$60,000 in grants awarded

At a recent awards ceremony, Destino: The Hispanic Legacy Fund awarded eight grants totaling $60,000 to programs serving the county's Latino community that further financial and reading literacy and promote healthcare professionals within the Latino community.

The following organizations received Destino grants from 2008:

•Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County Inc.: $10,000

•Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme: $5,000

•California State University Channel Islands Foundation: $10,000

•El Centrito Family Learning Centers: $9,255

•Friends of Blanchard Community Library: $3,745

•Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project: $10,000

•V.C. Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program: $3,000

•Westminster Free Clinic: $9,000

The keynote address was given by Rudolph I. Estrada, the director of the Small Business Institute and a faculty member in business and management at California State University Channel Islands.

For more information about the fund, visit www.vccf.org or call Catherine Lee at (805) 9880196, ext. 115.