SaddleBrooke Community Outreach – May 2025

SBCO Elects New Board of Directors for 2025-26

Nancy McCluskey-Moore

On April 14 at the annual meeting of SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO), the organization elected its board of directors for 2025-26. The members of the new board include the following:

• President: Laura Pauli

• Executive Vice President: Gayle Van Natter

• Recording Secretary: Susan Knight

• Corresponding Secretary: Karen Green

• Treasurer: Jeannine Grippo

• Assistant Treasurer: Camille Esterman

• Vice President Enrichment: Len Hamer

• Vice President Education: Mary Riemersma

• Vice Presidents Kids’ Closet: Betty Ryan and Eileen Hansen

• Directors of Scholarship Endowment: Greg Jones and Tony Lulek

• Co-directors of Teen Closet: Vivian Errico and Debbie Aberle

• Directors of Membership: Andrea Stephens and Tim Bowen

• Director of Communications: Nancy McCluskey-Moore

• Golden Goose Representative: Melanie Stout

• Immediate Past President: Denise Anthony

Board members serve two-year terms and may be re-elected to serve a second term. Five returning board members required board approval to continue their service beyond four consecutive years in the same position. These included Andrea Stephens, Vivian Errico, Karen Green, Nancy McCluskey-Moore, and Melanie Stout.

SBCO Announces Receptionist of the Year Award Recipient

Kim (Prochnau) Whedbee

Andrea Stephens and her husband Dan moved to SaddleBrooke in 2005 from Grand Rapids, Mich. Before retiring, she traveled to the Far East and throughout the United States as a buyer of cosmetics and household goods for a chain of department stores.

Soon after moving to SaddleBrooke, Andrea and Dan started volunteering for the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Food Drive. She has co-chaired this event since 2018. Perhaps the biggest challenge she faced was in 2020 when the COVID pandemic shutdown occurred 10 days before the start of the annual Food Drive and volunteers could no longer collect and deliver food donations in person. Andrea and the SBCO Board not only were able to rapidly switch to collecting cash instead of food donations, but they had their best fundraising year ever, collecting over $91,000. Food Drive revenues more than doubled the second year of the pandemic when $226,000 was collected.

As a receptionist for SBCO, she serves as a knowledgeable and passionate ambassador for both the Food Drive and Kids’ Closet, the children’s clothing bank. “When the copper mines shut down in the ‘Copper Corridor’ (between Oracle and Mammoth), most of the jobs disappeared and businesses shut down, leading to a great deal of poverty. There are no full-service grocery stores in this area, requiring families to travel long distances to shop or to subsist on the limited and often unhealthy offerings of mini-marts and Dollar Stores.” Andrea appreciates volunteering for SBCO as a chance to make a difference in the lives of the children and families in this area, as well as the fun of working with some great volunteers.

Andrea also likes the flexibility of being an office volunteer for SBCO. “You can work just a few hours a month or more if you like. Volunteers sign up for shifts on a monthly basis, but the office manager can always find a substitute if you have a last-minute conflict or decide to go out of town.”

Residents of SaddleBrooke Communities Make SBCO Food Drive a Success!

Nancy McCluskey-Moore

The compassionate residents of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch made this year’s annual SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Food Drive a great success. The Food Drive raised a total of $139,420 and approximately 9,500 pounds of food. This is a wonderful result, and the families assisted by the Tri-Community Food Bank (TCFB), as well as its board of directors and volunteers, are deeply grateful for this outpouring of support.

Thanks to your continued generosity, the TCFB was able to provide more than 4,200 food boxes in 2024 to an unduplicated count of 577 households totaling 1,588 individuals. These households can receive up to two food boxes a month, each containing a three-day supply of food.

Speaking on behalf of the TCFB Executive Board, Gary Tindall said, “SBCO’s Food Drive donations are critical in enabling us to continue the TCFB mission, ‘Feeding Neighbors in Southeast Pinal County.’ Many of our clients live below the poverty level and receive their monthly food requirements from the Food Bank. The generosity of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents in food and monetary donations, and in volunteer hours, ensure that we can successfully fulfill our mission in 2025. Our deepest gratitude and thanks to all who participated in this wonderful annual event.”

The Food Drive accepted food donations and monetary contributions made online or with checks. Volunteers from SaddleBrooke, SaddleBrooke Ranch, Sunrise Rotary, Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke, TCFB, and Teen Closet students enjoyed the warm weather and camaraderie of sorting through the food donations, boxing and loading them on trucks, and unloading the donations at TCFB. All monetary contributions will go directly to grocery purchases and related expenses. Both SBCO and TCFB are all-volunteer organizations and IRS 501(c)(3) and Arizona non-profit charitable organizations, so donations made to these organizations are tax deductible.

SBCO and TCFB thank the many SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents who made such a great difference in the lives of those in need, especially the SaddleBrooke Food Drive Unit Coordinators.

Food Drive Unit Coordinators this year included the following: Unit 1/1A: Casey Domalewski, Julie and Jim Long; Unit 2: Melanie Stout, Tom Young; Unit 3N: Maggie Lammers, Candy Brockey; Unit 3S: Beth and Dan Conquest; Unit 4: Linda Holt; Unit 5: Becky and Steve Spence; Unit 6: Linda Henriksen; Unit 7: Kathie Garman; Unit 8: Heidi Wagner; Unit 8A: Donna O’Shea; Unit 9: Ted Crowley; Unit 10: Eileen Snearly; Unit 10A: Lauri LeClair; Unit 11: Dee and Gary Zellinger; Unit 12: Mike and Chris Havnaer; Unit 14: Barb Turner; Unit 15: Gale and Sharon Crosby, Marcia VanOmmeran; Unit 16: Scott Erwin; Unit 17: Patrick Polencheck; Unit 18: Lorna and Mark Kitchen, Moe and Deb Heist; Unit 19: Lorna and Mark Kitchen, Moe and Deb Heist; Unit 20: Ruby Okada and Mike Hatmaker; Unit 21: Lou Stephenson; Unit 22: Cookie Kaplan; Unit 23: Patrick and Eileen Hansen; Unit 24: Marji Quire; Unit 25: Bill Rigg; Unit 27: Karen Erickson; Unit 28: Marilyn and John Ginther, Cindy Bennett; Unit 29: Sandy Miller; Unit 30: Linda DeWitt; Unit 31: Janet Eby, Karen and Tim Roberts; Unit 32: Missy Rodey; Unit 33: Cash Striplin; Unit 35/35A: Debra and Dwight Cox; Unit 36 Blue: Barb and Warren Wiwat; Unit 36 Yellow: Lori Hill; Unit 36 Orange: Kathy Hampton; Unit 42: Kathy Mathews, Linda Schmitz; Unit 43: Kathy Bosza, Ann VanSickel; Unit 44A: Jane and Keith Schiller; Unit 44B: Susan Schweitzer, Jane and Keith Schiller; Unit 45: David and Kathleen Eaton, Valerie Zink; Unit 46/46A: Rex Witherspoon; Unit 47: Kim Seales; Unit 48/48A: Jane Lahman; Unit 49: Andrea Sahl; Unit 50: Anne Williams, Andrea Stephens