(upbeat music) - The Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation provides financial support, peer-to-peer mentoring, and other resources to empower young scholars pursuing STEM careers.

Dr. Barbara Wirostko Morelli is here to tell us more.

Hi, Barbara, welcome.

- Hi, Mary.

Thank you so much for having me.

- So tell me why you founded the organization.

- So it was really a knee jerk to a loss.

So our son was at Montana State University pursuing mechanical engineering, and that's relevant to why we do STEM, and he was killed in a car accident as a junior.

And everybody wants to help you.

So a friend of mine said, "Have you thought about starting a scholarship?"

Because I said, "I don't want all these people "to put money towards flowers that were gonna die."

And there's only so much edible fruit you can eat.

So we started with the Park City Community Foundation.

We thought we were doing really well.

Our first year we offered $3,000 to roughly two students.

We had eight applicants.

And now going into our tenth year in honor of our son who was severely dyslexic and who was missed until high school, we've now awarded over half a million dollars to 189 kids around the country.

And it's really been an incredible journey.

- That's great.

And I want you to talk about the importance of mentoring and creating a community 'cause it is aimed at those with dyslexia.

- And when we first started, we thought we were doing really well just by giving some financial support, which, of course, is very much appreciated and needed for these students.

But what we realized, the majority of our students have heard their entire lives that they're not working hard enough, they are not smart enough.

They have been told they should not go to college, that they should not pursue a career, which is what we heard with Joseph.

We were told in high school that he was not high school material.

- Wow.

Look what a difference you're making, and thank you so much for what you're doing.

- Thank you.

- And if you'd like to know more about the foundation, the Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation, and how to perhaps apply for a scholarship, go to www.morelli.foundation, www.morelli.foundation.

I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching "Contact."

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