The 2019 Union Plus Scholarship awards were recently announced, including five members and family members of our UFCW union.
This year’s UFCW winners are:
Payton Amend of Soper, Oklahoma. Amend, whose father, David Amend, is a member of UFCW Local 540, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship.
Payton is an occupational safety and health major at Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU). She expects to graduate in 2021 and hopes to be an advocate for employee safety. Payton was 2018 salutatorian at Soper High School (SHS) in Oklahoma. While at SHS she concurrently took courses at Murray State College and Eastern Oklahoma State College. Payton is a ranch hand on a southeastern Oklahoma ranch and maintains her own small herd of cows and goats. Her father, who has nearly two decades of union membership and is also a former member of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union (BCTGM), has spoken often of times when the union has supported members at local plants, including efforts like negotiating benefits and fair pay. “Companies know that unions like UFCW are mighty organizations that look out for the best interests of their members,” Payton said. “Being a union member means a lot for my dad. His grandparents and father were also union members, and it’s an honored family tradition.”
Guadalupe Godinez of Chicago. Godinez, whose mother, Silvia Godinez, is a member of UFCW Local 1546, has been awarded a $4,000 scholarship.
Marisol Gomez Marrufo of Muleshoe, Texas. Gomez Marrufo, whose father, Carlos Perea, and mother, Christina Perea, are members of UFCW Local 540, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship.
Marisol is a 2019 graduate of Lazbuddie [Texas] High School (LHS). She plans to major in nursing when she starts college this fall and hopes to work with underserved people at a rural health clinic. While in high school, she took dual-credit courses at nearby South Plains College. Marisol said UFCW has greatly impacted her life and that she was especially thankful for her parents’ union membership when her sister sustained a knee injury two years ago. “My parents were able to take the necessary steps to ensure a full recovery due to the medical insurance offered through UFCW,” Marisol said. “I am thankful for the many roles UFCW plays in my life, without which I would not have been afforded the many opportunities that I have throughout my life.”
Brittany Martinez of Granville, Ohio. Martinez, who is a member of UFCW Local 1059, has been awarded a $3,500 scholarship.
Julia Walli of Lombard, Illinois. Walli, whose mother, Jennifer Walli, is a member of UFCW Local 881, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship.
The Union Plus Scholarship Program, now in its 28th year, awards scholarships based on outstanding academic achievement, personal character, financial need, and commitment to the values of organized labor. The program is offered through the Union Plus Education Foundation.
Union Plus Scholarship awards are granted to students attending a two-year college, four-year college, graduate school, or recognized technical or trade school. The selection process is very competitive, and this year over 7,100 applications were received from 65 unions and all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories, representing an almost 20% increase in applications from 2018.
The new 2020 application for the Union Plus scholarship is now available.
The application is entirely online, allowing students to complete their application over time and save their responses.
Learn More about the Union Plus Scholarship and eligibility here.