CELEBRATIONS

Faces & places

The Santa Fe Baby Fund, an initiative of the Santa Fe Community Foundation that supports the well-being of infants, toddlers and their caretakers, has announced $70,000 in grants to six local nonprofits.

The recipients are Breath of my Heart Birthplace, Gerard’s House, Las Cumbres Community Services, Many Mothers, Presbyterian Medical Services Foundation and the Santa Fe Children’s Museum.

The grants range from $10,000 to $15,000.

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The Life Center Foundation, a charitable organization that recognizes nonprofits addressing issues affecting children and teens living in poverty in New Mexico, has announced the finalists for its 2024 LCF Leadership Award of $20,000.

They include Girls Inc.; Saranam, a homeless shelter for children and families in Central New Mexico; the Sky Center; Solace Sexual Assault Services; and St. Elizabeth Casa Familia.

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The Santa Fe Striders have announced a donation of $26,000 from HelenAnn and Robert Phillips toward the Santa Fe Striders Scholarship program.

In 2024, $1,000 will be used to support the HelenAnn Phillips Inspiration Award. The Striders will deposit the remaining $25,000 in an endowment to support future scholarships.

HelenAnn Phillips fondly recalls those days in her youth when she would run across the fields of her father’s dairy farm in southern Illinois, the nonprofit said in a news release. Many years later she took up running at the age of 43.

At the 2022 National Senior Games in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., her 1,500-meter race time was the fastest in the world for her 85-89 age group.

That fall at the Huntsman World Games in St. George, Utah, with 33 countries represented, she garnered gold and silver medals in the 1,500-, 800-, and 400-meter races. She has been an active runner for the Santa Fe Striders since 2014.

Education standouts

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., recently announced his nominees to the U.S. service academies.

The following local students received nominations through Heinrich’s office:

◆ U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colo.: Jacqueline

Cervantes Charlifue of Santa Fe.

◆ U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.: Jason Shelton Jr. of Edgewood.

◆ U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.: Lucy Kelley of Los Alamos.

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Jingyi Chen of Santa Fe recently was awarded a degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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John Salazar Hickey of Santa Fe graduated from the University of Georgia’s Class of 2023 with an MBA in business administration.