Kern Women and Girl's Fund recognizes Stella McMurtrey, Nicole Mercado and hands out grants

Great to see that even in this economy, when you couldn't blame anybody for cutting back, that there remains a lot of generosity in our community. Today at a luncheon over at Seven Oaks County Club the Women and Girl's Fund of Kern County (it works under the umbrella of the Kern Community Foundation) recognized some outstanding citizens and handed out grants to deserving organizations. Among those recognized for Women Defining Philanthropy, folks who show leadership in philanthropy, in addition to community service:
* NICOLE MERCADO: A senior, East High School – in addition to a 3.94 GPA and class rank of 28/497, she is an athlete, student leader, CSF member, Youth Leadership Bakersfield. She participates in and raises money for Bakersfield Relay for Life. We are making a $500 donation in honor to Bakersfield Relay for Life (East High Team).
* STELLA MCMURTREY: 90 years young. Has belonged to at least a dozen civic groups including Woman’s Club, Italian Heritage Dante Assn., Vision 2020, Symphony Associates. A leader in the Assistance League of Bakersfield. Leadership in financial support for McMurtrey Aquatic Center, capital campaign for Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, CSUB, Assistance League, and Bakersfield Museum of Art. We are making a $250 donation in her honor to the SPCA and a $250 donation in her honor to the Assistance League scholarship program.

The fund also issued $20,000 in grants to:
* $4,000 to Kern High School District Foundation to support Foothill High School’s program to mentor African American girls toward achievement of their A-G requirements to qualify for the UC system. Project G.O.A.L. is modeled after the B.E.S.T program for African American males.
* $7,000 to Garden Pathways to expand their capacity to mentor youth and adults through Family to Family Mentoring. The grant partially underwrites the hire of support staff to assist in recruiting up to 50 new mentors.
* $9,000 to the Kernville Union School District Family Resource Center for “Eyes Wide Open,” a pilot project to mentor junior high girls (Wallace Middle School) from at-risk or single-parent families.