2025 Scholarship Winners
Meet Local 881 Charitable Foundation Scholarship Winners
Five students were awarded academic scholarships by the UFCW Local 881 Charitable Foundation in July 2025. Scholarships were awarded to members and their children, with an Overall Excellence award given to the student with the highest score across all applicants. Recipients were chosen based on academic excellence, extracurricular activities, community service, and a written essay that demonstrated knowledge of a labor-related topic.
STEPHANIE MILAN
Overall Excellence
$4,000 award
Stephanie is a Local 881 member and the recipient of the 881 Charitable Foundation Scholarship Overall Excellence award. She received a $4,000 scholarship. Stephanie will be a Freshman at the University of Illinois – Champaign, studying Public Policy and Law.
ABIGAIL ZUREK
$1,000 award
Abigail is the daughter of Local 881 member, Rhonda Zurek, and the recipient of the 881 Charitable Foundation Scholarship award. She received a $1,000 scholarship. Abigail will be a Junior at Purdue University, studying Early Childhood Education.
ANJLY OAD
$1,000 award
Anjly is a Local 881 member and the recipient of the 881 Charitable Foundation Scholarship award. She received a $1,000 scholarship. Anjly will be a Freshman at Chamberlain University, studying Nursing.
JAKE AIMONE
$1,000 award
Jake is the son of Local 881 member, Paul Aimone, and the recipient of the 881 Charitable Foundation award. He received a $1,000 scholarship. Jake will be a Freshman at Bradley University, studying Sports Communication.
ARIELLE MANAS
$1,000 award
Arielle is a Local 881 member and the recipient of the 881 Charitable Foundation award. She received a $1,000 scholarship. Arielle will be a Freshman at North Central College, studying Chemistry.
“Local 881 is proud to recognize these students for their outstanding academic and community achievements,” said Steve Powell, President, Local 881 and UFCW International Vice President. “Not only are they top-notch students, they also represent the labor community positively. I feel that our future is in good hands with these students who will contribute great things to our world. Best wishes to all of the scholarship winners and their families. A special thanks to our judges who did an outstanding job of reviewing and scoring each of the applications carefully.”
Local 881 prides itself on having a completely independent review process. We invite judges from outside our organization to review the applications and select the winners. This year, the judges included:
Jan Dolan,
Retired, Union Representative and Executive Board Member UFCW
Mary Edly-Allen,
State Senator for Illinois District 31
Kate Nation,
Communications Director for the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance
Rachelle Netzer,
Director of UFCW International Region 6
Congratulations to the winners and best wishes for the school year!
To apply for the 2026 UFCW Local 881 Charitable Foundation Scholarship Program, and review other scholarship programs, click here.