Allentown-West Rotary had its annual scholarship awards breakfast May 8 at Lehigh Carbon Community College, Schnecksville, where nine students were recognized for their accomplishments.

The winners and guests, as well as representatives from Northwestern Lehigh and Parkland school districts, LCCC and Lehigh Career and Technical Institute joined the Rotarians to celebrate.

Students from the four institutions submitted online applications and a committee chose the winners.

This year, the Rotarians awarded $1,000 scholarships to Morgan Bentley of Germansville and Meghan McDonald of Fogelsville, both from Northwestern Lehigh High School, Saniya Pangare and Kira Halma, both of Upper Macungie, and Olivia Faenza of South Whitehall, all from Parkland High School, Juleeanna Held of Emmaus and Lehigh Career Technical Institute, Aldonair Alphonse of Allentown and Sydney Geist of Palmerton, both from LCCC.

The students have proven records of service and leadership. Other considerations include grade-point average, Interact Club involvement, financial need, and the student’s acceptance into an institution of higher learning.

A ninth scholarship of $500 was awarded to Parkland High School student Mikayla McGarr of Coplay, in memory of Rotarian Michael Henry, who died in 2017.

Each winner was introduced and a description of their service and leadership accomplishments was read by Allentown-West Rotary Chairwoman Barbara Kistler.

In addition to the scholarships, each winner received a Kindle Fire compliments of Amazon.com in Breinigsville. They were presented by General Manager Ed Buddenhagen.

The Allentown-West Rotary Club has been awarding scholarships to students in the Northwestern Lehigh and Parkland school districts, as well as LCTI and LCCC for more than years.

To learn more about Rotary, visit Rotary.org.