We are so grateful to our scholarship sponsor, RF-LAMBDA. However, to truly understand the impact of their support and what it means to a Gold Star student, please read this note from Faith Ann Brookshire. Faith was selected as this year's scholarship and internship recipient. We know she has an amazing future ahead of her and we all look forward to supporting Faith in all of her future endeavors.
“Hello everyone! My name is Faith Ann Brookshire and I am the recipient of the 2020 RF-Lambda Memorial Scholarship, provided by the Sugar Bear Foundation. I’m heading off to college in about a week, but before I go I wanted to take a little time to thank everyone at the Sugar Bear Foundation and RF-Lambda for everything they’ve done for me.
I moved to San Diego a little over a year and a half ago from a small town in Oregon called Klamath Falls. It was the first time my family had relocated in eleven years- that time being right after we lost my dad. Needless to say, it wasn’t an easy transition. I had to go from a school of less than one hundred to a school of around two thousand right in the middle of my junior year. I struggled to learn the area, to make new friends, and to adapt to my new life. Above all, I felt like I didn’t belong. Then, my mom discovered the Sugar Bear Foundation while searching for something for me to do over the summer, and I applied to their internship at RF-Lambda.
Fast forwarding to today, things are quite different. I settled in to my new school and had an amazing time with most of my senior year. I got my first job and got accepted into my top college. I felt like I belonged in this city, and so much of it was thanks to the people at the Sugar Bear Foundation and RF-Lambda. The first internship I applied for introduced me to everyone and built up my confidence before heading into senior year. I did well enough there that RF-Lambda later hired me as a part-time employee, which was an absolutely amazing first experience in the workplace. Finally, the Sugar Bear Foundation provided me with helpful advice for my college applications and awarded me the memorial scholarship.
It’s hard to understate how much this has all meant to me- especially during a time like this. Losing the last part of my senior year and not being able to see my friends during the summer was incredibly hard for me. Throughout a lot of it, I wanted to just give up. The one thing that kept me going was my job at RF-Lambda and all the support I received from the people there and the Sugar Bear Foundation. Thanks to them, I had a pretty great summer, and am ready to start the next adventure in my life.
I hope that if there are any gold star kids, spouses, or parents reading this that it would encourage you to come join the family that the Sugar Bear Foundation has made. Trust me when I say that you won’t regret it.
And finally to everyone at RF-Lambda, the Foundation, and all of their supporters: Thank you! I love you guys and good luck on whatever your next adventures may be.
Sincerely,
Faith Ann Brookshire
Daughter of Major Sid William Brookshire, US Army
September 11th, 1970 - June 20th, 2007, KIA Operation Iraqi Freedom
