CAMARILLO — Destino: The Hispanic Legacy Fund, has selected Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County, El Centrito Family Learning Centers in Oxnard, El Concilio Family Services in Oxnard, Many Mansions in Thousand Oaks and the Moorpark Unified School District as the winners of its 2013 Destino Award Grants.
The awards will be presented Sept. 12 at the Ventura County Community Foundation office in Camarillo, in an event featuring scheduled keynote speaker Maria Contreras-Sweet, founding chairwoman of ProAmerica Bank, the largest Latina-owned bank in the US. Contreras-Sweet was Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing in former California Gov. Gray Davis’ Administration. Southern California Gas Co. is sponsoring the event.
Destino was founded in 1996 to help support the needs of the Latino community. In 2006, the Destino Scholarship Fund was launched to provide support to first generation Latino students pursuing a college education. Currently, Destino is in the second of three grant cycles focusing on on increasing college preparedness for Latino high school students.
To date, Destino has awarded grants totaling $838,217, directly impacting the lives of more 36,000 local Latinos of all ages through 114 grants to 46 community organizations that provide the needed services.
Members of the 2013 Destino Advisory Council include:
- Henry L. “Hank” Lacayo – Chair
- Gail and Jerry Brown
- Rudy Gonzales
- Art Hernandez
- Sharon Hillbrant
- Leah Lacayo
- Marisa Lopez
- Dr. Wendy Basil & John Lockhart
- Michele Pettes
- Alfredo Plascencia
- Rene and Angela Rodriguez
- Jesus Torres
- Celina Zacarias
For more information on Destino please visit www.vccf.org