Local Realtors giving back

We Realtors do give back to the community in anyway we can. The Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, SILVAR, (the organization I am a part of) grants scholarships to a number of graduating high school students for college. This year 18 kids were awarded scholarships by SILVAR. Congratulations to all of you and good luck on your future careers!


The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR), presented scholarship awards to 18 graduating seniors from public high schools in Silicon Valley at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. Each student received a $1,000 scholarship.

Now on its 16th year, the REALTOR® scholarship program recognizes students who have exemplified outstanding achievements in academics, extracurricular/employment activities and community involvement. The selection committee included representatives from the local business community, area high schools, area colleges and SILVAR.

Students who received scholarships from the Charitable Foundation, the schools from which they graduated, and the colleges and universities they plan to attend are: Greg Pommier, Cupertino High School (UC Berkeley); Brianna Clarice Clark, Fremont High School (Tuskegee University); Daniel Rothenberg, Gunn High School (San Francisco State University); Arisa Ananda Faron, Homestead High School (Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo); Aleksandra Vojvodic, Leigh High School (UCLA); Jhosseline Guardado, Los Altos High School (UC Davis); Laurel Michelle Finkle, Los Gatos High School (UCLA); Jessica Zheng, Lynbrook High School (Princeton University); Caroline Kelly, Menlo-Atherton High School (University of Michigan); James Mullen, Monta Vista High School (UCLA); Marisa Noelle Gong, Mountain View High School (Washington University in St. Louis); Promise Lee, Palo Alto High School (UC Davis); Kevin Wei, Prospect High School (UC San Diego); Vicente Lozano Lovelace, Santa Clara High School (UC Santa Cruz); Yun Seo (Jennifer) Kim, Saratoga High School (New York University); Tuyen Nguyen, Westmont High School (UC Santa Cruz); Rachanon Wajanakunakorn, Wilcox High School (Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo); and Rachel Bontempi, Woodside High School (UC San Diego).

The following SILVAR members who presented the scholarships to the recipients at their respective senior award ceremonies were Chris Alston (Keller Williams), Fe Manzano (Century 21 M&M and Associates), Jimmy Kang (PNC Mortgage), Nina Daruwalla (Coldwell Banker), Cassie Maas (Alain Pinel Realtors), Dani Fletcher (Sereno Group), Suzanne Yost (Alain Pinel Realtors), Mark Burns (Referral Realty), Mary Tan (Coldwell Banker), Robert Reid (Keller Williams), Sue Bose (Referral Realty), David Tonna (Alain Pinel Realtors), Russell Morris (Coldwell Banker) and Theresa Loya (Coldwell Banker).

The scholarship awards presented by the Charitable Foundation are made possible by donations from REALTOR® and affiliate members of SILVAR. Since its creation, the scholarship program has provided $288,000 in scholarships to high school seniors in Silicon Valley.