors of Cattaraugus County and Allegany County high schools intending to study criminal justice, with a preference for a student who is a BOCES criminal justice student. Area students will be able to apply for this award beginning February 1 at cattfoundation.org/apply-for-scholarships.
Both Papke and Adams went on to earn an associate degree in criminal justice at Jamestown Community College in 2022 and are continuing their pursuit of a career in law enforcement through the academy.
Through law enforcement training both Papke and Adams said they have learned more about themselves and grew into more well-rounded and inspired people.
“During my law enforcement training I have been physically pushed to the limits of my body and been taught to fight the instinct to give up, when I thought I couldn't anymore,” said Adams. “… I have learned that the only limitations a person has in life are the ones they set on themselves.”
Papke echoed a similar sentiment
“The first couple of weeks [of academy] were extraordinarily hard mentally and physically for me,” he said. I have worked very hard inside and outside the academy, and learned my body is much stronger than my mind. It hasn’t just strengthened me physically, but it has also built my confidence up immensely.”
Since 2014, the Krieger scholarship fund has made possible over $20,000 in scholarships for young adults pursuing careers in law enforcement.
Donations can be made to the Deputy Wayne Krieger and Carol Krieger Memorial Scholarship fund at CRCF, 301 North Union St., Suite 203 in Olean, or online at cattfoundation.org
Established in 1994, the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation is growing good by connecting donors to the causes they care about most in the region. Grants from the foundation support many areas, including education, scholarships, health care, the arts, community development, human service, and youth development. To learn more, call (716) 301-CRCF (2723), email [email protected], or visit online at www.cattfoundation.org. CRCF is also on Facebook (facebook.com/cattfoundation) and Twitter (@CattFoundation).
