February 21, 2022; For Immediate Release
Contact: Chana Mannen, Executive Director, Don Diego Scholarship Foundation
858.792.4210; cmannen@dondiegosf.org

Del Mar, CA … The Walter J. & Betty C. Zable Foundation has awarded a $15,000 grant to Don Diego Scholarship Foundation to provide 2022 college scholarships to outstanding San Diego area students who have participated in Del Mar Fairgrounds events. The grant will fund scholarships to recipients who have participated in 4-H activities as well as the San Diego County Fair’s Junior Livestock Auction. The application process for 2022 Don Diego scholarships in all categories is now open at www.staging.dondiegoscholarship.org. The application deadline is Midnight on Monday, April 1, 2024.

Don Diego Executive Director Chana Mannen lauds San Diego-based Zable Foundation as a multi-year supporter, saying, “Our two foundations share a commitment to San Diego and to future leaders of our community. We are so pleased that our passions have merged in support of our ambitious scholarship program.”

Mannen reports, “The Zable Foundation has funded four Don Diego 4-H scholarships at the $5,000, $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000 levels since 2019. In 2021 and now again in 2022, it increased its contribution to cover some of our Junior Livestock Auction scholarships as well. Thanks to the generosity of organizations such as the Zable Foundation, Don Diego has been able to significantly increase the number of scholarships and amount of funding over the past several years.”

The top 2019 4-H Scholar, Helen Buchanan of Ramona, is currently excelling at UC Berkeley, where she is majoring in Geology. Other Zable recipients are pursuing worthwhile career goals at prestigious universities around the country.

More information about the Zable Foundation, which assists with programs benefiting San Diego County youth, is at www.zablefoundation.org.

The Don Diego Scholarship Foundation was named for Don Diego, AKA Tom Hernandez, who served as the Fair’s welcoming goodwill ambassador from 1947-1984. Since its inception in 1986, the Foundation has awarded $1,191,000 in scholarships to 298 students and in agriculture education grants. More information is at www.staging.dondiegoscholarship.org and www.facebook.com/DonDiegoScholarship.