Some of last year’s TWOQC Scholarship recipients (photo by Lois Haglund)
Patty Zatkin and Madison Mullins
Inna Shames
The Women of Quail Creek (TWOQC) Scholarship Awards Ceremony is just around the corner! Are you wondering what it’s all about? Then by all means put Monday, April 24, on your calendar to attend the Scholarship Awards Ceremony 2023 so you can meet this year’s scholarship recipients!
The Women of Quail Creek is not just a group of retired “Ladies Who Lunch”—far from it! It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that has been doing good works in our community for many years, including food and clothing drives and support for veterans and teachers. But their major charitable endeavor over the last several years has been scholarships for local graduating high school seniors and for Women in Transition (WIT) who are older than 21 and hoping to improve their lives through further education.
This highly successful program is unique in many ways: Recipients are selected not just on academic achievement, but also on the basis of career goals and motivation to succeed. The Scholarship Committee itself is a team of highly engaged women dedicated to betterment through education. Many are retired teachers, social workers, and other professionals, and therefore uniquely qualified to evaluate, select, and mentor scholarship recipients. The recipients don’t just get scholarships—they get support. Each scholarship recipient is assigned a mentor who works closely with her, serving as advisor, motivator, sounding board—whatever is needed to help the young woman succeed. Many mentor/recipient relationships continue long past the duration of the scholarships.
Over the past month, the Scholarship Committee has been diligently reviewing applications and conducting interviews to select the 2023 recipients. Due to a generous outpouring of support in the form of memorial scholarships, individual donations, and income from the Javelina Hoedown and Jim Click raffle tickets, it has been a very successful fundraising year. TWOQC will therefore be able to award even more money than they have in the past.
The need for such educational support in Pima and Santa Cruz Counties is great, and the results speak for themselves! Prior recipients have gone on to graduate from schools such as Pima County Community College, University of Arizona, University of Northern Arizona, Pima Medical Institute, and the Arizona College of Nursing.
On Monday, April 24, all the selected 2023 recipients will be officially awarded their scholarships in front of family, friends, mentors, and donors. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. This is always a heartwarming event and well worth seeing for yourself!
When: Monday, April 24, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Madera Clubhouse Ballroom.
Refreshments: Iced tea, water, and cookies
No reservations are necessary.
For more information about this event or about the TWOQC Scholarship Program please contact [email protected].