2022 Sycuan Cup – 31st Annual Charity Golf Tournament June 22, 2022 This month, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation held their 2022 Sycuan Cup – 31st Annual Charity Golf Tournament at Singing Hills Golf Resort. The tournament raised more than $100,000 to benefit four local charities. This year’s beneficiaries included Nā Wahine Toa, Anza-Borrego Foundation, The Grandparents Connection and Ocean Discovery Institute. 2022 Sycuan Cup Beneficiaries Nā Wahine Toa Ilima-Lei created the Ilimanator Scholarship to not only inspire other girls to go after their dreams, but to also help eliminate disparities that many young native girls face and give them a fighting chance to succeed. Through fundraising, donations and her win bonuses from fights, Ilima-Lei was able to award a total of 15 scholarships to young girls around the world including natives of Mexico, Jamaica, Panama, Hawai’i and Turtle Island. Many of her recipients had never left the islands or their reservations and were given a chance to attend cultural enrichment programs both nation-wide and internationally through the scholarship, including Ilima’s women’s retreat program in 2020. Nā Wahine Toa (Women Warriors) Foundation was ultimately formed with the mission of further empower these kaikamāhine (girls) and older generations. Her foundation focuses on teaching self-defense, self-love, self-preservation and the protection of sacred sites including our bodies, our divine feminine entities and our ʻāina (land). Anza-Borrego Park Foundation The mission of Anza-Borrego Foundation is to protect and preserve the natural landscapes, wildlife habitat and cultural heritage of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and its surrounding region for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. Anza-Borrego Foundation is the only nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. ABF is the Cooperating Association for the Park, which means we raise funds to supplement a tight state park budget. We exist to ensure that individuals, corporations and governments value our desert for all of its unique characteristics. That’s why we don’t just advocate for and protect land, we approach conservation as a strategic process that leads to a greater understanding of and appreciation for California’s dwindling wilderness. Our programs are interdependent and the root of our success. We see Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and this region not just as a vast wild landscape for recreation and inspiration, but as a living laboratory and classroom as well. The Grandparents Connection Founded in 2005 and receiving their official designation as a 501c3 in 2022, The Grandparents Connection was created by grandparents in support of grandparents. It is a volunteer-based grassroots organization that offers information and resources to grandparents and other relative caretakers who are raising children at a time in their life when they didn’t think they would be. They offer support in the form of positive communication, access to guest speakers, community driven events at little to no-cost to families, emergency family intervention, mentoring and tutoring, transportation for outings as respite and recreation for children, clothing, shoes and educational supplies. They are dedicated to weekly community meetings for walk in support and provide for at least one special event each month. Their data suggests that the overall poverty rate for children living in a grandparent’s home is 27 percent; for children living in their parent’ home it is 19 percent. Among grandparent- maintained families, the average household income ranges from $19,750 for those with only a grandmother present to $61, 632 for families with both grandparents and at least one parent present. Website: Ocean Discovery Institute To inspire the next generation of science leaders, Ocean Discovery Institute creates learning experiences for young people traditionally excluded from science due to race, income status, and educational opportunity. Our students will join high-paying fields, break generational poverty, and change the future of science. Today, Ocean Discovery reaches 6,000 students a year in San Diego, CA. Our programs are provided at no cost to our students. Our students believe that a scientist is someone they can be. They achieve because of it. They lead by entering high-paying STEM fields and making a difference. They enter the fields of biotech, engineering, environmental consulting, fisheries, marine biology, education, and public policy, and are committed to making a difference.