School Art Auction and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarships

Since 1998, our Hold’Em & Hit’Em Club has teamed up with Corral Club Cherubs to form a buying group that participates in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art Auction each year.  Each year the Livestock Show recognizes contributions of $10,000 or greater as Corporate Donors and awards a $10,000 four (4) year scholarship in that Donor’s name the following year.  When the scholarships are awarded in May of 2006 for the 2005 Auction purchases the amount will increase to a $12,000 scholarship.  The Hold’Em & Hit’Em Club was awarded the Corporate Donor level in 1998 and has held that level ever since.

With our School Art contribution in the amount of $11,000 in 2005, we increased our total contributions to $81,600 since 1998.  For each $300 increment the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo provides the contributor with one (1) print copy of that year’s Grand Champion Artwork that is numbered and signed by the artist.  These prints are framed by the Hold’Em & Hit’Em Club and are used in our event auctions, as underwriter gifts, etc.

San Jacinto College Foundation

Since the year 2000 the Hold’Em & Hit’Em Club has made annual contributions to the San Jacinto College Foundation to fund scholarships for the spring and fall semesters at the San Jacinto College.  The San Jacinto College Foundation was founded in 1996 to further the educational mission of the College. The Foundation works hard to secure the funds that help enable students of all ages to receive quality education.  For both individuals and Charitable Clubs, donations to the Foundation are a very powerful and direct way to improve the future of our community.  We believe a better education dramatically improves an individual’s changes of joining the workforce as a successful and productive employee.  Businesses that are filled with skilled workers definitely contribute immeasurably to the strength and vitality of our community.

In the year 2000 and the spring semester of 2001 the Hold’Em and Hit’Em Club funded seven (7) $700 scholarships each of the three (3) semesters.  At the advice of Brenda Hellyer, Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement, the Hold’Em and Hit’Em Club increase our scholarship donation from $9800 to $10,000 annually which enabled us to increase our number of scholarships from 7 to 10.  The Foundation will supplement each or our $500 scholarships per semester on an as needed basis.  San Jacinto provides our club with the names of our scholarship recipients and these students along with representatives of the Foundation attend our Bar B Que Cook-off in January of each year.

The Hold’Em and Hit’Em Club’s contributions since our initial contribution in the spring of 2000 and our most recent contribution in the fall of 2005 totals up to $59,700 where we have sponsored 111 scholarships on a semester basis.

Farm & Ranch Club Scholarship Program

We have participated in the Farm & Ranch Club general scholarship fund program for several years with annual contributions of $2500.  In 2005, we modified our contribution to the Farm & Ranch Club to provide funds for two (2) $3,000 scholarships that are awarded in the amount of $1,000 each year  to two (2) recipients over a period of three (3) years