While feeling the sting of budget cuts, Gabilan Hills School is
also feeling the generosity of corporate donations.
While feeling the sting of budget cuts, Gabilan Hills School is also feeling the generosity of corporate donations.
Recently, the school was presented with $3,500 from local firm MC Electronics and awarded with a grant from Oracle Corporation that includes 30 computers and six printers.
MC Electronics “adopted” the school for next school year as a way to get involved in the community, said Mena Beltran, vice president of the firm’s public relations committee.
“We’re trying to give something back to the community,” Beltran said. “If we can afford to give and help anyone, we want to do it. We try to do as much as we can.”
The company approached schools in the county and Gabilan Hills was the only one to respond, Beltran said. The company held an essay-writing contest for all fourth graders on the topic of how donations should be spent at the school. The first-place winner received $2,000, second $1,000 and third earned $500. MC Electronics also gave a separate award to the library of $250 to buy library books.
Beltran said it was obvious by the essays that students adore their librarian and want more books.
Gabilan Hills Vice Principal Jeanne Tutop said the donations are appreciated and needed.
“It’s very important right now because of all the budget cuts. These are things we wouldn’t necessarily buy because of the budget cuts,” Tutop said.
Since the school has been adopted by MC Electronics, the company will continually donate objects and money throughout the next school year, Beltran said.
Beltran said she would like to see more businesses do the same thing and plans to work toward that goal in the next few months.
MC Electronics makes electronic products and employs 82 people. It has been in the county for 21 years, Beltran said. For more than a year, the company’s employees have participated in fundraisers and volunteerism. The donation to Gabilan Hills School is just another way the company is trying to benefit the community, she said.
The grant from Oracle came after Tutop submitted an application. The computers and printers will be delivered in June, she said.
The school currently has 38 computers on campus, meaning the grant almost doubles the number of computers at the school.
