Jr. Women’s Club distributes 14 scholarships

Fourteen Canyon Lake young women have received scholarships from the Canyon Lake Junior Women’s Club as part of the club’s annual distribution of funds raised for this purpose. The recipients are Canyon Lake grads who are intending to further their education this fall at colleges throughout the country.

“They embody the spirit of Canyon Lake,” club member Sonja Kehnt Garibay said. “They are leaders, philanthropists, athletes and scholars all rolled into one.”

Those chosen to receive the scholarships (and their intended colleges and majors) are Ryleigh Barckley – Boise State (Sports Medicine), Sydney Cook – CSULB (RN), Kirsten Ha – UCI (Pre Med, ENT), Kaitlyn Crippen – CSULB (RN), Destiney Loney – CBU (Pediatric PA), Brianna Martilla – UCLA (STEM), Amanda Martilla – UCSD (Teacher), Avalon (Ava) Monroe – UCR (Medical), Cassidy Potter – Kansas SU (News Anchor/ Media), Ally Quinn – Northern Arizona (Teacher), Ariana Shah – San Jose St (Global Studies), Abby Siroky – Cal Poly SLO (Sports Trainer), Cheyenne Stetson – CSUF (Theater Arts) and Miranda Zinda – CSUSM (Teacher).

Each young woman was awarded a scholarship based on their grades, community recommendations and essay.

The club asked each applicant to submit an essay explaining: “How have you been positively affected by living in Canyon Lake?, How have you positively affected Canyon Lake? and What have you done to leave your footprint in our great community?”

The Junior Women’s Club does not just award scholarships to young women and wish them luck. Members intend on having an active presence through each of their first years of college. Each scholarship recipient was given a mentor from the club to touch base with her monthly during her first year of college in order to encourage her and to be someone she can lean on, if needed.

The Canyon Lake Junior Women’s Club has been fundraising in order to spread goodwill throughout Canyon Lake for many years. The club was originally founded in order to give back to the community, Sonja said. Every year the club raises money to give to local school sports teams, children who need funds to help pay for extracurricular activities, Lake Elsinore Friends of the Valley and Canyon Lake graduating high school seniors.

The Junior Women’s Club spends time throughout the year fundraising in order to pay for the many ways it gives back to the community. The club’s major fundraising events are its annual golf tournament, casino bus trip and Oktoberfest.

Sonja said she spends a lot of her time visiting online community forums just to find needs in the community for the club to support. The club qualified as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity within the last few years, she said.