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| For Immediate Release | Contact: Felicia M. Torrez |
| January 2 , 2008 | Phone: (559) 934-2132 |
Local Farmer Establishes an Endowed Scholarship with
West Hills Community College Foundation
West Hills Community College Foundation has announced that local Coalinga farmer Brad Gleason has established a $25,000 Bob Viets Agricultural Studies Endowed Scholarship at West Hills College Coalinga in honor of the retirement of his farming partner and community leader Bob Viets.
“The endowment is truly meaningful,” said Barbara Caganich, executive director of West Hills Community College Foundation, “The scholarship is a gift held in perpetuity and an investment to provide a stable funding source for scholarships.”
The scholarship was established through West Hills Community College Foundation. Financial gifts are placed in a fund and a portion of the income earned from the fund finances scholarships for deserving students, now and in the future.
Viets has been a Coalinga farmer for more than three decades and retired from farming on Dec. 17, 2007. He has been very involved with West Hills. Viets was part of the Allen Farm organization, which is the organization that donated 230 acres to the college for its own farm.
Bob Viets and Brad Gleason have been business partners since Dec. 17, 1987 when they formed the Double B Farms. Together the two have farmed numerous crops including cantaloupe and cotton and more recently almonds and pistachios.
Viets has been a forceful leader of the Pleasant Valley Water District, a member of Coalinga Rotary and a longtime volunteer of the West Hills College Coalinga Farm of the Future advisory board.
For more information visit www.westhillscollege.com or contact Barbara Caganich at (559) 934-2124.
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West Hills Community College District serves the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and is part of the California Community College System. Its two colleges, West Hills College Coalinga, which includes North District Center, Firebaugh, and West Hills College Lemoore, serve more than 6,000 students on campus and online each semester.