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(Photo by Miranda Kruse Bunnell)
The Coral Gables Community Foundation again has escalated its support for college scholarships in 2023 with awards totaling more than $400,000.
The growth is attributed to generous, engaged and visionary fund holders joining the Foundation to award more scholarships than ever.
Eighty-eight high-school senior students were presented 96 scholarship awards totaling $419,500 from 19 scholarship funds: Coral Gables Community Foundation Scholarship; Coral Gables Culinary Arts Scholarship; Grant and Bridget Daugherty Nursing Scholarship; Dr. Thomas E. Deal Medical Scholarship; Garcia Perseverance Scholarship; Coral Gables Bar Association Scholarship in Memory of Ervin Gonzalez; (new) 1980 Cavaliers Boys Soccer State Championship Scholarship in memory of Team Captain Bruce Hayes; Kerdyk Family Trust Music Scholarship; Ralph V. Moore Scholarship for Cavalier Excellence; Julian Perez Memorial Scholarship; Dave Ragan Jr. Memorial Golf Scholarship; Rotary Foundation of Coral Gables Scholarship; Shine Bright Scholarship; Jeannett Slesnick Community Spirit Scholarship; Luke Sturgill Memorial Scholarship; Lady Suzanna P. Tweed Scholarship; (new) Peter and Aymee Zubizarreta First Generation Student Scholarship; Mitchell Zuñiga Scholarship; and (new) Walter & Alma Vogel Memorial Scholarship.
Dignitaries, foundation board members, donors and scholarship recipients and their families celebrated at the annual Scholarship Reception hosted jointly with the City of Coral Gables at The Biltmore Hotel Coral Gables.
Education is a top priority in Coral Gables, as evidenced by the visionary and generous individual fund holders behind the scholarships. Scholarships created in 2023 include:
1980 Cavaliers Boys Soccer State Championship Scholarship in memory of Team Captain Bruce Hayes. Commissioner Kirk Menendez created a fund to memorialize Hayes, who played who passed away in 2022.
Zubizarreta First Generation Scholar. Foundation board member Peter Zubizarreta and spouse, Aymee, created a scholarship fund to give a boost to a student whose family had no opportunity to attend college.
Walter & Alma Vogel Memorial Science & Music Scholarship. Created by Merrick Society donor Lori Thomas in honor of her parents and to encourage the study of technology and music topics in college.
Generous support from donors has created annual awards within the Coral Gables Community Foundation Scholarship awards. The Batchelor Foundation has supported the Scholarship Program for several years, and the Kirk Foundation supported the awards again this year.
The Foundation is privileged to announce that Coral Gables High student Gian Carlos Torres is the inaugural R. Kirk Landon Scholar, which memorializes the influential Coral Gables businessman and philanthropist who passed away in 2015. Torres was presented a four-year scholarship by the businessman’s grandson Kirk Landon Staley. Coral Gables Community Foundation is fortunate to work with the Kirk Foundation to remember a giant in our community in this special way.“Each year, the Coral Gables Community Foundation has the privilege of honoring students who have excelled academically and shown outstanding service to their community,” said Venny Torre, chair of the foundation’s board and CEO of Torre Construction and Development, adding that he believes that today’s scholarship recipients will be the ones awarding even larger scholarships years from now.
“The generosity of our fund holders and donors has allowed us to invest over one million dollars in our community’s education – in just the last three years” said Matthew Meehan, Scholarship Committee chair and foundation board member.
Meehan concluded the ceremony with a challenge to the students to give back to the community that has supported them and to use their education and skills to make a difference by paying it forward to the next generation.
2023 SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES
Mariam Aguilar Tantilova; Ariana S. Alvarez; Gloria Arce; Brianna J. Babani; Elise Ballart; William ‘Trip’ Beardslee; Nicole D Bohlmann; Halona Bosca; Isabella Busquets; Mia V. Cabrera; Luciana M. Callegari; Armando Camejo; Marta Camps-Gonzalez; Emanuel R. Cartagena; Juan D. Castillo; Gian Castro; Maria J. Cestero; Florian Chevalier; Lucia M. Chico; Christy N. Concepcion; Adriel A. Cortes; Samuel B. Cruz; Mercedes Del Toro; Marina C. Devine Guzman; Brianna Duardo; Maria J. Duarte; Joseph Enriquez; Yinelys D. Esquivel; Avery I Felix; Cheryl Fiffe; Brittany L. Fuenmayor; Diego Gomez Bello; Kevin A. Hernandez; William B. Hudson; Nathaniel Leiva; Ana Leon; Fabio A. Lerma; Edglhys Junior Lopez; Paola A. Lopez Rojas; Joshua P. Makeyra; Jorge E. Marin; Gabriela A. Martinez; Glenis G. Mendoza; Ana Menendez; Ihtzel P. Michel; Gabriella Mohammed; Camila Mojica; Alexa V. Monsalve; James L. Montejo; Isabella S. Morales; Samantha Morales; Sarai Moro; Genessis Naranjo; Mariana Nieto Reyes; Carla Nunez Baullosa; Yulian D. Ochoa; Abril Orejon; Lorenzo A. Orellana; Japheth Oluwajuwonlo Oyedepo; Lucas Paez; Camila S. Pena; Edgar Perez Vizcaino; Casey J’nae Ramirez; Michelle Raudez; Melissa M. Requeny; Melissa M. Requeny; Francesca Rico; Jacqueline Rodero; Sofia Alexandra Rodriguez; Sofia Angelica Rodriguez; Marcela A. Rondon; Marcos Y. Rosello; Arcenio Saballos; Camila V. Salazar Bodas; Alejandro Sandelis; Rafael J. Sans; Thalia Sautie; Mayolet Sena; Audrey Simon; Jahmyra L. Smikle; Samuel B. Sommer; Ivan Stanovici; Gian C. Torres; Ariadne Torres; Grace A. Urbita; Alaina Villalonga; Sarah H. Whalen, and Grace Zaky.
About the scholarship program
The Coral Gables Community Foundation is honored to partner with fundholders to administer several scholarship funds in the community as well as manage the foundation’s own scholarship funds. The foundation and its fundholders proudly have awarded over $1.6 million in scholarships including $1 million in just the past three years.
About Coral Gables Community Foundation
Established in 1991, the Coral Gables Community Foundation inspires impactful philanthropy through charitable funds and programs using local knowledge, expertise and trusted relationships. More at www.GablesFoundation.org.
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