SBCO’s board of directors for 2025-36 includes (front row, left to right) Len Hamer, Nancy McCluskey-Moore, Betty Ryan, Karen Green, Eileen Hansen (second row, left to right) Vivan Errico, Jeannine Grippo, Debbie Aberle, Gayle Van Natter, Susan Knight, Laura Pauli, Andrea Stephens, Melanie Stout, and Tim Bowen. Not shown: Camille Esterman, Mary Riemersma, Greg Jones, Tony Lulek, and Denise Anthony.
SBCO Elects New Board of Directors for 2025-26
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
On April 14 at the annual meeting of SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO), the organization elected its Board of Directors for 2025-26. The members of the new board include:
* President—Laura Pauli
* Executive Vice President—Gayle Van Natter
* Recording Secretaries—Susan Knight
* Corresponding Secretary—Karen Green
* Treasurer—Jeannine Grippo
* Assistant Treasurer—Camille Esterman
* Vice President Enrichment—Len Hamer
* Vice President Education—Mary Riemersma
* Vice Presidents Kids’ Closet—Betty Ryan and Eileen Hansen
* Directors of Scholarship Endowment—Greg Jones and Tony Lulek
* Co-directors of Teen Closet—Vivian Errico and Debbie Aberle
* Directors of Membership—Andrea Stephens and Tim Bowen
* Director of Communications—Nancy McCluskey-Moore
* Golden Goose Representative—Melanie Stout
* Immediate Past President—Denise Anthony
Board members serve two-year terms and may be re-elected to serve a second term. Five returning board members required board approval to continue their service beyond four consecutive years in the same position. These included Andrea Stephens, Vivian Errico, Karen Green, Nancy McCluskey-Moore, and Melanie Stout.
SBCO Food Drive a Great Success!
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
The compassionate residents of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch made this year’s Annual SaddleBrooke Community Outreach Food Drive a great success. The Food Drive raised a total of $139,420 and approximately 9,500 pounds of food. This is a wonderful result and the families assisted by the Tri-Community Food Bank (TCFB), as well as its Board of Directors and volunteers, are deeply grateful for this outpouring of support.
Thanks to your continued generosity, the TCFB was able to provide over 4,200 food boxes in 2024 to an unduplicated count of 577 households totaling 1,588 individuals. These households can receive up to two food boxes a month, each containing a three-day supply of food.
Speaking on behalf of the TCFB Executive Board, Gary Tindall said, “SBCO’s Food Drive donations are critical in enabling us to continue the TCFB mission, ‘Feeding Neighbors in SE Pinal County.’ Many of our clients live below the poverty level and receive their monthly food requirements from the Food Bank. The generosity of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents in food and monetary donations, and in volunteer hours, ensure that we can successfully fulfill our mission in 2025. Our deepest gratitude and thanks to all who participated in this wonderful, annual event.”
The Food Drive accepted food donations and monetary contributions made online or with checks. Volunteers from SaddleBrooke, SaddleBrooke Ranch, Sunrise Rotary, Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke, TCFB, and Teen Closet students enjoyed the warm weather and camaraderie of sorting through the food donations, boxing and loading them on trucks, and unloading the donations at TCFB.
Food Drive Unit Coordinators this year included:
1: Donna and Tom Opsatnick, 2: Dale Farland, 3: Bev Hinton, 4A: Deb Sandin, 4B: Jeanne Bianchini, 6: Lisa Richards, 7: Linda Shannon-Hills, 8A: Pam Blaess, 8B: Donna Pedota, 9A: Debra VanTassel, 9B: Cyndy Pylkka, 10: Ross and Lisa Horton, 14A/B: Tony Zoellner, 16A: Toni McDole, 16B: John Green, 16C: Amanda Blood, 17: Anthony Signorelli, 18A: Marie Mantoura, 18B: Jim and Toni Selk, 18C: Waters Davis, 19: Pat and Colleen Gillespie, 21A: Julie Dzekute, 21B: Kathy Oestreich, 46A: Barry and Mary Milner, 46B: Ken DeLeo, 47: Kelly Moss.
A big thanks to all of the above volunteers who helped make this year’s food drive such a huge success.
All monetary contributions are tax deductible for the State of Arizona whether or not an individual itemizes deductions. Both SBCO and TCFB are IRS 501(c)(3)s and can also be a federal tax deduction for those who itemize deductions.
At its annual meeting on April 14, SBCO recognized Andrea Stephens as the Receptionist of the Year for 2024-25.
SBCO Announces Receptionist of the Year Award Recipient
Kim (Prochnau) Whedbee
Andrea Stephens and her husband, Dan, moved to SaddleBrooke in 2005 from Grand Rapids, Mich. Before retiring, she travelled to the Far East and throughout the United States as a buyer of cosmetics and household goods for a chain of department stores.
Soon after moving to SaddleBrooke, Andrea and Dan started volunteering for the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Food Drive. She has co-chaired this event since 2018. Perhaps the biggest challenge she faced was in 2020 when the COVID pandemic shut-down occurred 10 days before the start of the annual Food Drive and volunteers could no longer collect and deliver food donations in person. Andrea and the SBCO board not only were able to rapidly switch to collecting cash, instead of food donations, but had their best fundraising year ever—collecting over $91,000. Food Drive revenues more than doubled the second year of the pandemic when $226,000 was collected.
As a receptionist for SBCO, she serves as a knowledgeable and passionate ambassador for both the Food Drive and Kids’ Closet, the children’s clothing bank. “When the copper mines shut down in the ‘Copper Corridor’ (between Oracle and Mammoth), most of the jobs disappeared and businesses shut down, leading to a great deal of poverty. There are no full-service grocery stores in this area, requiring families to travel long distances to shop or to subsist on the limited and often unhealthy offerings of mini-marts and dollar stores.” Andrea appreciates volunteering for SBCO as a chance to make a difference in the lives of the children and families in this area, as well as the fun of working with some great volunteers.
Andrea also likes the flexibility of being an office volunteer for SBCO. “You can work just a few hours a month or more if you like. Volunteers sign up for shifts on a monthly basis but the office manager can always find a substitute if you have a last- minute conflict or decide to go out of town.”