On Wednesday, October 25th during a Coachella Valley Firebirds game, 20 COD students who completed The Great Alumni Hunt were awarded $15,000 in Scholarships!
What started as an “Amazing Race-style” competition 28-days prior culminated in an emotionally powerful check presentation on center ice at Acrisure Arena. Over 1,200 alumni, who won tickets to the game, filled sections of the stadium cheering on the winning students.
Throughout the month, the 20 students raced to register COD alumni from across the Valley and beyond. The experience led to finding notable alumni like Tony Reagins, former General Manager of the Los Angeles Angels, several City Officials, Valley gamechangers and entries from as far as Japan! Nearly 2,000 entries were received from COD Alumni, some of whom were featured in Desert Sun ads and most who shared their favorite and life-changing moments at the college.
More than 40 community leaders, COD faculty and staff and multiple businesses mentored the students while they had the opportunity to flex their marketing and public speaking skills and earn college credit. The first-place student team of Alyson Booth and Mireya Holguin won a $3,000 scholarship.
“The COD Foundation planned on awarding $6,000 in scholarships, but our sponsors got so swept up in the Hunt’s festivities that they financed scholarships for the remaining 14 students!” shares Catherine Abott, Executive Director of the COD Foundation. “We want to thank everyone who participated.”
The COD Foundation thanks Presenting Sponsors: Jordan Schnitzer and the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation and Eisenhower Health, who proudly employs COD Alumni equaling 40% of their nursing staff. Thanks also to Amazon, Renova Energy, Toyota of the Desert, Visit Greater Palm Springs, First Bank, Valley Sanitary District, and exclusive media sponsors: News Channel 3, The Desert Sun, and LocaliQ.
For more than 60 years, College of the Desert has made it possible for local students to pursue their academic dreams. In turn, these students become skilled nurses, firefighters, EMTs, chefs, hoteliers, architects, entrepreneurs, and business leaders of 125,000 alumni strong, who give back to the community, as well as generating over $300 million annually to the local economy.
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College of the Desert Foundation is a 501(C)3 registered nonprofit organization. The mission of the COD Foundation is to act as advocates for the college and to secure financial support enhancing the educational opportunities for all students.
