Gilroy Today 2014 12 Winter | Page 32

stepped up with the $ 50,000 match . Dale Connell soon realized that this was not sufficient to reach his goal to support an elementary music program for Gilroy Unified . That day , Donna Pray , the Executive Director of the Gilroy Foundation , took a $ 1 million hand written check to the bank . Every year this fund supports a traveling elementary music teacher in GUSD !
The Julio Mata Scholarship Fund offers scholarships for college students of Mexican descent . Jose Mata , a quiet man and an immigrant himself , whose parents owned El Charro Market and did well with some real estate investments , started this Fund in 2007 . The Fund valued at about $ 1.5 million will eventually run out but , for now , each year it supports four $ 50,000 scholarships . One condition of the scholarship was that the students maintain a 3.0 grade point average . When some students had difficulty maintaining this average , Foundation volunteers stepped in as mentors to keep the recipients on track !
Sean Michael Merriman Funds are unique . Sean , a CalTrans worker , was tragically killed at work . Sean ’ s parents Craig and Jacqui received a rather large settlement . The Merriments are not wealthy . They are good hard-working , regular people . In an extraordinary act of generosity , they directed much of this settlement to establish a variety of funds in the Foundation in Sean ’ s name ! Because of the goodness of Merrimans in the face of an unspeakable tragedy , St . Joseph ’ s Family Center has a little more cash , the City Youth Recreation program has scholarships and Mount Madonna High School graduates receive scholarships to further their education .
In one of the more unusual situations , the Foundation was named in the will of a woman from San Martin . The Foundation received over $ 400,000 . Surprisingly , no one at the Foundation had any connection with her nor even knew who she was !
In 1998 , Sylvia Hamilton made a $ 10,000 donation in the name of two children who had died in separate car accidents to give scholarships in their names . Sylvia passed away in 2012 . She left some IRA ’ s to the Foundation . Today they are worth $ 800,000 and generate about $ 20,000 a year for two grants , one for the arts and the other for technology .
These are just a few of the many stories of the large and small contributions to the Foundation .

The 25th Annual Day in the

Over 300 Guest Attended the 25th Anniversary “ Day In The Country ” Event
Stacy Moreno with Kelly & Chris Barbazette
Keith Higgins , Ted & Nancy Becker , Karen Higgins
Today the Gilroy Foundation is a major entity in the Gilroy Community . It also serves as the pass through conduit for contributions to local non-profits as exemplified by Don and Karen Christopher ’ s donations to Christopher High School .
Mary Pat & Kurt Michielssen
Diane Dyer
It continues to be governed by as envisioned by Bill Ayer and his first Board of Directors in 1980 . In addition to the Board , the Foundation also honors an Emeritus Board and has a large group of Ambassadors and an 18-member Youth Board .
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