In celebration of its 100 years of service, the Kiwanis Club of Alameda awarded $100,000 in college scholarships to seven deserving graduates from Alameda high schools on June 7 at its monthly meeting.

The scholarship winners include: Antonio Arevalo (St Joseph Notre Dame HS), receiving the Kiwanis Foundation Scholarship; Scarlet Deveno (Alameda HS), receiving the Asher Broughton Scholarship; Yuwei Fong (Alameda HS), receiving the John Hanson Scholarship; Jian Pei Liang (Encinal HS), receiving the Herb and Jeanne Justin Scholarship; Mianna Pena (Island HS), receiving the Martin and Lucille Stohr Scholarship; Kelly Quach (Encinal HS), receiving the Key Club Scholarship; Isabelle Tandradinata (Alameda Science & Technology Institute), receiving the Kiwanis Legacy Scholarship.

A scholarship committee of ten Kiwanians reviewed student applications, focusing on the following criteria: academics, leadership, financial need, community service and extracurricular activities. The quality of the applications this year was exceptional, and Kiwanis commends all students who applied.

Kiwanis is a service organization with chapters across the United States and abroad. Its mission is the betterment of life, one child and one community at a time. Chartered in 1923, Kiwanis Alameda has participated in many service projects, all with that same objective. Scholarships to college have always been a priority. Given the cost of higher education, students and their families, and ultimately the community, all benefit from this aid.