Sergio J. Orozco was a farmworker for 40+ years. He was born in a small ranch in Guanajuato, MX where he raised livestock and harvested maize, sorghum, and garbanzos. In 1973, at the age of 18, he migrated from Mexico to Fresno, CA in search of work to be able to provide for his family back home. He would then spend the next eight years migrating back and forth between California and Walla Walla for seasonal work.
Several seasons and crops later, at the age of 27, Sergio officially settled in Walla Walla where he spent the better half of his career working for Wagoner Touchet Farms. Sergio was one of Wagoner’s longest-tenured employees. He worked there for nearly 20 years before he passed on March 2nd, 2014, after a long, hard-fought battle with cancer.
Sergio was a humble, hardworking man and a true professional. Throughout his career in agriculture, he attended to livestock, cared for alkali bees, and cultivated and harvested asparagus, onion, grapes, cherries, alfalfa, and wheat.
In honor of his memory, his family has created the Trigo de Oro scholarship for the purpose of providing a scholarship to first-generation students that come from farming, seasonal, or migrant backgrounds.
The Trigo De Oro scholarship will be awarded to a student looking to pursue an education at an accredited university, community college, or vocational institution. In order to be eligible for the scholarship applicants must meet the following requirements:
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Student comes from agricultural background (farming, seasonal, migrant, etc.) OR student or immediate family member are battling cancer or have overcome cancer
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Be a first-generation student (parents did not graduate from college)
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Be a resident in Walla Walla County or Milton-Freewater, OR
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Be a graduating high school senior, have a GED, or a first-year college student
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Have applied to the FAFSA/WASFA and demonstrated financial need
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Have a minimum 2.5 GPA
The scholarship will be made available in January 2025 and the due date is March 10th, 2025. To become a donor to the scholarship fund please visit Blue Mountain Community Foundation by clicking on the following link https://bmcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=3749
