Honoring Kevin Drake for his legacy of service in the Livermore community, and in support of education, the Rotary Club of Livermore Valley has donated $10,000 to launch a scholarship in Kevin Drake’s name. The scholarship will be offered through the Pedrozzi Foundation to students graduating from any of the public high schools in Livermore.
“Our hope is to fully endow this scholarship by raising $100,000, so that students will benefit from this gift in perpetuity,” said Dave Bedford. The Livermore community is invited to donate to the fund at PedrozziFoundation.org.
The Rotary Club of Livermore Valley has established the Kevin Drake Scholarship in partnership with The Pedrozzi Foundation. This month, we are also partnering with the Community Health and Education Fund, CHEF, to enable us to make our donation dollars go further.
You may write a check or donate online using your credit card or Paypal (with no service fee).
Please use this link to donate online: Pedrozzi Foundation. Be sure to indicate that your donation will be applied to the Kevin Drake Scholarship.
If you prefer, you may mail your donation to:
Pedrozzi Foundation
1141 Catalina Drive, #170
Livermore, CA 94550
Donations may be made via check, stock transfer, charitable distribution from retirement accounts and employee giving programs.
We need to raise $100,000 for the scholarship to be fully endowed, which means that it will provide a 4-year scholarship to a graduating student every year, into perpetuity. You can help make that happen this month!
Starting with the first day of school at Livermore High in 1968, Mr. Drake inspired students to love history and to challenge themselves as student athletes. He taught teenagers to be good citizens, and he showed them what it meant to be a coach and a mentor. As LHS Athletic Director and Vice Principal and then as Granada High School Principal, Drake modeled dedication, patience, and leadership, supporting students, families, and staff. Long after they graduated, students referred to Coach Drake as the man who cared about them and inspired them.
Carolyn Siegfried, Executive Director of the Pedrozzi Foundation, was on hand to receive the check at the Rotary club meeting on Tuesday, April 2. “Kevin was a Founding Board Member of the Pedrozzi Foundation, working with other community leaders to shape the foundation into an organization that has awarded over 1,600 scholarships to Livermore students since 2008. We are proud to now be able to award scholarships in honor of Kevin’s contributions to so many local students.”
As a community member, Drake was active in the Rotary Club of Livermore Valley since it started in 1985, serving as Club President and as President of the Rotarian Foundation of Livermore. For decades, he served on the Board of the Livermore Granada Boosters, continually encouraging scholar athletes to pursue their dreams. The Boosters honored Kevin Drake with the Keith Fraser Community Service Award, and also inducted him into the Tri-Valley Hall of Fame for combining his love of athletics with his commitment to youth to coach hundreds of student athletes in baseball and football at both Livermore and Granada High Schools.
At a Rotary meeting in 2018, Kevin learned about Choose Love, a program started by Scarlett Lewis after her son was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Kevin embraced the message that character social emotional development programs could teach students and adults to choose love, not hate. He led the community-based program in Livermore, and partnered with the Livermore School District to share the message with parents.
Kevin Drake passed away on February 21, 2024, after a late diagnosis of lung cancer, although he was never a smoker. His wife, Vickie, and children, Kristen and Brian, joined the Rotary meeting to launch the scholarship.
