Garden Grove Strawberry Festival Association Awards $8,000 In Student Scholarships

Garden Grove Strawberry Festival Association (GGSFA), producers of the ever-popular annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival, have announced that $8,000 in Student Scholarships have been awarded to seniors graduating this year from eight high schools in the Garden Grove Unified School District.

Debbie Mahoney, Scholarships Chair, past President of the 2012 GGSFA, and Board Member, said: "We are happy to announce that eight $1,000 Student Scholarships have been awarded to one graduating senior student at eight different high schools in the Garden Grove Unified School District, for a total of $8,000. This year we received an unprecedented 106 scholarship applications collectively from the eight high schools. In addition, in March 2021, we awarded $2,000 to the Miss Garden Grove organization."

2021 School Scholarship Winners included:

• Victoria Nguyen, Senior, Bolsa Grande High School
• Jacqueline Nguyen, Senior, Garden Grove High School
• Nancy Salazar, Senior, Marie L. Hare High School
• Kaitlyn Roman, Senior, La Quinta High School
• Roberto PastranaAbarca, Senior, Los Amigos High School
• Christabelle Garcia, Senior, Pacifica High School
• Celine Nguyen, Senior, Rancho Alamitos High School
• Samantha Michel, Senior, Santiago High School

Debbie Mahoney continued, "This year, with the Coronavirus pandemic becoming more manageable, directors of the GGSFA made in-person presentations to the recipients at their respective high schools. Each scholarship recipient received a beautiful plaque, designed by Awards & Trophies of Fountain Valley, CA, along with their scholarship check, presented during an 'invitation only' Senior Awards Night. However, since the Strawberry Festival and Parade has been canceled this year, the scholarship recipients didn't have the opportunity to ride with me on the antique fire truck in our annual Strawberry Festival parade, held on Saturday during Memorial Day Weekend."

Directors of the GGSFA who presented plaques and checks to the high school scholarship recipient this year included:

• Scott Weimer presented to Jacqueline Nguyen at Garden Grove High School
• Mark and Debbie Mahoney presented to Kaitlyn Roman at La Quinta High School
• Andrea Perez presented to Celine Nguyen at Rancho Alamitos High School
• Sue Catlin and Patrick "Pat" Catlin presented to Victoria Nguyen at Bolsa Grande High School
• Josh Lindsay presented to Christabelle Garcia at Pacifica High School

Scholarship Winners, Samantha Michel of Santiago High School, Nancy Salazar of Marie L. Hare High School and Roberto PastranaAbarca of Los Amigos High School, received their plaque and check from school administrators at each of their respective high schools.

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