Scholarship Honoring Late Assemblywoman Patty Berg Announces First Round of Recipients, Receives an Additional $1.5 million from Berg Estate 

Sara Dronkers and Michele McKeegan

Press release from the Humboldt Area Foundation:

Eureka, CA. Jul. 9, 2026 – On Friday, Jun. 12, Michele McKeegan met with Humboldt Area Foundation + Wild Rivers Community Foundation CEO Sara Dronkers to carry out one of the final wishes of her late friend Assemblywoman Patty Berg: Supporting the next generation of women to grow, learn and lead. McKeegan presented Dronkers with a check for $1.5 million, the remainder of Berg’s estate, to be added to the Assemblywoman Patty Berg & William Patrick Murphy, M.D. Scholarship Fund for Women.

“Patty wanted to help women fulfill their dreams of making this a better world,” said McKeegan. “She believed women had a very important role to play in making the world go around.”

Berg, who passed in 2024 after five decades of service to her community and state as a public health advocate, California assemblymember, educator and volunteer, created the scholarship by bequest to — in her words — “support women who are determined to complete their education.” This most recent gift, combined with previous distributions from her estate, brings the total amount of her giving to just over $2.5 million.

“Patty Berg was a leader who dedicated her life to the wellbeing of her community and its people. We are honored to support her legacy through this scholarship,” said Dronkers.

“As a full-time professional and a single mother of four wonderful children, balancing my responsibilities is a daily journey,” says Fannie Gifford, one of the seven recipients in the scholarship’s inaugural round. “This award provides vital support, allowing me to dedicate my full attention to my studies in the Master of Social Work program at Cal Poly Humboldt. Upon graduation, I plan to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and look forward to utilizing my education to serve and give back to my community.”

HAF+WRCF houses 241 different scholarship opportunities. They are primarily funded by generous donors such as Berg, as well as local schools, businesses, clubs, and other organizations.

Students at every stage of their academic career are encouraged to use the Foundation’s Scholarship Finder and apply to the Universal Application at the beginning of the calendar year. HAF+WRCF staff, along with community volunteers, help facilitate scholarship rounds in the spring. This year the Foundation distributed more than $1.12 million to students in Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity and Curry counties, its biggest scholarship season to date. For more information, visit scholarshipfinder.org or hafoundation.org.

Assemblywoman Patty Berg and Patrick Murphy, MD fund file photo

About HAF+WRCF:

For five decades, the Humboldt Area Foundation — joined by the Wild Rivers Community Foundation in 2004 — has proudly served the counties of Humboldt, Trinity and Del Norte in California, Curry County in Southern Oregon, and the unceded lands of many Indigenous peoples. Today, the Foundation acts as a single entity with a generational vision and decade-long goals of supporting “Racial Equity, Thriving Youth and Families, Healthy Ecosystems and Environments, and a Just Economy and Economic Development.” Since 1972, the Foundation has awarded more than $136 million in grants and scholarships from hundreds of charitable funds established by generous individuals, families and businesses in our community. The Foundation also provided countless hours of technical assistance, advocacy and convening throughout the region.

For more information about HAF+WRCF, visit hafoundation.org or call (707) 442-2993.

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