A New Iberian’s commitment to helping local outdoorsmen conserve, restore and manage wetlands and other waterfowl habitat in North America was rewarded with a $500 scholarship from Ducks Unlimited.

Jerry Mullen, a freshman at LSU who graduated from Catholic High School, where he excelled as a three-sport athlete, was the recipient of the DU Varsity Scholarship. Mullen said he appreciates the financial help as he studies as an agriculture business major.

“I mean, every little bit helps, especially with buying books and everything,” the 18-year-old outdoorsman said Tuesday night.

Before leaving for Baton Rouge, Mullen served as a volunteer on the banquet committee for the New Iberia Ducks Unlimited Chapter. He started volunteering as a junior and fit the extra workload in between studies, football, track and field as a shot putter and tennis.

“It was fun, though. I didn’t mind it at all,” he said.

Jason Foster of New Iberia, chapter chairman, appreciated the service from Mullen and Mullen’s friend, Ben Hymel. Foster’s idea at the time was to recruit Green Wings and high school students into Ducks Unlimited, he said.

His goal was to get the younger generation involved with the local chapter, he said the first week of September after the announcement of the scholarships awarded by DU. Mullen and Hymel paved the way.

“A major force for any local chapter is to replenish the elder generation with fresh blood, passing the torch, if you will,” Foster said.

He was proud of Mullen, who led the influx of high school students on the committee.

Mullen, an offensive lineman and defensive lineman who started as a senior in the state championship game in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, said he completed the application for the scholarship around Christmas time in 2018. He got the good news in late summer.

“Oh, I was excited. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get it,” he said.

Mullen, the son of Greg and Ellen Mullen, was the only DU National Scholarship Program recipient from Louisiana.

Derrick Davis of Lafayette, DU’s senior regional director for Region 3, was proud the lone scholarship winner in the state hailed from the New Iberia Ducks Unlimited Chapter.

“I think he’s a great young man who always goes above and beyond. He’s been helping, along with his father, in the New Iberia chapter. It’s awesome to see young men doing things in the community, being actively involved,” Davis said early last week.

“I think it’s great, period, for DU to offer that. As people know, it’s getting more and more expensive to go to college,” he said.

Sixty-one scholarships were doled out. Applications were reviewed by a volunteer selection committee appointed by the Advisory Senior Vice President to the National Youth & Education Committee.

The breakdown for the scholarships levels:

. 50 Varsity Scholarships ($500)

. 10 Conservation Scholarships ($1,000)

. 1 National Scholarship ($10,000).

Texas boasted seven students who were awarded $500 Varsity Scholarships.

Among the scholarship winners were 11 young women, including two $1,000 Conservation Scholarship recipients in Alyssa Creech of North Carolina and Anna Carlson of Missouri.

The $10,000 National Scholarship winner was William Anderson of North Carolina.

Mullen, an avid duck hunter, was able to get away from campus and make a hunt during the special teal hunting season that opened Sept. 14. He went with friends last weekend to Forked Island.

“We didn’t do too bad,” he said.

He began going to DU general membership banquets as a young boy. He had a message to Green Wings.

“I just say do as much as you can. You never know when it’ll pay off like it did me with a scholarship. It usually does pay off,” he said.