NWCF Scholarships
Over $36,300 Awarded in NWCF Scholarships!
The North West Camelid Foundation Scholarship Endowment Fund was established in partnership with the Oregon State University Foundation and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
NWCF 2024 OSU Scholarship Winner Henry Laurita
DVM Candidate, Class of 2026, Oregon State University
Hometown: Hope, Maine
Undergraduate degree: University of Maine at Orono
Why I chose veterinary medicine: I chose veterinary medicine because it gives me the chance to have meaningful, direct interactions with animals. I think healthy farm animals underpin healthy rural communities, and I want to work to make sustainable, local food systems a bigger part of the future.
My career plans: My dream is to have a mobile livestock practice in rural Maine where I can serve the many cattle, sheep, goats, camelids, swine, poultry, etc. that make up an important part of their communities.
Fun fact: I appreciate the hands-on labs in the curriculum—we got to do ultrasound pregnancy checks on ewes in the fall and then work with their lambs in the spring!
Dear North West Camelid Foundation,
I am honored to be chosen as the recipient of this award and want to express my many thanks. Your generous gift will go a long way for me: I plan to use the only to buy textbooks that will be both essential for my upcoming coursework and indefensible to have in my truck as I pursue my career in large animal medicine in rural Maine. I hope that I can honor your gift by providing care to the best of my ability to many individuals of the wonderful camelid family.
Thank you very much and best wishes,
Henry Lurita
NWCF 2024 Wash. State Scholarship Winner Tovah Yenna
DMV Candidate, Class of 2025, Washington State University
WSU CVM Class of 2025 President
Dear North West Camelid Foundation,
I want to take a moment to thank you for your generous financial gift with the NWCF Scholarship. I am originally from New York State but I moved to Washington in 2002 when I was first stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island with the US Navy. I met my husband Brian while serving in the Navy and we have made Washington our home ever since.
I am a non-traditional student as I entered school at 40 years young, with a husband and three children My oldest child is completing his third year of college here at WSU studying history, and the other two are well into their high school years. As I support my family starting out on their new journeys and growing into adulthood, I am excited and eager to finally be able to fulfill my childhood goal of becoming a veterinarian.
As I am heading into my fourth and final year as a veterinary student my hope is to specialize in small ruminants and camelids. I have a small herd of about 25 American Alpine dairy goats that we show and milk, and we have had two llamas that lived with our goats.
I would love to work at a veterinary practice that already sees small ruminants and camelids in addition to small and large animals, or at a practice that I can help to establish such a clientelle. I feel that there are not enough veterinarians who can or will see these under-represented species so I would love to be part of the solution to that problem. I am so thankful that with your support I am one step closer to this dream.
I have served as WSU Class of 2025 Student Council lPresident for the past three years. In this position I am able to really advocate for our class and help each of my classmates be heard I our school. I really enjoy being able to serve the class in this capacity. I am also a student representative for the WASAVMA DEI committee.
I was honored to hear that I was chosen for this scholarship. Thank. You again for investing in my education.
Kindest regards,
Tovah Yenna
NWCF 2023 Wash. State Scholarship Winner Grace Montgomery
DMV Candidate, Class of 2024, Washington State University
Dear North West Camelid Foundation,
I am honored to have been selected to receive the NWCF Scholarship this year. The community of llama and alpaca owners in the Pacific Northwest is near and dear to my heart and a major reason why I am on the road to becoming a large animal veterinarian. It is with sincere gratitude that I thank you for this award.
Growing up in western Washington, I was a member of a camelid 4-H club where I raised and showed both alpacas and llamas. I enjoyed fiber arts, training my animals for performance classes, going on day hikes, cart driving with my llama, and attending llama 4-H camp every year. I attended Washington State University for my undergraduate education, where I earned degrees in Microbiology and animal Sciences. During undergrad, I had the opportunity to complete International Lama Registry judging clinic, and I have been able to stay involved with 4-H by judging camelid and goat competitions at county and state fairs in Washington and Oregon. I have wanted to become a veterinarian since early childhood, but it was my experience with llamas and alpacas in 4-H that led me to pursue large animal medicine as a career path.
Here at WSU CVM, I am a member of the student chapters of AABP, AAEP, the Society for Theriogenology, and I am president of the Small Ruminant Club. As SRC president this year, I worked to provide more camelid content to club members. We were able to host a hands-on physical exam and handling lab, a lecture on camelid dentistry, and a six-lecture series on camelid theriogenology with Dr. Tibary, including an accompanying breeding soundness examination lab. Looking ahead to fourth year, I will present my senior paper on Parelaphostrongylus tenuis in camelids and travel to Oregon State University to attend their Camelid Medicine and Surgery rotation in the fall. This scholarship will make the added cost of travel and accommodations for this external rotation possible.
After graduation I hope to accept a position in a large or mixed animal practice where I can work to increase accessibility of veterinary services for owners of large animals. My goal is to work in an area with a large camelid population and help hobby farmers of any species keep their animals healthy and productive.
Please accept my sincere thanks for your support of my education. Attending veterinary school has been my lifelong dream and I would not have made it this far without the support and generosity from people like you.
With gratitude,
Grace Montgomery
NWCF 2023 OSU Scholarship Winner Henry Laurita
DVM Candidate, Class of 2026, Oregon State University
Hometown: Hope, Maine
Undergraduate degree: University of Maine at Orono
Why I chose veterinary medicine: I chose veterinary medicine because it gives me the chance to have meaningful, direct interactions with animals. I think healthy farm animals underpin healthy rural communities, and I want to work to make sustainable, local food systems a bigger part of the future.
My career plans: My dream is to have a mobile livestock practice in rural Maine where I can serve the many cattle, sheep, goats, camelids, swine, poultry, etc. that make up an important part of their communities.
Fun fact: I appreciate the hands-on labs in the curriculum—we got to do ultrasound pregnancy checks on ewes in the fall and then work with their lambs in the spring!
NWCF 2022 OSU Scholarship Winner Lane Beu
Why I chose veterinary medicine:
To be able to provide small farms a comprehensive source of care and continue the shift of large animal medicine toward humane practices.
My career plans:
Hoping for a mobile, mixed animal practice serving a rural community. Plan is to provide a one-stop shop to see the barn cats, the livestock guardian dog, the horses, pigs, sheep, alpacas, cows etc.
Fun fact:
Working at the large animal hospital has been a great experience, learning how to behave around animals who are stressed/in pain. Also being lifting completely off the ground by the neck of an alpaca who was just as surprised as I was.
Lane Beu, Class of 2024
Hometown: Bloomfield, CO
Undergraduate degree: Colorado State University
NWCF 2022 WSU Scholarship Winner Rachel Hanson
April 2022
Dear North West Camelid Foundation,
I am honored to have been considered for the NWCF Scholarship and am extremely gateful for your contributions to our continued growth in the field of veterinary medicine.
I grew up in southeastern Idaho and was active e in my local 4-H clubs and rodeo. I continued my passion for agriculture and rodeo in to my undergraduate education at Utah State University by completing my bachelor’s in Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science, and competing on the USU Rodeo Team. During those three years I made the Dean’s list each assister and served as the Bice President of the rodeo team for two years. I continued my time at USU by completing the first two years of the DVM program there before moving up to Pullman in the fall of 2020.
Our NWCF Scholarship Recipients Thank You!
Make a Donation to the NWCF Scholarship Endowment Today!
Your donation check should be payable to:
The OSU Foundation
specifiying the North West Camelid Foundation (NWCF)
Scholarship Endowment Fund in the comment area
(or in correspondence) and mailed to:
Oregon State University Foundation
4238 SW Research Way,
Corvallis, OR 97333-1068
Make a Donation to NWCF’s WSU Scholarship online today
Friends of the Veterinary College Endowment Scholarship Fund
Or send a check payable to:
Friends of the Veterinary College Endowment Scholarship Fund
specifiying the NWCF Scholarship Fund Account #2505-8168
in the comment area or in correspondence.
WSU Veterinary Development Office
PO Box 647010
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-7010
Thank You!
See Past Recipients of the NWCF Scholarship.
History of the NWCF Scholarship Endowment
In 1993 the NWCF directors approved funding an annual Scholarship for a student pursuing a degree in the veterinary medical field. A Scholarship Committee was formed under the leadership of Bob Wynia. He and other volunteers developed the qualifying criteria, distributed announcements of the award and evaluated and selected the recipient. Included in the criteria besides scholastic achievement was an interest in care and treatment of llamas and alpacas.
The Scholarship was to be funded by a raffle. An interested farm was asked to donate a pair of pet male llamas. Tickets were sold at the Llama Bazaar held in conjunction with AgFest at the State Fairgrounds each April. Donating ranches over the years included Llamas of Central Valley, Bob and Betty Barkdoll; Chula Llamas, Dick and Pat Wickum; Sijama Llamas, Bob and Marilyn Wynia; and Glenmor Forest Llamas, Morris Wendorf and Glen Pfefferkorn. In later years, merchandise items were added such as cd players, radios and other electronic gadgets.
Ticket sales in those early days exceeded $1,000. When the raffle fell shy, the directors funded the short fall out of the treasury or member donations made up the difference. In September 2001, the Board with the approval of the Jan Crabbe family transferred $382 from the Raven Hill Fund to the Scholarship fund. Jan, under the name of Raven Hill Llamas, had been a llama breeder in the Corvallis area. When she succumbed to cancer, her llama friends contributed to a memorial fund established by her family with the NWCF. They agreed that being part of the Scholarship Fund was a fitting tribute to their mother.
In 2001 the Board recognized the administrative work, staying in compliance with Internal Revenue requirements and establishing a stabilized funding source mandated that a different approach was needed. After careful deliberation a challenge was issued to llama owners asking they make donations to the NWCF Scholarship Fund to be established in partnership with the Oregon State University Foundation and the College of Veterinary Medicine. For each dollar donated by an individual, NWCF would match the donation with four dollars, up to a maximum matching grant of $10,000. To meet the required fund balance of $12,500, individual donations of $2,500 were required.
In 1999 the association had sponsored its first ALSA-sanctioned llama show as part of AgFest, in addition to its annual Llama Bazaar. Under the leadership of superintendent Justin Timm, the first dual show held on the west coast was a barnburner. After the bills were paid, $11,000 went into the treasury. This windfall earned through the efforts of one of our youth was identified as the source for the matching funds. How better to recognize his efforts in perpetuity then to use that money to ensure a Scholarship was awarded every year to other hard working individuals and to eliminate the need for annual fundraising.
On November 14, 2002, NWCF director Glen Pfefferkorn signed the Endowment Fund Agreement with the OSU Foundation. This agreement set forth the criteria, the selection process and the awarding of the Scholarship. All administrative work was transferred from NWCF to the Scholarship Committee of the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Local veterinarians were instrumental in getting the donation drive off to a fast start. Dr. Paul Jones contributed $100 and challenged all other vet clinics to meet his donation. Drs. Pat Long, Kecia Smilie and Greg Fisher met his challenge.
The balance of the $2,500 needed for the matching grant was quickly met.
By March 31, 2003, the NWCF Scholarship Fund was fully funded.
