Princeton, NJ - Kyla LaFond,a 19-year old freshman at Drexel University and a native of Bogota, NJ has been
awarded a $15,000 scholarship as the winner of the Seventh Annual “Pay It Forward” Scholarship Award from CURE Auto Insurance and 94.5 PST.
The “Pay It Forward” Scholarship Award was created for young adults who have performed unselfish acts, compassionate works or community action.
Kyla was nominated by her older brother Paul of Elkins Park, PA. The youngest child in a family of 14
children, of which the youngest six are adopted, Kyla has older siblings with severe handicaps, including muscular dystrophy, fetal alcohol syndrome, VATER syndrome and
imperforate anus to name just a few. Her tight-knit family life and ability to help those around her overcome life’s obstacles, has given Kyla the impetus to improve the lives of the less fortunate both locally and globally.
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Towards that end, Kyla has spent the last three springs paying her own way to Honduras as a translator and medical assistant providing critical medical care and assistance to poverty stricken residents of the jungles of Honduras.
Her two years of experience with the Henry B. King medical brigade (in 2009 and 2010) allowed her to work with a group of upperclassmen and the Global Brigades organization in the spring of 2011 to start the first Drexel Medical Brigade to Honduras,which served a village of 500 people.
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While attending the Drexel University’s Panoni Honors
College as a Biology major and Resident Assistant, with the goal to attend medical school to become a pediatrician, Kyla spends her Christmas holidays traveling the 230 miles to volunteer as a ski instructor for children and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities as a member of Wyndham’s Adaptive Sports Foundation. During
the remainder of the school year, Kyla serves as a board member for the local Habitat for Humanity, is a member of the Red Cross club, volunteered in Philadelphia as part of the Circle K Club and served as an advisor for 5th grade students at the Elaine Lock Public School in Philadelphia, with Drexel Lindy Scholars.
“We are so honored and proud of all of our finalists because they all in their special way teach us how to serve
humanity and live our lives as true citizens of this planet,” said Eric S. Poe, Esq. CPA and Chief Operating Officer of CURE.
“Kyla’s tremendous dedication to her own family and to the lives of the less fortunate around the world is an example of how one individual can make a meaningful difference.”
Five finalists were honored at a dinner reception on Thursday February 23rd in Princeton and each received $1,000. LaFond was chosen to receive the $15,000 CURE Auto Insurance “Pay It Forward” Scholarship,
to be used at Drexel.
The other finalists were:
Rebecca Jaeger – Whitehouse Station, NJ
Brandon J. Pugh – Moorestown, NJ
Alexa Lenskold – Chalfont, PA
Keri Darcy – Delran, NJ
About CURE:
During the 1980s, despite the fact that New Jersey's drivers paid one of the highest premium rates in the nation, auto insurers were reluctant to write
new auto insurance policies due to low profitability and massive legislative and regulatory constraints.
It was during this crisis that former New Jersey Insurance Commissioner James J. Sheeran and an award-winning
insurance expert, Dr. Lena Chang, founded Citizens United Reciprocal Exchange, formally known as NJ CURE. When it began operations in 1990, CURE was heralded
by the media as the "CURE" to the auto insurance crisis in New Jersey. CURE has since evolved into a market leader in policyholder satisfaction to the thousands of responsible drivers who have become its members. For more
information visit us on the web at www.cure.com.
