One of the best parts of the Educational Grants program is witnessing the transformational journey students go through. In four years, they mature into self-sufficient adults who are focused on investing their success back into their communties. Some of our current recipients recently shared updates about their accomplishments and the ways they’re giving back.
Alondra
Eastern Washington University
I have made it on Dean’s List for the past three quarters thanks to the financial support of this scholarship. I am able to focus my energy towards my education, volunteering and supporting causes that I share values with.
This past year, I joined a multicultural sorority that has opened doors for me to learn new things. I have learned about networking and leadership. I am currently volunteering at a homeless shelter in Spokane for women and families. Whenever I go visit home in Bellevue I make sure to do some volunteer work as much as I possibly can. On campus, I have been learning more about food insecurity for college students and have connected students to grocery services to receive free healthy food.
Emily
University of Washington
This scholarship means more than just money to me. This scholarship signifies that I have a community behind me rooting for my success in life. To know that there are people other than my family that see something in me that I have not believed before. To know that I am more than a girl who grew up dependent on social programs to provide me with meals in school. I am able to focus on my school work and pursuing careers I did not know were within my reach growing up.
With my internship I have worked with committees focused on mental health, transportation, and maintaining a fund that helps students with housing and financial instabilities. I have helped to create a resource for students to access all of the health resources that are available to them on campus.
Hailee
Western Washington University
This year, I’ve had the opportunity to write and report for our school newspaper, the Western Front. This past winter I reported on Bellingham’s homelessness crisis. The city that has solely one shelter to provide to a homeless population of 800 on any given night. I learned that the unhoused of Bellingham were choosing to not go to this single shelter because there had been multiple accounts of sexual assaults, violence and theft. After the attention the story received, the city began directly taking action.
