10.22.2015 The Chronicle-News By Steve Block The Tercio Ranch Foundation donated $4,000 Thursday to the Culebra Range Community Coalition’s (CRCC) Environmental Scholarship Fund, for scholarships to qualifying area students. Tracy and Kelly Rael from the Tercio Ranch, left, hand over the check to the CRCC’s Tom and Linda Perry at the Trinidad Municipal Golf Course.

Many college degree programs can lead to careers in various fields that can benefit our natural environment. The Tercio Ranch Foundation has stepped up to the plate with a $4,000 donation to the Culebra Range Community Coalition’s (CRCC) Environmental Scholarship Fund that can help a college-bound student looking to focus on a career in an environmentally related field of study.image001

The Tercio Foundation is the local affiliate of Louis Bacon’s Moore Charitable Foundation, and said in a press release that it’s proud to support CRCC’s Environmental Scholarship Fund.

Ranch employees Tracey and Kelly Rael were on hand at the Trinidad Municipal Golf Course last Thursday to give the donation to Tom and Linda Perry, representatives of the CRCC. Tom Perry provided some information about CRCC’s Environmental Scholarship Program, which began in 2012 with the award of two $4,000 college scholarships. That was followed by three scholarships in 2013, four in 2014 and five in 2015, all of which were for $4,000.

“We feel that investing in youth and environmental education is an effective strategy for protecting and enhancing the health and beauty of our natural environment,” Perry said.

The CRCC is a local nonprofit whose primary work is focused on youth, education and the environment. The scholarship is given through an application process to local graduating seniors who are going on to college to study in any field that can benefit the natural environment. CRCC’s definition of careers that could provide environmental benefits includes Petroleum Engineering, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and many others. The scholarship committee is willing to consider any major that interacts with or affects the natural environment, Perry said, which includes air, water, land and anything that grows or lives on or in it.

“Our dream with this Environmental Scholarship Program would be to hopefully help fund and inspire some young student who will go on to a career in environmental science and who someday in the future may make some significant discovery or improvement to our body of natural science,” he said. “An even bigger goal of our program, and perhaps more attainable, is to help fund a more general education across a broad variety of majors in a way in which those many students will develop a new ‘mindset’ or a new way of looking at our interaction with our natural environment and learn new ways how our governments, businesses, farms and ranches, schools and our homes can reduce or mitigate our impact on the environment. From many changed mindsets much good can flow.”

It’s a local program with scholarships awarded through competitive examination to local students from area ranchers and local citizens. Each summer and fall, CRCC hosts the ‘Coffee for Causes’ booth at the Trinidad Farmers Market in Cimino Park. Donations for coffee and goodies provided the largest number of donations to the Scholarship Fund, but the greatest dollar amount comes from some very generous donors, Perry said.

“This scholarship program could not exist without their support and we, and the students, are very grateful for their generosity,” he said. “We should also point out that 100 percent of all donations go directly into the student’s scholarships.”

Many local students have benefited from the Environmental Scholarships during the CRCC Funds first four years. They include Nick Mason, Rachel Hadaway, Chris DeAngelis, Erin Diller, Stephanie Porter, Sabrina Eccher, Naomi Jacquez, Jacob Walter, Ben Ward, Kolton Aubuchon, Sean Lutz, Keythur Merchant, Jake Stanton and Sidney Waller.

Area high school counselors have plenty of information about the Scholarship Fund, ad students interested in applying can contact them at the schools, or contact the Perry’s at the following e-mail address: [email protected]. Donors willing to partner with CRCC and contribute to the Scholarship Program can also contact the Perry’s at the above e-mail address.

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