Gilroy Foundation helps distribute $335k in college scholarships

Gilroy High School’s Bryanna Chavez and Victor Olmos, Christopher High School’s Luis Gonzalez and Gilroy Early Childhood Academy’s Alondra Navarro were awarded $50,000 apiece as recipients of the Julio Mata Family Scholarships, which were among the $355,500 in scholarships issued through the local philanthropic Gilroy Foundation.
Navarro also earned the $12,000 Linda Burnett Scholarship, which was awarded to GHS’s Brittney Alvarez and classmate Courtney Pipkin. 
CHS’s Kristen Flores was named the $20,000 Don Christopher Scholarship winner, while CHS’s James Walling II was named the $10,000 Bill Christopher Scholar Athlete Scholarship recipient.
The Christopher family’s generosity did not end there as the following awards were issued:
—$5,000 Don Christopher Scholarship to CHS’s Kristen Mank and Kyle Robinson
—$5,000 Don and Karen Christopher Scholarship to CHS’s Trevor Hadnot and Kaelin Sylvia
—$5,000 Christopher Ranch Agriculture Education Scholarship to CHS’s Kevin Costa
—$5,000 Ken Christopher Scholarship to CHS’s Brittney Souza
—$3,000 Don & Karen Christopher Community College Scholarship to GHS’s Joshua Boykin and Michael Garcia and CHS’s Connor McConkie and Tarianna Perez;
—$2,500 Christopher Ranch Employee Family Scholarship to GHS’s Samantha De La Torre and Sorayma Perez Salgado and CHS’s Christopher Garcia Montes; and
—$1,000 Don & Karen Christopher Community College Scholarships to CHS’s Jessica Aguilar, Alena Anchondo, Joshua Boykin, Alissa DeBiase, Jonathan Galloway, Caroline Garcia, Jimmie Lopez, Connor McConkie, Terianna Perez, Bryan Pipkin and Brianna Rodriguez, and GHS’s Michael Garcia, Yvette Jimenez, Jorge Murillo and Joselin Palacios.
In 2014, the Gilroy Foundation, a local non-profit that has helped distribute more than $1.5 million in scholarships to Gilroy seniors since 1990, also facilitated the distribution of even more scholarships:
—$1,250 Kimberly Ordaz Memorial Scholarship to GHS’s Bryan Kachaki
—$1,000 Sean Michael Merriman Scholarship to Mt. Madonna High’s Christian Arciga, Miguel Becerra, Jessica Drake, Ashton Gaeta, Michelle Perez Hernandez, Maria Pineda and Jonathan Santillan
—$1,000 Steven Michael Stramback Scholarship to CHS’s Aidan Carrasco, Jefrey Driggs, Ralph Montez and Vanessa Yu, Ann Sobrato High School’s Michael Crane, and Live Oak High School’s Janice Kim
—$1,000 Obata Family Scholarship to CHS’s Luis Orosco Gonzalez
—$500 SakaBozzo Scholarship to CHS’s Ryan Kuwada and GECA’s YongHone Li
—$500 Gordon Kusayanagi Memorial Music Scholarship to Live Oak’s Robert Alexander and Kevin Hartman
—$500 Kai & Libby Lai Scholarship to Gavilan College’s Yenisel Cruz, Braulio Moreno and Ivan Ortega
—$500 David & Valerie Vanni Agriculture Education Scholarship to CHS’s Kevin Costa
—$500 Medley Family Memorial Scholarship to GHS’s Sinead Jernigan; $500 Erin Kinkel Scholarship to GHS’s Bryanna Chavez and
—$250 Esther Costales Forman Scholarship to Gavilan College’s Elizabeth Perez