Sarah McMahan reminds us that this week is “Bike to School Week”! She is helping out at one of the meeting places to make sure the group gets to school safely.

There were almost 30 kids today! Check out the photo of some who arrived early — patiently waiting for others to arrive.
[by Saran McMahan in Incline Village]

On April 26th, the New Mexico Horse Rescue at Walkin N Circles Ranch hosted their annual Hug-A-Horse Day. The event is held as a fund raiser for the rescue as well as an opportunity for the public to visit the ranch and meet the horses that are available for rescue. The day included pony rides, ranch tours, and horse training demonstrations.

There were six training demonstrations throughout the day. Two of the largest draws even in the high winds were Mike and Kathryn Sikorski. Mike Sikorski showed how handle and ride a young horse, he did his demonstration on Canella, the mustang he started for WNCR in 2013 and who subsequently has been adopted. Kathryn Sikorski demonstrated how to train a horse to navigate obstacles and then use those obstacles to give the horse a job. She did her demonstration on Elektra, her 9 year old New Mexico State Champion Quarter Horse.

To learn more about The New Mexico Horse Rescue at Walkin N Circles Ranch you can visit their website at www.wncr.org. If you are interested in helping a local horse rescue you can find a registered one by contacting your state livestock board or you can contact the American Horse Council. http://www.horsecouncil.org/ .
[by Kathryn Sikorski]

On April 20th, the Elks Lodge in San Rafael, California sponsored an Easter lunch/brunch for 160 people – families and children, with fun-filled activities plus an Easter egg hunt.
To prepare for this large gathering, on Saturday, April 19th, Charlotte Kobayashi partnered with Stewart Munson, an Elks’ officer, to set up round tables, chairs, and place settings for 160 attendees. [See photo of large ballroom.]

The Easter event is a one of the many activities sponsored by the 2,200 Elks Lodges located throughout the United States.
Charity and charitable activities are one of the major functions of this organization. Their motto: “Elks Care and Elks Share” is the driving force for this California-Hawaii Association located in the heart of San Rafael, California at C and Mission Streets. The facilities include a large, beautiful mansion, outdoor swimming pool, plus a beautiful outdoor grassy area for performances, weddings, and parties.

A few examples of their community activities include:
• Aiding disabled children since 1950 i.e. the blind and physically disabled
• Scholarships for college bound students
• Support for families in need
• Activities for recovering youth/teens

Anyone wanting to volunteer can contact their local Elks office to find out ways to volunteer near your work and home locations. Go to: www.elks.org for more information. [By Charlotte Kobayashi- Larkspur]

Diane, Lisa and Sabina from the CVI Darien office spent Tuesday morning, April 29th assisting Susan Quaranta (Distinguished Giving Associate), labeling and stamping over 2200 “Save the Date” postcards for their fund raising “Roast”.

Some of the proceeds from the “Roast” help fund the following programs:
• Research Grants – more than $57 million in 137 grants are in effect at 30 hospitals and institutions throughout New England right now.
• Free lodging for more than 40,000 patients in 31 locations.
• Free transportation services – their network of drivers in 6 New England states provided cancer patients more than 35,000 rides to treatment appointments.
• Trained Cancer Information Specialist answer an average of 1 million calls offering information, answers and support to cancer patients (more than 39,000 calls from New Englanders).

Upon completion of the mailings; our team left with very warm feelings in helping a wonderful organization that is truly dear to our hearts. [By Diane Frate]

[Above Joe Terry, CEO, working through the grit!]

[Left to right: Mike Miller,Tyler McDonald, Julie Dean-Lawrence, Korey Krueger(behind Julie), Joe Elquez and Rick Clayton]

As part of team Corporate Visions commitment to our community the ‘ALL IN’ PLEASANTON office has committed to helping our local soup kitchen (Open Heart Kitchen) support one of its many centers it supports in this area (Ridge View Commons Senior Center). We started last month and on the first Tuesday of each month, we will put on our aprons and gloves and take over the kitchen!!

We prepare the delicious menu for that given day, which will actually feed hundreds. In the pictures you will see the one and only Joe Terry sautéing up a crazy amount turkey for a the main course turkey lasagna, Joe Elquez and Rick Clayton making a vat of delightful soup, Corey and Mike chopped their hearts out making salads and veggies and Julie and Tyler peeled, cored and sliced their way to a yummy baked apple dessert.
By Julie-Dean Lawrence

Fabiana LeBauve, Lynn Zambrano and Charlotte Kobayashi spent their Sunday, March 30th to help serve lunch at St. Vincent de Paul, a food kitchen located in the hub of downtown San Rafael, California in Marin County.

St. Vincent de Paul is open for breakfast and lunch 365 days in a year and serves about 700 meals per day using food and supplies mostly donated from various organizations in Marin County. Supplement funds are provided by businesses, other organizations and the Catholic Churches.

Lynn and Fabiana spent 3 hours serving desserts made up of fresh fruits and a variety of fancy cakes/pies, while Charlotte scooped up brown rice, cut and peeled mandarin oranges with a group of young high school sophomore men from a local high school fulfilling their required volunteer hours.

It was a fun and meaningful experience – “Help is to help others”. By Charlotte Kobayashi

Fabiana LeBauve participated in the Fight for Air Climb in San Francisco on Sunday, March 30th. The Fight for Air Climb is a fundraising event for the American Lung Association.

Our donations help raise the funds necessary to provide life-saving education, research and advocacy so we can beat lung disease and soon find a cure. Fabiana climbed 52 flights of stairs in a San Francisco Sky scaper in under 13 minutes! Remarkable Super Woman! By Fabiana LeBauve

Jessie Behm and Nicci Hammerel attended the Sierras March 8th fundraiser and both bid on and won some fantastic silent auction items. With the help of the Power Foundation, we’re really making a difference in our community!

Over 200 community members attended the event at the Olympic Village Lodge on March 8th. Men and women enjoyed the food, wine, silent auction and live music by the Angele and Wildwood Band. Surveys from the audience indicated that the films were a highlight of this unique event.

Thanks in part to the support of Corporate Visions, Girls on the Run- Sierras raised over $26,000 at our fifth annual signature fundraiser event. We raised just under $6000 in ticket sales and $3500 from corporate sponsors. The silent auction was a tremendous success with 150 items that raised $13,255 for nonprofits benefiting girls and women. Our “just give” effort raised $3150 to provide program scholarship to a team of low income girls. With the help of Squaw Valley and our in-kind media partners, expenses were just under $2500 so we netted $23,655 for Girls on the Run and made a $895 donation to the Breast Cancer Fund.
-Danielle Rees, ED, Girls on the Run Sierras
-Submitted by Nicci Hammerel

Diane, Stacy, Lisa and Sabina from CVI spent the morning of March 26th volunteering at Person-to-Person in Darien, Connecticut. The tasks assigned to the Darien team were to sort, organize, box over 200 prom dresses, shoes and handbags which came from donations. Forty dresses were to stay at the Darien location and the remaining was split between the towns of Stamford and Bridgeport. For this particular project, the mission is to assist teens who are unable to afford prom dresses on their own.
[Attached is a picture of Diane, Stacy, Lisa and Sabina modeling a few of the prom dresses.]

Person-To-Person, started in 1968, it is a volunteer-driven, community-supported agency which, through a sharing of goods and talents, responds to individuals and families who lack basic necessities or resources to improve their lives. More than 90% of all donations go directly to programs.

P2P serves 27,000 people in the surrounding community. Families schedule monthly appointments to come in to shop for clothing and food. They are given 30 minutes to shop in the clothing store. In the food pantry, the clients are provided a list of nutritional foods and are able to make selections based on the number of people in their families.
From the outset Person-to-Person began by helping and educating. The efforts to help began with food and clothing and grew to include financial assistance for emergencies, summer camps for children while their parents worked and college scholarships to help break the cycle of poverty. By Diane Frate

Lexin Chen, Lynn Zambrano, Teresa Kwan, and Charlotte Kobayashi ventured out from Larkspur Office, mid-day to take part at a post-lunch event at Davidson Middle School, in San Rafael, California on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2014. Davidson is a middle school nestled in an area that has student population from a mixed range of socio-economic backgrounds.
The CVI four-some team volunteered through a program called “Beyond Differences”, an agency that provides support to many Marin County middle schools to prevent students from feeling isolated and bullied. This program was founded by Laura Talmus and Ace Smith, the parents of daughter, Lili Rachel Smith.
As with many children, Lili suffered from social isolation. Lili wasn’t bullied or teased, but was often treated as if she were invisible. What we now know is that social isolation is an experience felt by thousands and thousands of middle school students across America. The good news is, once you make kids aware of how others around them are feeling, they want to make a difference to transform the situation into something positive.
When Lili passed away unexpectedly in her sleep due to complications from Apert syndrome in October 2009 at 15 1/2 years of age, the outpouring of grief was enormous. Lili’s inspiring life, particularly her success in overcoming social isolation by the time she entered high school, serves as a guiding light for other children, adolescents, and families.
The CVI team assisted in creating positive experiences by passing out note cards and asked students to write something positive or nice about someone else and tie them on to the tree. [See photo.]

Another activity was to circulate a letter-size paper with many questions for students to fill in by talking with other students. Questions like, who was born in the same city as you or, who has their birthday in the same month, or, find someone who likes the same color, etc. Once the form is completed, a volunteer reviews the form and issues either a one night’s homework pass or jogging pass credit of one mile.
We were kept busy for the hour and half and had fun as well. The students were very cooperative and seemed to enjoy the time interacting with one another.
For more information about Lili Rachel Smith and legacy she left behind, please go to the website: http://www.beyonddifferences.org/#!lili/c17a0
[By Charlotte Kobayashi]