Each May, it is not unusual to find bags of Vidalia onions in the vehicles of members of the North Gwinnett Kiwanis Club. While that may seem unusual to most people, those bags of sweet Georgia-grown onions help make college dreams a reality for local students.
The North Gwinnett Kiwanis Club has sold Vidalia onions each spring since 1994 to raise money for scholarships awarded to graduating seniors at Buford, Lanier, Mill Creek, Mountain View and North Gwinnett high schools.
This year, the club awarded 18 scholarships worth $1,000 each.
Every bag sold makes a difference. It takes the sale of about 166 bags of onions to find a single $1,000 scholarship. Longtime member and the chairman of the onion sales committee, Jay Asgari, has consistently been the club’s top seller. This year, he sold $12,000 worth of onions. Other members are divided into teams each year in a friendly competition to see whether they can top Asgari’s sales.
The onion sale isn’t the club’s only fundraiser. Every February, the North Gwinnett Kiwanis Club hosts three Father-Daughter dances at the Braselton Civic Center. The popular events attract nearly 1,000 attendees each year, with proceeds helping fund scholarships and other charitable projects that benefit the community.
Before scholarships are awarded, Kiwanis members interview applicants at each of the participating high schools. Members say choosing recipients is never easy because of the impressive accomplishments and bright futures of the students they meet.
This year’s scholarship recipients are:
Buford High School: Kaitlin Lai, Samuel Malagon, Madison Nguyen and Adriana Perez Urbina
Lanier High School: David Daniel-Udo, Nathalia Figueroa, Gina Kim and Alejandra Saldierna Torres
Mill Creek High School: Tyler Derek Cloer, Jaidyn Corbett and Yovel Yboah
Mountain View High School: Emily Chai, Addison Powell and Jose Tabares
North Gwinnett High School: Isabel Biagi, Preslee Sammons and Aaliya Taylor
Phoenix High School (Spirit of Phoenix scholarship): Jonathan Marcos-Luna
The scholarship recipients were recognized during the club’s June 23 meeting. Eight students attended and shared how the scholarships will help them pursue their college goals, along with heartfelt thanks for the support they received from the Kiwanis Club.
The North Gwinnett Kiwanis Club is part of Kiwanis International, which describes itself as “a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.”
The club meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at the Buford Community Center. Lunch is served at noon before the meeting begins, and visitors are welcome. Members also volunteer on the third Monday of the month at the North Gwinnett Co-Op food pantry.
For more information on the North Gwinnett Kiwanis Club, visit kiwanisclubofnorthgwinnett.com.
