Longtime Oceanside youth and education advocate Bess Bronson is the city’s 2025 MLK Community Service Award recipient in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the city announced Jan. 23.
The award, given in collaboration with the North San Diego County NAACP, was given to Bronson at a King commemoration celebration Jan. 20. It’s given annually to a resident of Oceanside or Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in recognition of an individual’s long record of community service.
“She believes our youth need to be inspired to be great through service and it is our responsibility to identify opportunities for our youth,” city officials stated in a news release. “Ms. Bess Bronson is an example of that belief. It is our honor to recognize Bess Bronson as the recipient of the 2025 City of Oceanside Community Service Award.”
Bronson, who ran for the Oceanside Unified School District board in 2016 and 2014, has been volunteering in the city for the past 25 years in a variety of capacities, according to the city, serving as an active member of the North County African American Women’s Association to volunteering as chair of its scholarship committee for 10 years, helping to raise more than $480,000 in scholarships.
She also has assisted the organization’s Middle School Mentoring program as a True Colors Consultant, which helps girls become familiar with learning styles and identify careers paths.
Bronson’s list of community contributions also includes work with the Oceanside Pacific Kiwanis for the past 19 years, working with Brother Benno’s outreach programs to feed the homeless and assisting with Kiwanis’ Child ID and Fingerprint Safety programs, the city stated in its news release. She also helped implement the Bringing Up Grades program, which aims to improve reading and math scores for grades three through five, and has worked with the Key Club at El Camino High School.
She also assisted with the launch of the Terry Leverro Kiwanis Art Competition program, which recognizes student work in oil painting, digital design and self-portraits.
Bronson is currently a member of the Oceanside Unified School District’s Bond Oversight and School Boundary committees is an active member of the Oceanside Chapter of the NAACP.
