Deanna Orozco’s community service scholarship will help fund her education, so her parents don’t have to worry as much about affording UCLA.
The third-year psychology student comes from a family of seven. Her dad is the only financial provider and she has to put herself through college.
One of the scholarships Orozco received last spring has been inconsistently funded since its establishment three years ago.
The $1,000 scholarship from the Undergraduate Students Association Council Community Service Commission recognized Orozco for her volunteer work with the Central Valley Project, a mentorship organization that serves students in the Central Valley.
Although funding for the John Hoang Sarvey scholarship has already surpassed last year’s funds, the money secured so far is not enough to sustain the program on a long term basis.
This year, USAC’s Community Service Commission and Office of the President obtained $10,000 in donations from UCLA administrators and UCLA alumni to fund the scholarship.
UCLA alumnus and former USAC President Robert Michaels donated $5,000 to the scholarship fund. The office of Janina Montero, vice chancellor of student affairs, contributed the other $5,000.
Still, it is unclear whether the USAC offices will obtain sufficient funding to make the scholarship sustainable.
Omar Arce, USAC community service commissioner, said he and USAC President John Joanino will continue fundraising until they obtain $20,000 to $30,000 for the scholarship, so that it will be sustainable for this year and the next year at least.
The amount of money each scholarship winner will receive will depend on how much money is raised, Arce said.
Joanino said he thinks the scholarship is important because it helps students with financial needs continue their community service and recognizes them for their work and leadership.
“(Students) could be working instead of doing community service, but they choose to do what they do for free,” Arce said.
Arce added that he thinks this scholarship is one of the few created by students for other students that awards recipients solely for their community service.
Funding for the scholarship has been given on a short-term basis since its establishment three years ago, wavering on the support of administrators and alumni at the start of each school year.
When the scholarship was first created, Chancellor Gene Block contributed $60,000 from his discretionary fund to support it. The money was supposed to fund the scholarship for two years, but instead it was all spent that year in $1,000 scholarships to 60 students.
Two years ago, Montero donated $30,000 from her office to give out 40 scholarships of $750 each.
Last year, Montero’s office contributed $5,000 to the scholarship, and the funds were depleted in five scholarships of $1,000 each.
Montero’s office could not be reached for comment.
Former USAC President David Bocarsly also chose to not head the scholarship last year, though the president’s office and Community Service Commission typically partner on the project.
Azita Sayadi, a fourth-year economics student and scholarship recipient, is the president of Moneythink at UCLA, a non-profit mentoring organization that teaches students in underserved Los Angeles high schools about how to manage their finances.
Sayadi said she plans to use her scholarship money to help indirectly cover the costs associated with an unpaid summer internship she took on in Chicago as part of her work with Moneythink.
She said she appreciated that the scholarship recognized her for the time she dedicates to community service.
“(The scholarship was) validation of all the hard work I’ve been doing for the last three years,” Sayadi said.
Arce said he plans for the scholarship application to be available to students late winter quarter.