Serving the people of this community with scholarships and charitable giving.
Serving the people of this community with scholarships and charitable giving.
The Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce Foundation was formed as an independent, 501c(3) charitable organization in 2014. At that time, it received the assets and mission from the Oro Valley Community Foundation, which was dissolved.
The Chamber Foundation exists to strengthen the well-being of our community and its citizens by receiving and distributing funds for scholarships, schools, young people, the arts and sciences, people in need and the business community.
It specifically supports the Mayor Steve Engle Memorial Scholarship program, and makes charitable gifts to organizations helping others.
Get tickets for annual scholarship breakfast on Thursday, June 11
Join us Thursday, June 11, when the Oro Valley Chamber Foundation awards a record-setting 26 scholarships, each at $1,500, in honor of the late Oro Valley Mayor Steve Engle.
The celebration of students and families starts at 8:30 Thursday, June 11, at El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort. Tickets are $50 each. Your ticket purchase helps defray the cost of meals for families. To buy a ticket, click here. 
For years, the Chamber and then the Foundation, have given $1,500 scholarships in memory of Engle, one of Oro Valley’s first mayors. Steve Engle gave scholarships to students from his own pocket. The Chamber picked up the torch after he passed, and the Chamber Foundation now runs with it.
In 2024 and 2025, the Foundation was able to provide $30,000 in total scholarships to 20 deserving students. This year, donations have neared $40,000.
We’re grateful for the support from donors Oro Valley Hospital, Joe Bourne, your Chamber, Roche Tissue Diagnostics, Alan & Helen Dankwerth, Cody & Deborah Engle, Kay Williams, Andrew Dankwerth & Alisa Busch, Suzie Eldridge, Mary Schulz / Schulz Financial Group, Wendy Wise State Farm, Splendido at Rancho Vistoso, Willman Law Firm, Desert Diamond Casinos and Entertainment, Desert Hospitality Management, El Conquistador Tucson and La Posada Pusch Ridge.
Splendido at Rancho Vistoso and Hughes Federal Credit Union have stepped up with major sponsorships to pay for the breakfast.
“The scholarship breakfast is one of the feel-good events of the Chamber year,” said Dave Perry, chair of the Foundation board. “Come hear the stories and aspirations of young people. They’ll warm your heart.”
Reinvesting in Oro Valley & Its Residents Since 1990
Major gift forms a building block for an endowment
Marilyn and Al Cook were longtime Oro Valley residents, community supporters and generous benefactors. They are missed.
Marilyn, who was a member of the Oro Valley Community Foundation board of directors, made 1 last selfless act. Her estate donated $1.007 million to the Chamber Foundation for “charitable giving in the Oro Valley community.”
We’re so grateful.
The intent of the Chamber Foundation board is to use that gift as the seed of an endowment, something we can grow into an ever-greater source of scholarship and community support. Plans call for some annual distribution of proceeds from the investment, as well as an accumulation of income to grow the principal.