Scholarships go to 33 who served community

Generosity to their community has paid off for 33 county students who earned a total of $69,000 in scholarships based on their service work in high school.

The BECA Foundation (named for a Spanish word for scholarship) offers awards to Latino students who have done at least 100 hours of community service and maintained at least a 2.0 grade-point average. About 200 students applied this year.

Graduates earning $2,000-a-year scholarships for their studies were Angel Brambila of Eastlake High School, who will attend the University of California Irvine; Leslie Carrillo, Escondido High, attending San Diego State University; Milenka Meneses, San Marcos High, attending UC San Diego; Mayra Parra, Chula Vista High, attending San Diego State; and Sergio Villegas, Castle Park High, attending UCSD.

Other recipients earned one-time awards of at least $500. They are: Charlie Arroyo and Christina Salas of Rancho Buena Vista High; Jose Barraza of Hilltop High; Maribel Beaz of Carlsbad High; Maria Caballero and Andres Calderon of San Marcos High; Bernardo Castro and Tanya Montes of Eastlake High; Rachel Garza, Cindy Gutierrez and Maritza Villegas of Vista High; Ana Gutierrez of San Dieguito Academy; Sonya Huecias and Shalem Uribe of Torrey Pines High, Gabriel Morales of La Costa Canyon High; Marcos Olivo of Center City High; Wenceslao Pena and Martha Rodriguez of Castle Park High; Francisco Ramirez of Valley High; Maria Refugio of Poway High; and Elizabeth Rodriguez of San Pasqual High.

California State University San Marcos students Juan Caballero, Randy Hernandez, Claudia Ignacio and Aida Vasquez, along with Vera Paige of Palomar College and Francisco Rivera of Mesa College, also earned scholarships.