SaddleBrooke Community Outreach Happenings

Save on Golf Balls and Support SBCO

Nancy McCluskey-Moore

Since 2000, golfers’ wallets have benefited from a program that collects used golf balls on the SaddleBrooke courses and sells them to local golfers. All proceeds go to support SaddleBrooke Community Outreach’s programs that provide food, clothing, and educational opportunities to local kids. Since 2008, Tom Young has been assisting with (and now managing) this program. All golf balls are $5 per dozen. If you would like to buy some golf balls at a bargain price, contact Tom at [email protected] to find out what is available or to place an order.

Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Child Programs Delivered Holiday Joy

Linda Russell and Maggie de Block

The SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Adopt-a-Child and Adopt-a-Family programs again brightened the holidays for local families and children. Very generous donors from SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch contributed $68,522 to bring holiday cheer to local families. In addition to generous donors, the program owes a huge debt to the volunteer shoppers and wrappers who contributed their time and energy to buy the gifts and get them all wrapped, packaged, and labeled for on-time delivery. We also want to thank the unit and group coordinators who are the heart and soul of this operation. They kept everyone on schedule. Without the volunteers’ dedication, these programs could never succeed.

In 2021, Adopt-a-Family provided assistance to 115 families. SaddleBrooke residents adopted 58 families from San Manuel. The Adopt-a-Child Program gave 179 children a happier holiday with clothing and toys. These children are from the Rice Intermediate School and Tribal Social Services (TSS), located on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. In addition, $5,000 in gift cards were purchased for distribution through the Ray School District.

SaddleBrooke Ranch residents adopted 57 families and 154 children from Oracle. For the health and safety of everyone, the Ranchers purchased gift cards this year instead of wrapped gifts: 154 $100 Walmart gift cards for the children and 57 $75 Bashas’ cards for the families. They also purchased $738 worth of toys for the Tri Community Food Bank in Mammoth.

As a reminder for the coming year, SBCO is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Contributions to SBCO, a qualifying charitable organization, are also eligible for the Arizona Tax Credit for contributions to charities that provide assistance to the working poor. You can find more information in AZ Pub 710. If you have questions, contact your tax advisor.

We wish you all a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year!

Scholarship Recipient Stresses Benefits to Him and Others

Mary Riemersma

Makaiah Gorham, a student at BYU-Hawaii, is the consummate volunteer and is seeking a future where he can provide service and help to those in need. His goal is to ultimately help families in dire situations to build better futures for themselves.

Following graduation from San Manuel High School in 2017, Makaiah volunteered in the Philippines, helping residents focus more on family, community, and faith. These endeavors included tasks ranging from pulling weeds and cleaning gutters to typhoon preparation and cleanup. Following his two-year stint in the Philippines, he attended Pima Community College where he finished with a 4.0 GPA. During this time, he continued to volunteer and work full time. In 2020, he moved to Hawaii and is majoring in business marketing and minoring in psychology and Mandarin.

Makaiah commits to using his scholarship wisely and assures that the investment will benefit others in the years to come. He expresses dismay that often donations to charities do not actually go to aid the needy and that charitable funds are sometimes spent frivolously. He states, “I can assure you that the money donated to me will only go towards helping pay for an amazing education.”

His dream is to form one or more non-profits that would, among other things, assist people in countries where the labor supply is great to acquire jobs in countries where the labor supply is low.

If you would like to help students like Makaiah, please consider making a gift to the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach Scholarship Endowment Program. All contributions to the endowment fund must be made payable to the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona (CFSA) and designated for the “SBCO Scholarship Endowment Fund” (CFSA’s Tax ID is 94-2681765). The minimum contribution to the fund is $5,000.

Tax-deductible donations can be made any of four ways:

* A personal check, sent directly to CFSA, made payable to Community Foundation of Southern Arizona with “SBCO Endowment” in the memo line

* A distribution from your IRA to CFSA for the SBCO Scholarship Endowment Fund

* Include CFSA as the manager of the SBCO Scholarship Endowment Fund as a beneficiary in your trust or estate plan

* In-kind contributions (e.g., stock, securities, real estate, autos)

Send donations to:

The Community Foundation of Sothern Arizona

SBCO Scholarship Endowment Fund

5049 E. Broadway, Suite 201

Tucson, AZ 85711

For more information, send an email to [email protected] or call the SBCO office at 520-825-3302.

Hardworking SBCO Volunteers Bring Thanksgiving Baskets to Local Families

Nancy McCluskey-Moore

The Thanksgiving holiday was brighter for many families in the Oracle and San Manuel area due to the efforts of SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO). Just before Thanksgiving, SBCO volunteers, chaired by Mona Sullivan and Mark Liefke, assembled and delivered 62 holiday food baskets to area residents in need.

Each basket was filled with the traditional Thanksgiving items, including a large turkey and all the trimmings. Special baskets were also created for those with larger families. The baskets are actually laundry baskets, making it easy to transport the food and provide the recipients with a useful household item.

As with any successful volunteer effort, many people put their hands to the wheel. Mona and Mark worked with Walmart at the Oro Valley Marketplace to purchase needed items. Camile Esterman, SBCO treasurer, then went to Walmart to pay for the goods. Patricia Tewksbury and Steve Groth arranged for the vans to transport the baskets, which were then driven by Ted Pierce and Steve Groth. In addition to the previously named, Greg Jolly, Ann Coziahr, Bud Fairbanks, Helen Rowe, and Carolyn Meador helped to assemble, load, unload, and deliver the baskets.

The Thanksgiving Food Basket program has been in existence for many years and is one of the many ways SBCO helps to combat the food deficiencies of our neighbors.

Feline Authors Donate 100 Adventure Books to SBCO Kids’ Closet

Donna Thompson

Feline SaddleBrooke authors Carly and Charly want to share the joy of reading with kids from local communities. The first of their seven books, How It All Began, was given to local kids, along with their SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Kids’ Closet fall wardrobes.

As each of the Adventures of Carly and Charly books hit the shelves, Carly and Charly have agreed to donate a case of books highlighting their excellent cat adventures, including boating, tennis, pickleball, baking, horseback riding, and skateboarding. Because there’s no holding these cats back, there’s even more adventures on the way!

Kids’ Closet has been furnishing kids in need with wardrobes and books for 24 years. The fall and spring wardrobes and books make a huge difference in the lives of these kids. A good start is key to a happy and productive life.

The generosity of SaddleBrooke residents is much appreciated and cannot be overstated. As of November, SBCO provided wardrobes for 1,163 students in preschool through eighth grade during the fall Kids’ Closet fall season. SBCO is glad to welcome Carly and Charly as supporters of its mission: It’s All About the Kids.