Date Published: 06/02/2026
The Coachella Valley Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America (CVC-MOAA) hosted their annual Leadership and Scholarship Awards dinner last week. Over 96 members, parents, cadets and staff attended this event. Plus LaQuinta Mayor Linda Evans and La Quinta Council Members, Steve Sanchez and Deborah McGarry attended.
Over the last 25 years, the CVC-MOAA has given out over $165,000 worth of scholarships to Coachella Valley high school students. This year the Chapter gave out four $3,000 scholarships. This was the largest dollar amount in the CVC-MOAA history. Those recipients were the following students:
Hunter Lopez Scholarship was given to Desert Hot Springs High School USMC JROTC Cadet Major Emmanuel Villaba-Orozco.
Colonel John Samson Scholarship was awarded to Desert Hot Springs High School USMC JROTC Cadet CPT Camilla Cardenas.
CWO4 Robert Ramirez Scholarship was awarded to La Quinta High School Air Force JROTC Cadet LTC Leslie Grimaldo.
CPT John and Celeste Schleimer Scholarship was awarded to La Quinta High School Air Force JROTC Cadet CPT Melissa Tran.
The event also include awarding two leadership medals to participating high school juniors. This award recognizes an outstanding cadet in their junior year in the program who has demonstrated exceptional potential for military leadership and good academic standing
Those students were Desert Hot Springs High School USMC JROTC 2LT Deyo James and La Quinta High School Air Force JROTC 2LT Jemma Silva-Miller.
The Chapter also honored La Quinta High School Air Force COL Ethan Miller. Ethan was selected to attend the US Air Force Academy in the Fall. Out of 10,000 applicants, his application was ranked No. 2.
The Chapter started its own leadership award called the President’s Award and will be awarded each year at the annual Leadership and Scholarship Awards dinner. This year it was given to COL Mike Dulac, USAR, (Ret.) for his leadership within CVC-MOAA organization. Mike has been a member since 2007, served as president from 2012-2014, been on the throughout the twenty years being a member.
The members are active throughout the year raising funds for the scholarships. Over $7,000 was raised last year through a silent auction and a promotion through Marvyns Magic Theater. Also, a generous donation from CPT John and Celeste Schleimer helps with the funds. In the last 5 years, the Schleimer’s have given $25,000 to the CVC-MOAA Scholarship Fund.
“We believe in supporting tomorrow’s leaders through mentorship and sponsoring scholarships. Throughout the year at each meeting, the Chapter invites a cadet to speak to the membership but also interact with our members. It is great for the cadets, but our members thoroughly enjoy having a one-on-one conversation with these future leaders,” stated CVCMOAA president, MAJ Terrie Heer, USAR (Ret.).
The CVC-MOAA is a non-profit organization that meets monthly. Members are military officers representing the nine uniformed services and can be active, retired or commissioned officers plus surviving spouses
To learn more about the Coachella Valley Chapter of MOAA or to make a donation, visit CVC-MOAA.com
For more information contact:
Terrie Heer, MAJ, USAR, (Ret.)
President, CVC-MOAA
503-347-7614