The Jonah's Superheroism Fund has been established for the young budding superheroes of the Pomona Valley, California to honor Jonah's creative, athletic, and generous spirit.
Right from the moment Jonah joined our family and our community, he was fascinated by superheroes and their stories of heroism. Our earliest memory of him with us is him donning a Spiderman mask and pretending to shoot webs from his hands at his “Arriving in America” party. Our most treasured keepsakes of his are his drawings of Batman, Captain America, and Superman, fighting their respective archenemies.
When Jonah was tragically taken from us in February of 2017, he had exhibited superpowers only found in the greatest of all superheroes: an undefeatable spirit, a generous heart, and a creative mind.
It is these same superhero attributes that we want to foster through this memorial fund so that Jonah's light can live on in these recipients.
On October 28, 2023, at the Pomona Hope Gala, Erick Rojas was awarded a Jonah's Superheroism Scholarship for his years as a model student and volunteer. Here's what the Pomona Hope staff had to say about Erick: "Erick first came to Pomona Hope when he was only 5 years old. Ever since kindergarten, Erick has been a model student not only in our after-school program but in the summer program as well. This summer, he took on the role of leading our STEM workshop for students K-8. Not only was his workshop a student favorite but he excelled in leading with a positive encouragement that is often hard to find. Now Erick is a sophomore at Diamond Ranch High School while he continues to serve at Pomona Hope as an exemplary volunteer."
On February 28, 2023, we continued our annual Jonah's Superheroism Essay and Poster contest and received over 100 entries. The theme of the contest was "There's More to a Superhero Than Just Superpowers..." In their essays and posters, students reflected on how everyday superheroes needed such character traits as volunteerism, sacrifice, diligence in addition to their superpowers. Students were awarded gift cards and certificates for their efforts.
On October 22, 2022, at the Pomona Hope Gala, we were able to recognize Lucas Drake for his years of volunteerism at the Pomona Hope Afterschool program and his strong academic potential at a future university by awarding him Jonah's Superheroism Scholarship. During the awarding ceremony, the presenters added that Jonah's scholarship celebrated Lucas' "commitment, dedication, faithfulness, and love of our community as a whole." Unfortunately, Lucas was not able to be at the gala, but here is a video of him receiving his award at Pomona Hope.
On February 21, 2022, Jonah's foundation expanded the 3rd annual essay and poster contest to Evergreen Elementary in the Walnut Valley Unified School District and continued providing this opportunity for the students at Cortez Elementary and Pantera Elementary of the Pomona Unified School District. The theme of the contest was "Perseverance is the Most Powerful Superpower Of All". We again awarded gift cards and certificates for the winners as well as provided participant certificates for all entrants.
On February 3, 2022, Jonah's Superheroism Memorial Foundation sponsored a High School Mural Competition in which the theme was "Perserverance is the Most Powerful Superpower of All". Ultimately, Melody Mao's piece was selected as the winner since it reflected the spirit of the theme best. In the description of her piece, she wrote: "Perseverance exhibits itself in everyday life. It’s not always the most challenging, large problems that require perseverance, but also the little, small everyday things that require you to continue pushing yourself and growing. Thus, the girl working hard to create a sandcastle and the boy pushing to get across a set of monkey bars represents perseverance as an everyday superpower that is within all of us. The plants around represent how perseverance allows you to grow and the butterflies often symbolize endurance, giving you the wings needed to take flight. The puzzle pieces are another element of perseverance, taking small steps to piece together your goals and accomplishments. That’s why perseverance is the most powerful superpower of all. Every problem or challenge, big or small, requires perseverance to solve or achieve."
On October 16, 2021,at the Pomona Hope Gala, we were able to recognize Neal Golub for his superhero-like dedication and continued volunteerism at the Pomona Hope Afterschool Program for the past six years with Jonah's Superheroism Award. Here is the transcript of the presentation detailing why he was chosen:
Neal Golub first trained as a volunteer with our After School program on October 16th, 2015. He had just retired from working as an engineer his entire adult life and was looking into doing something new and helpful. But he was hesitant about volunteering, having never worked with groups of children before. He started out helping us by serving snacks to all the students as they came to programs. He learned their names and personalities, and also overheard them as they were working on homework in the room in which he was serving. He quickly became a more integral part of our regular program: spearheading a push for math education by creating "Math Corner" and creating videos explaining Common Core math for our volunteers with examples the student had brought to him. Neal became a part of our community, humbly willing to learn just as much from us and our students as we learned from him. He took what he learned from us and assisted the Pomona Public Library homework help program before becoming a math professor at Cal Poly Pomona, to help the students who struggle the most with math. This whole time he continued to join us 1-2 times a week, consistently. When the pandemic shut our programs down, he was in regular contact, asking when we might be open again, and as soon as he was able to be vaccinated, he returned to helping us in-person. For his humility, consistency, creativity, generosity, and love of our community as a whole, tonight we recognize Neal Golub with the Jonah's Light Superheroism Award.
On February 19, 2021, Despite COVID, Jonah's foundation was able to virtually sponsor the 2nd annual essay and poster contest for the students at Cortez Elementary and Pantera Elementary of the Pomona Unified School District as well at the Pomona Hope Afterschool Program. The theme of the contest was "My Real Superpower Is..." We again awarded $50 gift cards and certificates for the winners. Below are some of the winning essays:
On November 19, 2020, Mr. Brandon Codina was the 4th recipient of the Jonah's Light Superheroism Award and $1000 scholarship. Jonah's best friend, Linden Almanza, presented Mr. Codina this award virtually at the Pomona Hope Gala.
Mr. Codina is currently the ASB president for the Pomona Hope community center and has been a reliable volunteer for many years. He is a wonderful mentor, helping younger students with their homework, as well as helping the staff clean up and lock up at the end of the day. He is always polite and more than willing to assist with anything!
On February 21, 2020, Jonah's foundation sponsored a Superhero day at Cortez Math & Science Magnet School and put on an essay and poster contest for the students there. The theme of the contest was "Superheroes are everywhere!" We awarded $50 gift cards and certificates for the winners.
On October 12, 2019, Miss Jessica Garcia was the 3rd recipient of the Jonah's Light Superheroism Award and $1000 scholarship. Jonah's best friend, Linden Almanza, presented Ms. Rojas this award at the Pomona Hope Gala.
Ms. Rojas is currently the ASB president at the Pomona Hope community center and has been involved with Pomona Hope for 12 years. Because of her commitment and leadership ability, she was one of two Young Adult Scholars that was hired to run Pomona Hope's summer programs. She is a senior at the School of Arts and Enterprise in Pomona and plans to attend a 4 year university in the fall.
During the Winter Break Holidays of 2018, a memorial buddy bench was donated by Jonah's foundation and installed on the campus of Cortez Math & Science Magnet School in the Pomona School District. A buddy bench is a bench where kids who are lonely can sit, and the other kids know to come by and be a friend and to include them in their activities. As evident by the diversity of Jonah's friends, Jonah was known to be a friendly and welcoming person, easily making friends and playing with others that he might not have known well.
On October 13, 2018, Miss Emely Rojas was the 2nd recipient of the Jonah's Light Superheroism Award and $1000 scholarship. Jonah's best friend, Linden Almanza, presented Ms. Rojas this award at the Pomona Hope Gala.
Ms. Rojas is a Pomona community member who has demonstrated the same superpower potential that we saw in Jonah. She is a true leader, guiding the younger students attending the Pomona Hope afterschool program with her "no-nonsense" attitude in their math and arts classes. She is an AP and honors student at Diamond Ranch High School and a member of Bright Prospect. She plans to attend a 4 year university in the fall.
On October 13, 2017, Miss Monserrat “Monse” Gonzalez was the 1st recipient of the Jonah's Light Superheroism Award and $2000 scholarship. Jonah's best friend, Linden Almanza, presented Ms. Gonzalez this award.
Ms. Gonzalez is a Pomona community member and high school senior who has demonstrated the same superpower potential that we saw in Jonah. She is a budding, young superhero who has overcome the difficulties of growing up in this community and refused to accept defeat; who has generously given much of her time and self to others at the Pomona Hope Community Center; and who has creatively found ways to achieve educationally and personally where others have not.
It is our hope that this scholarship would be a catalyst for this recipient to continue to foster and grow her superpower potential for the benefit for all humanity.
The Jonah's Superheroism Fund is administrated through the Pomona Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, whose mission is "To invest in the future of Pomona and cultivate community leaders through directed philanthropy, collective impact, and civic engagement."
Any donations generously given in Jonah's memory through the Pomona Community Foundation are tax deductible.
