John DeLuca is a tireless supporter of Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) students. His Chesapeake College Foundation fund—the Training, Recruitment, Education, Employment, and Support (T.R.E.E.S.) Scholarship—exclusively supports students in this program with the funds needed for tuition, fees, books, scrubs, and shoes.

Through the generous gifts of Mr. DeLuca and others, the T.R.E.E.S. scholarship has graduated 58 Eastern Shore students in the CNA program since 2016. John’s inspiration? His beloved wife Irene, who resided in a local long-term care facility at the end of her life. “The mission was to make a difference in the lives of those we touched with compassion, caring, dignity, respect, and love through T.R.E.E.S.”

To-date, more than $131,000 has been donated to the T.R.E.E.S. Scholarship fund. T.R.E.E.S. fund creator John DeLuca is the former owner of Delco Packaging Company and is still quite the salesman. Mr. DeLuca personally solicits gifts from friends, family, and acquaintances he meets in the region. “If we as advocates can help provide an opportunity for someone to improve themselves, to upgrade themselves, it’s just the right thing to do,” he says.