Operator Scholarships
Each year AHF is proud to provide scholarships to assist our operator members in attending the AHF Annual Conference thanks to the generous contributions of AHF, our local chapters, members, and most of all valued business partners.
AHF ensures that your conference registration includes all meals, receptions, activities, and all else except for tickets to pre-conference area activities. That means once you are on-site, you won’t have much extra cost to worry about. Let us take care of you for the week!
Download our 2025 Attendance Justification Template Letter to gain support from your administrators for you AND your team to attend AHF 2025. Now is the time to get your professional development included in the budget. The letter can be customized and you can calculate in what the expenses might be using our Registration Page and Hotel Page and whether you or your team will apply for a scholarship or other activities (awards, culinary competition, etc.).
Important Dates
Scholarship recipients will be awarded $550 towards their full conference registration pass. This covers a significant portion of the registration cost and allows us to help as many operators as possible to attend.
Notification of Scholarship Status: Scholarships will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling bases beginning on April 1. Applications will be accepted and reviewed through the end of May, as scholarship funds allow. Apply early to help secure your acceptance. Scholarships are accepted on a first come, first serve basis. Based on available funding, one scholarship will be awarded per site membership. Please have the team member most needing funding to apply for the scholarship.
Scholarship Application Deadline: You must submit your application no later than Sunday, May 25 to be considered.
Registration Deadline: Scholarship recipients must register for the Conference no later than June 20 (early bird deadline). We request that you register as soon as possible. If you receive a scholarship and are no longer able to attend the National Conference, please let us know so we can distribute the scholarship funds to another deserving operator member.
Who Can Apply?
AHF welcomes applications for scholarships from AHF operator members in good standing (meaning dues are up to date). We contribute as much funding and support as we can each year to support operator attendance, however, scholarships may be limited. Please be sure to review the information below to submit your application within our guidelines to be considered. AHF will not accept incomplete applications.
Please note, AHF Chapters sometimes also provide scholarships, so we recommend connecting with your local chapter if you are seeking assistance; find your local chapter HERE.
Other Ways to Pay
Real Foodservice Rewards
AHF and Real Foodservice Rewards have partnered up to make sure you have multiple ways to get access to AHF’s self-operated content. Real Foodservice Reward points can be used to register not only for AHF’s conference but also for AHF membership.
Register with Points 3 Simple Steps:
- Register for conference
- Select “invoice me” as your payment option
- Send your invoice to Real Foodservice Rewards and ask them to pay AHF on your behalf, or email membership@healthcarefoodservice.org and let us know you want to use points to pay for registration.
It’s that easy!
Application & Registration Deadlines
All scholarship applications must be received no later than the deadline noted above. We will not accept applications after this date, so please mark your calendar. This includes applications from member institutions. If you are awarded a scholarship you will be provided with a code to use during the registration process. We will notify you of the status of your scholarship request on a rolling basis beginning on April 1.
If you are awarded a scholarship you must register for the conference no later than the noted deadline (typically before early bird registration closes). No exceptions will be made to the registration deadline. If you miss it we will consider your scholarship forfeited and redistribute it to another operator in need. Thank you for your understanding.
General Guidelines
Please review the scholarship guidelines below. Thank you for your understanding.
- Scholarships are non-transferrable
- To ensure we provide a fair opportunity to all our members, only one employee per site may be awarded a scholarship unless one of those members is on the AHF Board of Directors or the AHF Conference Planning Committee (CPC).
- Complimentary registrations have no cash value, a discount code will be provided to you in advance of registration.
- AHF will not make exceptions to its reimbursement deadline or guidelines, please read below carefully.
Scholarship Requirements
If you are awarded a scholarship of any kind, we kindly ask that you help support AHF in return with the following:
- Promote the 2025 National Conference and encourage other operators to attend. AHF staff will send you sharable social media images, please post them and help us promote the event and gain additional attendees. Use our Social Media Toolkit to find all you need to post and promote: https://ahfconference.org/socialkit/
- Potentially take notes during AHF conferences for AHF staff to use in take-away materials
- Volunteer on an AHF Committee in the coming year (get involved and gain year-round benefits!)
Reimbursement Guidelines
If you are awarded funds to assist with your travel and expenses, please note that reimbursement requests must meet the following guidelines. Thank you for your understanding!
- Reimbursement Deadline: We will accept reimbursement requests until September 12, 2025. There will be no exceptions to this rule, so your reimbursement request MUST be received before this date – please mark your calendar if you are awarded with a scholarship.
- Please send all completed reimbursement forms and itemized receipts to info@healthcarefoodservice.org no later than September 12, 2025. All reimbursement materials must be sent together in one email.
If you have any questions please contact AHF headquarters: