23 students earn Realtors Association of Maui Community Foundation scholarships

The Realtors Association of Maui Community Foundation has awarded $23,000 in scholarships to 23 college-bound students. Ten of the 23 scholarship recipients were honored at an awards ceremony on Friday, July 29, at the King Kamehameha Golf Club in Waikapū.  

Scholarship recipients include: Aniston Eyre; Nida Bergoust; Kaydence Lilio; Collette Chapman; Krisitne Bonilla; Stacia Eng; Laʻakeaokalani Awai; Gabriella Kanoa; Camden Eyre; Dianthe Kaili; Anna Fosbinder; Briana Bandy; Altene Tumacder; Kylie Ines; Kayla Tuitele; Kalena Pfaeltzer; Alizah Carrillo; Joanna Marie Acosta; Kaitlin DeRouin; Kyra Cabanilla Ong; Jayelyn Viela; Laridel Basilio; and Caitlin Baclay.

Since it was established in 1989, the RAMCF Presidential Scholarship Fund has awarded $877,000 in academic scholarships to high school seniors and past scholarship recipients from Maui, Lāna’i and Moloka’i. (Past recipients can apply every year they are in school, up to four years.) Funds for the annual scholarship program are raised through Mea Kako‘o, a group of sponsors who collectively donate money to the program, and events like the Maui Visitor Industry Charity Walk, RAM’s Got Talent and the RAMCF Presidential Scholarship Golf Event.

“In 1989, then-RAM President Leil Koch started the Realtors Association of Maui Presidential Scholarship Fund,” explained 2021-22 RAM President Keone Ball. “To date, with the amazing generosity of the members’ donations, RAM has awarded $877,000 in scholarships to help fund the post-high school education of hundreds of Maui County students.” 

One of those students is Aniston Eyre, a King Kekaulike High School graduate who is now studying urban sociology at Columbia University. “I am so grateful to be a third-time RAMCF scholarship recipient,” she said. “This fund allows me to reach my academic goals as I attend school in New York City and helps ease the financial stressors that college life presents.”

Like Eyre, Gabriella Kanoa is a repeat scholarship recipient. The Seabury Hall graduate is currently majoring in civil engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. “This is my fourth year receiving the scholarship, which just goes to show how generous the donors are for allowing students to reapply every year,” she said. 

To the members of RAM, Kanoa said, “With your support, I am able to continue my education focused more on pursuing my degree and less on financial stresses. Once I’ve obtained my degree and established my career, I hope to give back to the community through generous acts similar to yours.”

Applications for next year’s RAMCF Presidential Scholarship will be available in early 2023. To be eligible, students must be a high school senior or a former recipient of the scholarship from the previous three years and be in the process of applying or reapplying to an accredited college or university or trade school. Applicants must also be full-time Maui County residents who are currently attending, or have previously attended, a public or private high school in Maui County.

For more information about RAMCF or the RAMCF Presidential Scholarship Fund, visit www.ramaui.com/foundation.