Batavia Quota Club may have only a handful of members, but they continue to do big things in their community.
At their annual June picnic at Indian Falls Fire hall, they presented a $3,000 scholarship to a Pembroke High School senior, Grace Vogler.
Quota yearly offers scholarships of $500 to $1,000 to seniors who are hearing impaired or planning a career in a hearing-related field. Applications are reviewed by a scholarship committee, which includes Ann VerHague, Kathy Friedman and Kim Dewey.
This year, Vogler’s was the only application Quota received, said club President Liz Weber, of Bergen.
“So we gave the entire amount to her,” she said.
Vogler, who is salutatorian at her school, has a 98.6 grade-point average. She is a Presidential Scholar, a member of the Honor Society, the Art Honor Society, president of the Photo Club, and is drum major of the Pembroke Marching Band. She has appeared in school musicals and has been active in sports, including swimming and cross-country.
She volunteers at the City Mission and works at The Manor House and Fenton’s Farm Market.
Vogler plans to attend RIT to study Administrative Management with a specialization in nonprofit groups.
She thanked Quota for the honor of being chosen for the scholarship, saying she has been inspired by groups like them for a long time.
“One day I hope to help people in need,” Vogler said.
Quota earns the money for its charitable giving by maintaining a clothing shed in the parking lot of the First Presbyterian Church of Batavia, located at 300 E. Main St.. Club members visit every yard sale, rummage sale or thrift shop in the area, collecting their leftover clothing. They accept clothing, belts, shoes and linens, but no appliances.
People may drop off donations in the shed at First Presbyterian Church at any time.
Once a week, or as needed, Weber and other members will spend hours in the shed, sorting and bagging the items to be picked up by St. Pauly Textile Inc. That is a Farmington-based, family-owned, for-profit company, and an A+ member of the Better Business Bureau. It's goal is to get useable clothing to people who can use it, here in the United States and in developing countries, while having a meaningful impact in our local communities.
Quota Club in Batavia is St. Pauly Textile Inc.'s longest-standing affiliation. Quota Club receives a few cents per pound for the donated clothing and receives an average monthly check of more than $500 in return.
Money received from the clothing shed has allowed Quota to spend thousands on community projects, such as purchasing three newborn hearing screeners for United Memorial Hospital, in addition to the yearly scholarships.
Top photo: Liz Weber, president of Batavia’s Quota Club, poses with Pembroke senior Grace Vogler, who received a $3,000 scholarship from the club at their meeting Wednesday evening at Indian Falls Fire Hall. At right is Ann VerHague, a member of the scholarship committee.
Grace Vogler, a senior at Pembroke High School, is presented a $3,000 scholarship from Quota Club’s scholarship committee, Ann VerHague, Kathy Friedman and Kim Dewey.
Photos by Virginia Kropf.
