FACES & PLACES
St. John’s United Methodist Church announced the Rev. Kathryn Boren has been appointed senior pastor.
Boren currently serves as the superintendent of the Big Spring District in the Northwest Texas Conference. She has been pastor in settings small and large, including serving as lead pastor for nine years at St. Luke’s UMC in Midland, Texas.
She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Latin American studies and later a Master of Divinity from Saint Paul School of Theology.
Boren’s first Sunday at St. John’s is June 28; worship continues online.
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Santa Fe Public Library was awarded $15,000 through the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read initiative, which showcases a diverse range of contemporary books and aims to promote conversations and discovery.
The Santa Fe Public Library’s Big Read program will center on Into the Beautiful North. It is one of three projects in the state and 84 nationwide that will share more than $1.1 million in funding for the program.
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The COVID-19 Emergency Response Grant, a collaborative effort between the Los Alamos Community Foundation and community partners, has announced the final grant recipients.
Nearly $31,000 will distributed to 20 organizations for to aid in emergency response and assistance:
◆ 3HO Foundation of New Mexico
◆ American Red Cross
◆ Cancer Foundation for New Mexico
◆ Dream Tree Project
◆ El Rito Art Association
◆ Embudo Valley Library and Community Center
◆ Española Humane Society
◆ Española Pathways Shelter
◆ Family Strengths Network
◆ The Food Depot
◆ HELP New Mexico Inc.
◆ Inside Out Recovery Center
◆ Los Alamos Arts Council
◆ Los Alamos Historical Society
◆ Luciente
◆ McCurdy Charter School
◆ San Gabriel Historical Society
◆ San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen
◆ Self Help Inc.
◆ Truchas Library and Service Center Between two rounds of grants, a total of $60,270 was distributed to 37 nonprofits.
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The New Mexico Peace Corps Association has funded five grants in response to the COVID-19 emergency.
A special one-week fundraising campaign brought in over $2,500, which has been awarded to the following former Peace Corps volunteers to help with their projects:
◆ $600 to Mary Parsaca, whose group, Rosy the Respirator, of nearly 70 volunteers in the Española Valley are sewing and distributing N95 and cloth face masks, scrub caps and protective gowns to organizations that provide essential services throughout Northern New Mexico. The project is managed by Rio Arriba County Health and Human Services department.
◆ $600 to Elizabeth Forster, who works with Hope Works, a homeless shelter in Albuquerque that serves meals to 150 individuals.
◆ $600 to Connie Falk, who has been a leader with the Sandoval Mask Makers group. Falk began sewing masks in mid-March, and soon her effort was joined by friends and neighbors who provided materials as well as sewed masks. They have provided masks to many clinics and groups in New Mexico.
◆ $600 to Christine Abassary of San Felipe Pueblo, who works as the pueblo’s Behavioral Health Program administrator. She was able to provide the women in her group with art supplies, used in structured virtual meetings to help keep their spirits up during a pandemic that has it their community hard.
◆ $300 to Dianna Woods, is making masks for distribution to adult day care facilities, health care workers, and elderly friends and neighbors.
EDUCATION STANDOUTS
Del Norte Credit Union has announced 10 recipients of the DNCU Scholarship program for the 202021 school year. Each finalist will receive $1,000 toward their higher education goals — a college or vocational school of their choice.
◆ Talia Ben-Naim, Los Alamos High School
◆ Michael Garcia, Mesa Vista High School in Ojo Caliente
◆ Sarah Hutchens, a home-school student in Los Alamos
◆ Mateo Leyba, Escalante High School in Tierra Amarilla
◆ Lexy Lujan, Española Valley High School
◆ Leila Pierpont, Santa Fe High School
◆ Victor Popa-Simil, Los Alamos High School
◆ Alicia Sanchez, Pojoaque Valley High School
◆ Alyssa Torres, St. Michael’s High School
◆ Abigail Wescott, Los Alamos High School
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Hannah Lunt and Juliette Wechsler of Santa Fe were named to the Dean’s List at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, for the spring 2020 semester. Wechsler also graduated this spring with Bachelor of Arts.
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Gabriela Padilla and Jasper Poppele of Santa Fe have been named to the Dean’s List for the spring 2020 semester at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Padilla is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in cognitive science. Poppele is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.
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Keara Pualani Washburn of Santa Fe has made the Dean’s List at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston for the spring 2020 semester.
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The following area students graduated from Eastern New Mexico University in spring 2020: From Los Alamos:
◆ Lindsay Alexander
◆ Bradley Harlow
◆ Casey Trujillo
From Santa Fe:
◆ Crystal Diaz
◆ Jessica Gilmore
◆ Jaimie Kirkwood
◆ Stacy Martin
◆ Melissa Martinez-Gallegos
◆ Matthew Romero
◆ Leslie Wizner
From Pecos:
◆ Natalie Franco
From Stanley:
◆ Noelle Lucero
◆ Makandle Martinez
From Peñasco:
◆ Isaiah Moores
From Española:
◆ Christopher Sanchez
From Edgewood:
◆ Katie Baker
From Las Vegas:
◆ Zant Zamora