Dear Friends of Education,
This fall we celebrate 15 years of progress for the Orange County Hispanic Education Endowment Fund, HEEF. To date, more than 700 scholarships have been awarded to college-bound youth. These scholarships support specific college majors and professional school as well as private K-12 education. Students are completing not only the bachelor’s degree but also advanced degrees and professional school. With your support, we will continue to provide at least 125 scholarships annually at our spring ceremony. I want to thank California State University, Fullerton, for hosting this uplifting event for five consecutive years. The scholarship event is significant, and has a great impact on the student’s entire family.
I want to recognize the single largest donation ever for direct student support: $50,000 from Southern California Edison for community college transfers from Santa Ana College to CSU and UC campuses. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of supporting students in community college, where many Hispanic students begin their path to higher education. These funds are vital, because typically few scholarships are available to transfer students, yet transfers comprise a growing population of applicants to four year colleges and universities.
Additionally, on behalf of the executive committee, I extend sincere appreciation to Marshall Kaplan and Paul Merage for providing office space for HEEF at the Paul Merage Foundation. This represents important infrastructure support, and enhances our ability to grow the fund. Thank you, Merage Foundation!
Finally, the reason we are gathered here tonight, our Apple of Gold Awards dinner, recognizing outstanding educators. Our recipients exert tremendous influence on students’ attitudes toward higher education and challenging goals for meaningful careers. They instill hope for the future, especially for students who are the first in their families to attend college. These individuals inspire and motivate students to reach for the stars. We celebrate them not only for who they are and what they do, but for the greater impact they have on the community at large -- preparing students to become productive members of society and enriching the quality of life in Orange County.
This evening is also our major annual fundraiser, as you can see from our many sponsors. Our goal is to reach $3 million in the endowment next year. Working together, and thanks to our sponsors, this can be accomplished. Please refer to our various sub-funds listed in this program. You may target your donation as desired and support a particular area of study important to you, whether business, architecture, or health care or private education. HEEF is a volunteer-run organization, so your gift carries maximum impact. Thank you for your support, and enjoy the evening!
Juan Francisco Lara, Ph.D.
Chairman, HEEF Executive Committee
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