Moses Lake Rotary gives out $75,000 in scholarships at awards banquet

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Rotary Club gave out $75,000 in scholarships during Tuesday evening’s Rotary Scholarship Foundation Awards Banquet, held at Pillar Rock Grill in Moses Lake, bringing the total of Moses Lake Rotary’s scholarship awards since 1980 to $950,000.

The ceremony began with a few words from a former Rotary Club scholarship recipient, Elena Bewick.

“I graduated Central (Washington University) with a Secondary Math degree,” she said. “I was able to come back to Moses Lake and I was able to start my student teaching and get married and begin my career in education, all in the span of a year and a half, thanks to Rotary. They were such a huge blessing in my journey.”

Bewick then spoke directly to the evening’s recipients. 

“I also want to just encourage those of you who are earning scholarships now, that Rotary picked you because they see a lot of good in you, and your dreams and your things that you want to pursue are important,” she said. “I just encourage you to keep going because you have good people supporting you and you have character and this world needs both of those things.”

Justin Ashley, chair of Rotary’s high school scholarship committee, presented the first round of scholarship recipients, with $10,000 given out between six students. 

“Basically, the criteria is you have to be a Moses Lake High School graduate and planning to go on to college or a trade school, and be a top performer. That's a big one,” he said. “We received over 70 applicants this year and our job was to narrow it down to this final six … and I'm confident that these are the top of our school here.”

Recipient Noah Bingham thanked the Rotary Club and talked about the impact of his scholarships from Rotary — he received two awards during the event — on his school journey.

“I'm very grateful for it; it will help a lot with the financial burden,” he said. “I have about 11 years of school ahead of me, which means a lot of debt, so this lowers the debt, which is great. It allows me to focus on my academics a little bit more.”

Keera Michie, another high school recipient, also spoke about her future schooling.

“It's just such an incredible opportunity to be able to go without any debt at all for the next four years … I hope to become a surgeon. I'm not sure what type yet, but we'll see. What pushes me to do this is just all the amazing people that I have had around me,” Michie said. “I want to come back to Moses Lake someday and be able to give back to my community and give back to the people around me who have always believed in me and supported me.”

The next round of recipients were awarded $65,000 in scholarships between the nine students who have already begun their higher education journey. Dodds introduced these award recipients.

“They're a group of Big Bend (Community College) graduates that are continuing on to four-year universities,” she said. 

Recipient Aimee Willis spoke about her experience with the scholarship. 

“I'm going to (Washington State University) in their Bachelors of Nursing program. It’s an 18-month program, and we’ve estimated that it'll be approximately $30,000 to $40,000 to graduate from there, so this scholarship has really lifted a weight off my shoulders,” Willis said. “I just want to say thank you to all the donors and contributors to the Rotary Foundation. All of your dedication really helps people like me, coming from a low-income family, it really helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Recipient Braeden Duffner said he will be going to Perry Technical Institute in Yakima for its Agricultural & Diesel Equipment Technology program. He thanked Rotary for contributing to all the recipients’ awards.

“Without you guys, we wouldn't be able to be here right now,” he said. “This scholarship, I'm so thankful for it, because it covers a large portion of my tuition and without this, I would be seriously scrambling for money. So this is a large burden lifted off my shoulders.”

For more information on the Moses Lake Rotary Club or to learn more about the organization’s scholarship opportunities, visit rotarymoseslake.org.

2024 Rotary Scholarship Recipients

Noah Bingham

Adaleigh Brown

Elizabeth Diaz

Raegen Hofheins

Alex Johnson

Keera Michie

Savannah Rae Betz

Braeden Duffner

Isabel Lam

Zane McMillan

Esther Roeber

Rebecca Shaporda

Jenna Whitaker

Aimee Willis

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. 

    Rotary scholarship recipient Keera Michie speaks to the audience during the Rotary Scholarship Foundation Awards Banquet on her future school journey.
  

    Braeden Duffner talks about his future schooling and scholarship award during Tuesday evening’s Moses Lake Rotary Scholarship Foundation Awards Banquet at Pillar Rock Grill.
  

    Noah Bingham elaborates on how his scholarship from Moses Lake Rotary Club will impact him and his plans for higher education.
  

    Scholarship recipient Savannah Rae Betz talks to the crowd after receiving her scholarship at Tuesday’s Rotary Scholarship Foundation Awards Banquet.