Scholarship fundraising was the goal for Project Hope as the program hosted their silent auction.

The event was held Tuesday, Nov. 17 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the student center.

Registered Nurse Martha Sarabia was in attendance and has served as a member of the Project Hope Advisory Board for three years.

Sarabia explained that the advisory meets every three months at Cerritos College and as needed on a volunteer basis.

She feels a sense of pride to have been asked to serve on the board three years ago because she too was once a Falcon.

Sarabia first graduated as a Licensed Vocational Nurse in 1984 and then 1989 as a registered nurse.

The advisory members helped promote the Silent Auction and sold $20 pre-sale tickets.

Antonieta Paez was excited for the event as she is a member of Parents for Project Hope.

Paez explained that the program is based in adult education at Cerritos College and serves as the equivalent of a Parent Teachers Association.

The program is said to help parents learn how to prepare their children for college.

Paez said, “I have been with the advisory committee for one year thanks to the parents encouraging me to become a member there too.”

Parents of Project Hope meets every month at Cerritos College.

She believes the most important thing about the silent auction is that it’s going to help fund students education with scholarships.

Nursing major Jazmine Penaloza recalled joining the staff as intermediate clerk.

Penaloza said, “As a Project Hope student myself I benefited from a scholarship before I got hired as secretary.”

She believes students fear rejection and sometimes don’t apply for scholarships.

Penaloza encourages students to apply for scholarships because she didn’t have a lot of competition when she applied.

She assisted in emailing stores acquiring donations for the auction.

Those who donated items had to provide the amount that the item was worth so that the starting bid could be at a fraction of the cost.

Some of the contributors to the auction were:

• Amna Jara- Cerritos College
• Casa Gamino- Paramount, California
• Connie Boardman- Cerritos College
• Domenico’s Italian Restaurant- Long Beach, California
• Embassy Suites- Los Angeles and Downey, California
• Dr. JoAnna schilling- Cerritos College
• Dr. Jose Fierro- Cerritos College
• La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts- La Mirada, California
• Museum of Tolerance- Los Angeles, California
• San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park- San Diego, California
• The Cerritos College BioChemistry Club
• The Cerritos College Mathematics Department

  Cerritos College Dean of Science, Engineering and Math Connie Boardman was in attendance.

Boardman explained the scholarship process stating that the application process begins next spring and amount can go up to $3,000.

She said, “Only Project Hope students can apply for these specific scholarships tailored to students majoring in health related fields.”

Rules of admission were as followed:

• General admission – $20

• Students – One can of food or one non-perishable food item donation for food drive.

The complete list of prizes available for auction can be found on their web site.

Danylle Williams-Manser, Program Assistant Two coordinated and planned the event as early as the beginning of the semester.

Williams-Manser said, “I spent time sending letters to previous and potential donors in addition to informing the campus through email and the daily falcon.”

She explained that while bidding starts as a fraction of the original items cost bidders must place a bid higher than $5 to be the higher bidder.

For the first time ever Culinary Arts Department was responsible for the catering of the event.

Williams-Manser was excited to announce that in addition to scholarships students can look forward to a learning community program next semester.

The program will be called Project Hope Community of Learning.

Williams-Manser believes it has been more than 10 years since the program has had a learning community.

The program will be available for students that have compelted less than 30 units and will aim to help students in Math and Science.

The following will be requirements for the program:

• meeting with Project Hope Counselor
• attend tutoring in Math or science twice
• attend minimum of three Project Hope events

Students in this learning program will be enrolled automatically by the program for a year.

For more information regarding Project Hope you are encouraged to visit their web page .