Minnesota Grocers Association Awards Scholarships

The Minnesota Grocers Association Foundation awarded $25,000 in scholarships to employees or their dependents from Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) member companies for the 2017-18 school year.

The foundation’s scholarship program serves to aid students who are related to Minnesota’s food industry by supporting their educational growth.  

Using funds raised from an annual golf event and silent auction, the MGA Foundation is able to award scholarships and community grants.  This year, the MGA Foundation received 384 applications from 41 companies. The 25 $1,000 scholarships awarded represent the Minnesota food industry’s strong belief in the need for continued education.

Scholarships are awarded by an impartial committee of educators and based on community involvement and academic achievements.

This year the Piggyback Scholarship Program was again available for members of the MGA, allowing companies to “piggyback” on the MGA Foundation application process in order to provide a scholarship program specifically for their employees and employees’ dependents. Nine member companies participated and awarded a combined $48,500 in scholarships.

The 2017 MGA Foundation Scholarship winners are: Julia Abfalter from Coborn’s, Syrie Amiot from Dean Foods, Jamie Arostegui from Cub Foods, Haley Burgart from Coborn’s, Ariel DeBeer from Teal’s Market, Alyssa Dorff from Olsen Fish Co., Moira Fay from Festival Foods, Alyson Feltmann from Mackenthun’s Fine Foods, DyAnna Grondahl from Miner’s Inc., Hannah Hanson from Do-Mat’s Family Foods, Elizabeth Heile from Supervalu, Jonathon Krueger from County Market, Andrew Lonnes from Cub Foods, Trevor McDaniel from Supervalu, Kayla McIver from Pilgrim’s Pride, Andrew Meek from Casey’s General Store, Nora Mohamed from Lunds & Byerlys, Alison Przybilla from Pilgrim’s Pride, Jacob Rose from Lunds & Byerlys, Kendra Sandkamp from Russ Davis Wholesale, Jordan Scheunemann from Advantage Sales and Marketing, Jacob Schmidt from Miner’s Inc., Riley Sotnyk from Russ Davis Wholesale, Emily Stumpf from Lunds & Byerlys, and Grace Weinrich from SpartanNash.

The 2017 Piggyback Scholarship winners are: from Chris’ Food Center: Cassidy Koland and Samantha Koland; from Cub Foods: Haley Brandes, Eric Kieser, Erin Kotten, Abigail Meyer, and Sophia Thommes; from Dean Foods: Madison Bakken, Kelly Buhl, Lindsay Buhl, Alicia Christians, and Mackenzie Hanisch; from Jerry’s Enterprises Inc.: Emma Becker, Winona Berg, Jamie Colleran-Skov, Kali Denis, Ryan Gottsleben, Marisa Hall, Jade Hernandez, Marco Hernandez, Lilly Johnson, Cole Kaiser, Jonathon Krueger, Nicole L’Allier, Alyssa LeMay, Andrew Lonnes, Noah Madson, Anthony Mazza, Gretchen Olson, Alec Rudh, Anna Rummel, Joseph Scott, David Truong, Jennifer Truong, Theodore Wahl and Eleanor Wolfe; from Kemps: Benjamin Almquist, Kaitlyn Betzold, Alyssa Johnson, Emma Pelkie, Gianni Solis, and Phuong Vo; from Mackenthun’s Fine Foods: Joan Fuhrman and Cody Sik; from Miner’s Inc.: Alyssa Aamodt, Reid Davidson, Maria Hecimovich, Karsten Larson, and Rebecah Riggs; from Supervalu West Region Office: Marlisha Carter, Grace Goodwin, Michael Heile, Sara Heile, and Kalli Opsal; from Teal’s Management: Tracy Eisenschenk, Lexi Goebel, Laura Heitman, and McKenzie Laubach.

Established in 1897 and based in St. Paul, Minn., MGA is a state trade group with more than 200 retail members with nearly 1,100 stores statewide, as well as approximately 100 manufacturers and distributors.