FORT LEE, Va. — Now in its 12th year, the Scholarships for Military Children has awarded more than $10 million to 6,742 children of Defense Commissary Agency commissary patrons applications for the 2013 Scholarships for Military Children Program are available Monday at commissaries worldwide. You can also find them online through a link at www.commissaries.com and at www.militaryscholar.org.

Scholarship awards are based on funds available, but the scholarship program awards at least $1,500 at each commissary. If there are no eligible applicants from a particular commissary, the funds designated for that commissary are awarded as an additional scholarship at another store.

The scholarship program was created to recognize military families’ contributions to the readiness of the United States armed forces and celebrate the commissary’s role in the military community.

To apply for a scholarship, the student must be a dependent, an unmarried child, younger than 21 — or 23, if enrolled as a full-time student at a college or university — of a service member on active duty, Reserve, Guard, retiree or survivor of a military member who died while on active duty or survivor of a retiree. Eligibility is determined using the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System database.

Applicants should ensure that they, as well as their sponsor, are enrolled in the DEERS database and have a current military ID card. The applicant must also be planning to attend or already be attending an accredited college or university, full time, in the fall of 2013 or be enrolled in a program of studies designed to transfer directly into a four-year program.

Applicants must submit an essay on a topic chosen by the Fisher House. The 2013 essay topic is “Discuss in detail how one of the First Ladies (since 1933) has made an impact on a social issue in the United States.”

Essays must be 500 words or less, typewritten or computer-generated, double spaced, no longer than two pages and stapled to the application. Applicant’s name must be in the upper right-hand corner of each page of the essay.

Applications must be turned in to a commissary by close of business Feb. 22.

The scholarship program is administered by Fisher House Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to service members and their families.

Scholarship Managers, a national, nonprofit, scholarship-management services organization, manages and awards the military scholarships. If students have questions about the scholarship program application, call Scholarship Managers at (856) 616-9311 or email militaryscholar@scholarshipmanagers.com.

No government funds are used to support the Scholarships for Military Children Program. Commissary vendors, manufacturers, brokers, suppliers and the general public donate money to fund the program. Every dollar donated goes directly to funding the scholarships.