San Antonio high schooler in the running for $20,000 scholarship from Coca-Cola

If you’ve got positive juju to spare, consider sending it to local high school senior Izumi Vázquez.

The Northside Health Careers High School student is one of 251 regional finalists in the 2021 Coca-Cola Scholars Program contest, advancing to the second round of interviews to vie for a hefty $20,000 college scholarship.

If the name Vázquez's name sounds familiar, it’s because we reported last week that she'd landed an educational grant through the Annual Regional Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards.

To participate in the Coca-Cola Scholars Program contest, students must create positive change in their communities and around the world — something Vázquez is doing through her pandemic-era venture Cards Against Cancer.

In August of 2020, KSAT reported that Vázquez founded the business with her sister Ayumi in response to time spent with pediatric cancer patients as a volunteer at at a local children's hospital.

“Essentially we are creating handmade cards in hopes of raising awareness and also funding for pediatric cancer,” Vázquez told the station.

The Coca-Cola Scholars Program — a joint effort of Coca-Cola bottlers across the country and the Coca-Cola Company — is the largest corporate-sponsored, achievement-based scholarship program in the United States, according to its website. It's awarded some $75 million in scholarships over the past 33 years.

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