I admit it, I’m a glass half full kind of guy. Always the optimist, my annual New Year’s outlook typically focuses on the positive possibilities that lie ahead. Of course, not all years have met my rose-colored vision and a few of them haven’t even come close. But considering the philanthropic acts of kindness and caring that I see in our community every day, how could I be anything other than positive?
In the following pages, you can see multiple examples of how the Foundation’s year has ended on a strong note. And I have every reason to believe that 2023 will be equally successful as we continue to achieve our mission of improving lives of people in South Eddy County.
We’re already off to a fast start, as we have been meeting with high school seniors at the local public high schools about scholarship opportunities. Our endowed scholarship program has continued to grow due to the generosity of donors to individual scholarship funds and also due to the generosity of First American Bank and the Cockburn Charitable Trust in the last few years that has strengthened our ability to consistently award scholarships from many funds each year. This year, we plan to offer more than 136 scholarships with a value of more than $175,000!
In January, we’ve also continued to support the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebrations. Organized by the MLK Scholarship Committee, the Carlsbad MLK Community Choir, banquet, church observance, march to MLK Park and Kuumba Festival serve to share Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream with the community.
In February, we’ll be distributing the Chevron Catalyst Grants (See Page 3) to benefit many local charitable projects. We also anticipate the opening of applications for the Benjamin P. Duke Memorial Grant program to benefit animals, domestic and wild, in April.
There’s so much to look forward to in 2023. Thanks for your continued support and joining us on this great ride!