SPARKy NEWS: Latina Scholarship Fund Update!

26 Jun SPARKy NEWS: Latina Scholarship Fund Update!

To celebrate its 10th anniversary back in 2016, Jennie Franks of SPARKy Productions created an original play titled “The Hispanic Women’s Project” based on true stories of local Latinas. The production played to sold-out audiences for five nights and opened eyes and hearts to the harsh reality of Hispanic women in the Telluride region. As an adjunct to “The Hispanic Women’s Project,” SPARKy initiated a scholarship fund to help local graduating Latinas go on to a higher education. 

The following is an update from Jennie. Get out your pom-poms; be prepared to cheer.

And/or donate: Please mail contributions to SPARKy Latina Scholarship Fund, 307 Fairway Drive, Telluride, CO, 81435. Funds sent to SPARKy are managed by the Telluride Foundation or click here.

Go here for more on the history of SPARKy.

And here for even more.

Amy, this year’s scholarship recipient from Telluride, courtesy SPARKy.

Dear Friends of SPARKy,

We started THE SPARKy LATINA SCHOLARSHIP FUND in 2016 after producing the play, THE HISPANIC WOMEN’S PROJECT. That year, we raised enough money to send ONE girl to college. Now we have girls going to colleges from their home state of Colorado: Columbia University in New York City; Bowden College in Maine; and other institutions all over the country.

That is all thanks to YOU and the incredible Telluride Community for putting your trust in us and for supporting first-generation dreams coming true. Not only do we support the girls financially, but we also maintain a presence in the Middle/High School. Each month, we schedule a lunch/consultation with the girls, recognizing the unique challenges they will face in their first year in college.

Yoselin & Karla. This year’s scholarship recipients from Norwood, courtesy SPARKy.

Karla. One of this year’s scholarship recipients from Telluride, courtesy SPARKy.

We currently have NINE girls studying in colleges and universities who are focusing on a wide range of subjects from business, civic engineering, to teaching and oceanography. We speak to them all regularly to make sure all is well. COVID was difficult, but now they are working hard and enjoying college life. Most of the girls have returned to San Miguel County for the summer, where they all have seasonal jobs.

Adding to SPARKy’s nine, we are thrilled to announce FOUR new scholarships were awarded this spring. The recipients are Karla Guiterrez and Amy Guerrero from Telluride High School, as well as Yoselin Hernandez and Karla Camacho from Norwood High School. We are so thrilled to see how our program has flourished in the last several years.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. We are grateful for all your generous donations and if you would like to get involved, do let us know.

Please also tell any friends who may want to know more about how we help young Latinas in our community.

If you are interested in donating to the SPARKy Latina Scholarship Fund, please click the link or mail to the address above.