The Apollo Beach Woman’s Club (ABWC) has been serving the community since 1959. The club’s primary objectives are to promote sociability among its members, work toward the advancement of womankind and provide scholarships for education and training of students who live in Apollo Beach and the surrounding areas with a demonstrated financial need.
This year, the ABWC was able to award $12,000 in college scholarships to eight students from East Bay and Lennard high schools. The scholarships were funded due to the generous donations of club members and donations from the Estate of Betty Fay, Marion LoVerde, Eileen Sengstock, family of Sonja Davidson and Nancy Vance.
All recipients are attending a four-year Florida university, and received $1,500 to be used for tuition, books and lab fees. The recipients and a parent were honored at the May 11 luncheon at the Moose Lodge in Ruskin along with their guidance counselors.
To be eligible, the scholarship applicant must be assigned to attend either East Bay or Lennard High Schools, plan to attend a Florida college or university and submit a completed application by the deadline. All applicants must meet the club’s stated scholarship criteria: show financial need, outstanding scholastic accomplishments, extracurricular activities, leadership roles, two recommendations, a 500-word student essay and the required community service hours.
The winners were Samantha Prete (Lennard HS, University of Central Florida, business/fine arts), Hope Tepfer (Lennard HS, Florida State University, marketing/entrepreneurship), Lauren Mercer (East Bay HS, University of Central Florida, physical therapy), Tatyannah Santos-Lopez (East Bay HS, University of Central Florida, legal studies/prelaw), Matthew Hummel (East Bay HS, Florida A & M University, computer science), Nathan Kimmel (East Bay HS, University of Central Florida, electrical engineering), Anthony Durden (Lennard HS, Florida A&M University, business) and Kailyn Batista (Lennard HS, University of Central Florida, finance).
For the first time this year, scholarships were also awarded during the May luncheon to two local women, Martha Alfaro and Rachel Martinez, who have returned to college to continue their education. Rachel is pursuing an online degree in counseling at Colorado Christian University and Martha is finishing a nursing degree at Hillsborough Community College. The money for these scholarships was raised through the ABWC Woman’s Advancement Committee.
If you wish to get acquainted with the ABWC, attend any events (resuming September 2022) or join the club, visit www.apollobeachwomansclub.com or contact Liz Pedersen, ABWC second vice president of membership, at 813-777-8215 or kenlizpedersen@msn.com.
