Rotary Bike Ride Raises $200,000: Teen Kitchen Project, Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery to Benefit • Main Street Elementary Raises $21,300 in Boardwalk’s Drive for Schools

COMMUNITY NEWS Rotary Bike Ride Raises $200,000

Teen Kitchen Project, Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery to Benefit

Bike riders from Santa Cruz Sunrise Rotary participating in the 24th Annual Jon and Ken’s Most Excellent Adventure raised more than

Photo Credit: Jon Winston From left: Sue Creswell (SCCMOD Board Member), Mary Alsip, Randall Leonard, Peter Truman, Pres. John Flaniken, Jim Felich (SCCMOD Board Member), Patrice Keet, Brent Dunton, Rhiannon Crain (Interim Executive Director), Tracy Cotten and Rod Caborn.

Photo Credit: Teen Kitchen Project Executive Director Angela Farley (kneeling w/dog), TKP Board President Lisa Smith (sunglasses), TKP Board Member Cindy Evans (next to Lisa), TKP Teen chefs and staff, Sunrise Rotary President John Flaniken, and Rotarians Jon Winston, Randall Leonard, Brent Dunton and Rod Caborn. $200,000 to support local organizations serving youth. Participants rode from Healdsburg to Santa Cruz, 200 miles in three days.

“The ride brought together 80 riders and crew,” said Peter Truman, Bike Ride Committee chair and Sunrise Rotary Club past president. “Our riders not only had a fantastic time on the ride, but they also put their hearts into raising money.”

The club raised $100,000 for Teen Kitchen Project, $34,000 for the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery, $10,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank Food for Children program with the rest to support the club’s charities, grants, high school youth scholarship programs and other philanthropic causes.

“When Teen Kitchen Project delivers nourishing meals for clients, time and safety is of the essence,” said Angela Farley, executive director of Teen Kitchen Project in Soquel. “This generous gift has funded the purchase of two refrigerated delivery vans, ensuring our neighbors living with critical and chronic illness don’t need to wait for services, and meals are safely held in refrigeration. Santa Cruz Rotary Sunrise members were our first ‘Delivery Angels’ and now they are our angels in a thousand other ways with this amazing show of community support.”

“Over the years, we’ve raised more than $1.77 million for Santa Cruz County nonprofit organizations due to this ride,” said John Flaniken, Sunrise Rotary Club president. “And that’s all thanks to our amazing riders and supporters.” Sunrise Rotary Club finish-line party.

Photo Credit: Roger Swenson

“The Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery is a very grateful recipient of funds raised by the ride. This donation to the Museum comes at a critical moment in the 7-year history of our organization following our successful reopening after a 14-month COVID closure,” said Rhiannon Crain, interim executive director of Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery in Capitola.

Funds will help the museum invest in new exhibits and programs for young children and expand hours.

Past major beneficiaries included the renovation of the Santa Cruz High School Track and Field, LEO’s Haven at Chanticleer Park, and Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Services. n •••

To learn more about Santa Cruz Sunrise Rotary, to register for next year’s bike ride or join the club for a meeting, visit www. SantaCruzSunriseRotary.org. Rotary International is a global network of 1.2 million friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe and in local communities.

Main Street Elementary Raises $21,300 in Boardwalk’s Drive for Schools

This year, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s Drive for Schools, the largest school fundraiser in Santa Cruz County, raised a record-breaking $744,645.

Scotts Valley High raised $33,450, a new record, and won the Sprit Award.

Also setting records: Baymonte Christian School in Scotts Valley, raising the most for schools with multiple grades, $26,945; Main Street Elementary in Soquel, $21,300; and Bay View Elementary, Santa Cruz, $15,437.

Ticket sales were exceptionally strong during the five-week campaign as the community emerged from the pandemic, which canceled many fundraisers in 2020.

Top-selling schools: • Elementary: Valencia Elementary in

Aptos, $25,991 • Junior High: New Brighton Middle

School, Capitola, $8,520 • High School: St. Francis High School in Watsonville, $38,065

The winner of the grand prize, $25,000, was Christian Garcia, a local who now lives in Oakland.

“I was born and raised in Watsonville, and I bought the tickets from two nieces who attend Bradley Elementary School and another niece and my goddaughter who attend Watsonville Charter School of the Arts,” Garcia said. “I just got married a few weeks ago and at our wedding, the girls were selling Drive for Schools tickets to our guests. It was so cute.”

Participating schools keep all the proceeds from ticket sales and can decide how to spend the money to address school needs.

“Valencia Elementary School was thrilled with our Drive for Schools fundraising outcome,” said Principal Caryn Lane. “We primarily use the money collected to fund instructional assistant support in the classroom for our TK-3 learners. We also use the funds to provide teachers with financial support for purchasing special classroom materials.”

Since Drive for Schools began in 2005, it has raised $7.99 million.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Drive for Schools grand prize winner Christian Garcia is all smiles with a $25,000 check. covers the cost of the cash prizes and donates staff time to organize and run the fundraiser. Hundreds of school volunteers coordinate ticket sales. Dozens of local businesses donate prizes. n

To see all the prize winners go to https:// beachboardwalk.com/drive-for-schools