Santa Barbara Foundation Announces 2013 Scholarship Award Recipients

“To me, community service is not just something we must do. It is something that truly comes from my heart and it is something that I will continue to do in my future,” said award recipient, Melissa Diaz-Trejo. “My goal is to make a difference in at least one life. By helping out, I know I am one step closer to building an improved community.”

This sentiment is echoed by all of the Spaulding and Fleischmann award recipients who have followed their passions in their willingness to give back to the communities they live in. Most have donated their time and efforts to a variety of important issues and organizations, volunteering at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Friendship Center of Santa Barbara, Cottage Hospital, Direct Relief International, Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, and Santa Barbara Public Library, to name a few. For their great academic success and devotion to community service, each student will be given an award.

In addition to the scholarship award, those students receiving Fleischmann awards were also given $500 to donate to the nonprofit organization of their choice. This donation is the start of each student’s philanthropic journey, following a long line of generous individuals who have shaped Santa Barbara County. The students themselves are beneficiaries of forward thinking individuals whose bequests have a rich history of recognizing and rewarding extraordinary student achievement. In the case of Edward R. Spaulding and Max Fleischmann, their wish to support academic excellence and community service in part contributes to the Santa Barbara Foundation’s ability to support academic achievement through scholarship awards.

“It is great to see accomplished young people wanting to further their education so that they can continue to be productive members of society – not just striving to make their own lives better, but working to make the lives of others better as well,” said Ron Gallo, president & CEO of the Santa Barbara Foundation. “I am hopeful that through their great achievements, these scholarship recipients will continue to lead all our communities forward.”

Fleischmann Award recipients are students who have demonstrated exceptional academic performance and commitment to community service. A $2,000 award will be bestowed upon each of the 20 students representing 10 high schools. An additional $500 award is allocated to each student to be donated to the nonprofit organization of their choice. While being rewarded for their great efforts, they will continue to give back to their communities.

The candidate from the Fleischmann pool receiving the highest rating from the Fleischmann Subcommittee is also awarded the Spaulding Award. The Spaulding Award carries an additional $1,000 award.

The Santa Barbara Foundation recognizes the importance of education and the strength that it brings to communities. Providing students with the opportunity to pursue continued education is key to giving them the skills they need to be productive individuals of this county. Thanks to the generosity of many donors and working in collaboration with the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, last year the Santa Barbara Foundation awarded over 600 student scholarships and loans, totaling $1.7 million. Throughout its history, the Santa Barbara Foundation is proud to have awarded more than $40 million in scholarships and loans to local students.

Award Recipients

The recipient of the 2013 Spaulding Award is Ivette Gil from Santa Barbara High School.

The recipients of the 2013 Fleischmann Awards are: Karinna Carrillo from Laguna Blanca School; Cara Carucci from Lompoc High School; Melissa Diaz-Trejo from Pioneer Valley High School; Oscar Dorado from Lompoc High School; Ian Hall from San Marcos High School; Kathryn Joseff from Santa Barbara High School; Renee Krieger from Dos Pueblos High School; Alyssa Lawson from Dos Pueblos High School; Sofia Lochner from San Marcos High School; Anne Martin from Santa Barbara High School; Andrew Sanborn from Santa Barbara High School; Hope Saxon from Santa Barbara High School; Justina Sotelo from Santa Maria High School; Ryland Towne from Ernest Righetti High School; Caroline Vance from San Marcos High School; Lauren Van Valkenburgh from Dos Pueblos High School; Matthew Wagonhurst from Santa Barbara High School; Noah Weitz from Santa Ynez Valley High School; and Brianna Whitmore from St. Joseph High School.

About the Awards

Thanks to the foresight of two significant philanthropists, Max Fleischmann and Edward R. Spaulding, the foundation is pleased to offer the following awards in perpetuity:

The Fleischmann Award, named after the Santa Barbara Foundation’s founder Major Max Fleischmann, is one of the Santa Barbara Foundation’s many student aid programs. This award is given to local students who demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, community service, and plan to pursue higher education.

The Spaulding Award is named in honor of Edward R. Spaulding, the first executive director of the Santa Barbara Foundation. During his 26 years of service to the foundation, Ed took an active role in growing the foundation and increasing its visibility throughout Santa Barbara County, making scores of site visits to nonprofit agencies and personally interviewing hundreds of student candidates for financial aid. In many ways, Ed personified the foundation’s human touch, and he left a memorable mark on the community that was his lifelong home.

About the Santa Barbara Foundation

The Santa Barbara Foundation is a community foundation established in 1928 to enrich the lives of the people of Santa Barbara County through philanthropy. As one of the largest private sources of funding for area nonprofits, agencies, and college bound students, the foundation builds and facilitates philanthropy through donor partnerships; invests in nonprofits; and identifies and strategically addresses important community needs. Guided by compassion for the most vulnerable and those most in need of help, excellence in what it supports and with whom it partners, and integrity with a focus on stewardship and transparency, the Santa Barbara Foundation is invested in a more vibrant, engaged, and meaningfully connected Santa Barbara County…for all.