NEWS RELEASE
CFUW AURORA/NEWMARKET
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“When we empower young women, everyone benefits.”
CFUW Aurora/Newmarket is making a difference in the lives and education of young women in the community.
Five 2023 graduates from secondary schools in Newmarket each received $2,500 to help cover the costs of their post-secondary education. They are among 16 students from Aurora and Georgina who also received educational awards from CFUW A/N.
“Our goal is to empower and invest. Supporting these students brings benefits back to our communities,” says Janice Van Dyke, president of the club’s charitable trust that administers the scholarships.
The club, founded in 1957, has a long tradition of supporting women pursuing post-secondary education, giving over 300 awards of varying amounts from 1985 to 2015. Then the club applied for charitable status in hopes of growing its scholarship program with the purpose of advancing education for young women.
Since 2016, the charitable trust of CFUW A/N has presented 97 community youth with post-secondary school scholarships, totalling over $180,000.
The CFUW scholarship program has been funded through private donations and club activities, but for the past two years, the successful home and garden tour has made a considerable difference in the dollar amounts and the number of awards that are available to young women attending secondary schools in the northern area of York Region.
On June 11, the club held its second tour with over $34,000 in proceeds from the event going to support student awards in 2024.
The tradition of celebrating the Grads-on-the-Grass that began in 2020 out of necessity because of the pandemic continues as the members of the CFUW awards committee took lawn signs and big cheques to the homes or schools of 12 award recipients throughout the northern part of York Region.
Among the recipients this year were these Newmarket students, who each received $2,500:
- Julia Humbal from Sir William Mulock Secondary School will study nursing at Laurentian University.
- Shahzeen Khurram of Sacred Heart Catholic High School is enrolled at Toronto Metropolitan University in the commerce program.
- Taylor Cole of Dr. J.M. Denison Secondary School will study kinesiology at Queen’s University.
A Newmarket student was also the recipient of the Mary Pegg Educational Award for $10,000, which is divided up into $2,500 each year for the winner. The award is given each year to a female student graduating from either Huron Heights Secondary School or Newmarket High School in honour of Mary Pegg, a teacher and CFUW member.
Kaneisha Tusyanthan, graduating from Huron Heights, was the winner of the award this year. She will be attending McMaster University in the fall to study integrated biomedical engineering.
The Pegg family also opted to grant a $2,500 scholarship to another Newmarket student, Sheila Garmani, who will be attending University of Western Ontario in health sciences.
Four additional awards were given to students supported by Children’s Aid Society of York Region, Rose of Sharon Services for Young Mothers and to a student in her second year at Seneca College.
“The community support for the home and garden tour and the donations the charitable trust receives help us create the best opportunities for young women. By removing financial barriers, their lives are forever changed,” says Martha Hogan, chair of the trust’s award committee.
For more information about CFUW Aurora/Newmarket’s scholarship program, visit www.cfuwauroranewmarket.com/awards.
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