We had many applications to review this year for our annual Assist-A-Grad Scholarship selections. Our annual 10 to award but an additional, larger scholarship in memory of our dear friend and member of The Matt Garcia Foundation, Lesley Snedeker DePorto.

In the group of our annual 10, we also denoted one of these to be in memory of our beloved late board member, Dwight Lundy Jr. He was a mentor and active leader on our board as well as in this community.

This year's applicants were all from Armijo, Public Safety Academy, Rodriguez, Travis Education, and Vanden high schools. All the applicants were very qualified candidates and narrowing down the selection was so tough. Each of the students were articulate and open about what they hope to accomplish in their next phase of academia. But they were also very inspiring, talking about what the future has in store for them and what they can do in their future careers. Some also shared their excitement for the "unknown" as well; not really knowing what their major would result in nor in which career. All the passion that each of them shared, brought such hope and excitement to our interviewers.

This brings me to a BIG thank you to this year's foundation interviewers; Jay DePorto, Dana Lee-Bise, Shirley Villanueva, Andy Ramirez, Teresa Courtemanche, Usha Mantena, and Susie Young. Thank you so much for the hours of interviews spent by each of you and for even sharing some of your experience and wisdom when asked by the interviewees! Your time has been and continues to be invaluable for the growth of our foundation!

We wish all of the 2023 Graduates much success and hope for their next journey in life! Remember also...there are many resources on the college campuses and in each of those communities that are ready to help you! Use these resources and always be open to an extended helping hand. Congratulations Class of 2023!!!

Mission success at the Earth Day Clean-up! We (The Matt Garcia Foundation) joined forces with a handful of other organizations to participate in a global cleanup event on April 22nd, Earth Day. The organizations followed a rough path behind Target and Home Depot to pick up and clear out trash—much of it caught between thorny, overgrown weeds. “A lot of the trash got stuck in the mud and wrapped itself around thorny, wind-blown weeds in the little creek. The litter was tough to get out. There were random clothes caked with dried mud, probably from the recent storms—it was like the apocalypse happened,” said a volunteer.

Brother Ray and a few other volunteers rose to the challenge and ventured off-the-beaten-path to investigate the scene. What they found was a heaping pile of large items that had fashioned itself into a dam. To be clear, teams were notified about the houseless and to be respectful and considerate of items in-use by the houseless, but the random positioning of the large items did not suggest usage. Just beneath the bridge under Beck, a wood pallet and a large, metal rack had been discovered—which seemed to be causing the blockage with other trash attached to it. Brother Ray had taken the initiative to climb onto the pipe and lunge the rack toward the volunteers to free it from its stationary captivity. The volunteers hauled it back onto dry land for the city to come and pick it up. Across the way, two brave-hearted young women worked tirelessly to free a buried carcass from its peaceful residence. But alas, the carcass would prevail as it seems it had joined a sacred marriage with the earth until the end of time, rightfully so.

Needless to say, most of the trash had been picked from the weeds in the area, the earth had been cleaned, and a entire dumpster full of refuse marked a victorious day under the beating sun. Get ready for summer, trash! The earth and its courageous volunteers have vowed to stay clean!

Join us every last Saturday of the month to keep Downtown Fairfield a place to visit!

On April 12th, I had the privilege and honor to attend a meeting for the Rotary Club of Cordelia, at the Courtyard by Marriott in Fairfield. There they presented The Matt Garcia Foundation, with a very generous check in the amount of one thousand dollars! We are extremely grateful for this amazing donation. We will continue to live out Matt's dream, as we have, for the last 14 years. We get to do this because of amazing donors like you.

The Rotary Club of Cordelia, was founded in 1988. It is an association of business and community leaders serving the Fairfield Suisun area and enriching the professional and personal lives of its members. 

We want to Thank The Rotary of Cordelia for all that you do for so many!

Farmer’s Market

*Thursdays - 4, 11, 18, 25: From 3:00pm-7:00pm

Summers Concert Series

Friday 12: From 6:00pm-9:00pm 

The Time Bandits*

MAYkers Market

~Saturday 20: From 12:00pm-5:00pm

* Event on County Lawn

~ Event has street closures

May is National Water Safety Month. Here are some important tips from the American Red Cross:

✔️Ensure every member of your family learns to swim so they at least achieve skills of water competency: able to enter the water, get a breath, stay afloat, change position, swim a distance then get out of the water safely.

✔️Employ layers of protection including barriers to prevent access to water, life jackets, and close supervision of children to prevent drowning.

✔️Know what to do in a water emergency – including how to help someone in trouble in the water safely, call for emergency help and CPR.

May is National Bike Month, promoted by the League of American Bicyclists and celebrated in communities from coast to coast. Established in 1956, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling — and encourage more folks to giving biking a try.

In 2023, we'll be celebrating ways to #BikeThere during National Bike Month and National Ride A Bike Day on May 7, 2023. There are so many ways to celebrate Bike Month and to #BikeThere: during Bike to Work Week (and Day!), biking to coffee or around the block, and riding on May 7 for #BikeDay.

Bike to Work Week 2023 will take place May 15-21, 2023, and Bike to Work Day is on Friday, May 19!

May History 

The Golden Gate Bridge opened on May 27th,1937

Acclaimed as one of the world's most beautiful bridges, there are many different elements to the Golden Gate Bridge that make it unique. With its tremendous towers, sweeping cables, and great span, the Bridge is a sensory beauty and engineering wonder featuring color, sound and light.

May Quote 

“It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”

- Robert H. Goddard