Local Students Receive Ose Family Community Service Awards

The awards honored 18 students who have demonstrated outstanding, sustained volunteer service in our community

May 26, 2023

Members of the Ose family, 18 students, and high school officials recently gathered at the Sacramento Region Community Foundation to celebrate the Ose Family Community Service Awards. This honor provides a $1,000 community service award to one college-bound senior at public high schools in the Elk Grove, Folsom Cordova, and San Juan Unified school districts.

Students receiving the awards have demonstrated exceptional and sustained community service by volunteering at nonprofits in the Sacramento region during their sophomore, junior, and senior years and have modeled good character and citizenship. The awards provide assistance for tuition, fees, or books at accredited 2-year or 4-year colleges or universities.

Members of the Ose family pose with an awardee.

In 1986, Enlow and Melena Ose created the Ose Family Fund, a Donor Advised Fund at the Foundation. Since then, the Ose family has granted $1.8 million to local nonprofits and students, including these awards, which celebrate ten years today. In the past decade, 178 students have received Ose Family Community Service Awards, totaling $178,000.

“The Ose Family Community Service Awards promote a culture of sustained volunteerism and community service in our region,” shares Kerry Wood, CEO at the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. “It is our privilege to work with local educators and the Ose family to recognize future leaders and inspire others to follow suit.”

Sacramento residents since 1955, Enlow and Melena Ose raised four children and ran local businesses, including Ose and Associates, Ose Properties, Inc. and Melenco, Inc. Active local philanthropists, Enlow and Melena were champions of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s creation in 1983. They established endowments for education at Iowa State University and California State University, Sacramento and made significant contributions to Sutter Hospital, KVIE, McGeorge School of Law, and the Crocker Art Museum before their passings in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

Enlow and Melena’s children share, “Our parents instilled in us the responsibility to make our community stronger through volunteerism. This award epitomizes our parents love of community service and a belief that volunteering as a teen can act as a springboard for a life of community engagement.”