Entrepreneurship, academic excellence and community service were all celebrated at Leamington’s Bridge Youth Resource Centre on the evening of June 12.
The first part of the event, titled Take Your Shot, saw five aspiring entrepreneurs present their dream to five local judges who had the tough job of how to allocate the $39,000 that was up for grabs.
An annual event, Take Your Shot is an opportunity for young people aged 17 to 29 to vie for funding for their start-up or for an existing business that has just gotten its feet off of the ground.
Muna Fadel of Alchemist Athletics wowed the judges this year with her premium jump ropes pitch and took home the top prize of $20,000.
Placing second and receiving $10,000 was Suleiman Daniel with his Sparkling Heights cleaning business.
Third place and $5,000 went to Abdiel Lara who presented in Spanish and asked for funding for his custom hats idea.
Nicole Cosme asked for money to expand her LD Studio business in Kingsville and walked away with $2,500 for that expansion.
Rounding out the winning pitches was David Mailloux, who received $1,500 for his mobile fuel start-up Onsite Fuel.
The rest of the night belonged to eight deserving students who excel in their studies and give back to the community around them.
Winning the UE Scholarship of $20,000, sponsored by George and Helen Bergen, was Noah Bradatanu. Runner-up for the same scholarship was Phoung Thuy Tran who received $1,000.
The Ryan Friesen Memorial Scholarship was created in honour of Ryan by his parents, Nancy and John, and supports students who plan on pursuing engineering. Winner of this year’s $20,000 Ryan Friesen Memorial Scholarship was Steven Mendoza, while the runner-up for this bursary was Ramla Rana Hammoud who received $1,000.
Kaylee Zhu was this year’s recipient of the $5,000 Hope Scholarship sponsored by The Bridge Youth Resource Centre based on her work tutoring and as a youth group leader.
The $2,500 Partners In Faith Scholarship went to Miranda Pouget for both her academics and community service, while Kaitlyn Rhea received $2,500 from South Essex Community Council for her extensive volunteer work.
The final scholarship of the evening went to Anderson Baker, who received $2,500 from Community Futures Essex County for his future studies in business.
Executive Director of The Bridge Youth Resource Centre Krista Rempel, left, with the 2025 Take Your Shot winner Muna Fadel.
SUN photo by Paul Forman
Receiving scholarships at the June 12 Take Your Shot competition were, left to right, Anderson Baker, Kaylee Zhu, Phoung Tran, Miranda Pouget, Steven Mendoza, Ramla Hammoud and Noah Bradatanu. Absent from the photo is Kaitlyn Rhea.
SUN photo by Paul Forman
