NFC Foundation thanks Women’s Club

Kathrine Alderman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The Monticello Women's Club met for their monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 9, and were joined by two guests from North Florida College (NFC). The Women's Club here donates money to the NFC Scholarship Foundation annually to provide scholarships to women from Jefferson County who go there. Katelynn Jimenez-Perez was a recipient of that scholarship last year and came to the Women's Club meeting this month to express how that scholarship has helped her succeed. Jimenez-Perez was accompanied by a representative of the NFC Foundation, Annabelle Scott, who just expressed how helpful the scholarship is in general to all the students who have received it.

Once the meeting began, Scott took the stage first, thanking the club for having them and feeding them lunch. Part of the requirement for the Women's Club's scholarship is to allow the Women's Club to meet the recipient and learn more about them, but due to COVID-19, they weren't able to come last year when Jimenez-Perez received the scholarship. So, they came this month to show their appreciation and let Jimenez-Perez tell the club how their scholarship has helped her.

Jimenez-Perez has lived in Monticello most of her life and was the valedictorian of her class when she graduated from Jefferson Somerset. She is now a sophomore at NFC and was originally going in for accounting technology. She changed her focus, however, realizing that wasn't what she wanted to do. She was confused, at first, and didn't know what to do. Still, she eventually figured it out and is now going into Emergency Medical Service. She says she really enjoys helping people, and, when she was younger, she helped take care of her neighbor, who was more of a "nana" to her. Now that she knows what she wants to do, she shared her mid-term and long-term goals with the club. After explaining where she hopes to go and what she hopes to achieve, she told the club how the scholarship she received really helped ease her financial burden. Her parents didn't have to worry about getting her through college and could focus on providing support for her family.

Jimenez-Perez left the spotlight with one last thanks and a round of applause from the Women's Club. Scott once again stood at the front to present some numbers and give away a few gifts. The numbers she presented were how many Jefferson County students the Foundation has helped. They are still in the 2020-2021 school year, so she didn't have summer numbers yet, but they have been able to help 22 Jefferson County residents who have applied for the scholarships at the NFC Foundation. Scott once again reiterated thanks to the ladies for being a part of the Foundation and providing a scholarship to help Jefferson County students flourish in college. The Foundation doesn't have very many scholarships specifically for Jefferson County residents, so they're glad the Women's Club can provide such a scholarship.

The gifts Scott gave out to the club were some NFC fans, for the whole club, an NFC thermos, to the member who has been part of the club the longest, and an NFC umbrella, to the member whose birthday was closest.
Once all of the gifts were given, Scott and Jimenez-Perez gave their thanks one more time before leaving, as the Women's Club moved on to discuss some business and announcements. The first item on the agenda was updating the situation on their holiday cakes. During Christmas, the Women's Club always bakes holiday cakes to sell as a fundraiser to help raise money for their charitable projects. They could not sell all of their cakes this go around, but they didn't want them to go to waste. So, they found a place to give them away during Valentine's Day and called them Valentine's cakes, as, if frozen, they'll keep for 5 months. So they were happy to do something for the people they gave them away to and not let the cakes go to waste.

After that, they discussed things such as how they've been thankfully booked with renters and have been able to fix some things that needed fixing at their building. They also discussed some fundraisers they could do soon, such as a possible spring yard sale and a meat sale.

The most significant discussion topic for them, however, was their participation in the Watermelon Festival. Every year, the Women's Club does a luncheon and fashion show for the Watermelon Festival. So, they discussed the logistics of renting the Opera House, where they put on the lunch and show, and what else they might possibly do with it.

Once the discussion of the Watermelon Festival was through, the meeting came to a close. The Monticello Women's Club meets on the second Tuesday of every month at their clubhouse, located at 975 E. Pearl St. Their next meeting will be on April 13 and will start at noon. If you'd like to learn more about the Women's Club and how to join, you can contact Women's Club President Jennifer King at (850) 443-9887.