The local chapter of the Soldiers Of The Cross Motorycle Ministry raised $50,000 for the Modesto Gospel Mission via the Ride for Rescue.
It was third straight year that the Christian group put on the June event, which included a motorcycle ride to La Grange and back and a barbecue and raffle. It has now collected more than $160,000 for the mission’s Women and Children’s Center, chapter President Ben Hardister said.
Soldiers of the Cross also takes part in weekly Bible studies and services at the mission and the Teen Challenge recovery center in Turlock.
And the chapter is well-traveled: Members rode to Tecate, Mexico, this summer to support an orphanage. Earlier, they flew to Cambodia to help a women and children’s center and to Romania for a children’s center.
Leadership class launches
The Modesto Chamber of Commerce has announced the 2018-19 class for Leadership Modesto, which exposes current and emerging leaders to issues in the area.
The 36th edition of the program will start next month with a weekend retreat, followed by sessions on business, arts, nonprofits, public safety and other topics over 10 months. Employers pay most of the cost; class members cover the rest.
The new class:
- Zach Brockman, Modesto Nuts baseball club
- Vinal Chand, Stanislaus County Workforce Development
- Jeannette Chimerofsky, NAI Benchmark real estate
- Randy Clark, TSM Insurance
- Dana Ferreira, Modesto Irrigation District
- Joe Garcia, Doctors Medical Center
- Monica Houston, city of Modesto
- Jacquelyn Howell, Atherton and Associates accounting
- Veronica Jacuinde, Boys & Girls Clubs
- Tony Jordan, Stanislaus County Office of Education
- Peter Kroeze, Prime Shine Carwash
- Queta Maldonado, MID
- Juan Marquez III, Valley First Credit Union
- deAnne McCoy, Kaiser Permanente
- Thomas Moffett, Modesto Police Department
- Joanne Ramos, Ambeck Mortgage Associates
- Adriane Reams, Grimbleby Coleman accounting
- Lauren Schmidt, Gallo Center for the Arts
- Jason Word, MID
- Amber Wright, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department
And finally ...The National Science Foundation awarded $1.46 million to enhance teaching at California State University, Stanislaus. The money comes from a fund promoting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at campuses serving a large number of Latino students. “This grant will support STEM faculty in improving their teaching practices in introductory courses,” ecology Professor Matt Cover said in a news release. The effort will include “summer teaching institutes, workshops and peer support groups.”
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