Giving back to the communities we serve and live in, is at the core of what we do and how we operate Dani Blain Real Estate. If you have been reading our blog or following along with our social media channels, you know that we work with a number of local nonprofits and charitable groups throughout the year to deliver on this mission to give. One of our most favorite opportunities for giving is with the Kevin Blain Memorial Scholarship program, where we award deserving graduating seniors scholarship monies to pursue further education or trade school.
This year, we were excited to have expanded our scholarship program to encompass all Tulare and Visalia high schools and are excited to award students that are looking to pursue careers in the mental health field, in addition to the previous criteria of those who are well deserving based on their character, leadership, volunteerism, demonstrated heart for others, and faith in Christ.
Kevin Blain was born and raised in Tulare. As he became an adult and worked toward a successful career, here in the Central Valley, he wanted to give back to the community that supported him during his youth. In his honor, Dani Blain Real Estate has continued his legacy of giving by working with local high schools to provide this scholarship opportunity.
This year we had an incredible crop of young adults apply for the scholarship and our committee had a very hard time deciding who to award these nine $500 scholarships. In the end, the decisions were made and we were able to bless our recipients prior to their graduation and we could not be happier to tell you all a little bit about each of them. Without further ado, please meet this year’s Kevin Blain Scholarship recipients:
Alekhya Rajasekaran graduated from El Diamante high school with a 4.47 GPA and has plans for a double major in Biology and Economics with the hopes of becoming a physician. Not only was Alekhya an incredibly involved student in clubs and volunteer work, she is also the CEO of her own company, Kalifornia Kisses.
Ella Reitsma graduated from Visalia Charter Independent Study High School with a 4.26 GPA and has made plans for a Optometry career and will be majoring in Biology. Ella is a true survivor and has overcome many difficulties in her life. She chose to turn them around, help others through volunteering and help take care of her younger siblings.
Giana Hollingsworth graduated from Mount Whitney Highschool with a 4.39 GPA and is headed to a state university to study Animal Science/Livestock to pursue a career as a veterinarian. In addition to participating in numerous clubs, she was also on the basketball and tennis teams as well as a member of the concert choir.
Isabella Caso graduated from Mission Oaks High School with a 3.67 GPA. She is very involved with her community volunteering and serving others through school clubs, her church and United Way of Tulare County. She dreams of pursuing a career teaching music in her home county of Tulare upon graduation from California State University at Fresno where she will start in the Fall.
Jacqueline Canchola-Martinez attended Redwood High School and graduated with a 4.54 GPA. Not only was she very active in clubs, the marching band and the soccer team, but she also founded Students for Climate Action and was an active member in VUSD’s Equity Task Force & Civic engagement Project. She plans on studying Environmental and Political Science to go into Environmental Law and Policy.
Jessica Amber Lytle graduated from Tulare Union High School with a 4.0 GPA with her sights set on a Liberal Arts degree to be a Speech Pathologist. She has overcome some very difficult times in her family and stayed busy throughout highschool with volunteering, clubs and sports – she was on the golf, dive, and soccer teams.
Lilly Sear graduated from Visalia Early Technical College with a 4.14 GPA. She will be attending Humboldt State University in the fall and will study Zoology to become a Zoologist. Upon graduation she is heading to college with 42 college credits as she was dually enrolled at College of the Sequoias while she was in high school.
Sydney Noell attended Golden West High School and 4.37 GPA and has aspirations of becoming a Chemistry teacher. She was very involved in FFA, multiple clubs, as well as a member of the swim and dive team, and the tennis team. Additionally she was an avid volunteer serving as a worship leader and Younglife Leader.
Ty Benas graduated from Tulare Western high school with a 3.7 GPA. He plans to attend the College of Western Idaho to study Fire Science to become a firefighter/EMT. Ty actually knew Kevin through his mom, which makes receiving this scholarship extra special. He was on the swim and water polo teams and has already completed the EMT academy.
These nine recent grads make us feel excited for the future – as they are all such impressive young people. It has been an honor to be able to bless more students this year than ever. We want to make sure that all of our readers know that our scholarship fund would not be possible without our wonderful clients that trust us with all of their Real Estate needs. Thank you for helping us keep Kevin’s legacy alive with this Memorial Scholarship Fund and helping us contribute to our future’s greatest asset – our youth. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or of course for any of your Real Estate matters.