David L. Hubbard Foundation honors a life of service

David L. Hubbard lived a life of service.

After graduating from Rosa A. Temple High School, Hubbard joined the U.S. Army. Later, he met Tommy Lee Jones Wright, who would become his wife and mother of his child, Shonna Morton-Hubbard. Hubbard was deployed to Germany for several years and upon returning to his hometown, Vicksburg, he became a recruiter for the Army. 

This new career led him to work closely with the Warren Central and Vicksburg High School Reserve Officer Training Corps, or ROTC, programs. Hubbard developed a love for the program and worked to help the students until his death in 2007.

To continue his legacy with the ROTC programs, Shonna Hubbard-Morton decided that she would create a foundation in honor of her father.

“The foundation is meant to help ROTC and NJROTC students,” said Hubbard-Morton. “When I moved here, my father was still 100 percent military, and he used to let a lot of young people know what kind of lifestyle they could have in the military. He didn’t go to college right away, but when he was in the army, he did take a few courses. So, years after he passed, in 2016, I thought that since I was an only child and a military brat, I’d create the David L. Hubbard Foundation to create scholarships for JROTC students.”

Today, the foundation is in its fourth year of service and Hubbard-Morton hopes it continues to grow and help more students by awarding scholarships.

“Nine students have received a scholarship so far, and I really want to expand and help students in band, football players—all students really,” she said. “Also, I hope that students who received scholarship awards in the past can come out to our New Year’s Ball, if they’re old enough, and we can start a yearbook.”

Each year, the foundation hosts several annual events to raise funds.

“The New Year’s Eve Ball is our first and last largest event of each year,” she said. “We have that at the Vicksburg City Auditorium, and the next thing we have is in March, and we try to do a fish fry during spring break when people are coming in. Then, between June and July, people bring their clothing to me, and I sell it, and that’s another fundraiser.”

The foundation takes donations year round.

“Mayor George Flaggs and his staff have always supported our foundation financially, and we’re always taking donations,” she said. “Our headquarters are located behind Guarantee Bank at 83 Ridgeview Acres Road, and people can always drop things off there, or contact me to make a donation.”

For more information or to donate to the David L. Hubbard Foundation, email Shonna Morton-Hubbard at s_nails@yahoo.com, or visit the foundation website.