Dear donors and supporters,
The summer semester has begun and it is wonderful to have our students back on campus. These quiet two weeks after graduation have been an opportunity for us at the Foundation to work on getting caught up and planning.
On July 1st, we welcome Mr. Michael Gutierrez as our new Superintendent/President. Hartnell College Foundation looks forward to supporting him in this leadership role. We are excited to see his vision and direction for the college take shape as he takes the helm.
I am pleased to let you know that we are now accepting applications for the Dr. Debra Kaczmar Fellowship, which was made possible by a gift from Mary and Pierre Cousineau in honor of Hartnell’s Dean of Nursing and Allied Health. The Fellowship will provide up to $10,000 per year for alumni of the Hartnell Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program to complete a two-year Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree. Recipients will agree to teach for two years in the Hartnell College Nursing Program upon completion of their MSN. Please encourage any Hartnell nursing alumni you know to consider this wonderful opportunity by clicking HERE to review the application.
Summertime is a great time to get the family together for a night out and The Western Stage is ready to open its doors to your next summer adventure! They are starting their 2022 season with WORKING A Musical. For tickets to this show and others, please visit https://www.
Wishing you a fun start to the summer,
Jackie Cruz
VP Advancement and Development
Executive Director for Hartnell College Foundation
PAYING IT FORWARD
Sarai goes from WELI Mentee to Donor
On April 23, 2022, Sarai Galan, 33, attended the Women’s Education and Leadership Institute (WELI) Spring Soiree at Hartnell College. In 2021-22 she was a member of the WELI Cohort and felt it was important to attend.
“I was happy to be there,” she said. “I sat down and was looking through the program and read about how one can become a WELI Circle Member and support the program.”
As she read through the program, she remembered what her mentor, Esmeralda Owen, had shared with her and other mentees just a month prior: to give back to their community in an intentional way. Each WELI scholar is matched with a mentor as part of the blanket of support provided along with a scholarship.
“I was filled with excitement and talked to my husband about becoming donors at the WELI Circle level,” she said. “I told my mentor how good it felt to give.”
Sarai felt inclined to pay it forward because she was thankful for WELI; she said she felt revived after each WELI meeting. “All the mentors, the girls, the talks were good and I enjoyed it all – they made me feel younger and gave me a sense of fulfillment,” she said.
Today, she celebrates her latest achievement as a 2022 Hartnell graduate transferring to CSU Monterey Bay. This fall, she will continue her academic journey at CSU Monterey Bay as an Accounting and Spanish major.
She is the proud mom of Edwin, Eva, Alfonso, and Armando. She is married to Rafael Galan and was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years before deciding it was time for a change.
The pathway to making this decision is significant to the big picture that is Sarai’s story. Earlier in her academic journey, when she was finishing high school, Sarai’s mom got diagnosed with cancer. She worked after graduating to help her mom pay for necessities. Her brother and sister helped as well. Unfortunately, her mom lost her battle with the disease in 2007.
To add to the suffering, Sarai found herself in a toxic and abusive relationship. But she remembered her mom and thought, “my mom did not teach me to be a lazy nobody.”
She escaped her abuser with a child in tow and began a new life. She met now husband, Rafael, and worked in his flooring business in accounting.
After 10 years, she was ready to go back to school. “At first it was scary, but the professors were so helpful,” she said. “I did not know what MLA was, or what an essay was, nor what a syllabus or midterm meant!”
Sarai relied on Google and on her professors to have her questions answered. “Here was a 30-year-old trying to figure things out,” she said. “I was not afraid of asking questions and so my professors came to know me fairly well and they were so kind to me.”
Being part of programs like Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS: which provides personalized counseling and transfer support) and WELI helped her navigate life and academics.
“I always felt pumped and energized after each meeting,” she said. “Especially for women like me that have gone through a lot of things in life, mentorship leads you to hope, to a new spark in life, and to push you to be better.”
And doing better in life is what Sarai wants for her future and for her community. “I want to start a non-profit organization to help Latino refugees who cross the border into the United States,” she said.
Prompted by this discovery of her passion, she intends to make resources available to immigrants so that they know how to navigate the system and be treated with dignity and respect.
“I had no idea college was for me; I had no idea my dreams could become a reality,” she said. “But through my WELI mentor, I have discovered in me that energy, strength, and sense of accomplishment I did not have 15 years ago.”
After years of hard work, she looks forward to the honeymoon she and her husband never had and will be taking this summer.
We are proud of Sarai, her passion, and drive and look forward to seeing what she does next!
To support WELI scholars like Sarai and to join her in giving back, please visit: https://hartnellfoundation.
PLANNED GIVING
Estate Planning Made Easy
In a nutshell, estate planning is as simple as what you want to be done with what you own. The good news is that you can provide for the people and causes important to you by taking simple steps now.
While an attorney should always draft your will, we can help demystify the process and prepare you for meeting your attorney with these simple steps:
- Itemize your assets
- Organize your estate
- Write down questions
- Review your plans for family
- Consider charity
- Visit your attorney
- Update your plan
Creating your plan for the future can be easy and even enjoyable. Call Vice President of Advancement/Development and Executive Director, Jackie Cruz at (831) 444-2446 or email jcruz@hartnell.edu to help you plan for your future.
In a nutshell, estate planning is as simple as what you want to be done with what you own. The good news is that you can provide for the people and causes important to you by taking simple steps now.
While an attorney should always draft your will, we can help demystify the process and prepare you for meeting your attorney with these simple steps:
- Itemize your assets
- Organize your estate
- Write down questions
- Review your plans for family
- Consider charity
- Visit your attorney
- Update your plan
Creating your plan for the future can be easy and even enjoyable. Call Vice President of Advancement/Development and Executive Director, Jackie Cruz at (831) 444-2446 or email jcruz@hartnell.edu to help you plan for your future.