Kelsey Yates Memorial Scholarship

09/22/2025

💙🎉 Congratulations to Emily Leister! 🎉💙

Emily is the recipient of the Kelsey Yates Memorial Scholarship at this year’s Kelsey Yates Memorial Barrel Race!

A huge THANK YOU to all of our amazing sponsors and everyone who attended — because of your support, this year’s show raised $8,976 for the scholarship fund! 🙌

Each year, scholarships are awarded to students pursuing careers in the healthcare field, and one special scholarship is awarded here at the memorial barrel race to a barrel racer competing at the show. 🐎✨

We are so proud to continue honoring Kelsey’s memory through these scholarships, and so thankful to everyone who helps make it possible.

We have also awarded TWO MORE scholarships to students pursuing careers in EMS. Keep an eye out next week for their photos and a little bit about them. We truly believe Kelsey would be so proud of the work that is being done in her name to continue growing the career that she loved so much with individuals that are passionate about making a difference just like she was. 💙

08/27/2025

I have had several reach out lately inquiring about scholarships, so we are opening up an application period starting today until September 19th for a $2500 scholarship. Students seeking a certificate/degree in the EMS/healthcare field are eligible. The award will be in the form of a cashier's check payable to the applicant so that it may be used for tuition or books and other things that are not paid to the school. We know that getting an education sometimes has expenses not covered by traditional scholarships. To apply, send a short (one page or less) essay to [email protected] telling us a little about yourself and your "why" or what this career means to you. Winner will be announced on September 20th. If you have any questions, you may contact Jessalyn Parker at 731-441-0556.

Please share this post to help us get the word out about this opportunity!

08/20/2025

✨ Honoring Kelsey Through Saving Lives ✨

On July 16, 2019, our world lost a bright light far too soon. Kelsey was a barrel racer, an AEMT, and on her way to becoming a paramedic. Her heart for service and her passion for helping others meant that saving lives wasn’t just her calling, it was her way of living. 💙

To carry on her legacy, we created the Kelsey Yates Memorial Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting students entering EMS and healthcare. Each donation goes directly toward scholarships that help future first responders, nurses, and healthcare providers continue the mission she loved so deeply.

Every contribution will receive a receipt for the donation that is tax deductible and directly fuels the dreams of those who will go on to save lives in her honor.

If you feel moved, please consider donating today. Together, we can make sure her legacy continues in every life saved by the hands of those we support.
https://charitysmith.org/kelsey-yates-memorial-fund/

Thank you for your support and helping us turn her dream into a lasting impact. 💙

Kelsey Yates Memorial Fund Donate Now Kelsey Yates was an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) and barrel racer, who was scheduled to begin Paramedic school in a couple of weeks, when her life was cut short in 2019 due to a vehicle accident on her way home from her shift as an AEMT. The Kels...

08/14/2024

As we are gearing up for the show this year, we are looking for sponsors to help make it all happen. The KYM Race is the main source of funding for the scholarships that we award throughout the year. If you are interested in sponsoring this year's show, please reach out to Makenzie Flaurr. All of these scholarship opportunities could not happen without amazing people donating their money and their time. We appreciate each and every one!

07/25/2024

Congratulations to the recipients of the Fall 2024 Kelsey Yates Memorial Scholarship! This year's winners are Faith Wallace and McKenzie Scherzinger.

Faith graduated from Camden Central High School in May of 2024 and will be attending The University of Tennessee at Knoxville in the fall to major in nursing. Faith states, "I am deeply committed to pursuing a nursing career, a path that will allow me to extend comfort and hope to those in need. My goal is to become a travel nurse, spreading love and kindness worldwide, especially in underserved areas."

McKenzie graduated from McEwen High School in May of 2023 and will be attending Three Rivers College in the fall to major in nursing. McKenzie states, "I originally wanted to be an EMT, but after I was life-flighted due to a rodeo injury, I knew that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to give other people the same second chance that I was given."

We are honored to be able to help these amazing young ladies continue towards their dream careers and fulfill their passion to help others in need. We know that Kelsey would be excited for them to reach for their goals and to be a part of it.

03/14/2024

Hey friends! Our original page for the scholarship was deleted by Facebook. Rather than fight with getting that page re-established, we elected to create a brand new updated page. I have also linked the website with information on the scholarship, barrel race, and all things Kelsey Yates Memorial related as well as a tribute to the beautiful soul that we were so lucky to know and love. The site is still in progress, but we will be sure to post when it goes live. We are so grateful to our friends that are working so hard to get that developed for us! Check out our pinned post on this page for information about the scholarship and how to apply. We would also appreciate if you helped us out and shared this page with your friends! We will be posting updates here about the scholarship and the barrel race as well as some memories and tributes to Kelsey.

03/14/2024

Kelsey Jordan Yates served her community as an Advanced EMT and had just received her acceptance letter to Jackson State Community College’s Paramedic program to further her education and progress in her career. Providing excellent care to her patients was something that she was very passionate about, and she was very excited to advance her licensure, gaining the education and skills that came along with that. Her ultimate goal was to work hard and obtain the knowledge and experience needed to pursue a career as a Flight Paramedic working Helicopter EMS. Unfortunately, this was a dream that she did not get the opportunity to complete before leaving this world on July 16, 2019.

To keep Kelsey’s dream alive and make it a possibility for others, her family elected to create an opportunity at her funeral services for those that loved her to make a monetary contribution in lieu of flowers and use that money to award a scholarship to an aspiring EMS student. We anticipated raising a few hundred dollars or so and award this to a student the following year to help them achieve their dream of working in the career that Kelsey loved so much. What we did not anticipate was the overwhelming response to this opportunity by those that knew and loved her. There were contributions made by many individuals as well as local businesses. Benton County Farmer’s Co-Op and Sweet Jordan’s Coffee Co and Bakery held special events where a percentage of sales were donated to the cause. An annual barrel race was started by her friends to raise scholarship funds while honoring Kelsey’s other love of horses and barrel racing. Because of this amazing response, her scholarship was not just a one-time award, but rather has become an ongoing opportunity to get people started in or advance their EMS careers. Because of the success of the barrel race each year in raising funds, additional awards have been added. We are now able to provide scholarships to those that are going to school for EMS as well as awarding scholarships to college students that participate in the barrel race. By doing this, we are able to help Kelsey help those in healthcare as well as barrel racers. We know that she would be ecstatic that by helping those involved in these two worlds she loved so much, she is helping “her people.”

To apply for the scholarship, students must send an e-mail to [email protected] with their full name, contact information, school/program attending, and attach a Word document with a short essay of one page or less. Students may choose from one of the following topics for their essay: Why I Want to be an EMT/Nurse/etc OR What a Career in EMS/Nursing/etc Means to Me.

Essays should be submitted to the above e-mail address no later than June 30, 2024. Winners will be chosen and notified no later than July 20, 2024, so that arrangements can be made to present the award.