The SBVC Foundation and community has been hard at work for students during the pandemic this past year. Over $960,000 has been raised through various donations and grants to help SBVC students both in response to the pandemic and to support them into the Fall 2021-Spring 2022 academic year. 
 
One of the largest donations came from the Chuck Obershaw Estate. The generous donation, about $350,000, will be added to an existing endowment for a combined endowment of about $600,000. Interest from the account will support approximately 30 students annually with scholarships of $1,000 each to pursue careers in automotive, business, and entrepreneurship. There will be no citizenship requirements to apply for these scholarships. SBVC students will be able to apply for the scholarships through Academic Works during the scholarship application period (Oct. 1-Jan. 31). 
 
Several donations were made from different foundations to provide more immediate assistance to students in need during the pandemic. A charitable donation from the Jay Pritzker Foundation enabled the Finish Line Scholars Program to award $150,000. Currently enrolled SBVC students can apply directly for emergency financial aid at: 
www.valleycollege.edu/finishline . 
 
Our own SBVC Foundation contributed $180,000 to be used for emergency financial aid, allocating $70,000 for undocumented students (who were not eligible to participate in CARES Act emergency assistance) and $5,000 for student transfer fees. Likewise, the Inland Empire Community Foundation awarded $20,000 to be used for emergency aid going directly to students. Students can find more information on these emergency funds and how to apply through the SBVC Foundation and the SBVC main websites. As funds are designed to to help currently enrolled SBVC students address financial hardships that may impact their ability to stay enrolled, students will need to submit an application for funding and must intend to stay enrolled through the end of the semester. 
 
Grant funds have also been used to support current and former foster youth. The Foundation for California Community Colleges Student Relief Fund for Foster Youth awarded $10,665 to help 29 current or former foster youth. 
 
A combined $45,000 was used to purchase hot spot devices with 12-month data plans to help student without internet access. The Growing Inland Achievement donated $15,000 and SBVC’s Association of Student Government donated $30,000. The hotspot devices were distributed in the Fall 2020. Students submitted a request through the SBVC library if they needed a hotspot device. 
 
Other funds have been made available to students directly through existing academic programs. For instance, the Valley-Bound Commitment Program students will receive some emergency financial relief after the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians allowed the Foundation to repurpose more than $60,000 of grant funds to provide emergency financial aid to Valley-Bound students enrolled this semester. Additionally, the Wells Fargo Foundation kindly repurposed a $25,000 grant to buy Chromebooks that were loaned out to Valley-Bound Program students who needed access to a computer. The funds also included the purchase hotspots for Valley-Bound Program students to borrow. 
 
Over $75,000 was awarded by Southern California Edison, including $50,000 that will support the SBVC’s Clean Energy Hybrid and Electric Vehicle (EV) Technician Training program and award $1,000 scholarships to 5 students in the program. The department faculty chair will select awardees. The remaining $25,000 will be used to fund 25 $1,000 scholarships for students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) programs. SBVC students will be able to apply for the SCE STEM scholarships through Academic Works. 
 
Other program support funding comes from a $25,000 grant from the So Cal Gas Company to expand SBVC’s EV Tech Program (hydrogen) at Automotive & Diesel. This grant is mainly for program support to purchase tools for student use. 
 
Finally, a $20,000 grant from the San Bernardino County Nonprofit Assistance Fund was awarded to the SBVC Foundation. 
 
In all, these generous donations validate the importance of student needs and inspire others to recognize how critical it is to create opportunity for SBVC students to achieve their educational goals.