Family Creates Scholarship to Celebrate Beloved Granddaughter

In celebration of MacKenna Milhon’s birthday, her family and the Stuhr Museum Foundation will launch the Alumni Scholarship in Memory of MacKenna Milhon on January 1, 2021.

The purpose of this scholarship is to positively impact the lives of young people. In 19 short years, MacKenna touched many lives through her poised self-confidence, infectious spirit, and boundless generosity.

MacKenna’s star was rising brightly when she was called unexpectedly in December of 2019, just days before her twentieth birthday. However, her cherished memory will continue to positively impact generations of economically disadvantaged youth. The scholarship in her name will ensure free participation and transportation to the Stuhr Museum Summer Adventures program, in collaboration with Grand Island Public Schools.

This generous tribute was made possible by MacKenna’s loving family; grandparents Mike and Annetta Milhon, aunt and uncle Sunny and Kevin Forrest, and an employee nonprofit-match made by Union Pacific Railroad.

“MacKenna was just a red-headed freckle-faced girl who loved Stuhr Museum,” said Mike Milhon.

MacKenna spent each summer vacation in Grand Island with her grandparents, and a highlight of those summers was the time she spent at Stuhr Museum, taking Summer Adventures classes, workshops and participation in the Living History Apprentice (LHA) Program.

Nominations for Stuhr Museum Summer Adventures class scholarships will be accepted by teachers and social workers beginning January 1 for the Summer 2021 program, pending health regulations related to COVID-19.

“We want to celebrate MacKenna’s legacy and spirit,” Mike Milhon said. “Pass the love of Stuhr Museum on in the same spirit that she received it.”

The Milhon and Forrest families find comfort, love, and hope in the many photographs of MacKenna that grace the walls of their homes as an enduring reminder of a life lived to the fullest.

“She was so generous,” Annetta Milhon said. She would send me her Christmas list every year with clothes on it and I’d ask her, ‘Well, where did those boots go? Or, where did that sweatshirt go?’ She would say, ‘Well so-and-so didn’t have shoes, or someone didn’t have a jacket.’”

“If you gave MacKenna something, she was always giving it to someone who had less.”

The Milhon and Forrest families are delighted to provide an opportunity for children “just like MacKenna” to experience the same life-changing joy and character growth by following in her footsteps. If you wish to provide financial support in honor of MacKenna, another Stuhr Museum alumnus or simply to help fund participation in of any of our youth programs, please visit StuhrMuseum.org or call The Stuhr Museum Foundation, 308-385-5316.

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