The Rotary Club of Paso Robles recently awarded over $94,000 in scholarships to local high school seniors. Rotary Club of Paso Robles Scholarship Chair Scott Laycock and Club President Bob Vilhauer presented a total of $92,360 in 18 scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 at a scholarship award event held at Paso Robles High School on June 6. The smaller scholarships were for graduates planning to attend Cuesta College while the largest $10,000 scholarships were multi-year awards for students planning on attending 4-year universities.
The Rotary Club of Paso Robles also hosted the scholarship winners and their families to their weekly lunch meeting on Thursday June 13, where they were recognized by all club members for their outstanding scholastic achievements. The recipients shared their plans for continuing their education with those in attendance. Rotary Club of Paso Robles Scholarship Chair Scott Laycock noted:
“the accomplishments of the scholarship applicants are truly amazing, making selection of the winners by the club’s Scholarship Selection Committee challenging but very fulfilling.”
These scholarships are enabled by the annual Paso Robles Rotary Winemakers’ Cookoff, the largest fundraiser put on by the Rotary Club of Paso Robles each year. All proceeds from this event go to the Harlow Ford Scholarship Fund dedicated to funding scholarships for local high school seniors at Paso Robles High School and Liberty High School to attend trade schools, community colleges, and universities. To date, the Paso Robles Rotary Winemakers’ Cookoff has raised over $1,000,000. This year’s 25th annual event will be held on Saturday, August 10, at the Paso Robles Event Center.
In addition to these scholarships, the Rotary Club of Paso Robles awarded an additional $2,000 in Legacy scholarships through the club’s Youth Fund.
About Rotary International
Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.4 million members of more than 46,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary members improve lives and bring positive, lasting change to communities around the world by promoting peace, fighting disease (like the mission for the global eradication of polio), providing clean water and sanitation, supporting education, saving mothers and children, growing local economies, and protecting the environment.