click here for the 2021 Scholarship Recipients​

Jada Malott (St. Joe's High School) Highlights & Achievements
    Jada’s passion for helping others began at the young age of 11 when she realized that children her age, as well as many others, were being affected by the Flint MI water crisis. As a grade six student, she planned and organized a fundraiser which led to over 1000 cases of water being delivered to Flint. From that moment on, she decided to use her voice and determination to create change in all that she believes in. Representing the voices of over 20,000 students, Jada is currently one of two student trustees at the WECDSB. She is the co-chair of the WECDSB Student Senate and the 2021-22 western-regional representative for the Ontario Student Trustees Association. As president of the Social Justice Club, she organizes can drives, menstrual hygiene product drives, and mental health initiatives. She is also the host of the National Day of Mourning, representing youth workers who have died or been injured on the job. By sticking up for what she believes in, Jada organized a letter-writing campaign to get the Prime Minister’s attention, which led to a one-on-one meeting, about how decisions in Ottawa were affecting manufacturing in Windsor. She has also met and expressed her concerns to Federal NDP Jagmeet Singh on a variety of issues. As a volunteer at the Unemployed Help Centre (UHC), Jada became aware of the lack of access to menstrual products and the large issue we are facing in our community. In 9th grade, she pitched a fundraising idea to her principal, and in the first year of running Tampon Tuesday, they collected over 500 boxes of product. By reaching out to other schools and informing them of the issue, Jada has added 18 schools to the Tampon Tuesday fundraiser. Taking it a step further, Jada put forward the motion to the school board that menstrual hygiene products were made available to students in the washrooms via dispensers at no cost. It passed unanimously and the province committed to providing these products in all schools under their own program. Continuing the movement, Jada and her father approached the Windsor city council with the same idea. After eight months of meetings, planning, and executing, the city announced that Windsor will be rolling out a 1-year pilot program to test providing period products at no cost in 6 city locations. In 2018, Jada was the youngest recipient of the United Way’s 40 under 40 awards. Her references were proud to attest to her strong work ethic and passion for helping others. Tracey Ramsey, Member of Parliament, stated, “Her genuine concern for others is always evident along with her fierce determination to make their lives better.”

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR

2022 BE A GEM SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Congratulations Jada Malott
$2,500 Scholarship Recipient!

​ Emily Truman (Homeschool) Highlights & Achievements     
As a homeschooled student, with over 1000 community service hours, it is evident that Emily’s passion runs far beyond the requirements needed to graduate high school.  She is a weekly volunteer at La Chaumiere Retirement Residence, bringing joy and friendship to seniors in need of companionship. This has also led her to see firsthand the loneliness that seniors experience, which inspired her to start Stay Gold Society. The Stay Gold Society is a Windsor-Essex based organization on a mission to bring joy to the elderly by distributing handmade cards and gifts to seniors in long-term care and retirement homes. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emily also started the Cheer Package program to deliver a combination of essential items, including hand lotion, shampoo and conditioner, word search books, and snacks. The goal of the program is to bring smiles to the faces of seniors and remind them that they are loved and cared about. She has collected and delivered over 10,000 handmade holiday cards, over 5,000 letters of kindness, and 200 Cheer Packages to local seniors. Because of her passion for making a difference in the lives of seniors, Emily was one of 30 youth chosen out of 900 applicants as a 2020 EF Canadian Youth Ambassador. Emily is also a member of the Power of 100 Teens, a philanthropic group of local youth looking to help charities in our community. Meeting four times a year, the members select a local charity to receive donated funds. Emily is a member of the Lakeshore Youth Advisory Committee where she shares perspective and  advises Lakeshore Councillors on youth issues in the community. She works with her peers to establish a set of priorities for youth in Lakeshore, and to create a plan of action to offer support and resources for those in need. As an activist, she uses her voice to promote awareness in her community. In 2019, at just 16 years of age, she presented at the Tecumseh Town Council's Public Council Meeting as well as the City of Windsor Public Council Meeting to express concerns about fluoride’s long-term effects on human health. As an entrepreneur, Emily co-founded My Weekend is Booked, a company that specializes in corporate gifting. And is also the co-author of Rubber Band Glam, published by New York publishing house Quarto Publishing. With over 67,000 subscribers, and 17 million views, she shares weekly YouTube tutorials on original designs.

 

VATS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT

Congratulations Nicole Vanier
$1,000 Scholarship Recipient!

Nicole Vanier (St. Anne's High School) Highlights & Achievements

The Vats Memorial Scholarship was created in honour of our grandmother. She was strong, compassionate, independent, and most of all full of love. She wore her heart on her sleeve and lived her life giving back to others. Nicole Vanier exemplifies all these traits and is evidently just as generous. Nicole’s former principal states that, “her leadership lies in her ability to empower others to step forward, join in and take an active role in respective areas. As a passionate advocate of helping others, Nicole sought to lead by example, especially during the darkest days of the pandemic, in effecting positive stewardship.” Her teacher reference states, “Nicole has always been aware and empathetic to the needs of others around her. In the classroom she has always made time to help other students that were struggling with the course concepts. Outside of the classroom she has used her gifts to help others less fortunate than herself.” Nicole’s passion for music has led her to be a part of The S’Aint’s Sleighing Hunger Campaign. Through the years, record sales and concerts raised close to a quarter of a million dollars that were donated to local charities throughout Windsor, Essex, and Chatham-Kent.
As a leader of the local and provincial Squirettes, Nicole has helped organize and take part in many events across Ontario: filling baskets of home items for 18 year olds who were aging out of foster care, replenishing the game room in the Ronald McDonald House Charities, filling purses for the Women’s Shelter, bake sales for select charities, pasta dinners, community outings, and donating and assembling bags for a local women’s shelter. She organized a group of young girls to help provide snacks and clothing bags for the homeless and serve soup at Ashley’s Place for local families.
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Congratulations Emily Truman $5,000 Scholarship Recipient!