In an afternoon scholarship presentation reception, the Crescenta Valley Lions Club awarded scholarships to four outstanding, community service-minded high school seniors – three from Crescenta Valley High School and one from Clark Magnet High School. 2022 marks the 27^th year the local Lions Club has been awarding scholarships to deserving Crescenta Valley area high school seniors and this year’s awards brings the club’s total give to more than $130,000.

With service being the focal criteria for selection, applicants were asked to 1) detail how the community benefitted from their work as a volunteer; 2) describe how the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact everyone in profound ways and how the past year taught applicants about the lives and needs of other people; and 3) talk about future goals and plans. Additionally, each recipient was asked to list their volunteer, leadership and community service activities, along with earned awards and recognition.

Lauren Curtis and Lila Bee Marnell from CVHS and Manvel Muradyan from Clark were each presented $500 scholarships. Rachel Park of CVHS was awarded a $750 scholarship during the reception held in Sadler Hall of St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church. Lions Club President Stephen Mack served as emcee for the event, with audience members that included the recipients, their families, Becky Bondy, counseling clerk at Clark, and other Lions Club members.

Martie Kawahara, CV Lions Club Scholarship chair, expressed how impressed she and the Scholarship Committee were with the caliber of applicants and how honored the club was to bestow the scholarships to those most-deserving students.

A scholar athlete in softball, Curtis earned her Bronze and Silver Awards with the Girl Scouts. Additionally, she volunteered with her church youth group for the Special Olympics, was an elementary school tutor during the pandemic and co-founded and served as vice president for the Saving Innocence Club whose goal is to educate students about sex trafficking. She led fundraising efforts for the club and created care packages for rescued victims. In the fall, Curtis will attend USC.

Marnell has been an active member of the high school’s LEO Club, a youth organization of the Lions Club started at CVHS in 2016, logging more than 50 volunteer hours with the Club. Among other volunteer activities were Five Acres Foster Care, the Special Olympics and the Pasadena Humane Society where she designed and made toys for shelter animals. Marnell is also a scholar athlete in the sport of volleyball. She will be attending USC in the fall and plans to major in occupational therapy.

Muradyan had a lengthy list of volunteer activities including tutoring Armenian middle school students, was president of Kids Against Tobacco Smoking and fundraising treasurer for the Armenian Club, where he oversaw fundraising efforts for the Artsakh War Relief and helped raise more than $25,000. He was involved with FIRST Robotics, Team 696 (all four years) as head of lasering operations, as well as Mock Trial and Entrepreneurship Club. Muradyan earned trilingual language competency in English, Russian and Armenian and will attend UCLA in the fall.

Park, another active LEO Club member, served as vice president and helped with publicity efforts, worked to engage peers and plan events, and volunteered with the Club’s annual Kases 4 Kids event. Her extensive list of volunteerisms included involvement with College and Career Prep as a volunteer academic mentor, New Story Church Food Pantry, USC Pacific Asian Museum Team Ambassador Volunteer Internship Program, The Great East Japan Earthquake Study at UCI and the Koreatown Youth and Community Center. Park also earned her Bronze and Silver Girl Scout Awards and is an athlete in soccer, lacrosse, and track & field. She will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall majoring in ecosystem management and forestry.

The Crescenta Valley Lions Clubs has been serving the Crescenta Valley community since 1947 with activities such as its free vision screening clinics, quarterly food donation drives, Kases for Kids backpack program for foster children, scholarship program and student speakers contest for students at the three local high schools. Over the years, the Lions Club has also donated to many worthy local organizations and causes. In 2018, the Lions formally adopted The Fire House youth center to provide support through annual fundraisers. In 2016, the Lions Club sponsored the first student LEO Club at Crescenta Valley High School, which continues to serve the community. In 2021, a LEO Club was established at Clark Magnet High School.

The CV Lions Club next food drive, supporting the Bailey Center, is scheduled for Saturday, July 23. Members will be collecting food items from 10 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church, 2563 Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta.

The Kases for Kids Donation Drive has been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24. More details will follow.