Blog Updates

Incline Elementary Schools has a program called Harvest of The Month that teaches kids about nutritious vegetables and encourages them to try new things.  Last week [May 5, 2015] Lauren Upton and Sarah McMahan went to see the 3^rd graders and ran a lesson on cauliflower.

Lauren read a cute little book and Sarah brought in roasted cauliflower and shared some nutrition facts while the kids did an activity sheet. It was really fun and the kids gobbled up the cauliflower.  It was interesting to hear some kids had never tried it before!

[By Sarah McMahan]

 

[Photo left to right: Lynette Boosey, music teacher; Del Medina Master Ukulele teacher; Mark, 10 year old student of Del & Lynette; and Charlotte Kobayashi of CVI]

Lynwood Elementary School’s music program is more than flutes, clarinets and trumpets. On March 20th, the school held a “kanikapila” which is Hawaiian for everybody bring your ukulele and jam!  Almost 90 students with ukuleles played music and sang together for 2 one-hour long assemblies for the students and the administrators with the Pacific Island Coastal Cultures Organization (PIKO).  Corporate Visions through matching donations has contributed $200 to PIKO which translated into two ukuleles for Lynwood Elementary School.

Lynnette Booséy, Lynwood music teacher and ukulele player, introduced ukuleles to the school in 2014 [a year ago] with the purchase of 30 uke’s using grant money.  This winter [2014], she received a donation of 6 more uke’s from Kala, a ukulele company headquartered in Petaluma.   This January PIKO presented Ms. Booséy with 10 brand new ukuleles, tuners, and cases for Lynwood.

The students with the core adult ukulele team played for a whole hour, songs like Three Little Birds, Koke’e, Hanalei Moon,  and Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Izzie style.

Additionally, Charlotte Kobayashi of Corporate Visions, taught the teachers and principal of the school a basic hula called, “In a Canoe”; they learned 4 basic hula steps and hand motions to interpret the song. “I only live in memory of all the things I used to do. Back on the shores of Waikiki, in a canoe…  I used to sing a melody, to all the fishes that I knew, as I go paddling out to sea, in a canoe…”  The students had a great time watching their teachers and principal learning how to hula for the first time!

The ukulele, first brought into Hawaii from Portugal, is now becoming a very popular instrument for many elementary and young students who find this instrument easy to carry, easier to learn than a guitar and quite affordable.  There are several “kanikapila’s” happening in various cities in California such as Santa Cruz, Sebastopol, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Berkeley, Pleasanton, Hayward, and Fairfax.

For article  and more photos, check link in Novato Patch:

http://patch.com/california/novato/ukuleles-abound-at-lynwood-elementary-school

[By Charlotte Kobayashi]

 

[Photo with Patti’s daughter, Kellett, on far left]

CVI Employee Leverages Her Coordination and Communication Skills for School Play Costuming

In January and February 2015, Patti Drach Fiore volunteered as Costume Manager for her daughter’s school play, Alice in Wonderland, Jr., at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She devoted 4o volunteer hours to help them with the costuming and did a pretty darn good job!

The play ran the weekend of February 20th – and there were 3 performances.  The students practiced 2 to 3 days a week and on weekends for certain scenes from November to the  show. Patti’s help mostly consisted of acting as a liaison between the producer, directors and parents, community resources, and our seamstresses (who were some parish ladies, plus her mom and her mom’s friend);  researching and sourcing items; logging and maintaining inventory; and providing full costume support for dress rehearsals and before, during, and after the actual performances.

Click on link to see more photos:  http://ourladymtcarmelschool.org/scrapbook/AliceWonderland/ALiceWonderland.html

[By Patti Drach Fiore]

 

A few weeks ago Sarah McMahan accompanied a group of kids from Cornerstone Church to volunteer and serve food to the homeless and community members in need.  Sarah had her hands full most of the time so this one picture from food prepping.

[By Sarah McMahan]

 

[Photo left to right: Carla Taylor & Feeve Wells -Technical Support; Chanterria McGilbra, Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals;  and Charlotte Kobayashi, CVI]

This event, “Enlighten”,  was held in honor of Women’s History Month on March 21^st, 2015 in Marin County, California, where 50 women and 50 young women of high school age, gathered to discuss potential career paths and to network with experienced female professionals.

Felecia Gaston, Executive Director of Performing Stars, an enrichment program for low-income, multicultural children in Marin County, was the primary organizer. [The Performing Stars group were the recipients of the 40 bicycles Corporate Visions donated at CVI January 2015 Napa Kick-Off and at the February 14^th Valentine’s Day in Marin City.]

The young women sat at round tables having lunch with their experienced mentors and listened to stories, poems, and music that focused on the importance of empowering young women to succeed in their personal lives as well as in work.

One of the three keynote panelist was Samantha Ealy, Human Resources Technical Coordinator for Google. She said the pathways to success includes education and the process of discovering your interest.  Three points Ealy emphasized that worked for her to become the best professional in the workforce is to learn from making mistakes – don’t be afraid to make them, follow your passion, and have a network of advisors.

“Your passion should keep you up at night. Start noticing what you spend all your time thinking about,” Ealy said. “We want to help you figure out what’s going to be best for you.”

For keynote speaker Nina Dace, an engineer with Parker Hannifin Corporation’s Veriflo Division in Richmond, California said, “It took time to figure out what career she wanted to pursue.”

“It’s really important to know what you’re good at and what you’re not good at,” Dace said.

After receiving a degree in chemical and bio-molecular engineering, she had a handful of internships and jobs she hated. Dace finally found a job that gives her the ability to be innovative.

“I’m doing everything that I want to be doing,” Dace said. “Stay the course when it gets tough.”

A few other speakers included, KGO-TV news anchor Cheryl Jennings; senior private equity fund manager Joyce Johnson-Miller; and actress Marjorie Crump-Shears, who read the poem “Hey, Black Child” by African American poet Countee Cullen; Deborah Santana, author, philanthropist, advocate for peace and justice; and Chanterria McGilbra of Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals, as the Mistress of Ceremony

For further details, see article in Marin Independent Journal:

http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20150321/marin-city-event-matches-girls-with-women-career-mentors

[By Charlotte Kobayashi]

On March 12th, three staff members from the Larkspur Corporate Visions’ office volunteered at Bayside Martin Luther King cafeteria once again.  This second team, Preston Kawaguchi, Francisco Ramirez and Charlotte Kobayashi,  helped serve fresh fruit [chopped kiwi and strawberries], fresh salad greens topped with steamed broccoli, pasta with hamburger and special sauce,  garlic bread, and milk.  The meals are freshly prepared [no packaged produce] for students from pre-school through 8th grade.

[Above: Francisco in kitchen with Chef Shaun and Greg]

[Above: Preston preparing parsley]

 

[Above: Lunch served for younger elementary children.]

 

[Above: Lunch served for upper grades and middle school.]

Chef Shaun was very impressed with how efficiently the CVI team worked and would welcome our services again anytime!

And, we witnessed a few of the bikes we gave away at the Napa Kick-Off and the February 14th Valentines Day event, parked at the entry way of the school. See photo below:

[By Charlotte Kobayashi]

 

LUNAFest was established in 2000 by LUNA, makers of the whole nutrition bar for women. This unique film festival includes eight short films by women filmmakers. Incredibly diverse in style and content, LUNAFEST is united by a common thread of exceptional storytelling – by, for and about women.

Nicci and Jim Hammerel attended this event on March 7, 2015, at the Olympic Village in Squaw Valley.  Nicci received the cool hat she is wearing in photo above, after sponsoring a girl for the program.  It was a successful night for everyone!

For more information, please check out their website:

http://www.girlsontherunsierras.org/get-involved/lunafest

{Nicci Hammerel]

On Wednesday, March 4, 2015, Diane Frate and Lisa Slen, [photo above- left to right], spent the morning volunteering at Person2Person in Darien, CT. Their time was devoted to sorting through bags and bins of clothing donated from area families/businesses.

 Once the items were separated by size/gender, they were hung and placed in the proper area for easy access. Worn clothing was placed in bins that are sent to third world countries. Every item that comes to P2P is used, nothing is wasted.

Lisa and Diane had the opportunity to see how the operation is run first hand.  Four clients at a time are allowed in to shop for their families.  They are allotted 30 minutes. The volunteers keep track of the time and announce when their time is up for the next group. Items that go very quickly are the children’s clothing, blankets, and household supplies. 

In 2014, through the generosity of all who made a contribution of time or treasure – more than 1,600 individuals, businesses, foundations, schools, congregations and community organizations – they were able to provide financial assistance, food, clothing and housing assistance to 23,888 men, women. In addition, 50,731 bags of free clothing were provided to 12,819 people in the surrounding communities.

 Lisa and Diane were a part of this amazing shift and impactful contribution by many others in the community. They also made new friends and worked side-by-side with volunteers who devoted their time for 20 years! Both enjoyed volunteering and upon leaving were asked “Will you be back next Wednesday”?  They both plan on returning in the very near future.

[By Diane Frate]

On Wednesday, March 4, 2015 Francisco Ramirez and his lovely wife, Yesenia, volunteered to cook for the homeless at Stone Soup Kitchen in Novato, California [20 minutes north of CVI Larkspur Office].

Our menu consisted of Italian meatloaf, baked vegetables, kale greens cooked in a broth and Bundt cakes!

 

 

Francisco and Yesenia started off with the task of chopping many onions and helping in chopping / dicing garlic for all the needed cooking. Francisco then moved to searing the vegetables, while Yesenia helped on the baking side making Bundt cakes.

They both had a great time cooking up this home-cooked meal with other volunteers. They also had a chance to taste the dishes and were pleased to know that the meals prepared will be served to those in need.
[By Francisco Ramirez]

The Hula Group, called Hula Mai, in Sonoma led by Betty Ann Bruno, former Channel 2 news anchor woman, hosted a Sonoma Kanikapila [ukulele jamming and hula dancing] in the heart of downtown Sonoma on Saturday, February 28th.

Meghan Peddicord , who lives in Sonoma, saw it advertised in their local paper and came to join Charlotte Kobayashi to sing and play a few ukulele chords [C, F, G7, A7, G, EM] by simply watching and just giving it her all! We shook the roof and large balls of hail came crashing down mid-stream of the jam-session for at least five minutes! [Obviously loved our singing/playing]

Songs included Buckets of Rain, Koke’e, Blue Hawaii, Ulupalakua, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, Hanalei Moon, Na maka Eha, Noho Pai Pai, Somewhere Over the Rainbow [Izzie style], Hawaii Aloha and many more. The place was jam packed and the fire marshalls had to turn several people away due to fire code regulations.

[By Charlotte Kobayashi]