2010 Annual Scholarship Gala

We are now sending out invitations for this year's Scholarship Gala.  Last year's Gala provided scholarships for four Heritage alumni and established a new music keyboard lab in the school.  Our goal is to be able to accept scholarship applications year round from Heritage graduates and to help as many as we can with their post-secondary education (college, vocational school, etc.).

Donations for the silent and live auctions are already coming in.  A page has been created to give you a sneak peek at some of the items you will be able to bid on at the Gala.  We're especially excited about the donations from former students and the necklaces some of our current students are making (these were a huge hit last year).

Bill Marcroft is serving as our Master of Ceremonies again this year.  Entertainment will include performances by our students as well as a thrilling performance by Jason Lyle Black, known as "The Backwards Piano Guy."  Jason was featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier this year.


 At the Gala, we have an opportunity to recognize others in the community who are changing the lives of youth. The Spirit of Heritage Award was originally created to recognize employees who have gone above and beyond in performing their duties to care, advocate for and serve the youth at Heritage. We have since expanded the award and each year select someone from the community that embodies the spirit of what we do here in making a difference and changing the lives of youth. Past recipients have included Senator Hatch, the Ed & Lois Smart Family, Mary Kaye Huntsman, Pat Davis, Alex Boye and others. The Spirit of Heritage Award recipient this year is Utah's Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff.

In 2009, the Spirit of Heritage StarFish Awards were established to honor non-employees who have made a difference in the lives of the youth at Heritage.  Last year's recipients were Thurl Bailey, the Chipman family, Mona Heern, Chad Hymas, and Ron Williams.  We're excited to announce this year's StarFish Award recipients, Rosanne Abraham and Sue Bergin.

Seats at the Scholarship Gala are limited.  If you are interested in attending, an electronic version of the invitation is here.  A special invitation is available for Heritage alumni (past and present Heritage students and their families).  If you wish to have an invitation mailed to you, please contact Karen using the information on the invitation file posted above.  You can also register for the gala online or by sending in the RSVP card included with the invitation.

Kosher Option

Beginning today, Kosher pre-tray meals will be available for our Jewish students who are interested. As far as we can tell, Heritage will be the only RTC offering this service.

We appreciate Alyssa Cundy and the Food Services Department for being willing to make this possible. This means a lot of extra work for them. Separate appliances, mixing bowls, measuring cups, preparation utensils, serving utensils, cutting boards, knives, saucepans, fry pans, pots, toasters, etc have all been purchased to aid in making a portion of Heritage's kitchen a Kosher kitchen. Separate areas in the freezer, refrigerator, and storage area have been set aside to accommodate a separation between the Kosher and non Kosher food and then a further separation between dairy and meats in the Kosher areas.

The way Heritage's dishwasher is set up also makes it possible to clean and sanitize separately. Kosher and non Kosher items will be washed separately with an empty cycle between them. Even among the Kosher items, they are sanitized separately with an empty cycle between those utensils used to prepare dairy and those used to prepare meat.

 

Kosher refrigerated food has been purchased and ordered from as far away as Los Angeles, but you may be surprised to learn that much of the food served at Heritage is already Kosher--from the Cream of Weber Milk, to all of the breakfast cereals, to the catsup/ketchup, mayonnaise, chips, yogurt, bagels, granola bars and Fat Boy ice cream--all are already Kosher. Beginning tonight, all of the evening snacks will be Kosher as well (campus wide). 

We're excited to be able to offer this option, in addition to the other various dietary options made available to our students.  Jewish students interested in having the Kosher meals should contact Chaplain Tami to make the arrangements.  Our gratitude also goes out to Rabbi Benny Zippel for his assistance in locating Kosher food for our students.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

You may remember our post earlier this summer. One of our students wrote about the Heritage garden and the horticulture classes.  Despite some crazy summer weather this year, the students have been successful in growing quite a few different fruits, vegetables, and flowers.  Tomatoes, broccoli, onions, peppers, strawberries, raspberries, eggplant, cabbage, melons, corn, and more are thriving.  Staff and students are enjoying the fresh produce.  I don't know how the horticulture class is doing it - my own garden at home pales by comparison and my tomatoes and peppers are so much smaller. They are able to grow quite a bit in a small space and their teacher, Cindy Barlow, tells them how to manage small gardens even in a window garden so they can try this when they are living on their own in the future.

Recent Donations

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Heritage is able to apply for grants and receive tax-deductible donations.  Here are some of the recent grants and donations.

New look for Sequoia East (13)

The Utah Families Foundation holds its annual charity golf challenge every August.  Senator Orrin Hatch serves as the host of this event.  This year, 71 Utah charities received funding and Heritage is excited to be one of them.  The $5,000 grant will help with the costs of remodeling the student homes on our campus. 

Remember Comcast Cares Day?  Comcast donated nearly $6,000 as a result of the volunteer efforts that day.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation gave $4,000 in grant funding for this year's production of "West Side Story."  This year's Provo Rotary Club golf tournament resulted in a donation to Heritage of $4,400 from the Provo Rotary Charitable Foundation.

Some of our most cherished donations come from Heritage families.  We're so honored by The Dilpare Family's generous $5,000 donation to Heritage's scholarship fund.  Plans are currently being made for this year's Scholarship Gala, including updating the scholarship application.  The application will soon be available year round for Heritage graduates to apply for scholarships to help with their education beyond high school.  Last year's Gala provided scholarships for four of our alumni. Click here for the "Save the Date" information on the 2010 Gala.  We're counting on your help to make this year's event a success!

Vote for Heritage

Kohl's Cares is providing an opportunity for 20 different schools to receive a $500,000 donation.  To qualify, the schools must make it to the top 20 in public voting.  Please click on the link.  The voting is taking place on Facebook and each person is allotted 20 votes to use.  You can vote up to 5 times for the same school.  We hope you will support Heritage and vote for us.  Half a million dollars would go a long way!  Please share this with friends and others - just keep passing the word along.  As a smaller school, it will take more effort for us to make the top 20.