May 16, 2008

Beacon

Rigo Chacon

Dollars for Scholars

By Bill Highlander
Editor

If you’re headed to college and looking for financial help, check out Abrazos & Books. Rigo Chacon founded Abrazos & Books in 1990 and has overseen the distribution of more than half a million dollars to more than four hundred students.

“Abrazos & Books scholarships are based on merit and need,” says Chacon, “And not on ethnic background. It is a misperception that all recipients are Hispanic. We would certainly like to see more applicants from every ethnic group.”

The deadline for applications is May 30. Interested students should visit the website at abrazosandbooks.com for guidelines. About twenty-five scholarships will be presented at the annual dinner, scheduled this year for Aug. 18 at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose.

Chacon began raising money for education long before he became a well-known broadcaster in the Bay Area. As a student at San Jose State and then working for community-based social services, he helped students find financial aid.

He came to Texas with his family from a small town in Mexico and then moved to California when he was eight. Like many young boys growing up in east San Jose, he and his nine siblings picked prunes and other fruits in the orchards and fields.

At San Jose High School, Chacon was student body president and excelled in oratorical competition. His fluency in two languages helped him get a job in television broadcasting at KNTV where he won his first Emmy award as a producer. He moved to ABC 7 in 1974 as a general assignment reporter, opening the South Bay bureau and embarking on an award-winning career.

His second Emmy came in 1985 for his reporting of an earthquake in Mexico City and other major stories. In 2003, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored Chacon with a third Emmy, the Governor’s Award, for lifetime achievement in broadcasting.

Related to his excellence in broadcasting, but more for his community service, Chacon has received numerous awards for good works. Esquire magazine named Chacon as an example of people who are changing America. For his volunteerism and civic responsibility, Hispanic magazine listed him as one of eight Americans noted for community service.

Honored as one of the top five alumni in San Jose High School’s 145-year history, Chacon has also received recognition from the Santa Clara Human Relations Commission, the local chapters of the NAACP, Martin Luther King, Jr. Association, peace officers associations, and the National Hispanic University.

Chacon has em-braced his commitment to education and community service with both arms. His experience in covering the devastation of the Mexico City earthquake propelled his involvement with providing scholarships and helping others. Viewers donated $1.3 million to use in rebuilding elementary schools and assistance with other needs.

At the dedication of a rebuilt school, Brenda, a 9-year-old student insisted on speaking and did so with such inspiration, Chacon decided to form Abrazos & Books in 1990. Abrazos means “embraces,” a Mexican gesture of greeting and friendship.

Chacon left broadcasting in 2003. He has a consulting firm and his wife Lucy is a realtor, but they spend most of their time raising money for Abrazos & Books, evaluating requests for financial assistance and planning the annual scholarship dinner.

Scholarships are named after people who have special meaning to Chacon, either by personal inspiration or who exemplify courage, compassion and vision. One is local resident, Juan Romero, then a busboy in the hotel restaurant who tried to aid the assassinated Bobby Kennedy.

Chacon encourages any eligible student to apply for a scholarship. “We want to help any qualified student who wants to attend college and needs some financial aid to do that,” Chacon says.

Rigo Chacon, 62, is a deserving Beacon among Evergreen residents.

BEACON

A country song says “you can’t be a beacon if your light don’t shine.”

The Evergreen Times would like for the lights of interesting Evergreen residents to shine through a profile on such persons. Our community has educators, activists, business people, inventors, sportsmen, hobbyists, public safety persons – a plethora of fascinating people who should be recognized by their neighbors as a beacon for community involvement. If you know a person who should be recognized as a BEACON, contact highlander@timesmediainc.com and they will be considered for future issues.