Scholaship Foundation of Santa Barbara hosts annual award ceremonies
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Hundreds of students and their families filled the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden for the first of two Annual Scholarship Awards Ceremonies.
This academic year the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara is awarding college scholarships totaling $8.457, 996.
The money is almost evenly split between 2,388 students in North and South County communities.
Dos Pueblos High School Senior Angeline Borrayo is heading to Westmont College.
She received the Siefe Family Scholarship.
"It give me a big chance to go to my dream college," said Borrayo. "I am receiving the Siefe Scholarship I am studying biology trying to get into STEM major."
She said it is surreal and scary to think about heading to college and she credits her support system for making the college application process easier.
Antonio Yturalde plans to study nutrition with his scholarship.
"My scholarship is with the Community of Friends Santa Barbara It means a lot to me since I have been volunteering with them for the past six year" said Yturralde.
Scholarship recipient Rocio Vejar Montor received the Halsted Family Scholarship and chose to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, too.
"It means a lot to me, because I get to attend a four year and be the first to go to college, and I am going to Cal Poly SLO," said Vejar Montor.
The scholarships are used for undergraduate, graduate, and vocational studies, including law school and medical school.
“We are tremendously proud of this year’s scholarship awards total, which is 9 percent above what our organization provided to local students in 2025. This is the direct result of increased support from our generous donors,” said Foundation Interim President and CEO Tim Dougherty. “We are grateful to be part of a community that clearly values education and creating opportunities for young people. Our impactful work this year and every year would not be possible without the many philanthropically minded people who call Santa Barbara County home.”
The second ceremony will follow on Thursday, May 28 at the Santa Maria Fairpark Convention Center beginning at 3:30 p.m.
The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara has cumulatively awarded more than $175 million to more than 66,000 county students since 1962.
The nonprofit also provides free financial aid advising services.
For more information, visit www.sbscholarship.org.
