Ride to Meet the Challenge Scholarships are awarded for the first time
Left to right – Destiny Lopez – Scholarship winner; Don Greetan, Michelle Madrid, Tiffani Serich, Robby Gaines – Ride for Bikes Directors; Brayan De Haro – Scholarship winner
Ride for Bikes, the Christmas Bike Charity, is proud to announce the two inaugural winners of it’s Ride to Meet the Challenge Scholarship. The two students who will receive the 2013 scholarship are Destiny Lopez and Brayan DeHaro, both graduates from Artesia High School.
“The Ride to Meet the Challenge Scholarship recognizes those students that have overcome a challenge in their life and are now ready to continue with their education,” explained Michelle Madrid, Director of Scholarships for Ride for Bikes. “This scholarship is different in that it focuses on those students that are often overlooked by traditional scholarships. In addition this scholarship can be used for college, or a vocational or technology school.”
Both Destiny and Brayan intend to use their scholarships for future technical training. Destiny is planning on attending EMT and firefighting school and Brayan is going to attend welding technology school. Both students will need to sign a Memo of Understanding and maintain a 2.5 grade point average to continue to receive the scholarship.
Madrid went on to explain the selection process, “we had 18 applications for this scholarship. The students needed to submit an essay describing the challenge they faced, how they overcame it and what were their future plans. These essays did not paint rosy pictures of a child’s life. Due to the nature of the scholarship, having to overcome a challenge in their lives, the review of these applications was particularly difficult.”
“There were tears in our eyes as we went through them,” said Don Greetan, Director of Transportation, one of the directors responsible for selecting the winners. “It was a tough process of deciding who was going to receive the scholarship.”
Madrid continued, “once we had narrowed it down we asked both Destiny and Brayan out to dinner to get to know each of them. Both meet with the Ride for Bikes Board of Directors on separate nights for an interview.”
“We had a wonderful time meeting and talking and getting to know each of the students,” added Robby Gaines, Director of Events. “It was so rewarding for us to get to meet these students who had to overcome things that most of us hopefully will never experience. We were very impressed by how well they handled and presented themselves.”
Tiffani Serich, Director of Fund Raising said, “yes we were very impressed and are quite proud of our selection. We believe these two students will certainly become future leaders in our community.”
In addition to the scholarship both students will receive brand new bikes supplied by Peyton’s Bikes in Midland, Texas.
To help fund the Ride to Meet the Challenge Scholarship Program, Ride for Bikes plans to hold a fun “Wet n Wild Ride” in conjunction with the Smokin’ on the Pecos BBQ competition event on June 29th. It will be a short 4 mile ride from JC Park to the Eddy County Fair grounds where you are very likely to get wet as several groups and volunteer fire departments spray water on the riders along the way.
The entry fee for the “Wet n Wild Ride” is $25 per rider. Helmets are required. Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult. Free water bottles and swag bags will be handed out to the first 150 participants. Registration will be via the Ride for Bikes website, or at the Artesia Chamber of Commerce. Any one who would like to volunteer to help with the ride should also contact the Chamber of Commerce. Or email Ride for Bikes.
