Rotarians at the Rivard-Simmons Rotary Event Center in Brandon issued college scholarships and a check to the University of South Florida (USF) Rotaract club.
“It’s wonderful to see the youth we have coming up in this town,” said Joe Campoamor of Lithia, president of the Rotary Club of Brandon’s charity committee, at the club’s June 18 meeting. “We had 19 scholarship applicants, and it’s amazing to see the great service-oriented things the kids are doing.”
USF Rotaract President Suhas ‘Sue’ Das accepted on behalf of his Rotary International service club a check for $1,200, noting the club’s 400 events and 8,900 service hours.
“Trust me, this may not seem like a lot to you guys, but this is almost half our budget,” Das said.
Collectively, Rotary’s eight scholarship recipients reported 2,005 community service hours. It reported as well on its scholarship applications’ weighted grade-point averages (WGPA).
Off to Florida Gulf Coast University is Brooke Ura, a Seffner Christian Academy graduate (4.1 WGPA, 157 hours). Ura is the first recipient of the $2,500 Sharon S. Sellers Memorial Scholarship, given in remembrance of the wife of John Sellers, a longtime Rotarian.
Five students each received $2,000 scholarships, including Olivia Davis from Newsome High School in Lithia, with 606 service hours. Davis updated her WGPA at the meeting, from 5.8 to 6.29. She is set to attend the University of Central Florida. Also from Newsome, headed to Florida Southern College, Jocelyn Maidens (5.5 WGPA, 103 service hours) received a $1,000 scholarship.
Three students from Durant High School in Plant City each received a $2,000 scholarship. They are Ryleigh Butz (6.2 WGPA, 336 hours, Auburn University), Anai Hernandez (5.1 WGPA, 107 hours, Florida Polytechnic University) and Andrew Walls (6.7 WGPA, 175 hours, University of Florida).
Zakiyah Adams, a graduate of Spoto High School in Riverview who is off to Florida A&M University, received $1,000 and reported 160 service hours (Adams updated her WGPA at the meeting from 6.9 to 7.3). Off to Howard University, Tampa Bay Tech graduate Divonna Smith received $2,000 and reported a 6.5 WGPA and 361 service hours.
“Seeing the faces of these recipients, all we can say is, stay involved,” said Rotarian Tim Ryan, the Rotary Club of Brandon’s incoming president. “We’re all in this room for one reason: friendship. Giving back to the community, this is why we do what we do.”
The club meets on Tuesdays at 12 Noon at the clubhouse, which is available for event rentals. For more information, visit www.brandonrotary.org or call Larry Fassett at 813-767-5803.
