Congratulations to Ebony Crandle on being awarded a $10,000 scholarship through the Southern California UFCW Unions and Food Employers Joint Benefit Funds Scholarship Award Program!
Ebony is the daughter of thirty-two year UFCW Local 135 member Lili Novarino. Lili, a single parent, is a cashier at Vons 2323 in La Jolla. Lili says that she always told her daughters to “do what makes you happy in life, you are building your future. What are you going to do with it?”
It appears Ebony has the drive and determination to do a lot!
She was accepted to fifteen universities including Georgetown, UCLA, Emory, Syracuse, Loyola Marymount, and Fordham. As you can see in the photo, she chose the University of Southern California, where she will major in Business Administration with a concentration in real estate development.
She chose USC due to many factors, including a generous scholarship offer, its proximity to San Diego (staying close to family is important to her), and because it is one of the top business schools in the country with a great alumni network.
Ebony will soon graduate from La Jolla High with a 4.55 grade point average. In addition to her outstanding academic credentials, she is also extremely active on her campus.
Ebony runs varsity track and is on the varsity golf team. She also happens to be the Senior Class Vice President and President of two school clubs: Girls Learn International, which engages young ladies on the interconnected issues of social justice and feminism, and Love for Our Elders, a club that writes letters to elderly folk in long term care facilities.
A gifted scribe and advocate, she writes about social justice on her blog, The Politic Blog.
In addition to being a scholar, athlete, writer, and activist, she also found time to work. She recently gained an internship through Bank of America’s Leadership Program and was assigned as an intern with the YMCAs development team and worked as a sales associate at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.
When she has spare time outside of school, community activities, and work, she likes to exercise, read and write, and hang out with friends like any teenager.
Ebony is thankful and ecstatic to have received the scholarship from our Trust Fund. It lets her not have to worry too much about the financial aspect of college and allows her to focus solely on academics.
