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As many of you know, CIT employees in the Santa Monica office and the OWB Los Angeles retail branch network participate in Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America’s Workplace Mentoring Program. Every month, for the past three years, a dedicated team of CIT employees has met with a group of local high school students. Each CIT employee, a “Big”, is matched with a student, a “Little”.
Our Littles study at Manual Arts High School south of downtown Los Angeles. They are a great group of kids. We use our time together participating in organized activities intended to instill confidence and composure in a professional setting, but are also given time to connect with the Littles in a more personal manner. When we started the program, our Littles were sophomores in high school; this last Saturday, they all graduated from Manual Arts with many heading off to college, the start of their promising, young lives.
Tragically, last Friday we learned that my Little brother Magno Quezada passed away in a motorcycle accident.
When I met Magno almost three years ago, he was a bright-eyed, enthusiastic 16-year old who recently arrived from El Salvador. Magno was no normal kid. He worked five days a week, from 5PM to 3AM, as a busser at iHop while attending high school. He never complained. Magno persevered and flourished. Not only did he do well in school, he consistently challenged himself with a difficult course load, including taking as many AP classes as he could. He participated in after school programs like the robotics club and completed a program at USC to become a dental assistant. He was motivated to help his mother and his little sister get ahead. Magno felt it was his duty to help his family and he did it with grace and a smile.
Magno was on his way to UC Merced this fall with a huge scholarship.
The CIT BBBS Workplace Mentorship team has set up a memorial GoFundMe page for Magno’s family to help them pay for his funeral and the incalculable cost of his death. I hope that you find it in your hearts to contribute whatever you can.
Thank you,
Sean Lurry
https://youtu.be/gM5qPrXwrGk - Link to a memorial video created by Magno's friends.
https://youtu.be/u35BgmQ4RyY - Link to Manual Arts 2020 Virtual High School Graduation (Magno's picture appears at 29:28)
Our Littles study at Manual Arts High School south of downtown Los Angeles. They are a great group of kids. We use our time together participating in organized activities intended to instill confidence and composure in a professional setting, but are also given time to connect with the Littles in a more personal manner. When we started the program, our Littles were sophomores in high school; this last Saturday, they all graduated from Manual Arts with many heading off to college, the start of their promising, young lives.
Tragically, last Friday we learned that my Little brother Magno Quezada passed away in a motorcycle accident.
When I met Magno almost three years ago, he was a bright-eyed, enthusiastic 16-year old who recently arrived from El Salvador. Magno was no normal kid. He worked five days a week, from 5PM to 3AM, as a busser at iHop while attending high school. He never complained. Magno persevered and flourished. Not only did he do well in school, he consistently challenged himself with a difficult course load, including taking as many AP classes as he could. He participated in after school programs like the robotics club and completed a program at USC to become a dental assistant. He was motivated to help his mother and his little sister get ahead. Magno felt it was his duty to help his family and he did it with grace and a smile.
Magno was on his way to UC Merced this fall with a huge scholarship.
The CIT BBBS Workplace Mentorship team has set up a memorial GoFundMe page for Magno’s family to help them pay for his funeral and the incalculable cost of his death. I hope that you find it in your hearts to contribute whatever you can.
Thank you,
Sean Lurry
https://youtu.be/gM5qPrXwrGk - Link to a memorial video created by Magno's friends.
https://youtu.be/u35BgmQ4RyY - Link to Manual Arts 2020 Virtual High School Graduation (Magno's picture appears at 29:28)