Elks Lodge effort helps families in need
The Santa Cruz Elks Lodge No. 824 Adopt-a-Family effort was a success, organizers report. More than $5,000 was spent on clothes, toys and food for local community families in need.
Through the holiday program, the lodge supported several local organizations including the JMJ Home, Siena House, Santa Cruz Volunteer Center and Walnut Avenue Family and Women’s Center.
Wrapped gifts were delivered to 19 families with 39 children, and unwrapped gifts of new jackets and toys were provided to Walnut Avenue Family and Women’s Center.
Elks is a charitable organization dedicated to helping veterans, giving scholarships, and all around bettering our communities. The Santa Cruz Elks Lodge was established 1903 and is currently located at 150 Jewell St. in Santa Cruz.
To learn about the lodge and membership, visit santacruzelks.org.
Education
The following local students were honored for their academic achievement:
• Grace Bailey, of Santa Cruz, was named to the dean’s list for fall semester 2020 at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Marjory Baird, of Boulder Creek, was named to the dean’s list for the fall quarter 2020 at the University of California Davis in Davis.
• Miranda Robinson, of Ben Lomond, was named to the dean’s list for the fall semester 2020 at Muhlenberg College in
Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Board welcomes two
Sempervirens Fund welcomed Michael Watkins and Peter Staple to its board of directors and honors former Board President Fred Keeley for 10 years of service.
The fund protects and permanently preserves redwood forests, wildlife habitat, watersheds and other important natural and scenic features of the Santa Cruz Mountains, according to its mission statement.
“We are delighted that
Michael Watkins and Peter Staple are joining our board,” said Sara Barth, Sempervirens Fund’s executive director in a prepared release. “They each bring a wealth of professional expertise that will advance our goals to protect the most critical redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains, deepen our relationship with regional experts, expand access to nature for all, and strengthen our operational efficiencies, especially as we emerge from a pandemic and an economic downturn.”
Watkins brings decades of public service in the field of education at the local, County of Santa Cruz and California state level, including most recently
as Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools. He served as president of California’s 58 County Superintendents Association and of the California Association of African American Superintendents and Administrators.
Staple is an adviser and
board member for both forprofit and nonprofit organizations, and brings to Sempervirens Fund more than 30 years of experience developing and implementing growth strategies while working in senior management roles in biotechnology companies, including
as CEO of Corium Inc. and executive vice president of ALZA Corp.
Former California State Assemblyman and Speaker Pro Tempore Fred Keeley retired from the Sempervirens Fund board at the end of 2020. He served as board president from
2014-2016.
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