The San Diego Better Business Bureau (BBB) has announced that Santee resident Kay Toma, a senior attending Francis Parker High School, has been awarded a $1,500 cash scholarship from the BBB after writing a 400-word essay on the importance of ethics and integrity in the community.
Toma was the top prize winner among five high school students honored at the BBB’s recent 2012 Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics award, which honored local companies for ethical business practices. The BBB said a total of 258 essays from students attending 87 different high schools in San Diego County were evaluated by the judges. Sycuan Casino was the presenting sponsor of this year’s BBB scholarship program.
A member of her school’s Interact Club, a community service club, Toma has traveled to Mexico with a local Rotary Club to build a house for a low-income family. As a sophomore, she started a business selling furniture and clothing. She wants to study business in college. Her essay discussed an event that happened when her family ran a small jewelry retail store. Three customers who accidentally were given too much money in change later returned to the store to give back the extra money.
The non-profit San Diego BBB, which opened in 1921, is San Diego’s largest county-wide business membership organization with 6,000 accredited businesses and charities. The BBB promotes business ethics through voluntary self‑regulation, consumer and business education, and helps consumers with free pre‑purchase information and consumer protection advice, including reliability reports on more than 45,000 local companies. Before buying decisions are made, consumers are encouraged to phone the BBB's free 24‑hour Consumer Helpline at (858) 496‑2131 or (800) 600‑7050, or visit the website at www.bbb.org, to obtain free information and a list of BBB accredited businesses in a particular type of industry.
