Summer Online Fundraisers 2013

We wanted to thank everyone who purchased items from our online fundraisers with
http://www.mythirtyone.com/
and
http://www.fibiandclo.com/LindaAlling

Also, thank you to Linda Alling who brought this wonderful idea to fundraise online and sharing the profits with our organization.  Everyone found something cool for the summer and we raised money for our cause.

You can also follow Linda on FaceBook at:
http://facebook.com/FibiandCloNYbyLinda

Please do not hesitate to check out the websites above to purchase items although our fundraiser is over.

Have a great weekend everyone!

2013 Scholar Annual Update: Alexander Martin

Alexander Michaelangelo Martin


Stephanie Marie Burgos Scholarship Recipient 2012


June 9th, 2013


Dear Scholarship Committee/Board,

This past year has been the most productive, nurturing, fortuitous, blessed, and aspiring year of my nearly 2 decades on this planet. My first wave of good fortune was my acceptance to St. Lawrence University under the highly sought after HEOP program with your generous scholarship quickly following suit. This is what has been happening (and big things have been happening) in this past year.

Starting from a summer semester I took at St. Lawrence University from June to July, I performed well at the high and persistent amount of college level work I had to accomplish to establish and prove to the HEOP program that I am truly ready to embark on this 4 year academic journey. I left that summer semester heading into freshman year with 2 credits, a 3.125 GPA, and a better idea of what I might want to major in (not to mention knowing where everything is on campus while other incoming freshman would be lost and bewildered trying to navigate campus; but I digress), an advantage that has helped me in ways I have yet to fully realize.

Sincerely,

Alexander M. Martin

Sophomore at St. Lawrence University

2013 Scholar Annual Update: Jennifer Moran

Jennifer Moran

SMBS Inc. Scholarship Recipient  2011

Dear SMBS Scholarship Inc.,

​This past second year attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice has been a tough and great lesson for me. I enjoyed meeting more new people, more students in relevance to my major and excellent professors. I didn’t do as great as I did last year but I will do better this upcoming semester. I tried taking up five classes instead of my usual four, but as the year continued I ran into difficulties. I noticed that I am not used to five classes and it is more work. My advisor told me that there is no need to rush with anything in life because if you do you’ll only end up messing yourself up, which is true. I did take her advice into consideration and that is what I am doing this semester. I will be taking up four classes which are Psychology, History, Literature and Sociology. I am truly excited for this new upcoming semester and can’t wait to give it my all. I know that I will not graduate on time, but all that counts is that I will graduate in the end and have the career of my dreams even if it takes years.

​I wouldn’t be where I am at now with the help of this wonderful Stephanie Marie Burgos Scholarship. This has been a great help to me and has showed me different beautiful things. I am thankful for having this little family along with the other wonderful scholars. Every time we all hang out it’s a great time, I get to hear all their adventures, struggles, and academic achievements and as the years go by I get to meet a new scholar as well which is exciting.

​

       Through last year until now I have been growing wiser and wiser. Life is wonderful at its times but can be a struggle as well. I have kept this quote in my head and its inked on my arm “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have”, this is to remind me that I am doing all this hard work for a purpose and a better future and life for myself and my family. Thank you again to my little family and this wonderful scholarship in the name of Stephanie. SEE you all next year until my next update.

Jennifer Moran

Junior at John Jay College

2013 Scholar Annual Update: Areta Gjicali

Areta Gjicali

SMBS Inc. Scholarship Recipient 2010



Dear SMBS Inc.,

I spend thirty minutes looking at the Stephanie Marie Burgos Scholarship blog and I realized I’ve come such a long way with academics, social encounters and life experiences in general. I finished my third year and after this summer, I’m going to wrap up my undergraduate experience. I cannot believe it’s been three years since I received my award from the Stephanie Maries Burgos Organization. This year, I learned so much- more than I can express on a blog that’s limited in word count.



This past year, I studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain, where I met incredible people filled with joy, compassion and sincerity. I met students from Holland, Taiwan, Germany and various parts of Spain. Although my abroad experience was short, I was able to learn that Spanish airports are slow, basic resources don’t come easy and there are truly incredible people out there.



After my international journey, I got the incredible opportunity to intern at MTV Networks under their Advertising Sales division. This experience taught me about the sales industry, helped me uncover some new skills and reminded me that with hard work, motivation and a little bit of luck- people can achieve anything.



At last, after my internship at MTV, I received a summer internship at Seventeen magazine- in their Publishing department. This internship has been everything I hoped it would be. I manage blogs, run errands, assist with tabbing on various advertisements, sit in on meetings and sales calls and receive free stuff. This internship helped me discover where I want to establish myself after graduation; the print industry. Although I know you’re going to say “print is dying” (I get it all the time, I don’t think that will ever happen- or if it does, I’ll deal with it when I get there.

Thank you so much for everything.

I think Stephanie would be proud.


Best,

Areta Gjicali
Senior at City College of New York

Atlantic City Bus Trip Fundraiser 2013

Despite concerns with the weather, Saturday, August 10th was the perfect day for a bus ride to Atlantic City.  The trip, which included entertainment movies provided by our guests and light refreshments provided by our bus leader, Albert Gomez, was a comfortable and smooth ride without any traffic.  We did great time and were able to enjoy the full day.

Some of us enjoyed the board walk and beach, while others shopped until they dropped.  But, I think everyone took advantage of their $20 voucher to play at Trump Plaza.  Some were lucky not only to win a couple of bucks but most felt lucky to enjoy a great day out while supporting a great cause.  Besides we ended the day with being able to charge our phones, one of the super cool features of the bus, and some won some pretty cool raffle prizes.

With board members on board, Charmaine Mayers, Jessica Morales and Diana Diaz-Torres, the bus ride was a success raising a total of $1,190 in sold seats and $390 in direct donations to the organization to support the event. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and to those who contributed even though they were unable to attend.  Without your support we are nothing. 

God bless!

2013 Summer Peer-Mentoring Program: Lunar Park, Coney Island - Brooklyn, NY

A few weeks ago, I took a few of our wonderful scholars to Lunar Park in Coney Island. But that’s not all! Luna Park was kind enough to donate four FREE 4 hour unlimited ride vouchers to the Stephanie Marie Burgos Scholarship. A big round of applause for them!

Together with Jennifer Moran and Marianne Beaute—who brought a long her friend, Jiamin Zena—Team SMBS sought out to conquer the extreme roller coasters of Lunar Park and the iconic Cyclone! Unfortunately, unlike our other brave scholars, I am a chicken. The idea of going on big scary roller coasters petrifies me.

But what I love about Lunar Park is that the rides are conveniently rated by intensity. The rides are organized into four categories, Extreme Thrill, High Thrill, Moderate Thrill, and Mild Thrill. This means that there’s rides in Lunar Park for everyone and for all ages. There are also a lot of games where you can win prizes, and of course concession stands that help you reload on energy after a day of extreme thrills!

Anyway, Team SMBS had a game plan, we were going to pace ourselves. After every super fast ride we went on, we took a breather and went on a slower one. Doing this made us really relish the rides and their different speeds and slopes. It also saved us from getting too sick by riding all the extreme rides at once. It’s for this reason that I highly recommend getting the 4 hour unlimited ride wristbands because it gives you access to the majority of the rides at the park. It also saves you the hassle of having to keep track of your tokens, and how many rides you can go on.

We all liked the wide variety of rides the park had to offer. For example, there’s the Brooklyn Flyer which sends you up one hundred feet over Coney Island giving you a nice view of the area. It was rated ‘High Thrills’, but I had an adrenaline rush just seeing all of the park from such a great height. If you also like to get wet, the scholars and I would recommend the Wild River and the Speed Boat. Perfect for a hot summer day in August!

Another thing that impressed me about Lunar Park was that the food was reasonably priced. In other amusement parks, you would end up spending a fortune on food. Here, you can get a five dollar burger, which is not only reasonable, but the burger was quite tasty. My compliments to the chef!

Overall, the scholars and I had a blast, and there’s something in Lunar Park for everyone—even scaredy cats like me! The scholars and I would like to once again thank Lunar Park for generously donating vouchers to such a fabulous organization as SMBS!

Written by: Richard Bohan
                  Former S.M.B.S. Scholar (2009) & Current Board Member (2013)