Amy’s Kitchen awards $150,000 in scholarships to local students
Amy’s Kitchen, a non-GMO and organic food manufacturer based in Petaluma, is helping send over 120 Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Pocatello, and Medford students to college with $150,000 awarded in scholarships.
Of the 120 students, 42 are Petaluma and Santa Rosa based. Since the scholarship program started in 2000, Amy’s has given out nearly 1,500 scholarships totaling $1.5 million.
Each year, Amy’s Kitchen invites its employees’ children to apply for higher education scholarships based on merit. Last week, it announced the recipients of the 2022 scholarship awards.
The founders of the company, Rachel and Andy Berliner, said they understand the cost of higher education can be a barrier preventing students from attending colleges.
“Amy’s Kitchen began with our desire to provide nutritious, delicious, and sustainable food to families,” the Berliners said in a news release. “As the company grew, we hoped to be able to earn enough to send our daughter to college. Now through the Amy’s Kitchen scholarship program, we’ve spent the last two decades supporting our employees’ families in their pursuit of higher education.”
The company was created in 1988 following Rachel Berliner’s pregnancy with her daughter, Amy. She struggled to find natural convenience foods at the local grocery store, so she and her husband decided to make their own.
“In a lot of ways Amy’s Kitchen has supported my college journey. It has given me financial stability in general,” said Jamie Castrellon, a four-time scholarship recipient and student at UC Davis. “It’s great to have the scholarship to rely on to release anxiety. I use it mostly to buy textbooks and case files for my economics classes.”
To celebrate this year’s recipients, Amy’s hosted its 22nd annual Scholarship Ceremonies at plant locations. The Santa Rosa location celebrated Aug. 9 and the Pocatello and Medford locations held ceremonies Aug. 16.
Emma Molloy is an intern for the Argus-Courier. She can be reached at emma.molloy@pressdemocrat.com.
