When Anthony Fiore first heard about the World Affairs Council of Greater Reading, he was immediately intrigued.
“It interested me,” he said. “There was this group that met once a week to discuss world affairs? There wasn’t really anything else like that.”
A freshman at Wilson High School at the time, Fiore had already developed a passion for public policy and current affairs. He had seen the impact of government firsthand, having joined with state Sen. Katie Muth to help pass legislation that mandated schools across Pennsylvania have AED defibrillator machines on hand.
The topic was important to Fiore, who throughout his high school career volunteered as a firefighter and EMT in Spring Township. And seeing his efforts impact public policy had a major impact on him.
“That’s what really got my drive going,” he said, adding that the experience led him to continue to work in Muth’s office and volunteer for the campaign of U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan.
Fiore was his first foray into public policy, so when an opportunity to learn more about the government and world arose he jumped at the chance.
He began attending the organization’s monthly luncheons, where experts spoke about all sorts of topics. And he began taking part in the discussions those events evoked.
“To me, the most important thing I got from it was the civil discourse,” he said. “It allowed us to have these conversations that we wouldn’t have elsewhere. It was good conversations every month.”
When Fiore neared the end of his high school career this spring, he set his sites on heading to college to study topics similar to what he was exposed to by the World Affairs Council. He ended up enrolling at the University in Delaware, majoring in public policy.
That made him a perfect candidate for the Alan Miller Scholarship, which he was awarded in May.
The scholarship was founded in honor of the late Alan Miller, a former Berks County solicitor and active member of the World Affairs Council.
“As an organization, we were thinking about what we could do that would provide a lasting remembrance of Alan and the contributions he made, not only to World Affairs but to the greater Berks County community and beyond,” said Nevin Hollinger, a World Affairs Council board member.
The idea behind the council, Hollinger said, is to help people become more knowledgeable and thoughtful about world affairs. And reaching out to students was the perfect way to do that.
The council has to date awarded a total of $3,200 to 26, the most recent of whom was Fiore. In order to fund the program, the council six years ago introduced a new annual event.
The Pub Global Trivia contest brings together teams to compete in answering a variety of world affairs related topics.
The seventh annual addition of the contest, now the scholarship program’s principal fundraiser, will be held Oct. 24 at Sly Fox Taphouse in Wyomissing starting at 5:30 p.m. It will feature 10 preregistered teams.
Anyone interested in attending the event as a cheerleader can purchase tickets at wacreading.org.
