Orange Plaza Rotary and the Rotary Club of Orange North came together on May 6th to present $5,500 in scholarships to students involved in Orange Police Explorer Post 266.  The event was attended by family and friends of the students as well as by supporters and advisors from the Orange Police Department.

In the scholarship application, students were asked to highlight their service to the community. Most had performed more than 150 hours of service in the last year.  Each applicant also explained what they had learned from their service with the Explorer program. Their answers revealed that Exploring had increased their confidence, compassion and commitment to serving others in the future.

Receiving the awards:

Caleb Hensley – $500 – who is now using his Explorer experience as a stuent at the California Sheriff Assistant Academy
Brian Solis-Olivares – $500 – a senior at Orange High School preparing to attend Santiago Canyon College in the fall
Alan Uribe – $500 – graduating from Foothill High School before attending Santa Ana College
Daniela Garcia – $1000 – of Orange High School, with plans to attend Santiago Canyon College
Jillian Hernandez – $1000 – a senior at Mater Dei High School, moving on to Santiago Canyon College
Ana Tinoco – $2000 – Ana completed the Explorer program and is now a Cadet at the Orange Police Department.  She will use her scholarship in her studies at California State University at Fullerton, Majoring in Human Services.

In addition to the scholarships, Orange Plaza Rotary presented $500 to the Explorer program in gratitude for their work at the Orange Plaza Car Show.

Rotary is a network of community and business leaders volunteering their time and talent to do good in the world.  For information about Orange Plaza Rotary (meeting Wednesday evenings) or Orange North Rotary (Tuesday noon), call Rae Shirer at 657-333-2361.