GENESEE COUNTY/Batavia Business and Professional Women’s Club awards scholarships and community service awards at their annual banquet

Story & photos by Julie Carasone

After a year of fundraising through raffles, a garage sale, bottle drives and auctions, the Batavia Business and Professional Women’s Club awarded 15 scholarships and 10 Community Service Awards at their annual banquet on Thursday evening.

According to Shannon Plath, President, BBPWC has provided over $75,000 in scholarships and community service awards over the last 7 years.

The scholarships are awarded to seniors in high school or who are homeschooled.

This year’s recipients are:

Aiden Anderson-Batavia

Seth Coburn-GCC/Homeschool

Michael Covert-LeRoy

Jett Davis-Alexander

Katelynn Everett-LeRoy

Ava Gephart-LeRoy

Maylee Green-Notre Dame

Maureen Klaiber-LeRoy

Jacob Marcello-Notre Dame

Michael Marchese-Batavia

Brenna Munn-Notre Dame

Kendall Phillips-Bryon Bergen

Lauren Reimer-Batavia

Emily Rowe-Elba

Garrett Schmidt-Batavia

There was one special scholarship, the Jill Spence Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a student planning to study business. This scholarship was presented by Ed Spence, brother of Jill Spence, to Amelia Brewer from Elba.

In addition to the scholarships, 10 Community Service Awards were awarded to non-profit agencies in Genesee County. Susan Zeliff, of Warrior House of WNY in Oakfield, says the group runs a food pantry the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. They service the entire community but serve a lot of elderly residents and veterans as well. The award will be used to replenish the food panty as they are seeing an increase in need within the community.

“To know that this award means we have much more we can provide, means a lot,” says Zeliff.

The Community Service Award winners are:

Alzheimer’s Association

Friends of the Batavia Peace Garden

Bethany Volunteer Fire Department

Byron Bergen FFA

Genesee Cancer Assistance

Genesee Senior Foundation, INC

Hope Center of LeRoy

Stafford United Methodist Church

Warrior House of WNY, INC

WNY National Cemetery Honor Guard

BBPWC will be having a meat raffle in October and other various fundraisers to continue to raise money for scholarships and community service awards. Members also volunteer in the community assisting with projects such as placing flags on veteran’s graves for Memorial Day, United Way Day of Caring and the Bethany Fire Department annual garage sale.

If you are interested in joining, you can go to their website: Batavia Business & Professional Women’s Club Inc. | Established 1921 (wordpress.com)