Kennedy Gwin, a 2016 graduate of Hoquiam High School and member of the Humptulips Grange, has been awarded a National Grange G.R.O.W. Club scholarship for her years of commitment to her community and Grange.

“Kennedy is outstanding young woman, who is well deserving of the scholarship,” said Washington State Grange Master (president) Tom Gwin. “She is an active Grange member, from the local to the national levels. We are proud to have influenced her career goals of being involved with politics and the political process. We wish her the best as she works toward her educational goals.”

The G.R.O.W. (Go Right On Working) Club is an elite club that is made up of Grange members who have participated in State and National Grange programs within their Grange Youth departments. The club raises funds annually to assist in the educational expenses of Grange members across the nation.

Kennedy is the daughter of former Hoquiam Fire Department Chief and current State Grange Youth Director Jerry Gwin and Tammy Cork. She is studying politics and government at Pacific Lutheran University and hopes to complete law school before launching a career in lobbying or legislative law, and is currently a student senator.

She is the current Washington State Grange Youth Ambassador and will represent the state in November at the 2016 National Grange Convention in Washington, D.C. Kennedy was a counselor at Morehead Junior Grange Camp on the Long Beach Peninsula for four years and is an officer in both her subordinate (local) and Pomona (county-or area-wide) Granges. Kennedy was the second-place winner of the 2016 National Grange Grassroots Activism Program, and received a trip to the National Grange Legislative Fly-In in New Hampshire to participate in the Presidential Primary election process.

“Those selected to receive this scholarship are the pride and future of our organization,” said Amanda Leigh Brozana, National Grange Director of Communications. “They, like Kennedy, often serve in many different leadership roles for their peers in the Grange and for their local and State Granges as a whole. They have excellent academic records and a commitment to bring their knowledge back to the organization to enhance everyone’s experience.”

The Washington State Grange is headquartered in Olympia and oversees the hundreds of local Granges in the state. The National Grange has its headquarters in D.C. The 11-story landmark National Grange headquarters building in Washington, D.C. was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower June 29, 1960, and is the only private edifice in a federal block across from the White House. For more information visit wa-grange.org or nationalgrange.org.