Phil Martinez, the former owner of several Verde Valley Big O Tires franchises, made the largest single donation in the 21-year history of the Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks when he presented a $10,000 check to the group for its vocational scholarship fund during its Wednesday, Aug. 16 meeting at the Sedona Public Library. Martinez was also named a Paul Harris Fellow during the meeting in recognition of his contributions.
“Vocational scholarships from the club have gone to graduating Verde Valley high school seniors wanting to pursue careers in nursing, firefighting, computer tech, beautician, electrician, pilot, auto mechanics,” Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks Treasurer Donna Hawk said.
Students cannot use scholarship funds to attend a four-year college; the scholarships are strictly for either two-year associate’s degrees at a community college or for trade school certifications.
The club awarded two scholarships totaling $4,000 last year. One student used the prize to attend the Arizona Culinary Institute, while the other is attending Yavapai College in their auto mechanic program. Hawk said that both individual awards will be increased to $2,500 this May.
“Last year, we had five applicants, which is more than what we usually have,” Hawk said. “With the donation from Phil Martinez to our fund, we’re hoping that we can either, depending on what the applications look like when they come in, either fund an additional student or fund a little larger amount to the scholarships that we award.”
Martinez decided to retire after 28 years and started by selling his store in Payson 18 months ago. His last day at his Sedona location was May 26, 2023, and he sold his Cottonwood store on June 31 to his niece and nephew. “I kept that in the family,” Martinez said, and added that he “thought it was time to take a break and let somebody else make some money on the businesses.”
He is also donating some of the money from the sale of his stores to several other nonprofits across the Verde Valley, including the Sedona Food Bank.
“[The Rotaries] helped me out in the past when I lived in Pinetop and Lakeside,” Martinez said. “When we were growing up, the Rotary, Shriners, the churches, all helped us because we didn’t have much money. [When] I sold the businesses, I had money that I wanted to donate … and I just decided I wanted to help people out because they helped me out. Just return it back.”
Martinez will continue to live in Clarkdale and said that he will still contribute to those organizations in the future.
