Generosity in Action
Celebrating 2024 Scholarship Awardees
Thanks to generous community members past and present who funded over $280,000 in scholarships this year, 37 students in Santa Cruz County are one step closer to college. Scholarships ranged from $1,000 to $20,000 and totaled $283,000. Since 1988, we've awarded over $2.2 million in scholarships to over 450 students. Seventy-four percent of this year’s awardees are first-generation college students, turning their parents’ and grandparents’ dreams of higher education into a reality.
The class of 2024 started high school at home, during a global pandemic. They’ve weathered multiple climate disasters since then and had to navigate the emotional and economic fallout from these challenging times including this year’s chaotic rollout of a new federal financial aid application process.
“These students,” says Kevin Heuer, Director of Community Engagement & Impact, “are so ready and eager to shape their own futures and chase the ambitions they’ve been holding onto. Despite all the challenges they faced, this year’s awardees continued to excel in class, volunteer in the community, play sports, participate in clubs and extracurricular activities, and work nights and weekends to help their families make ends meet. Among them are future physicians, teachers, aerospace engineers, mathematicians, pilots, nurses, electrical engineers, artists, and builders. It’s an extraordinary group of young people and we can’t wait to watch them succeed toward high-quality degrees, in-demand careers, and as contributors to a thriving community.”
“This award will help me pay off my remaining cost of attendance at UC Berkeley and allow me to focus more on my academics while having to worry less about working. Thank you this is a great honor and I hope to return to Watsonville and PVHS to give back what I learned.”
- Mireya Garcia Zamora, recipient of the Isabel Fowler Sewell Scholarship. Mireya is graduating from Pajaro Valley High School and heading to UC Berkeley to study electrical engineering.
Generations of Donors Paying it Forward
These awards are made possible thanks to the rich history of local families contributing to young scholars’ success by establishing scholarship funds at the Community Foundation. Donors have been inspired to give back to a school they loved, to support equitable access to opportunity, or to honor loved ones’ dedication to higher education. For some, including Jim and Katalin DeBord starting a scholarship fund was a way to create a legacy in memory of their beloved son Jack DeBord who tragically passed away in 2019. Since 2020, the Jack DeBord Memorial Scholarship has provided a $20,000 scholarship ($5,000 per year for each year of college) to a graduating student athlete at San Lorenzo Valley High School.
“We wanted to honor Jack’s memory with a scholarship. We wanted to ensure that his name would not be forgotten,” said Jim DeBord. “Along with the generous donations to the fund, there has been an overwhelming outpouring of love and support from the community.” This year, the final Jack DeBord Memorial Scholarships are going to two incredible students, Aliyah Bowers and Alyssa Struthers. Previous scholarship recipients are all on their way to finishing their degrees, including Angelo Reis who will obtain his mechanical engineering degree from Cal Poly SLO next spring.
A Community of Service & Support
Combined, our 90 leading scholarship applicants did over 9,000 hours of volunteer service at Santa Cruz County nonprofit organizations who are also grantees of our Community Grants program. These nonprofits provide meaningful ways for teens to get involved in their community and many of them provide critical wrap-around services for youth and their families. Applicants were active in dozens of organizations including Esperanza Community Farms, FoodWhat?!, El Sistema, Activities 4 All, United Way, Hospice of Santa Cruz County, Watsonville Film Festival, and many more.
Meet the 37 local students who received scholarships through Community Foundation Santa Cruz County in 2024.
JUDY ANTON WOMAN OF VALOR / LUPITA LOVES TO READ PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP
Natalie Martinez, Watsonville High School (Cabrillo College)
R.H. BEEL MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Zena Reyes Lopez, Santa Cruz High School (San José State University)
Alicia Guzmán Serriteño, Santa Cruz High School (UC Santa Cruz)
BURTON SCHOLARSHIP
Miguel Martinez-Villalobos, Watsonville High School (CSU Long Beach)
Derick Freitas, Harbor High School (UC Davis)
BOB AND BETSY DARROW SCHOLARSHIP
Emerson Portillo Rodas, Santa Cruz High School (San José State University)
Itzel Vega Andrade, Watsonville High School (Cabrillo College)
RICHARD AND THERESA CROCKER SCHOLARSHIP
Jaime Lopez, Costanoa High School (Cabrillo College)
Dasia Amick, Watsonville High School (San José State University)
Olivia Robinson, Harbor High School (San Diego State University)
JACK DEBORD MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Aliyah Bowers, San Lorenzo Valley High School (De Anza College)
Alyssa Struthers, San Lorenzo Valley High School (Concordia University)
HANK GARCIA JR. AND FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP
Sydney Roth Bensusan, Aptos High School (Chapman University)
Matthew Enright, St. Francis High School (Cabrillo College)
Makayla Rader, Monte Vista Christian School (University of Mount Saint Vincent)
Kimberly Aguirre, Pajaro Valley High School (UCLA)
Damian Vazquez-Guevara, Watsonville High School (Cabrillo College)
EMMETT AND ELSIE GEISER SCHOLARSHIP
Alexa Flores, Aptos High School (Texas Christian University)
Kimberly Aguirre, Pajaro Valley High School (UCLA)
Yaretzi Arias-Luna, Watsonville High School (UC Davis)
LAURA SEGURA MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Freddie Lopez, Pajaro Valley High School (CSU Monterey Bay)
Kyndra Imperial, Cabrillo College (Cabrillo College)
ISABEL FOWLER SEWELL SCHOLARSHIP
Aidaleydi Hernandez, Pajaro Valley High School (Cabrillo College)
Angel Soliven, Pajaro Valley High School (Cabrillo College)
Cynthia Pina-Corpus, Pajaro Valley High School (Cabrillo College)
Mireya Zamora Garcia, Pajaro Valley High School (UC Berkeley)
Natalia Garcia-Lazaro, Pajaro Valley High School (CSU Monterey Bay)
Nicole Alfaro Magana, Pajaro Valley High School (UC Santa Cruz)
BERT AND CAROLYN POST SCHOLARSHIP
Valeria Lopez, Watsonville High School (CSU Fresno)
Jennifer Gonzalez Huerta, Watsonville High School (UC Berkeley)
LOUIS J. AND MARY ELLEN SCHULTZ SCHOLARSHIP
Alma Leonor-Sanchez, Cabrillo College (UC Santa Cruz)
SIMUNOVICH FAMILY AGRICULTURE SCHOLARSHIP
Jaciel Luna Farfan, Watsonville High School (CSU Monterey Bay)
BARBARA J. THOMPSON SCHOLARSHIP
Chanya Nguyen, Santa Cruz High School (UC Berkeley)
Vanessa Marroquin-Guzman, Santa Cruz High School (San Diego State University)
Cecilia Peralta, Delta Charter High School (Cabrillo College)
Ashley Arriaga Sanchez, Harbor High School (Cabrillo College)
ERNEST V. COWELL SCHOLARSHIP
Victoria Choi, Santa Cruz High School (UC Santa Cruz)
JOHN L. TURNER SCHOLARSHIP
Sindy Hernandez-Villanueva, Watsonville High School (UC Santa Barbara)
