The Santa Monica Pacific Palisades Lions meeting for June was filled with a sad parting and exciting hope for the future when we heard from two Santa Monica High School students.
Lion Capt. James stopped by at the meeting before getting ready to head to his new posting in Northern California. While he had only been with us for a few short years, he became an integral part of our club. It is because of the outstanding job he did in Santa Monica, from helping recover from the pandemic and providing a resource following the Palisades Fire he has been reassigned. We wish him well and look forward to meeting the new Salvation Army leadership coming to Santa Monica.
The highlight of the evening was meeting the two Santa Monica High School SMPP Lions scholarship recipients, Stephanie Cruz and Jamie Lopez. Both have attended SAMOHI for four years, excelled in their studies and been active in the campus activities.
Stephanie is one of six siblings and became a member of the Hispanic Honors Society. She dedicated herself to her high school experience participating in Gift Hope, Latinx/Chicanx Club, Spanish Immersion Club, and the RBG Project to help students interested in college and need help navigating the unfamiliar process. In addition, because of her interest in social media, she shared her skills to the help Legado Latino Club and was the social media manager of the Orgullo Oaxaqueno Club and the College Career Center. She was a wonderful speaker and will be attending UC Santa Barbara in the fall to study communications.
Jamie has also been active as a member of the RBG Project, Latinx/Chicanx Club, Young Collegians and as a part of the social media team for the College/Career Center. Also, a good speaker, we were surprised to learn that she had originally been afraid of public speaking. She shared that public speaking didn’t come naturally to her at first, but with support from the RBG Project and her advisor, she built the confidence. Jamie plans to attend Pepperdine University to study psychology.
Both young women were accompanied by their mothers, who as we learned from their daughters, are remarkable as well, with their encouragement, support and sacrifice.
Coming up for the SMPP Lions are the 4th of July Parade in Santa Monica and the 4th of July Celebration in the evening at Paul Revere Middle School. We are participating in both activities and hope to see many of you.
The following week, District Governor Nick Mananghaya will join us to install next year’s club officers and share his plans for the new term. Our 2025–2026 executive officers are:
- Co-Presidents: Pam Andrews and Derick Beerensteyn
- Vice President: Kathy Boole
- Secretary: Gail Litvack
- Treasurer: Jessica Cunza
If you'd like to learn more about the SMPP Lions Club, join us at our next meeting on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at 6:00 PM, at the Elks Lodge (1040 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica). Dinner will be catered by Teddy’s. RSVP by contacting Kingsley Fife at 310-367-2679 or smpplionsclub@gmail.com.
Pictured l to r Jamie Lopez, Derrick Beerensteyn and Stephanie Cruz.