Submitted

The Wyatt Ranches Foundation and Wyatt Ranches provided grants and allocated funds exceeding $1,013,000 for organizations and governmental entities during their most recent Wyatt Ranches Foundation Board of Directors meeting, held at the Tasajillo Division in Realitos. Grants were awarded to several organizations for needed services and to enhance the quality of life in the rural communities of South Texas and beyond.

Sergeant Ronald Zirbes and Deputy Chief James Lerma of the Corpus Christi Police Department presented plans for enhancements to the Corpus Christi Police Athletic League’s sports complex on the west side of Corpus Christi. Funds are needed to enhance their baseball fields and parking areas. Extensive drainage work is also required due to area flooding. The Foundation allocated $100,000 to initiate the project. Both Sergeant Zirbes and the Chief Lerma said the grant would certainly get the Athletic League started with the complex’s needed renovations.

Also in Corpus Christi, the founding chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) had requested a sponsorship for their Distinguished Community Leadership Awards Banquet. In celebration of their 29th year in having these recognition banquets, where the community acknowledges distinguished leaders, a $20,000 sponsorship was provided.

Robstown ISD School Board Trustee Yvette Villalobos and Eva E. Orona, Executive Director of the Robstown ISD Education Foundation, presented a request for educational materials and scholarships for teachers as well as student scholarships in the amount of $40,000. They also provided a report on the previous grant funds distributed to Robstown educators. After Ms. Villalobos’ energetic presentation, the Foundation board unanimously approved a grant in the amount of $50,000.

Texas Highway Patrol Lieutenant Richard L. Jankovsky III of Refugio and Executive Director Clay Taylor of Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers Foundation, accompanied by Trooper David Arias, the organization’s South Texas Regional Representative, all appeared before the Board and presented a continued request for scholarship funding. These scholarships are provided to students whose parents are members of the Department of Public Safety. Director Taylor and Lt. Jankovsky thanked the Foundation for their past gifts of over $240,000 and told the Foundation they recently named these scholarships in honor of Wyatt Ranches. In addition to the educational scholarships, their organization provides support for members of the DPS and their respective families; and, many of these benefits are paramount for families of fallen state troopers. With this in mind, the Foundation’s Board awarded a $100,000 grant to their association, exceeding the groups requested amount of $70,000.

Alice ISD’s El Mariachi Coyote Booster Club requested funds for the school’s mariachi musical program. Alice ISD Musical Director Juan Carlos Gonzalez and Booster Club Representative Gabriel Ramos requested donations for clothing and travel expenses to attend mariachi competitions. Although the boosters had originally requested $8,000, they informed the board of their needing three mariachi musical instruments valued at approximately $4,000 each. After watching a video of the students performing at their first-ever state level mariachi competition just a few days’ prior, the Foundation awarded funds for both the travel and the three musical instruments for a total of $20,000.

Hidalgo County Sheriff J. E. “Eddie” Guerra, accompanied by Deputy Fire Chief Elia Vicencio and Fire Captain Miguel Guerra of the Linn San Manuel Volunteer Fire Department, requested funds for a quick response all terrain vehicle (ATV) for off road search and rescue valued at $45,000. When reviewing the fire department’s financial report, Wyatt Ranches Foundation Board President Billy Wells saw the volunteers were operating in the red at a $12,000 deficit. Accordingly, the Board granted $57,000 to purchase the rescue ATV, with the remainder to erase their financial shortfall.

Also in the Rio Grande Valley, the Board voted to allocate a sponsorship in the amount of $30,000 for Friends of Hope, an organization that provides support to children fighting cancer. The funds will support the needs of these brave young patients in the Upper Rio Grande Valley.

Rio Grande City and La Grulla ISD educators Maricela Garcia, Hermalinda Ayala, and Lora Escamilla appeared before the Foundation to request funds for the school district’s Successful Transition and Rewarding Transformation (START) program. The program is for 18 to 21-year-old special education students and specializes in teaching them employability skills and independent living. The program teaches skills so that students with disabilities become independent and productive in everyday living. Although the educators had requested some $90,000, the Board was touched by their emotional dedication to the program and provided a grant in the amount of $100,000.

Also in Rio Grande City, Starr County Judge Eloy Vera had requested assistance with the county’s biennial State of the County Banquet, where accomplishments in local public governance are celebrated. A $20,000 sponsorship for the event was allocated to Starr County.

Mayor John Howard of Agua Dulce had requested funds for the construction of a city hall building on property owned by Wyatt Ranches and within the town’s city limits. Both the Ranches and the Foundation’s boards voted to allocate $500,000, along with usage of two city lots, for the construction of the Agua Dulce Municipal Plaza. The building will house the municipal offices of Agua Dulce on the corner of Fifth Street and Farm to Market Road 70.

Finally, smaller donations were allocated to the Banquete ISD for field trip expenses and to the Freer Baptist Church for a Central American mission they have planned.

Situated in South Texas and in West Texas, Wyatt Ranches has five cattle ranching divisions. These cattle ranches are scattered from Agua Dulce to the Rio Grande River in South Texas and in West Texas, west of Marfa, with some ranches supplemented with agricultural farming operations. The Wyatt Ranches Foundation has made numerous donations and grants to governmental entities and non-profit organizations in the rural areas of both South and West Texas…as well as donations for hospitals and teaching institutions in the metropolitan areas of Texas. The Foundation’s Board of Directors include Judge Ana Lisa Garza, Vice President Robert T. “Tio” Sakowitz, President William C. “Billy” Wells, Oscar S. “Trey” Wyatt III, and Bradford A. “Brad” Wyatt.