For the past 25 years, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach, an all volunteer organization, has been providing children in nearby communities with opportunities to succeed through programs that provide food, clothing, enrichment grants and education. Thanks to our volunteers, who generously contribute their time and talent, and our donors who provide their financial support, we are striving to end generational poverty for thousands of kids. During the past year, our volunteers logged more than 72,500 hours of service, a $2,320,000 value. Our fundraising efforts included our annual Make-A-Difference program which raised $170,611. Our Scholarship Endowment program is now valued at $402,741.56. A new fundraising effort to recruit business supporters raised $34,500. These funding efforts, alongside donations from both SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents and the Golden Goose Thrift Shop distributions, which totaled an amazing $692,500, allowed us to run programs which provided over one million dollars to communities in the 100-mile Copper Corridor.
Feed
Our Annual Food Drive in March collected more than 18,000 pounds of food and $148,787 in monetary donations for the Tri-Community Food Bank. This was a joint effort between SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch.
Thanksgiving Food Baskets were delivered to 92 families living in Oracle and in the San Manuel/ Mammoth Unified School District. Laundry baskets were filled with traditional Thanksgiving items including turkey and all the trimmings. SaddleBrooke residents assembled 30 baskets for Oracle families and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents assembled 30 baskets for families in San Manuel and Mammoth residents.
Clothe
Kids Closet clothed 2,815 children this year. Those kids who come in-person to the “big red building” in Mammoth have volunteers who help them shop for clothes that fit and that they like. When the children can’t come in-person, for various reasons, the volunteers bag clothes for each name provided by the school. When bagged, each child receives the same amount of clothing and toiletries as in an in-person session.
Teen Closet hosted two shopping events for teens in towns from Catalina to Miami, one in July 2022 and another in January 2023. Eighty-six students shopped for school clothing and school supplies in July and 57 shopped in January. To qualify for a shopping trip, teens attend school regularly, maintain an overall C or better average in their subjects and perform at least six service hours in their community. Due to inflation, each student’s allowance was increased to $250.
The Adopt-A-Family and Adopt-A-Child programs brought holiday joy to approximately 120 adults and 550 children, thanks to $ 63,739 contributed by residents of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch. SaddleBrooke residents adopted 70 families in the San Manuel and Mammoth communities as well as 200 children on the San Carlos Indian Reservation. SaddleBrooke Ranch residents adopted 152 children from Oracle.
Enrich
Enrichment grant requests increased, after a long dry spell during COVID. In total, SBCO awarded more than $118,000 in grants to local schools and community organizations. The Miami school district requested seven grants for programs to enrich learning in grades K-6. SBCO funded summer programs for softball, a sport camp, swimming lessons and three summer reading programs. Two community libraries in Miami and Hayden requested funds for the first time. Superior’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) program requested funds for two award winners to travel to a national competition. SBCO continues to support Ray school’s bookshelf program and their Learning Garden. Oracle school requested funds for a Scholastic book program (each child receives two books each month), their gifted program and scholarships for their pre-school program. The Amphitheater schools were awarded funds for their annual field trips for seventh and eighth graders and SBCO funded two non-school groups, Youth On Their Own (YOTO) and the Triangle YMCA Camp.
Educate
College scholarships were awarded to 91 students (totaling over $254,000) during SBCO’s 2022-23 fiscal year:
77 four-year students
Seven two-year students
Seven graduate students
The universities attended by four-year students included:
University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, Park University, Central Michigan University, Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University Hawaii, Azusa Pacific University, University of Arkansas, Troy University, Grand Canyon University, Western New Mexico University and New Mexico State University.
The two-year programs attended included: The Fashion Institute in LA, The West Coast Ultrasound Institute, Central Arizona College, Eastern Arizona College, Chandler Gilbert Community College, Mesa Community College and Pima Community College.
The graduate students attended University of Arizona School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Arizona School of Pharmacy, University of California, Los Angeles, Northern Arizona University Teaching Certificate, George Fox University and New York University.
Additionally, the Scholarship Endowment Program distributed $13,000 in earnings. This distribution enabled SBCO to grant three awards to graduate students at Arizona State University, Midwestern University and Northern Arizona University.
Community Events
Within our SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch communities, we also provided two community events. The Walk for Kids 2022 was reconstituted after a three-year absence due to COVID. The Remodeled Home Tour ran in April 2023. The Walk for Kids involved 370 walkers and over 50 volunteers. The Home Tour involved over 580 participants and 100 volunteers.
The success of our organization’s work is undeniable, and our volunteers are inspired to raise funds and donate their time by the satisfaction they receive from improving the lives of kids—our hope for the future.
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