As part of its effort to promote careers in the grocery industry, the National Grocers Association Foundation is awarding scholarships, provided by donors and affiliate groups, to 22 students for the 2023-24 academic year.
“We are impressed by the dedication of these students to the food industry. The career plans many of them shared with us are truly inspiring and make our industry’s future seem even more hopeful,” said Chelsea Matzen, VP of the foundation, NGA’s nonprofit arm.
“Kudos as well to our members for their ongoing support and continued investment in grocery’s next generation of leaders.”
At the core of the NGA Foundation’s grants are Asparagus Club scholarships. Since its inception in 1967, the club’s fund has awarded more than $1 million to students.
Legacy scholarships are given in the name of a person or people who contribute to the fund each year. They are designed to acknowledge and continue the legacy of those people and organizations and their contribution to the industry.
Scholarships are awarded to enrolled college and postgraduate students with a minimum 2.5 GPA. The 2023 scholarship recipients include:
- Asparagus Club ($2,000) – Ann Marie Arment, Karla Ash, Ella Carlson, Annaleise Nicole Vochatzer and Baylee Wood;
- Asparagus Club-Thomas K. Zaucha Award ($2,500) – Emily Johnson;
- Bob Richardson Legacy Scholarship ($1,000) – Emily West;
- Charlie and Becky Bray Legacy Scholarship ($2,500) – Annabelle Sickles;
- Della Noce Family Diversity Scholarship ($1,500) – Anna Carroll;
- Ecolab Women in Grocery ($2,000) – Mira Yengera;
- FMS Solutions Holdings Legacy Scholarships – Lorelei Jackson ($3,000) and Thomas Chulwoo Kim and Kayla Reinbolt ($1,500 each)
- Kimberly Clark Legacy Scholarship ($2,500) – Zachary Mineart;
- Mary Macey Legacy Scholarship ($1,500) – Janecia Stone;
- Mondelēz International Legacy Scholarship ($2,500) – Ivanna Viznovych;
- Peter and Jody Larkin Legacy Scholarship ($2,500) – Oforiwaa Pee Agyei-Boakye;
- Roger Collins Legacy Scholarship ($1,000) – Daniel Tencza;
- Ronnie Horton Legacy Scholarship ($1,250) – Gabriela Diaz, Kylie Shafer and Gracie Yates; and
- Women Grocers of America ($2,500) – Na’eema Baksh.
The Asparagus Club was founded in 1909 as a group bound together by ties of friendship and mutual interest of cooperation and fellowship among members of the independent grocery industry.
Its name symbolizes the concept that one single tip of asparagus standing alone would fall, but it stands upright when tied together in a bunch.
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