When the Mexican-American Committee on Education hosts its 44th annual Cinco de Mayo Scholarship Banquet this year, the organization will celebrate a major success story because Sergio Martinez – the man who received the first scholarship more than 40 years ago – is the lead singer of the Tejano and Country recording group taking the stage.
“Now he’s a top-notch entertainer in the entertainer world because he’s loved his music all the time,” said Mickie Luna, the event coordinator for the MACE banquet.
Since its formation in 1970, MACE has raised more than $400,000 in scholarship funds and has helped more than 500 students from San Benito County pursue college dreams.
Martinez is the lead singer of the Tex-Mex band Sergio Martinez Y Los Silveradoz. After receiving his MACE scholarship, he went on to study at the University of California, Santa Cruz, explained Luna. Martinez returned to San Benito County to teach in the Hollister School District, where he worked as a math teacher and vice principal at Marguerite Maze Middle School. Eventually, he became the district’s coordinator of migrant education programs before retiring and touring with his band.
The effort to raise scholarship funds continues this year, when MACE may hit the $500,000 mark in fundraised scholarship money, explained Luna.
“This year, we’ll probably will hit the half-million mark, and that’s a biggie,” she said.
While the event raises money for the next generation of college students, it also celebrates the already successful ones, including a local man and woman of the year.
San Benito High School alumna Estela Lopez Gilliam is the 2014 Woman of the Year. The first in her family to go to college and law school, she received double degrees in chicano studies and political science from the University of California, Berkeley before pursing a law degree from Santa Clara University. Gilliam is currently the associate director of the Sacramento-based California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, which provides community outreach, education and legal assistance to California’s rural poor.
“She was a migrant student that we helped and gave her a scholarship, and here she’s an attorney and she’s done exceptionally well and we just feel like it was time to honor her,” said Luna.
The man of the year is Jose Martinez, who is a graduate of San Benito High School and Gavilan College. Martinez earned a degree in criminal justice/sociology from Sacramento State University before receiving a masters degree in criminology from San Jose State University. Martinez has been involved in several volunteer activities in San Benito County, including coaching Little League baseball teams, helping with the Boy Scouts of America of San Benito County and assisting with local cross-country meets, track and field events, and softball tournaments.
EVENT DETAILS
The event will start at 6 p.m. Saturday May 3 at the Elks Lodge on 351 Astro Drive in Hollister. Tickets are $40 per person, a $10 decrease from previous years to allow more to participate despite economy. Table reservations for groups of 8 people are still available. No tickets will be sold at the door. For more information or to order tickets, call Mickie Luna at (831) 673-2009.
