Oakville Rotary Clubs Award $120K in Student Bursaries

Twenty-four graduating Oakville high school students are heading to post-secondary with some extra help. The Rotary Club of Oakville and the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar handed out $5,000 bursaries each through their 2026 Oakville Rotary Education Awards, up from the usual $2,000 and bringing the total to $120,000.

Recipients came from Oakville high schools and were chosen on academic performance, financial need and community service. The clubs said the larger amount is meant to help offset the rising cost of post-secondary education.

Three students also received special recognition. Jailin Gong of Abbey Park won the Bill Barnes Music Bursary, Ayca Yesildag of Garth Webb took the Barry and Mary-Jane Howie Medical Bursary, and Sachith Jeyachandran of Oakville Trafalgar received the Donna Messer Service Above Self Award.

The money comes from the clubs' fundraising, including the Family Ribfest, the Golf to Give Tournament and the Rotary Online Auction.