The Winkler Arts & Culture Centre was filled with excitement and gratitude Tuesday evening (August 19) as the Winkler Community Foundation celebrated its 2025 Gordon Wiebe Education Award recipients. In its ninth year, the program awarded 56 scholarships totaling more than $125,000, helping students from Winkler pursue higher education. A story of support and friendship Among the recipients were Garden Valley Collegiate graduates and roommates Kennedy Wall and Maya Janz, who will both attend the University of Winnipeg in fall with the dream of becoming veterinarians. Wall admitted she was caught off guard by the number of awards she received at her graduation ceremony in June. “I went up there and they were reading off a bunch of my scholarships, and I didn't think they were mine because I didn't know I won a bunch of them. But after I realized they were mine... I was just really excited.” For Janz, the scholarship was validation of years of volunteering and hard work. “I was so grateful that after all the hard work put towards this… I was able to come out with something. I'm so thankful [that it will] further my education.” Related stories: Winkler Community Foundation celebrates 30 years of giving Morden Area and Winkler Community Foundations join forces to support community pathway The two shared how meaningful it is to step into this next chapter together. “We've had this plan together since Grade 8, and we never changed it, and it's really helpful to me to know that there's someone going through this with me,” Wall said. Janz added, “It's actually very helpful having a familiar face in all of this… to have someone to lean on.” Their friend Cassidy Gildenberg, who will also be living with them in the fall as she studies education, came to the reception simply to cheer them on. “I’m very proud of them. They worked really hard… I’m just very lucky to have them.” Inspiration from a past recipient Guest speaker Lani Ens, herself a former recipient and now a social worker in the community, reminded the students of the bigger picture. “Knowing that my own community saw the potential in me and chose to invest in the future gave me a sense of responsibility and pride. It reminded me that I [didn’t] just earn this degree for myself, but I also earned this degree for my community that stood behind me as well. I hope that for all of you tonight who are receiving an award, you're able to feel the same way.” Her words drew a direct connection between the evening’s celebration and the long-term vision of the Gordon Wiebe Education Fund. Organizers reflect on impact Natalie Neudorf, Scholarships & Marketing Coordinator for the Winkler Community Foundation, said evenings like this go far beyond financial assistance. “It's just so exciting to be able to support so many young people… and seeing their faces and hearing their ambitions. It's very rewarding for the foundation to be able to support them with scholarships.” She added that the reception is about more than handing out cheques. “It's not just like a cheque that gets deposited in your student account at university. But it's a group of people and it's a community that really cares about these students succeeding and becoming successful adults in our community.” Foundation chair Barb Neufeld reflected on both the numbers and the heart behind the giving. “It feels really, really good, and the really good thing is this is the ninth year in a row. Next year we're going to celebrate 10 years of giving scholarship money, and it hasn't always been over $100,000, but the last three years it has.” She emphasized that it’s also about community support beyond finances. “Money is important, but… the feeling of support. I've had more than one parent meet me in the grocery store or somewhere on the street and say they were so grateful… that the community believed in them.” Legacy and future Since the Gordon Wiebe Education Fund’s inception in 2017, over $890,000 has been awarded to students. Created through the estate of pharmacist Gordon Wiebe, the fund supports young people demonstrating commitment to community as they pursue higher education. Applications for the 2026 awards open January 1st. 2025 Gordon Wiebe Education Award Recipients Make It a Reality Award ($25,000 over 4 years) 2025 Recipient: Allyssa Alegro (Science) Returning recipients: Alyssa Neufeld (Education) Tina Reimer (Education) Viktoria Maschkin (Social Work) Ongoing Education Support ($2,000 per year, up to three years) 2025 OES Recipients: Jeremy Lloyd (Business) Seth Friesen (Business) Annika Roberts (Sciences) Serena Peters (Arts) Leah Voth (Nursing) Jade Hart (Arts) Jamie Reimer (Sciences) Nicholas Unrau (Sciences) Reagan Doell (Education) Hayden Wiebe (Biology) Cole Wiebe (Sciences) Rylan Hiebert (Business) Kadence Penner (Nursing) Madalyn Wiebe (Nursing) Michael Pluschnik (Social Work) Payton Neufeld (Arts) Jaren Hildebrand (Arts) Sofya Polynko (Sciences). Renewing OES Students: Brady Hiebert (Science) Carly Unrau (Agriculture) Nathan Lepp (Science) Griffon Hart (Arts) Calissa Penner (Medicine) Clarissa Unger (Arts) Noah Schaefer (Nursing) Rachel Klassen (Arts) Lucas Ens (Business) Eric Xu (Engineering) Tabea Nikel (Psychology) Teagan Wall (Nursing) Anna Snytko (Business) Rebecca Wiebe (Agriculture) Aliya Toews (Massage Therapy) Carah Wiebe (Social Work) Curtis Unger (Nursing) Winkler Community Foundation High School Graduate Awards ($2,000, one-time award) Garden Valley Collegiate: Jonas Gislason (Management) Heidi Reimer (Environmental Sciences) Judith Fehr (Business Administration) Gregory Pluschnik (Nursing) Northlands Parkway Collegiate: Ariana Dueck (Paramedic) Kennedy Wall (Veterinary) Madison Shields (Dental Hygiene) Olga Olehova (Aerospace Engineering)