Allan Hancock College’s Beyond Incarceration Greater Education (BIGE) Club has been awarded a $7,000 grant from The Fund for Santa Barbara to continue its transformative work on and off-campus.
This is the second time the club, which provides support and resources for formerly incarcerated Hancock students, and outreach in the community, has received a grant from the fund.
“I am very grateful to The Fund for Santa Barbara for awarding BIGE this grant,” said Arturo “Cheech” Raygoza, BIGE co-founder and outgoing president. “This club gave me and students like me the opportunity to succeed. These funds will allow us to give back and pay forward that opportunity to our community.”
The club will use the grant funds to continue supporting outreach efforts to local at-promise (at-risk) youth; provide support systems to reduce recidivism; and encourage them to pursue college and a career. Raygoza and other members of the club regularly speak to youth at several local high schools as well as regional at-risk youth programs.
“For many of these kids, college is something they may not even have considered as an option,” said Raygoza. “We want to show them that there is a better way, and that college can open up a whole new world of opportunity for them.”
The BIGE club is all-inclusive and currently boasts more than 40 members. Seven club members graduated with degrees or certificates from Hancock in 2022, including Raygoza, who is transferring to UC Berkeley to pursue a four-year degree.
As he prepares to move on to the next stage of his education, Raygoza is confident the club will continue its important work at Hancock. “It’s a great group with great leadership, and I know they will continue BIGE’s mission,” he said.
BIGE was not the only Hancock club to receive a grant from the fund this year. The college’s DREAM Club received a $2,850 award to help provide undocumented students with necessary resources and legal information through several events throughout the year.
To learn more about BIGE and other student clubs at Hancock, visit www.hancockcollege.edu/asbg/clubs.php. Learn more about the Fund for Santa Barbara at https://fundforsantabarbara.org.