[Noozhawk’s note: One in a series on the Santa Ynez Valley Foundation’s 2025 Champions of the Valley who will be honored for their volunteerism and community service Oct. 12 at Rancho Carmina in Los Olivos. Click here for more information, or click here to purchase tickets online.]
When fellow students at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School needed assistance with an assignment or a community project hit a snag, the advice was always the same: “Ask Adrian.”
Adrian Garcia, who graduated in June, has become that rare teenager who seems to have an answer for everything — but more important, the willingness to help find solutions.
With a 4.61 grade-point average and a heart for service that has earned him a Santa Ynez Valley Foundation 2025 Youth Community Champion award, Garcia spent his high school years proving that academic excellence and genuine compassion make a powerful combination.
The story that perhaps best captures his character happened during his freshman year. After failing to make the boys basketball team, most students would have walked away disappointed.
Not Garcia. He noticed that David, a recent immigrant from Guatemala who had made the team, was struggling to understand the coach’s instructions and communicate with teammates.
So Garcia stayed. He became David’s translator, showing up to practices and games despite his own disappointment, dedicating himself to helping another student succeed.
“When he was younger, he was embarrassed to speak Spanish,” Charlotte Dicke Becerra and Peter Robbins wrote in nominating Garcia for the Youth Community Champion award.
“But now, he sees his proficiency as a tool in helping others and bridging the language gap.”
That transformation from embarrassment to empowerment defined Garcia’s high school experience.
After earning California’s Seal of Biliteracy, he became the go-to translator throughout the Santa Ynez Valley, whether tutoring classmates in math and Spanish, serving as a teaching assistant, or simply jumping in to help when language barriers arise.
Garcia’s service extended far beyond the classroom. He revived the school’s dormant Rotary Interact Club and served as president during his senior year, inspired by his experience at Rotary’s Youth Leadership Awards program.
“Volunteering means having the opportunity to help those who don’t always have a voice to express themselves fully.”
adrian Garcia
As treasurer of the school’s Environmental Club, he spearheaded plans for a school garden — currently on hold due to construction but ready to bloom when the time is right.
Every weekend, you might find the former varsity track and wrestling athlete picking up trash along valley roads with the Buellton Rotary Club or refereeing youth soccer games for AYSO.
“To me, volunteering means having the opportunity to help those who don’t always have a voice to express themselves fully,” Garcia explained.
“It’s also my way of giving back to a community that has always been there for me.”
Garcia is now a freshman electrical engineering major at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, taking with him the work ethic he developed washing dishes at Solvang Restaurant and a deep understanding that success means lifting others up along the way.
Champions of the Valley
Since 1995, the Santa Ynez Valley Foundation has been honoring exceptional local volunteers whose tireless community commitment enriches the Santa Ynez Valley and Los Alamos, their residents and a wide range of local organizations.
This year’s honorees for the 30th Annual Champions of the Valley are Laura Beas-Díaz, Mike Brady, Terry Delaney and Doug Riedy.
Youth Community Champions are Kacy Caplan and Adrian Garcia.
Becky Barieau will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The awards will be presented at 4 p.m. Oct. 12 at Rancho Carmina in Los Olivos. Click here for more information, or click here to purchase tickets online.
The Champions of the Valley celebration is sponsored by U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management, Kiani Preserve, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Rio Vista Chevrolet, the Ann Jackson Family Foundation, Flying Z Ranch-Betty and Ron Ziegler, Rancho Carmina-Hayley Firestone, Women Winemakers & Culinarians Foundation, Noozhawk, The Landsby, Manchester Capital Management, the Nagler Family Fund, Allan Hancock College, Barbara Anderson, Linda Stafford Burrows, the Grenier Family, Hometown Insurance Services-Debbie and Randy Jones, Montecito Bank & Trust, Santa Barbara Foundation, Santa Ynez General-Turnbull Family, Town and Ranch Properties-Michael Nicola and Gabriel Bustamante, Urquidez Building Corp.-Laura and Chris Urquidez, Visit the Santa Ynez Valley.
The honorees were chosen by a panel of foundation board members and former honorees, based on nominations made by the community.
The honorees each receive a $1,000 grant to support a nonprofit organization of their choice. The Youth Community Champions each receive a $1,000 scholarship to further their education.
Santa Ynez Valley Foundation
The Santa Ynez Valley Foundation is dedicated to a mission centered around grant-making, extending financial support and resources to a diverse array of local organizations and initiatives in the Santa Ynez and Los Alamos valleys.
The grants are strategically channeled into key sectors, including food security, health and human services, support for seniors, arts and culture, youth development, and education.
The foundation also administers a robust College Scholarship Program designed to empower ambitious college-bound local students.
Currently, 50 students are beneficiaries of this program, receiving scholarships to facilitate their pursuit of higher education and, in turn, contributing to the overall advancement of the community.
