When then Southwest High senior Alexa Valenzuela received a scholarship from the Anthony Garcia Foundation in 2012 to continue her education, she wanted to give back to the foundation.
Her father Ruben Valenzuela, a Southwest High biology teacher and the boys’ varsity basketball coach, collaborated with Brawley Union High to name their second Imperial Valley League game, set for Feb. 12, the Anthony Garcia Memorial Game.
“She was very grateful to the foundation for awarding her the scholarship, so she came up with this one day to give back to the foundation in hopes that other students will have the opportunity that she had to attend college,” Valenzuela said.
Alexa Valenzuela, now 19, is attending Glendale Community College in Glendale, Ariz., studying nursing and more specifically, wants to become an oncology nurse.
It’s only a coincidence she wants to care for cancer patients, the same illness that claimed the life of the Brawley Union High senior Anthony Garcia.
The then 17-year-old Garcia died of adenocarcinoma, a rare glandular cancer, on Easter Sunday in 2011.
“How it worked out, his daughter being a recipient without knowing who she was, and then all of a sudden (Ruben) mentions it to me (the memorial) … it was kind of like a ‘pay-it-forward’ kind of thing,” said Anthony’s father Rusty Garcia. “I just want to thank them.”
The Anthony Garcia Foundation was formed a short time after Anthony’s death. The foundation awards scholarships to students at all high schools in the Imperial Valley with several fundraisers throughout the year.
Both schools will be selling T-shirts to raise funds for the Anthony Garcia Foundation. T-shirts are $10 and must be purchased by 3 p.m. Feb. 6 at either school. Purchase of a T-shirt includes free admission to the Feb. 12 game set to tip off at 7 p.m. at Southwest.
Anthony’s father, Rusty Garcia, will receive a check for the foundation before the start of the game.
In their previous IVL face-off, the Eagles were victorious with a 60-37 win Tuesday in Brawley.
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