Shining Star Award Program

Estrella Associates, Inc. (EAI) and founder, Dick Willhoit, have been supporters of community organizations for many years.  Each year, EAI has given back to the community by sponsoring fundraisers and providing funding to many local and state organizations.

In January of 2007, EAI decided to approach its charitable giving within a structured process.  Our management team created a Shining Star Mission Statement defining its criteria for those organizations that would receive financial and in-kind support.  Also, a geographical area was designated as the year’s focus.  Although some organizations or events may receive on-going support for business reasons, such as the non-profit builder associations, our process will be to research worthy organizations each year and present them to our management team for consideration to receive that year’s funding.

EAI has begun this new approach by naming the North Spring Street corridor of Paso Robles as the geographic focus for 2007, and has chosen to support organizations whose focus are the children who live in this area or whose program sites are within this area.  Those organizations are the Paso Robles Police Activities League (P.A.L.s), the Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation, the R.E.C. Foundation for the Oak Park Leadership program, and the YMCA for their Flamson After-School Program.

In future years, EAI will actively seek proposals from other organizations that meet the criteria described in the Shining Star Mission Statement and correspond with that year’s chosen geographical area focus.