A universal thank you!
SaddleBrooke Community Outreach’s (SBCO) story began in 1996 with six SaddleBrooke (SB) women discussing the local schools where the attendance rates were very low and wanted to find a way to help. They found that one reason for this was that some kids did not attend school every day because they had to share their clothes with siblings. The founders believed their mission was ‘to provide appropriate school attire to needy children in the Tri-Community’ and started collecting used clothing for the kids; today the clothing is new and includes shirts/tops, pants, shoes, socks, etc.
From these humble beginnings SBCO has grown into an award-winning 100% volunteer organization with more than 325 volunteers. SBCO is an organization that demonstrates compassion, generosity and ingenuity with 96% of our funding going to kids’ programs. Our funding for our programs comes from SBCO’s fundraising events, such as our signature Walkathon, support from the Golden Goose Thrift Shop, donations, etc.
In the fall of 1996 an aluminum can recycling campaign was conducted. This program has grown and is still an effective program with the Tucson Iron and Metal providing a container to collect the cans.
March 1998 saw our first food drive benefiting area food banks. Today we support the TriCommunity Food Bank with an annual donation and in March we hold our annual Food Drive. In 2015 the generosity of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents was overwhelming donating approximately 18,000 pounds of food and $13,000.
In June 1999 the BHP copper mine and smelting operations closed its operations resulting in the loss of 2,300 jobs, devastating families in the Tri-Community company towns. This loss is still felt today and the need for SBCO’s support is as strong as ever.
Today our service area encompasses a 100-mile corridor from Catalina to the San Carlos Indian Reservation and the Miami Unified School District. Annually, approximately 4,000 students are served with them receiving new clothes and backpacks filled with school supplies. Volunteer tutors are available for math and reading; scholarships are available for up to four years and enrichment programs which supplement the partially funded standard school curriculum.
In August this year, SBCO will start our twentieth year helping those in our service corridor and ‘Providing opportunities for kids to succeed.’ Reflecting on SBCO’s growth, it appears that SBCO continues co-founder Dorothy Steffano’s vision: “To do what it could to raise the quality of life for disadvantaged children and families.” Without our awesome volunteers we would be unable to continue the support to those less fortunate.
SBCO welcomes volunteers to help the kids in our various programs and no special skills are needed, just a desire to help. If you would like additional information or to volunteer please contact the SBCO Office at 520-825-3302 or email [email protected] or visit our website at www.community-outreach.org.