This Year's Winners: Alexis and Kimberley

Due to our successful fundraising year we were able to award both our WOA winners $2,000 each.

Our first award winner is Alexis Hopkins; she came with her 8 year old daughter and three friends that came to support her. Alexis’ career goal is to work for a not-forprofit organization in the communications or public relations area. She is”passionate about personal and corporate social responsibility” she says. “A formal education will give me the knowledge that will enable me to deliver their message to the public and provide a clear understanding of their mission.” She is currently enrolled in Salt Lake Community College and will receive her Associates Degree in communications in 2012. She then plans to transfer to the U of U for her Bachelors degree. One of her references, Leroy Ben Page, a systems Analyst at American Express said about her, ”You can put Alexis’ in a room of thirty very diverse strangers and within a relatively short time she will
have met everyone, learned something individual about each of them and used that knowledge to make connections between them” She is currently volunteering at her daughter’s school as a teacher and at Ten Thousand Villages, a not-forprofit, specifically working with their outreach program where she can gain experience in public relations and communications.

Our Second winner is Kimberly Williamson. She attended with her three daughters who some are also attending college. Her career goals are to achieve her bachelors in the paralegal field. She has always had an interest in the legal field and so when a former employer gave her the opportunity to work with a patent attorney she jumped at the chance. “I noticed through my involvement with these attorneys my desire to learn more about these different legal genres increased” I am almost done with my first semester at
UVU in Provo. I have found these classes to be fulfilling, encouraging and will correlate well with the tasks of a paralegal. Living on unemployment and under $500 a month for child support for her youngest daughter has become a real task. “After a bitter divorce my long history of perfect credit no longer exists. Grocery Women’s  shopping was once a required chore, we now rely upon the charity of our church to provide for us, and now we carefully plan our menus in a process that requires preparing many items from scratch.” Kimberly also states, “As I have worked in the past as a beautician I try to work about 30 hours a week. I am trying to build a cliental to defray expenses” Also, she has been able to help her high school age daughter with her homework and has helped her to achieve better test scores. “With my new education goals I find my aspirations for all my daughters has grown as well. I now have a common bond with my second daughter as she is also in college. I have understanding and respect for what she is trying to achieve in her life. I hope I can continue to be a role model for my daughters encouraging them to never give up on their dreams.”
 

To request more information, please contact Kay Ruiz
Ph: 801-255-4489,