The Zonta Club of Kaua‘i presented $9,000 in scholarships to three students Thursday during a special luncheon at the Japanese Grandma’s restaurant courtyard in Hanapepe.
“The Zonta Club of Kaua‘i from the beginning of time always believed that one of its ways to advance the status of women was to enhance their quest for higher education,” said club member MaBel Fujiuchi.
“In my early days of Zonta, my pillars — Dimples Kano, Marge Akana and Betty Bell — would provide the historical accounts of Zonta, where we awarded three or so scholarships at approximately $250 each,” said Fujiuchi.
”Today, perhaps some 30 years later, we validate the mission by providing $9,000 in scholarships through the Marge Akana $1,000 scholarship donation, the Dimples Kano $1,000 scholarship donation, Rob’s Good Times Grill donation of $1,500, and (proceeds from) the Zonta Club of Kaua‘i silent auction that was held online.”
Scholarships were presented to two graduating high school seniors — Braelyn Cayaban of Waimea High and Alana Cayabyab of Kaua‘i High, and Lauren Jordan of Kaua‘i Community College — in the amounts of $3,000 each.
Cayabyab graduated with a 3.897 grade-point average, and she was a member of the school’s National Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society. She was also a Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation All-Star athlete, and KIF champion in swimming, in freestyle, butterfly and individual medley and relay events.
“She volunteers at the Kaua‘i Marathon, Relay For Life, and is a Junior Lifeguard, and she works in a family small business,” Fujiuchi said. “Her day is also filled with transportation needs for her younger siblings.”
Cayabyab is an aspiring orthodontist who will attend Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
Cayaban graduated with a GPA of 4.0 that she carried from her freshman year, and was ranked No. 1 of 136 Menehune seniors with a final GPA of 4.018.
“Her references write that she is self-motivated, confident and intelligent,” Fujiuchi said. “Definitely has leadership ability, is an active volunteer, and is every teacher’s ‘dream student.’”
Cayaban will head to Colorado College on a NCAA Division III women’s basketball award, and intends to her degree in molecular biology as a pre-medicine track.
Jordan has been accepted to pursue her bachelor’s degree in nursing, with the ultimate goal of becoming an operating-room nurse.
“Since 1986, of which I can substantiate, the Zonta Club of Kaua‘i has provided Kaua‘i’s young women with more than $232,000 in scholarships,” Fujiuchi said.
