Palm Desert couple provide scholarships to ‘unrecognized’ students
By Eric Sandoval – Special to The Desert Sun
AUGUST 5, 2022 – 12:02am | The Desert Sun
Luisa and Oscar Armijo, co-owners of the Armijo & Associates, a CPA firm in Palm Desert, have rewarded almost 200 scholarships to local college-bound Latino students that have excelled in academics, overcome socioeconomic challenges, and demonstrated social responsibility.
The Armijos have been residents of Palm Desert for more than 40 years and in their time, they’ve realized the gap between students from the valley and other higher-earning income areas. The gap between these students isn’t potential or education but opportunity. [Click to Read More].
More than a Mirage: Cal Bears Provide Real Community Support for Students in Coachella Valley
By Cal Alumni Association – UC Berkeley
APRIL 7, 2021 – 11:20am | CAA Announcements
Being a new face in a big place can be overwhelming—nearly all UC Berkeley students will tell you that. You try to find where you fit in, but nothing seems to fit quite right at first. Classes are challenging, you’re away from home for the first time—it’s a lot to take in. Discouragement sets in and you might second-guess your decision to be there. Then, maybe you meet someone from your hometown and they invite you over for dinner.
The Cal Alumni Association’s Cal Bears in the Desert Alumni Chapter Started as a dinner during Homecoming and evolved into an organization serving students [Click to Read More].
Alumni Show Up for Students and Each Other at Summer Welcome Parties
By Cal Alumni Association – CAA Announcements
SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 | CAA Announcements
In Southern California, alumni from all walks of life send a strong welcome message to new students.
Southern California chapters hosted four Summer Welcome Parties over two weekends for students and alumni. Incoming students engaged with alumni and current students in Zoom breakout rooms, and enjoyed Cal Band music and Cal-themed trivial games [Click to Reach More].
From Trailer Park to UC Berkeley, and Back Again: One Young Woman’s Commitment to Coachella
By Sasha Khokha, Host – The California Magazine | KQED
APRIL 13, 2019 | KQED – Inform. Inspire. Involve.
When it rains in the Eastern Coachella town of Thermal, it can get so muddy that cars often get stuck on the unpaved roads running parallel to the lettuce fields. That makes it hard for farmworkers to get to their homes at Camp Fremont, a tiny Park at the end of a long dirt road.
It’s clusters of mobile homes, some with plywood covering holes in the walls, far from streetlights, supermarkets, and cell phone services [Click to Read More].
Many Eastern Coachella Valley natives are returning. Their mission? To Advocate for their Community
By Ricardo Lopez and Janel Wilson | Palm Springs Desert Sun
JANUARY 28, 2019 | Palm Springs Desert Sun
Thermal native Christian Paiz, a UC Berkeley history professor whose research specialty is the UFW labor activism in the Coachella Valley, explained that the history of activism in the valley dates, which dates back decades, has informed the values of the region, particularly around racial and economic justice.
“There’s a real sense of trying to take care of each other. You go home to help your family and in the process of doing that, you go home and you recognize that the problems that your family are facing are much bigger than just your family” – Christian Paiz [Click to Read More].
Couple builds bridge to Berkeley for Coachella Valley’s brightest, neediest youth
By Gretchen Kell, Media relations|
JANUARY 24, 2019 | Berkeley News
Hilda Zarate-Cervantes badly needed a champion. It was March 2015, and the high school senior had just landed an in-person interview for a coveted UC Berkeley scholarship that, for her, would mean a full ride.
Zarate-Cervantes lived in Thermal, a rural, desert community in Southern California’s Eastern Coachella Valley. [Click to Read More].
Cal Bears in the Desert 