Moline High student named regional finalist in Coca-Cola Scholars Program
Andrew Grau, a student at Moline High School, has been named a regional finalist for the 2025 class of the Coca-Cola Scholars Program, according to a news release.
Grau is among 250 high school seniors selected as regional finalists from a pool of 105,000+ applications from across the country based on their academic excellence, leadership, and service demonstrated in school and community activities. Less than a quarter of 1% of applicants made it to this point of selection.
The regional finalists are in the running for 150 college scholarships worth $20,000. This is the second stage of a three-stage selection process for the scholarship.
Grau will move to the next round of the selection process to become a Coca-Cola Scholar and receive a $20,000 college scholarship.
'Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling is proud to support the communities in which we live and work,' said Rob Feeney, CEO of Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling. 'Each one of the students who advanced to this level are exceptional, and we wish them the best as they move forward in the process.'
A joint effort of Coca-Cola bottlers across the country and The Coca-Cola Company, the Coca-Cola Scholars Program is the largest corporate-sponsored, achievement-based scholarship program in the United States. With the addition of the 2025 class, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation will have provided more than 7,050 Coke Scholars nationwide with over $87 million in scholarships over the course of 37 years.
Andrew Grau was among 1,337 semifinalists who were selected from over 105,000 initial applicants and is now one of just 250 students who have moved to the final selection phase, regional interviews. After these interviews are conducted in February, 150 of the regional finalists will be designated as Coca-Cola Scholars-select and attend Coca-Cola Scholars Weekend in Atlanta April 3-6, 2025, where they will be the guests of honor at the 37th annual Coca-Cola Scholars Banquet and participate in the Coca-Cola Scholars Leadership Development Institute facilitated by program alumni.
Collectively, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation will award $3.1 million in college scholarships to these outstanding young leaders.
'We believe that identifying these young leaders throughout the country and encouraging their passion for serving others not only empowers the students, but also lifts up those around them.' said Jane Hale Hopkins, president of the foundation. 'The Coca-Cola system is dedicated to giving back to the communities they serve, and the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation is proud to be a part of that commitment.'
In addition to receiving college scholarships, those students selected as Coca-Cola Scholars will be welcomed into a vibrant and growing community of alumni that has become a powerful force for positive change in the world. Through networking, collaborations, and friendships, the group strives to make a greater impact together. Recent initiatives include a podcast called The SIP (The Coke Scholars Ignite Podcast) and the ninth year of a coaching program that partners seasoned alumni with first-year Scholars as they transition to college. Every five years, all alumni are invited to a Coca-Cola Scholars Leadership Summit.
The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation celebrates and empowers visionary leaders who are refreshing the world. With its 36th class of Coca-Cola Scholars, the foundation has provided more than $84 million in scholarships to over 6,900 program alumni who together have become a powerful force for positive change. Learn more here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Social Security COLA increase: Senior group issues projection, but warns of potential new ‘problems'
(NEXSTAR) – What kind of bump can Social Security beneficiaries expect in 2026? A new projection from the Senior Citizens League expects a modest one — if indeed the data they're interpreting is accurate. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) is a nonpartisan senior advocacy group aiming to educate older Americans about laws, rights and financial issues facing their demographic in retirement. The organization is also known for its accurate projections of upcoming Social Security increases — or cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) — which are determined annually by the Social Security Administration. Inflation rose slightly last month as grocery prices ticked higher The Social Security Administration's COLA is designed to help Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients retain their buying power amid rising inflation. These increases, which are issued annually, are determined using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and its Consumer Price Index (CPI), which itself is a measure of the change in prices for common consumer goods and services. Based on current data from the latest CPI, The Senior Citizens League estimates a 2.5% bump for Social Security recipients in 2026, which is slightly higher than the 2.4% projected last month. But the group is also warning of potential 'problems' with recent BLS data, pointing to reports of hiring freezes and staffing shortages. These issues have resulted in the collection of 'less accurate' CPI data, and may result in seniors getting shortchanged come 2026, TSCL argues. 'If the government fails to act and the CPI's data quality begins to erode, it increases the likelihood of the government providing a COLA that doesn't match inflation,' the group writes. Last week, the BLS indeed admitted that it had stopped collecting data for its indexes in three cities: Lincoln, Nebraska; Provo, Utah; and Buffalo, New York. It was also 'reducing sample areas across the country' when collecting data related to inflation. The agency said that it 'temporarily reduced the number of outlets and quotes it attempted to collect due to a staffing shortage' beginning in April. The reduced data collection 'will be kept in place until the hiring freeze is lifted,' according to an email viewed by the Associated Press. Costco will let customers shop without crowds (for a price) The inflation data plays a huge role in the U.S. economy. Not only is it used to calculate the annual COLA adjustments for tens of millions of Social Security recipients, but it also helps determine the interest rate paid in about $2 trillion of inflation-adjusted Treasury bonds. Many private-sector wages are also influenced by the CPI. 'While streamlining the federal government is a good thing, that shouldn't involve cutting back on our ability to measure how our economy is changing,' said TSCL executive director Shannon Benton in a news release. 'Inaccurate or unreliable data in the CPI dramatically increases the likelihood that seniors receive a COLA that's lower than actual inflation, which can cost seniors thousands of dollars over the course of their retirement.' Aside from concerns over the Bureau of Labor's data collection, TSCL has long argued that COLA increases in recent years have failed to keep up with rising costs for seniors, claiming that the CPI-W does not accurately reflect the spending habits of older adults. A 2025 survey of seniors receiving Social Security benefits also indicated that most spend over 1,000 per month on healthcare costs alone. They also estimated that their own costs had risen higher than 3% over the last year — well over the 2.5% suggested by the latest CPI data. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Labor Statistics has said the collection cutbacks will have 'have minimal impact' on its consumer price indexes, 'but they may increase the volatility of subnational or item-specific indexes.' 'BLS will continue to evaluate survey operations,' the agency writes. The amount of next year's COLA increase, however, won't be officially announced by the Social Security Administration until October. The 2026 increase will also be based on BLS data from the upcoming third quarter (July, August and September) of 2025. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Turkey Launches Antitrust Investigation into Coca-Cola Over Potential Competition Breach
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is one of the best stocks for a . The Turkish Competition Board announced on Tuesday that it has launched a formal investigation into Coca-Cola to assess whether the company breached the country's competition laws. A row of factory workers assembling bottles of sparkling soft drinks on a conveyor belt. According to the board's statement, the probe follows preliminary findings suggesting The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) may have engaged in practices that restricted or hindered rival brands from selling their products at retail locations. The investigation will also review whether The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has adhered to the commitments it made to the board in 2021. Following the announcement, shares of Coca-Cola Icecek — Coca-Cola's bottling partner in Turkey and a subsidiary of Anadolu Group — declined on Wednesday. Coca-Cola Icecek is one of the largest bottlers in the system and operates in multiple countries across the region. While we acknowledge the potential of KO as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and Disclosure. None. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Coca-Cola reels as viral video takes chunk out of sales: 'We are very focused on recovering from it'
Coca-Cola is feeling the pressure as consumer-led boycotts have resulted in a decrease in sales over the past year. Coca-Cola sales have decreased by 4% in the first quarter of 2025, according to TheStreet. Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey attributed recent losses to weakening consumer sentiment, particularly within the Latinx community. The company was put on the boycott list created by the Latino Freeze Movement, which is protesting recent rollbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as attacks on immigrant communities. The beverage giant partially blames the weakened support among the Latinx community on a viral video from February. The video, which Coca-Cola labeled as "false," explained that Coca-Cola allegedly laid off several thousand Latinx workers before reporting them to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Coca-Cola has also been the target of boycotts from environmental nonprofit Greenpeace, according to AS. The company has consistently been named as one of the biggest plastic polluters in the world and accused of misleading consumers about the recyclability of its bottles. "Coca Cola's role in plastic pollution is emblematic of plastic itself," Greenpeace said in a blog post. "It appears to be clean, shiny and convenient, much like plastic. Slick appearances, good public relations and its often close proximity to food and beverage would have you believe it is safe, clean and sterile. Like Coke itself, the truth is that plastic is not healthy at all." Consumer boycotts can pressure companies to cut ties with dirty energy producers and change their policies to reduce pollution. Boycotts can also hold companies accountable for their environmental commitments. Coca-Cola has taken steps to curb its plastic pollution in recent years. Simultaneously, it has already quietly gone back on its promises to phase out virgin plastic and use more recycled materials in its packaging. Instead, an Oceana study found that its annual plastic use is on track to exceed 9 billion pounds by 2030. Educating yourself about greenwashing is important to ensure you don't give your hard-earned money to big polluters. You'll also help send a message to corporations that green business is good business. The consumer-led boycotts are getting attention from Coca-Cola executives. Quincey said during the first-quarter earnings report that the company would try to win back Latinx consumers following the effects of the Latino Freeze Movement, according to TheStreet. Do you think America has a plastic waste problem? Definitely Only in some areas Not really I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Quincey added in the report that Coca-Cola must address the fallout from the viral video and subsequent boycott, saying, "We are very focused on recovering from it." It's unclear if Coca-Cola would be reassessing its environmental commitments, although that could change if consumers continue to demand accountability from the company. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
