Meet the 2025 Monk’s Service Scholarship Award Winners

Monk’s Home Improvements annually awards $10,000 in scholarships to local students. Five $2,000 scholarships are awarded based on applicants’ efforts to better our community through volunteering and service work.

Nearly 200 applications were received from students attending more than 60 different high schools. The five students selected for the scholarship all identified a problem and took the initiative to improve the situation. Their efforts have made an impact now and for years to come. Some of the highlights of their work are detailed below.

We proudly recognized our 2025 scholarship recipients at an awards ceremony in late April 2025. During this time, we meal-packed 500 breakfast bags in support of nourishNJ.

Meet the 2025 Monk’s Service Scholarship Recipients

Alanya Friedman, Columbia High School

Concerned about Maplewood’s shrinking tree canopy, Alanya proposed the creation of a Shade Tree Committee (STC) to the Maplewood Township Committee. After receiving approval, she took the lead—recruiting adult volunteers and spearheading the development of the committee’s initiatives. Among these efforts was a redesign of the town’s tree removal permit application to clarify the requirement that any removed tree must be replaced.

Alanya also organized a community-wide tree planting event that resulted in the planting of over 550 trees. She oversaw every aspect of the project, including volunteer recruitment, mapping planting locations, and securing a $2,000 grant from Green Matters to help fund the saplings.

Sophia Gillen, Mountain Lakes High School

Throughout high school, Sophia was a year-round volunteer at the Bloomingdale Regional Animal Shelter. But she didn’t stop there. Seeing the need for more foster families to support permanent adoptions, Sophia launched her own nonprofit: Phenomenal Foster Pets.

She partnered with the Girl Scouts to create a fun patch and developed a fostering education program for young scouts. She even petitioned Governor Murphy—submitting a letter and a draft proclamation—which led to New Jersey becoming the first state to recognize June as “Foster a Pet Month.”

Through her nonprofit, Sophia continues to collaborate with advocates across the country to expand pet fostering awareness and support.

Armaan Lerner, Watchung Hills High School

After his mother returned from a trip to South Africa, Armaan learned about the lack of books in many under-resourced schools. Determined to make a difference, he launched the “Books Building Bridges” campaign to stock the libraries of two schools in need.

Armaan spoke at temples, churches, senior centers, and schools—anywhere he could raise awareness. He set up book collection stations and organized the logistics of packing and shipping 2,000 books, even securing a donation to cover the cost of shipping.

His efforts didn’t stop there. Armaan continues to stay in touch with the schools he’s supported, establishing a pen pal program between students in South Africa and his peers here at Watching Hills. He’s also working with them to develop a robotics curriculum, combining his passion for technology with his commitment to global service.

Sriya Tallapragada, Pingry School

Sriya began by hosting daily after-school STEAM workshops at her local library. To expand her impact and reach more girls nationwide, she founded GirlsWhoSTEAM (girlswhosteam.com), a nonprofit that provides funding and resources to help high school students launch their own local STEAM initiatives. Through partnerships with libraries, schools, and community organizations, Sriya recruited volunteers and successfully expanded her mission. Today, GirlsWhoSTEAM supports 23 active chapters around the world.

In a separate initiative, Sriya received a grant from the INKEY List Impact Fund to distribute skincare products to women in homeless shelters. Collaborating with the Rutgers Health Policy Institute, she researched the relationship between skincare and mental health. Her findings highlighted the importance of a holistic approach to care, showing that access to skincare can boost confidence and overall well-being.

Vamsikrishna Vaidula, Bridgewater-Raritan High School

Raised in a community deeply affected by refugee and immigration challenges, Vamsi developed a strong sense of responsibility to support individuals facing systemic barriers. Motivated by a commitment to justice and equity, he has led and contributed to numerous service initiatives.

As Executive Director of the Richmond Refugee Health Partners Student Volunteer Program, Vamsi trained 75 college students to guide over 200 newly resettled refugee families in navigating the U.S. healthcare system.

At BRHS, he founded Students Together Assisting Refugees (STAR), organizing awareness events, publishing multilingual resource guides, and leading community-wide cultural and educational initiatives that engaged over 55 students.

As Global Youth President for the HundrED Ambassador Program, Vamsi mentored youth on public health initiatives and developed an award-winning AI mental health education tool for children.

His two internships with Families for Freedom led advocacy campaigns that secured the release of three immigrants from ICE detention and culminated in a published book sharing the stories of those detained. Volunteering with the Freedom for Immigrants national hotline, he connected ICE detainees with legal aid, filed abuse reports, and helped free 15 individuals.

Through a public health research fellowship, Vamsi studied EMS shortages in New Jersey and co-drafted a bill to expand life-saving education in underserved communities. As a medical assistant at a pediatric clinic, he supported under-resourced families with both clinical tasks and medical translation in several languages. Across all efforts, Vamsi consistently transformed their sense of civic duty into action, placing the needs of community at the heart of his service.

2026 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION

The 2026 Scholarship will begin accepting applicants at the end of 2025 or the start of 2026.  If you’d like to receive an email notification when the 2026 application is open, please email us at [email protected]

Eligible are high school seniors and continuing college undergraduate students. Your permanent residence must be within the Monk’s service area. For all terms and conditions, please see here.