Bottom Line: The Bay Area Gardeners Foundation has provided $49,500 in scholarships to 31 low-income students, now in college, since its inception in 2006.

Catalino Tapia, a 2008 Sustainable San Mateo Award Winner, thought the odds were against him when he wanted to start a scholarship foundation in 2002. He had difficulty convincing his friends and the Latino community that it was possible for a Mexican immigrant gardener to raise money for low-income Latino high school students to go to college. So it wasn't until 2005, when he took a long drive on Highway 5 to Los Angeles that he realized he had the power and strength within himself to make the Bay Area Gardeners Foundation a reality. All he had to do was ask for help, and success came soon after.

Tapia's son (who received his law degree from UC Berkeley) helped out with the legal paperwork, and by the end of 2006, the Foundation gave away five $1,500 scholarships to local San Mateo County students. Soon after, a multitude of press from newspapers and TV stations highlighted Tapia's vision and the Foundation's work. From then on, donations have been coming in from all over the country to support the education and social equity of the low-income Latino community of San Mateo County.

Tapia's passion comes from his desire to let the youth of his community know how important they are and that the future belongs to them. Keeping that in mind, the Foundation has started giving seminars in the Redwood City Community Center on the process of finding and applying for scholarships with the help of local Latino college students.

Tapia says he never tried to be a role model with his work at the Bay Area Gardeners Foundation; he just knew something had to be down about the fact that only 13% of U.S. born Latino adults and 5% of immigrant Latino adults had a bachelor's degree. His commitment to social equity is proof that the power of an idea from one individual has the ability to affect an entire community.

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