The Shawn Barry Emergency Services Scholarship was established to honor the life, service, and legacy of Shawn Barry by providing financial assistance for training, education, and professional development opportunities to Brunswick County First Responders. The fund seeks to support law enforcement officers, fire fighters, drone pilots, EMS personnel, and other public safety professionals dedicated to serving their communities through continued learning and education.
Shawn Barry dedicated his life to serve. He has had a 21 year career as a police officer, he has been a fireman for the majority of his life, and he has also served as an EMT. Most recently, he worked with the Town of Oak Island to create a nationally recognized drone program that has saved countless lives and assisted in critical emergencies such as fires, missing persons, etc.
Shawn had an amazing vision to create a scholarship fund to assist first responders in Brunswick County, NC, with financial support as they pursued educational opportunities to improve their skills, advance their careers and help them better serve the community.
Efforts are under way to create the legal structure for the scholarship fund, file as a 501c3 and get the website up and going. Until that is set up, donations can be made to Southport Cares who will collect the donations and transfer to the scholarship fund so that we can be in a position to start funding future students as soon as possible.
Click here to donate online. When donating online, use the dropdown box to select “Shawn Barry Emergency Services Scholarship” and we will properly direct your donation.
Checks can be made out to Southport Cares and mailed to the address below.
Southport Cares, Inc.
c/o Southport Fire Department
PO Box 10608
Southport, NC 28461-0608
When contributing via check, include “Shawn Barry Scholarship” in the memo line and we will properly direct your donation.
