Superior High School Student Attending ASU with the Help of Community Outreach
Ron Andrea
Makayla Martinez graduated third in her class at Superior High School with a 3.8 GPA. She was treasurer of both DECA and Student Council, and served as both president and editor of her high school yearbook. She worked as a restaurant cashier and as a lifeguard to save money for college, and in 2018, received a Congressional Award for Community Service. She is currently an exercise and wellness major at ASU, and hopes to become an occupational therapist. She also works part-time as a hostess in a local Phoenix area restaurant.
Makayla writes, “This SBCO scholarship has reduced my burden of paying for college. I am so proud to not only be accepted into college, but also to receive this financial assistance. Continuing my education is important to me because I want to be independent and never have to depend on anyone else. I want to thank the SaddleBrooke community for acknowledging small town students like me who want a bigger and brighter future.”
If you would like to assist other students like Makayla, please consider donating to the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Scholarship Endowment Fund. Eligible local students are carefully selected by a team of SBCO volunteers based on their grades, community service, financial need, reference letters, an essay, and a personal interview with a team of Community Outreach volunteers.
One of the most unique aspects of the SBCO Endowment Program is that donations last forever! Only the earnings from donations are used to provide scholarships, while the donations themselves are preserved in perpetuity—helping generations of future students.
One way to donate is to include the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach Program as a beneficiary in your trust or estate plan. This results in no immediate obligation to you but provides a lasting legacy for students upon your death.
Another option for those over age 70.5, is to ask your financial institution to forward a portion of your required annual IRA distribution directly to the SBCO Scholarship Endowment Program. Because SBCO is a qualified charity, the amount you donate may reduce the taxes you are required to pay on your IRA distribution. For this type of donation, the amount you donate is more than the amount you actually pay.
Keep in mind that, while SBCO accepts donations of any amount, the minimum donation for the Endowment program is $5,000. Always consult with your tax advisor about potential tax benefits.
For more information, call Ron Andrea at 520-904-4831, email [email protected], or visit the SBCO website at community-outreach.org.
A gift of education is both priceless and timeless!
The SBCO Food Drive leadership team (left to right) Cynthia Chevalley, TCFB chairperson; Andrea Stephens and Dan Stephens, Food Drive co-chairs; Steve Groth, SBCO board president; back row: Ken Siarkiewicz; Lori Ward, Food Drive co-chair; and Bob Wample and Betty Ryan, SaddleBrooke Ranch Food Drive co-chairs
SBCO Food Drive Helps Stamp Out Hunger
BCNancy McCluskey-Moore, Bob Wample, and Betty Ryan
During challenging times, it’s good to know that our community steps up to help those who are facing a food shortage. Each year, SaddleBrooke Ranch and SaddleBrooke residents generously donate money, food, and time to make the annual SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) food drive a great success. This year, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the food drive was changed to accept only monetary donations. Nevertheless, the drive to fight hunger among residents of Mammoth, San Manuel, and Oracle residents brought in over $85,000 in contributions, which represents a 20% increase over last year’s donations. SaddleBrooke Ranch residents contributed over $42,000, representing a 40% increase over 2019. SaddleBrooke Ranch co-chairs, Betty Ryan and Bob Wample, want to thank all of the unit coordinators for their assistance in making this another successful year for the food drive. Of course, we all want to thank the residents of SaddleBrooke Ranch for their generosity. This clearly shows how much you care about others in these difficult times.
Cynthia Chevalley, Chairperson of Tri-Community Food Bank (TCFB), stated, “The wonderful response to the 2020 SBCO food drive is a tremendous boost for the food bank. The money raised will help to meet the needs of our clients for seven to eight months. Each year, the generosity of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents makes an enormous difference in the lives of the people who live in our service area. The Board of TCFB and the people we serve are very grateful to all who supported this annual event. We are here to provide hope, so it is wonderful for our clients to know that others care about them.”
Investments Continue, More
Linda Lyon
Arizona school facilities may be shuttered because of COVID-19, but the work of educating and caring for our students continues. In the Oracle School District (OSD), that means our teachers are still teaching online, on the phone, and through packets sent home; our food service workers are still feeding students; our bus drivers are still driving to deliver meals and school work packets; our administrative staff is still processing bills and payroll; and our maintenance team is still maintaining facilities and cleaning them to ensure a safe campus both for those who need to access their work areas or to be ready for a full return.
The OSD Governing Board also is still on-the-job and holding meetings via video conference. As always, these meetings are open to the public and notice of such is posted on the OSD website with connection guidance and the number to call if problems are experienced.
At our March school board meeting, our Governing board approved the selection of H2 Group as our project management firm for our bond projects. The unanimous pick out of the three firms interviewed, the H2 Group will work with BWS Architects and our eventual construction management firms to ensure OSD gets the biggest bang for our buck. H2 Group work will include budgeting and cost estimating services, master scheduling with appropriate phases, and overall milestones, construction document review, progress reporting, tracking construction documentation, and much more. The Governing board is confident the expertise and experience H2 Group brings to our projects will increase our ability to ensure expert stewardship and careful oversight of both taxpayer dollars and student-centered deliverables.
We understand that some of our constituents would be interested in purchasing bonds offered by the district. Stifel, a top bond underwriter for K-12 public school districts, is providing OSD market-driven guidance to ensure bonds sales deliver for our students. Those interested in purchasing the bonds will be offered the opportunity to buy directly from Stifel and can start the process by contacting Mike Hemken at 602-952-2500 or [email protected]. They may also work through their own investment company to make the purchases. Please watch for more information on this matter in this and other publications, as well as on the OSD website, www.osd2.org.