Thank you for considering a gift to honor the life of Eric Pepys through the Pepys Family College Scholarship Fund. Your gift will be used to help local foster children achieve their dreams of going to college. After making a donation, you will receive acknowledgement of your gift immediately via email. For gifts of $25 or more we will also send you a receipt within one week by U.S. mail. The Pepys family will also receive an acknowledgement of your thoughtful gift unless you mark your gift as "anonymous" (the dollar amount will not be included).

» Click here to donate to the Pepys Family College Scholarship Fund now

Eric Pepys was a long-time supporter of Orangewood Children’s Foundation and our scholarship program. For the past several years he financially supported Orangewood college student Kyle Price (pictured with Eric). But Eric’s passion for helping foster youth succeed extended beyond financial help. For Kyle he was more than a donor: “Eric’s support to me was much more than financial. He was a mentor to me and became part of my family and my life. For the past two Christmases he even snuck over to my grandmother’s house and left gifts from ‘Santa’. I have great memories of Eric and feel truly blessed to have had him be a part of my life.” Eric continued his financial and emotional support even after Kyle graduated from U.C. Irvine in 2007. Kyle will earn his Masters in Social Work from USC this May.

In Eric’s memory the family has established with Orangewood Children’s Foundation the Pepys Family College Scholarship Fund. The scholarship fund will be used to help former foster children like Kyle achieve their dreams of a college education. Orangewood has been awarding college scholarships to local teens in foster care since 1986. Nationally 70% of foster care teens express the desire to go to college but only 10% do and less than 2% graduate. In fiscal year 2007/2008 Orangewood supported 258 students with almost $732,000 in college scholarships. These students attended 58 schools in 8 states throughout the U.S.

Donations can also be made by check (made out to Orangewood Children's Foundation with a notation of "Pepys Fund"). Mail your check to:

Orangewood Children's Foundation
Attn. Carlos Leija
1575 E. 17th St.
Santa Ana, CA 92705.

For questions, please contact Carlos Leija, Chief Development Officer, at 714-619-0201 or cleija@orangewoodfoundation.org.