GLBA Announces Annual Scholarship Winner
by Joanne A. Calitri, Montecito Journal: Long established Montecito Realtor-Broker of 34 years, John Chufar of Sterling Properties Luxury Real Estate on Coast Village Road announced the Annual Santa Barbara Gay and Lesbian Business Association (GLBA) Scholarship winner at a well-attended reception on October 14.
The 2019 winner is student Salvador Gonzalez. He started UCSB spring quarter 2019 with a double major in Sociology and Chicano Studies and double minor in Applied Psychology and LGBTQ Studies, along with working full time at the SB Airport and when time allows, volunteering on campus. He is planning to enroll in a master's program on academic counseling after graduating from UCSB. Originally from Morelia, he learned English while attending San Marcos High School and SBCC. He said, "The GLBA has made me realize that success comes when you help your community to pursue their goals. My goal in life is to have a positive impact on peoples' lives; that is what being successful truly means. I want to say thank you to all the people that believed in me before I believed in myself. My school professors, significant other, family, friends, counselors, and the GLBA."
Chufar, GLBA Board Member and Treasurer, welcomed the guests and introduced Board Members, Gary Mosel, Tim Lyons, William George, Michael Brock, Robert Johns, Jonathan Alburger, Marco Silva, Carlos Ojeda, and Doug Van Pelt, all of whom are respected businesspeople in the Santa Barbara area. Special guests were acknowledged: Susan Lindenauer, Professor of Sociology at SBCC; Jackie Van Lingen and Stephanie Garcia of Pacific Pride Foundation; and Claude Raffin. Mosel spoke briefly about the history of the GLBA, Alburger talked about the endowment funding, Raffin shared about Jon Gathercole who recently passed, and Silva presented Gonzalez with his award check in honor of Jon.
GLBA is a non-profit association and has served the greater Santa Barbara community since 1983 with community projects and their annual Humanitarian Awards. The scholarship awards are funded by the Stephen Logan Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund, The Carl Joseph Adelhardt Memorial Scholarship Endowment, The Clause Raffin - Jon Gathercole Scholarship Endowment Fund, and The Robert L. Johns Vocational Scholarship Endowment Fund. |
