There was no Kiwanis Torch of Excellence Dinner this year to honor the area’s top community college scholar-athletes, an annual event since 1997, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nancy Price

School Zone

But Clovis Community College wanted to make sure that their hard work did not go unrecognized. Five of the college’s 39 honorees had a 4.0 grade-point average for the two semesters.

The Kiwanis Clubs of Fresno-Madera counties honor students who have earned a 3.2 GPA for at least one semester and also honors in their respective sports.

Clovis CC’s top scholar-athletes of 2019-20 are Karlee Hodges, women’s soccer, and Seth Frazer, cross country.

“These student-athletes are superstars and deserve to be recognized for their academic achievements,” said athletic director Pamm Zierfuss-Hubbard.

Watch: Scholar-Athletes Award Recipients

Fresno State Humanics Program Gives Big

The United Way’s Coronavirus Relief Fund and three other community organizations will be beneficiaries of grants from the Humanics Program at Fresno State.

The program’s students, part of the Students4Giving project, are giving $7,000 to the United Way Fresno and Madera Counties, one of the Humanics program’s largest grants ever.

LifeLine Community Development Corporation, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center, and Marjaree Mason Center will get grants totaling an additional $13,000.

The grants will be awarded Monday morning in a Zoom-broadcast ceremony.

Over the past 14 years, the program has awarded $147,000 to 36 different Central Valley community benefit organizations with support from individual donors, The Whitney Foundation, and the Central Valley Community Foundation.

Schools Closed, but Feet Still Growing

Every student at Kirk Elementary School in southwest Fresno is getting a new pair of shoes through Shoes That Fit, a national nonprofit organization based in Claremont. Fresno Unified says the donations were possible thanks to Dena and Lou McMurray, who live in Fresno.

Before schools were closed, students were measured to make sure their new shoes would be the right size.

Delivery was postponed because of COVID-19, but a delivery process with social distancing has been worked out.

“I am extremely proud of the community’s efforts to help our students. We appreciate the McMurrays for their contribution to Shoes That Fit,” superintendent Bob Nelson said. “New shoes will lift our students’ spirits, especially during this shelter in place.”

Contraband Shirts Deployed in Battling COVID-19

You’ve probably seen them on your way into or out of a Fresno State football or basketball game — somebody hawking a shirt that maybe has a Bulldog on it, but is unlicensed by the university.

Now, 300 of those shirts confiscated by the Office of Trademark Licensing, plus 600 surplus shirts from the Fresno State Athletics Department and Kennel Bookstore, are going to a good cause.

Community volunteers are cutting and sewing them into 3,000 face coverings with ties for healthcare providers and essential workers.

The first 500 will be donated at 2 p.m. today by Fresno State mascot TimeOut and others at Community Regional Medical Center in downtown Fresno, along with 500 sandwiches for hospital workers donated by Port of Subs.

The remaining masks will be donated later to other community organizations.