MC GIVES CONTINUES TO BRING HOPE Emergency scholarships available for students

Thank you so much for your support of Hartnell College students’ basic needs through the Keep Our Students Learning Project in partnership with Monterey County Gives!

Gifts are still accepted through December 31^st, 2021 – please make sure to make your gift before then by visiting our MC Gives page at www.montereycountygives.com/hartnell

Eighty-five percent (85%) of Hartnell College students come from low-income families and daily face food and housing insecurity, transportation challenges, and the need to pay medical bills. Your support through the Keep Our Students Learning project will help eliminate barriers to our students’ success even after the pandemic ends as funds donated over the last year have been quickly depleted.

Thank you for continuing to show your support for our incredible students!

BUILT ON LEGACY A Tottino family affair

When the Tottino family heard about the construction of the Castroville Education Center, a burst of excitement filled their hearts.

“Jackie Cruz came to Ocean Mist to make a presentation about the new Center,” said Cathy [Tottino] Alameda. “I brought information to the family and together we decided to honor our parents with something so significant.”

The Tottino family donated $250,000.00 in unrestricted funds over five years to support the Castroville Education Center. Cathy told how the entire family came together, her generation and the next generation, supported the amount wholeheartedly.

For the Tottino family, love for the community and giving began in the early 1920s with Alfred and Emilia Tottino. Alfred was one of the founders of Ocean Mist. They gave quietly to their community and injected that legacy of giving to Hugo and Dolores Tottino, Cathy’s parents, and the ripple effect continues today.

“Castroville has been really good to us,” Cathy said. “We just want to give back.”

Hugo and Dolores had five children: Cathy, Michele, Les, Karen, and David. All in the family have been or are part of Ocean Mist. It is a family affair.

Hugo Tottino always said that education was key. He passed away a few years ago; Dolores continues to call Castroville her home.

This family looks to the future with hope to inspire the Ocean Mist employees to attend Hartnell College and improve their skills for promotion opportunities. In addition to this gift, the Tottino family and Ocean Mist support students in Castroville with annual scholarships. This is something the entire family looks forward to every year.

“All some students need is a helping hand,” Cathy said.

GRAND OPENING Community Celebrates New Soledad Center

Cutting the ribbon at the close of the Grand Opening Celebration for the Soledad Education Center is Hartnell Governing Board President Erica Padilla Chavez (holding scissors). From left: Randy Bangs, superintendent, Soledad Unified School District (SUSD); Monica Pantoja, SUSD board member; Chris Lopez, Monterey County Supervisor and member of the Hartnell College Foundation Board of Directors; Hartnell Trustee Candi DePauw (rear); Carla Strobridge, Soledad City Council member; former Soledad mayor Frank Ledesma; Hartnell Trustee Alejandra Gonzalez (rear); Anna Velazquez, Soledad Mayor and district director for State Sen. Anna Caballero; Hartnell Interim Superintendent/President Dr. Raul Rodríguez; (Erica Padilla-Chavez); Ivan Ibarra Mora, board member, SUSD; Alejandro Chavez, Soledad City Council member and husband of Padilla-Chavez; Marisela Lara, Soledad City Council member; Hartnell Trustee Irma Lopez; Assemblymember Robert Rivas; Mostafa Ghous, dean of South County Education Services for Hartnell; and Ana Gonzalez, director of the Soledad center.

On October 23, 2021, nearly 300 community members of the greater Soledad area came together to experience and celebrate a source of pride and a transformational new asset for the Salinas Valley – the Hartnell College Soledad Education Center.

The Hartnell Community College District (HCCD) invited residents of all ages to watch as it formally cut the ribbon on the 16,750-square-foot center at 1505 Metz Road, which was completed this spring and began offering classes in August.

Participants were able to tour the building and learn about becoming a student during the upcoming Spring 2022 semester, which starts Jan. 24. The center has a tutoring and study center known as the Panther Learning Lab, wet and dry science labs and three state-of-the-art classrooms.

“This has been such a long time coming,” said Hartnell Governing Board President Erica Padilla-Chavez, who represents Soledad as the district’s Area 6 trustee. “I’ve spoken to so many folks who have lived here all their lives and who dreamed of one day having a Hartnell center right here in Soledad.”

Padilla-Chavez gratefully acknowledged the City of Soledad’s decision to provide 3.7 acres for the center for just one dollar, which allowed Hartnell to stretch its construction funds from the $167 million Measure T bond. Soledad plans to build Orchard Lane Park immediately north of the center within the next couple of years, creating a Wi-Fi-equipped green space right next door.

Soledad Mayor Anna Velazquez accepted an honorary key to the center and said, “I know Hartnell’s motto is putting ‘students first’, and today we see that coming to fruition.”

Hartnell’s Interim Superintendent/President Dr. Raul Rodríguez highlighted the center’s Community Room, which he encouraged local organizations to use.

“It’s for you; it’s for the public,” Dr. Rodríguez said. “Contact the staff to reserve it. We’ve already had Rotary meetings and other organizations meet here, and we want to have many more organizations from the community use this room.”

Prior to the community celebration, the Hartnell College Foundation hosted donors and interested supporters at a breakfast reception inside the center to highlight funders who have helped raise nearly $3.2 million to help pay operating expenses at all three centers. Major donors to the Soledad center include Huntington Farms, Tanimura Family Foundation, Harden Foundation, Sally Hughes Church Foundation, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the Padilla-Chavez family, and the family of Hartnell Trustee Margaret D’Arrigo-Martin.

A GIFT DESTINED TO EMPOWER The New Dr. Debra Kaczmar Endowment

Mary and Pierre Cousineau have established an endowed fellowship in honor of Dr. Debra Kaczmar to support graduates of the Hartnell College nursing program to obtain a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) specializing in teaching. This support over the two years of a master’s program will come with a commitment from fellowship recipients to teach in the Hartnell College Nursing Program for at least two years after they graduate.

This special announcement was made on September 27, at a private outdoor event on the construction site of the new nursing building. Hartnell College Interim Superintendent/President, Dr. Raúl Rodríguez announced the generous gift from the Cousineaus, who in turn surprised Dr. Debra Kaczmar, Dean of Academic Affairs, ursing and Allied Health Sciences at Hartnell College, by announcing that they have made the gift in her honor.

The goal of the Dr. Debra Kaczmar Fellowship is to attract and retain qualified faculty for the Hartnell College Nursing Program, ideally individuals who are from the Salinas Valley and want to contribute to this community.

“I am humbled by Mary and Pierre’s generosity and commitment to supporting new nurse educators interested in teaching at Hartnell College,” said Dr. Kaczmar.  “Their gift will support Hartnell’s efforts to produce highly competent and caring nurses who live and work in the greater Salinas area.”

Mary Cousineau is the former Assistant Director of Nursing and a current adjunct faculty member at Hartnell College. Pierre, who is retired, shares Mary’s passion for nursing and student success.

When working at Hartnell, Mary embraced the culture of her students and became aware of their struggles to manage school, family life, work, and other responsibilities. She quickly understood the importance of faculty members who share the culture, language, and life experiences of their students and can serve as role models and mentors. She also saw first-hand the difficulty of recruiting and retaining qualified nursing faculty.

“I am proud to recognize Mary and Pierre for their generous and highly strategic gift to establish an endowed fellowship in support of master’s level education of future Hartnell nursing instructors,” said Dr. Rodriguez. “I describe this gift as ‘strategic’ because we realize how challenging it is to hire and retain high-quality nursing instructors due to the fact that professional nurses are in such high demand and at increasingly lucrative salaries. This gift will allow Hartnell Nursing to remain one of the best programs in the nation.”

Two Hartnell College nursing alums, Michael Gibson ’13 and Yoli Cervantes ’17, attended the event and expressed gratitude for the guidance and support they received as students of Mary Cousineau and Dean Kaczmar. Michael is a registered nurse specializing in emergency, trauma, and critical care flight nursing. He works in the emergency department at Natividad Medical Center and as a CALSTAR flight nurse. Yoli is a pediatric nurse at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, where she has completed the medical-surgical training program. They both expressed the importance of this type of scholarship to help students thrive.

The endowment has been matched by the Hartnell College Foundation and will allow one student to complete their master’s program. The Foundation seeks to double the impact of the fellowship, seeking a second match in order to help advance a second student each year.

Mary and Pierre are naming this endowment in honor of Dr. Debra Kaczmar, out of deep respect for Dr. Kaczmar’s contributions to the Hartnell College Nursing Program, in recognition of their shared passion for excellence in nursing, and in appreciation for Deb’s and Mary’s years together as colleagues.

At the event, Mary Cousineau praised Dr. Kazcmar as a “fearless leader,” adding, “She’s willing to tackle problems head-on and go against the status quo within the nursing department, the college, the community, and even at a state level.”

ENDOWMENTS
Local groups making a difference

The California Rodeo Scholarship endowment was established in 1987 with donations from the California Rodeo Committee. Marlies Hammer is the committee chair and said that giving scholarships each year out of the endowment is an exciting event for the five who are part of the group.

“We are always so happy to help,” Hammer said. 

The California Rodeo Endowed Scholarship is awarded to Salinas Valley High school graduates, who are continuing their education at Hartnell College or transferring to a 4-year institution and show both academic promise and financial need, in order to help them reach their academic goals.

The committee selects five recipients each year to receive a $2,000 scholarship each. During a normal year, the awards are given at the Director’s Dinner. In recent times, a more intimate convening allowed the awarding celebration to continue.

“It’s so exciting when we read the students’ bios and when I get to make that call to congratulate them,” Hammer said. “For the committee, it is as rewarding when we meet them at the dinner and know that we are making a difference in their future.”

When the endowment was created in the 80s, the Fiesta Committee, as it was called back then, earned the funds to start the $100,000 endowment. Since then, the $10,000 in interest has covered the scholarships and the vision of the committee on an annual basis.

Marlies is happy to volunteer for this committee. She is a mother of two, married, and an independent contractor in accounting. She is proud to be a part of a committee that cares about youth and the community.

“We understand our recipients may have additional challenges and I am so proud of our committee’s heart,” she said. “A young man didn’t even have a laptop computer and was about to start at Hartnell, and so our committee director approved extra funding – this awardee has now become one of our volunteers.” 

It is particularly refreshing and heartwarming when scholarship donors and committees make these special connections with our students. We appreciate this group and their commitment to uplifting students very much. You too can make an impact. For more information about becoming a scholarship donor, go to https://hartnellfoundation.org/student-success/student-scholarships/.

[In photo L to R: Committee members – Jennifer Bates, Marlies Hammer, Paul Wiseman, Cheryl Wiseman (not pictured, Manuel Romero)]

OUR SUPPORTERS
The Artichoke Festival supports the Castroville Campus

Last week, the Hartnell College Foundation was presented with a $10,000 donation from the Castroville Artichoke Festival committee. These funds are to support the new Castroville Education Center, which will be completed in the next few months.

In photo from left to right:
Clint Cowden, Dean of Academic Affairs, Hartnell College; Kathryn Parish, President of the Artichoke Festival Board of Directors; Dr. Raúl Rodríguez, Interim Superintendent/President, Hartnell College; Steven Crow, Vice President of Administrative Services, Hartnell College; Linda Scherer, Executive Director of the Artichoke Festival; and Jackie Cruz, Vice President of Advancement and Development, Hartnell College.

PLANNING IS KEY
CREATE A LASTING LEGACY

Funding a charitable gift annuity with us is like sending your friends a postcard that says, “Wish you were here.” A gift annuity shows just how savvy you are – it shows you planned and that you have arrived! 

A gift annuity offers fixed, annual, lifetime payments, tax savings and other benefits, while supporting the causes that matter most to you. We will help you get there. 

Create a legacy, let us know your preferences, and you will be on your way to achieving your charitable goals.  Thank you for your generous support to further the mission of the Hartnell College Foundation. Call or email me at 831-444-2446 or jcruz@hartnell.edu.

GIFT AND SALE PLAN
Eliminate 100% of Capital Gains Tax

Many Americans will take stock of their investment portfolio this year and discover that they own one or more assets that produce little or no income. They will consider simply selling the asset and reinvesting the proceeds in a way that will generate greater income.  Unfortunately, if you follow this strategy, you will lose some of the value of your asset to capital gains tax.

If you own highly appreciated assets and would like to turn these assets into cash without paying tax on the appreciation, let us show you how!

The phrase “low-yield asset” may be familiar to you, if you have invested over the past two or three decades. Now the most frequently asked question is when to sell your assets.

If you are like many people, you will pay significant tax on the sale of your assets. This tax instantly reduces any cash proceeds you may receive from the sale.

There is a way to avoid taxes and benefit charity with your investments. This is good news for anyone whose objectives include philanthropy.

 A Gift and Sale plan may be structured to produce an income tax deduction that completely offsets the tax due on the sale of stock.

All considered, the Gift and Sale strategy actually delivers amazing benefits!

If you would like to learn how the double tax benefit of the Gift and Sale plan can help you realize your philanthropic goals and diversify your assets, please contact me today at jcruz@hartnell.edu!