Elmhurst Garden Club awards annual scholarships

The Elmhurst Garden Club recently awarded more than $15,500 in scholarships to six Illinois college students who are pursuing a degree related to horticulture, landscape design, biology, botany, science education, conservation, or environmental studies.

This year’s scholars include Lauren Audi, a Northwestern University-Chicago Botanical Garden Masters candidate; Amanda Moss, College of Du Page; Lily Neppl, Purdue University; Charles Pozen, Elmhurst College; and University of Illinois-Champaign students Parrish Smith and Liangyua Ashley Yu. The club also awarded Andrew Bendelow, York Garden Club advisor, a stipend to attend a class to be certified in square foot gardening.

To qualify for this scholarship, named in honor of former member Mildred Hartney, the students must reside in the state, have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and be entering their junior or senior year.

Since 1997, the Elmhurst Garden Club has given more than $130,000 from the proceeds of the Garden Walk and Faire that is held the second Sunday in July.

An annual “Meet the Scholars” luncheon will be held on Monday, March 5, 2018, at which time the scholars will present a short program about their research, activities, and/or interests related to the environment.

The Elmhurst Garden Club also offers an exploratory scholarship to York High School students interested in conservation, horticulture, agriculture, the environment, biology, and/or botany. The deadline for both the college and high school candidates is May 1. Applications are available at elmhurstgardenclub.org