THE LABORERS’ UNION IN CALIFORNIA PROVIDES $412,000 IN COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

166 Students Were Awarded Scholarships for 2014

October 1, 2014

Sacramento, CA: The start of college this fall provided a renewed optimism for the sons and daughters of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) members in California.  166 eligible dependents were awarded partial college scholarships as a result of the fund raising efforts of the Northern California District Council of Laborers and the Southern California District Council of Laborers.

For the 2014 academic year, the Northern California Laborers’ Scholarship Foundation provided $225,000 in scholarship funds to 75 recipients.  Northern California District Council of Laborers (NCDCL) Business Manager and LIUNA Vice-President, Oscar de la Torre, commended the recipients: “The young men and women who received a scholarship put in a lot of effort during their high school careers and should be proud of their accomplishments.  For many, they are the first person in their family to attend college and we are glad to help them reach their academic goals.”

In Southern California, the Mike Quevedo, Sr. Scholarship Fund gave 91 scholarships totaling $187,000 to help cover the costs of secondary education for their members’ children. Southern California District Council of Laborers (SCDCL) Business Manager, Armando Esparza, said, “This is one of the greatest ways our organization, LIUNA, can give back to its members; by providing their children an academic scholarship they otherwise might not have received.  Now they can concentrate on their studies and not worry as much about how they’ll pay for their education.”

The Northern California Laborers’ Scholarship Foundation and the Mike Quevedo, Sr. Scholarship Fund are non-profit organizations created solely for the purpose of raising scholarship monies. Since their inceptions in the 1990’s, these scholarship funds have provided more than 1,500 scholarships worth nearly $3,500,000.  Student recipients have attended community colleges and universities throughout California, as well as institutions across the country such as the University of Massachusetts and Columbia University.