The Foundation’s new board for 2025: Chris Schneck, Richard Hawkes, Charlene Petragallo, Cheryl Ravenscroft, Kathy Skrei, Jeanne Becker, Bryan Haynie, Frank Gould; not pictured: Karen Jorgensen (photo by Jeanne Becker)
Jeanne Becker
The Greater Sun Lakes Community Foundation has elected its new board of directors and selected its officers’ positions for 2025: Charlene Petragallo (president), Frank Gould and Kathy Skrei (vice presidents), Jeanne Becker (treasurer), Cheryl Ravenscroft (secretary), plus Karen Jorgensen, Brian Haynie, Chris Schneck (directors), and Richard Hawkes (president emeritus). The new board is continuing its policy of awarding yearly philanthropic grants to local organizations and groups within our Sun Lakes communities “to enhance the quality of life for the older population in the East Valley, including Sun Lakes residents, in the areas of health, education and culture.”
In addition, the board is pioneering an entirely new fundraising effort on Sunday Oct. 19, 2025, which involves increasing the yearly $6,000 donation to the Firefighters Food Fund. Most people do not know that the firefighters and EMTs do not have a stipend for food as part of their pay and benefits, so each shift pools their own money into a “kitty” to be used communally for food purchases in our local grocery stores, and that food is prepared and served in the two firehouses. For the past three years, the Greater Sun Lakes Community Foundation has donated $6,000 per year to help the firefighters and EMTs toward their food costs, which averages out to $1,000 per shift per year. Therefore, the goal of the new initiative is to attempt to cover most of the food costs of the Firefighters Food Fund for every firefighter and EMT in both Firehouses 231 and 232 for the full year.
More information about this special event to be held at Oakwood Country Club on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, will be forthcoming as the organizing committee continues to develop the plan, and more details will be published in future editions of the Splash and through our local community newsletters and e-blasts.