OC Insights: HEEF Apple of Gold Dinner a success

(John Palacio and Irene Ibarra)

A few weeks back I attended the ECCO Awards dinner. While there I met Santa Ana Unified School District Trustee John Palacio who invited me to attend last night's annual soiree of the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund at the Anaheim Hilton.

Many local pols were there, but many were absent, most notably Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Mayoral candidate Michele Martinez (who did attend the ECCO function). Among those in attendance were SAUSD candidate Irene Ibarra who graciously had me at her table (which was much better than having dinner with my arch-nemesis Commie Girl, from whom I sat across at the ECCO event), as well as Garden Grove Council candidate Linh Ho and SAUSD candidate Mike Gonzalez, who were both also seated with us. Mayoral candidate George Collins was also there taking plenty of still photos. Even Democratic operative Phil Bacerra was there, and he was having trouble being in the same room with SanTana Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez at the bar afterward, yet couldn't resist sitting literally two feet away. Gotta love that guy.

This year's recipients of HEEF scholarships are too many to list here, but Herminia Rodriguez of Valley High School in Santa Ana was awarded 'Most Promising Young Teacher,' Arnold Guerra III, PH.D. of Orange Coast Community College in Costa Mesa was awarded for 'Community College Instruction,' and Patrick Yrarrazaval-Correa of Carr Intermediate in Santa Ana was awarded for 'K-12 Educational Leadership.'

HEEF's fundraising goal for 2008-09 is $3 million and they offer a donation model that allows one to choose a field of study or other subfund to which they want to contribute. For more information, please visit heef.org.

SMS