Santa Barbara Foundation Announces 2011 High School Senior Award Recipients

The Santa Barbara Foundation and its donors have a rich history of recognizing and rewarding extraordinary students. Long after they are gone, these forward thinking individuals continue to make a difference in the lives of people living in our communities through bequests that live on in perpetuity. In the case of Max Fleischmann, Edward R. Spaulding, and Gwendolyn Mae Shelley Floro, 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.

“These Santa Barbara Foundation donors provided a legacy of support that allows us to continue to honor students who are making a real difference in the lives of others,” said Ron Gallo, president & CEO of the Santa Barbara Foundation. “We applaud these students who have achieved such high academic achievements while also tending to the needs of their community.”

For the Fleischmann, Spaulding, and Floro Award winners, giving to the community is second nature. Most have donated their time and efforts to a variety of important issues and nonprofit organizations, volunteering at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, C.A.R.E. 4 Paws, Special Olympics, Direct Relief International, Marian Medical Center, Good Samaritan Shelter, Angels Foster Care, and the Endowment for Youth Committee, to name a few. For their great academic success and devotion to community service, each student will be given an award.

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 8 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 Edward Spaulding Award. The Spaulding Award carries an additional $1,000 award.

Floro Award recipients are students from the Santa Maria area who have demonstrated exceptional academic performance and commitment to community service. For their efforts, each of these 15 students will receive a $2,500 award.

For the past thirteen years, the Santa Barbara Foundation has granted over $2 million annually to the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara to award in the form of scholarships and loans. Funds come from both organizations, but the management of the student aid programs is done by the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. This collaboration ensures that millions of dollars is efficiently distributed to the students of Santa Barbara County for student aid.

“The Scholarship Foundation is honored to partner with the Santa Barbara Foundation to manage the Fleischmann, Floro, and Spaulding Awards program,” said Colette Hadley, executive director of the Scholarship Foundation. “Competition for these awards is highly rigorous and the 2011 recipients represent the most high-achieving high school seniors in our county. These students distinguish themselves not only with their excellent academic performance, but also with their exemplary records of community service. We are very pleased that the Santa Barbara Foundation has chosen to invest in stellar young people who will be our future community leaders.”

Award Recipients

The recipient of the 2011 Edward Spaulding Award is Kathryn Villanueva from Santa Barbara High School.

The recipients of the 2011 Fleischmann Awards are: Christian Basulto from Pioneer Valley High School; Patricia Boerger from Ernest Righetti High School; Katherine Brown from Pioneer Valley High School; Jose Gil from Santa Barbara High School; Kaitlin Hall from Santa Barbara High School; Arianna Janoff from Dos Pueblos High School; Nathan Jordan from Ernest Righetti High School; Alice Jun from Ernest Righetti High School; Rose Koper from San Marcos High School; Megha Manjunath from Dos Pueblos High School; Corinna Palmer from Bishop Garcia Diego High School; Amy Ransohoff from San Marcos High School; Abby Reutzel from Laguna Blanca School; Nikoll Rodriguez from Bishop Garcia Diego High School; Cymphanie Sherman from Cabrillo High School; Grayson Shor from Dos Pueblos High School; Andriana Siefe from Cabrillo High School; Rachel Venturino from San Marcos High School; and Elizabeth Willett from San Marcos High School.

The recipients of the 2011 Floro Awards are: Christian Basulto from Pioneer Valley High School; Cambria Bestrom from St. Joseph High School; Patricia Boerger from Ernest Righetti High School; Katherine Brown from Pioneer Valley High School; Victoria Greer from Pioneer Valley High School; Desiree Hernandez from Pioneer Valley High School; Candice Hull from Ernest Righetti High School; Nathan Jordan from Ernest Righetti High School; Alice Jun from Ernest Righetti High School; Stacia Koens from Ernest Righetti High School; Tatianna Kufferath from Ernest Righetti High School; Maria Prado from Ernest Righetti High School; Karina Quinones from Pioneer Valley High School; Shannon Reese from Ernest Righetti High School; and Paulette Rigali from St. Joseph High School.

About the Awards

Thanks to the foresight of three significant philanthropists, Max Fleischmann, Edward R. Spaulding, and Gwendolyn Mae Shelley Floro, 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 twenty-six 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.

The Floro Award is funded through a bequest by Gwendolyn Mae Shelley Floro, a Santa Maria woman who wished to assist high-achieving students with a strong record of community service. A Nebraskan by birth, Mrs. Floro, her husband, and three children moved to Santa Maria in 1948, where she worked for the Red Cross until her retirement in 1978. Mrs. Floro’s generous gift to the Foundation was the largest ever from the Santa Maria community.

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 makes funds available to identify and strategically address critical community issues – to strengthen the nonprofit sector, to encourage collaboration and partnerships and to engage and align philanthropic capital with community needs in order to positively impact the county’s common good.