Blog Updates

[Photo of Team Reclaim13]

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“Today, I am writing to share a vision of a better world. There is a crisis in every major city across America. It is called “human trafficking” and for the longest time I thought that was a 3rd world country’s problem. Well, I was completely wrong. Here is what the John Rigler from the FBI shared with us last week:

99% of all children involved in the sex trade in America are Americans.
13 is the average age of the victims.
48 hours is the time Police can hold child before returning them to the people that put them in this position.
0 is the number of beds available tonight in Chicago to take these children and began to heal, reclaim their lives

Let me introduce you to Reclaim 13. A new charity origination that is well on its way to making a huge difference and saving lives. We have acquired a large living space that was donated to this cause. I have accepted a position on the advisory board and we have begun to raise funding for our operating expenses. We are committed to the health (both physical and mental),the education and transition / placement of the children back in a loving family environment.

I have been asked by a former client, to help create and capture a POV for the messaging to 3 target audiences. I have reached out to Scott and Jessie and asked for their help; they have agreed to donate their personal time to get this done. We are shooting for the 25th of this month. We are moving quickly as today, the police have stopped rescuing these children because of the emotional harm the children experience when they are returned to the people that put them in this position to begin with. Their spirits are crushed when this happens.”
~By Ted Ergo
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“I want to pass along a special note on the work that was recently done as part of our CVI Power Foundation. Big, virtual hug goes out to Scott Weinhold, Jessie Behm, and Ted Ergo who spent their weekend, away from home in Chicago, donating their time, working on a message for this special group, Reclaim13.

Reclaim13 works with law enforcement to support children in the United States who are victims of sex trade and provides them food, shelter, help, support and most importantly hope. There are over 200,000 of these children in the US alone, who are daughters and sons, that need help.

Check out the thank you letter from the President at Reclaim13. Thank you Scott, Jessie and Ted for your service to this wonderful cause, we are grateful for your commitment at all levels!” ~ by Joe Terry

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To: Ted Ergo & The CVI Team
FROM: Justin Ozinga, Board of Directors, reclaim13

SUBJECT: CVI’s Contribution & Support of reclaim13

Ted,

On behalf of the Board of Directors and the volunteers of reclaim13, I wanted to personally thank you and CVI for your incredible contributions to reclaim13, including your, Jesse, and Scott’s costs and services in developing our messaging.

The development of our messaging will be critical in our efforts to raise $1.5M in the next 6 months. This money will be used to open an innovative one-of-a-kind holistic restoration home, called Cherish House, for children under the age of 18 who are recovered by law enforcement from the commercial sex trade.

It has been estimated there are over 200,000 American Children in the commercial sex trade in the USA, yet there are fewer than 200 beds for these children nationwide. This has forced law enforcement to turn these children over to family service agencies where they do not have access to the care and services they require to start the healing process. This results in the children back in the commercial sex trade within days of being recovered by law enforcement.

Reclaim13 is working closely with the FBI, local law enforcement agencies, churches, healthcare organizations, and other related service organizations to provide the children the health, education and psychological services and support they require to be healed…..allowing them to reclaim their childhood and dreams.

Although reclaim13 has an impressive 20,000 square foot estate which is currently being converted into the first Cherish House, this will only provide a tiny fraction of the number of beds required nationally. Our ultimate vision and goal is to work with high net-worth individuals across the nation to convert oft used estates into Cherish Houses, making a significant dent in the fight to reclaim as many children as possible from this horrific life..

The foundation of our fund-raising efforts is our messaging. Yourself, Jesse and Scott have provided us expert advice in crafting that message which we believe will compel church congregations, high net-worth individuals and corporations to donate money and resources. We believe in CVI’s methodology and the results it delivers. You, Jesse, and Scott have applied your expertise deftly. Without each of you and CVI, we couldn’t have developed a message that will compel our target donors to contribute and allow us to achieve our vision.

With Love and Blessings,

Justin Ozinga
Reclaim13

Every year, the Central Bucks Family YMCA in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, hosts a food drive to provide Thanksgiving meals to local families in need. What makes this food drive different? Each participant selects a family and purchases a complete meal (from soup to nuts!) for their Thanksgiving dinner.

Cassie Galster, from the Doylestown office and her husband Dillon, selected 2 families to purchase holiday meals. One family requested a vegan meal, which was perfect for Cassie, who is a vegetarian.
“I really enjoyed shopping for each family and picking out items I thought they would like to have on their table. It was more fun and meaningful than just dropping off canned goods.”

In addition to a turkey or vegetarian dish, each family received stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, soup, bread and a dessert. These families will be certainly be eating well (with or without a turkey) this Thanksgiving!
[By Cassie Galster]

[Photo above is the Open Heart truck. In the back row from left to right are: Leela, Nathan, Mike, Lee and Rick; Second row left to right are: Savannah, Tyler, Korey, and Jaime in front.]

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Nine people from the Pleasanton office volunteered at Open Heart Kitchen on Tuesday, November 18, 2014; the volunteers helped to unload from 9-11 a.m. The group had previously helped out at this Kitchen by serving and preparing food. This time, the group helped to unload weekly food donations, which consisted of pallets with juice, milk, canned peaches, oranges and carrots.

See Nathan Parrott unloading a load of boxes in photo below:

At the Hunger Relief truck in photo below: Jaime, Savannah, Korey, Mike, Lee, Nathan, Rick, Tyler and Leela.

Every Thursday is Open Heart’s distribution day; the group plans to go back in December to help with distributing food donations.

“It was fun morning helping out and we were all pleased to have taken part in this worthy cause.” ~ Jaime Farrar

For more information, please visit their website: http://www.openheartkitchen.org/
[By Jaime Farrar]

[Meghan Peddicord far back left in photo]

The non-profit Mill Valley [California] Philharmonic is an all volunteer orchestra that puts on free concerts in Marin County [Northern California].

Meghan Peddicord is a viola player who first started playing with them in 2004. The orchestra includes a diverse group of professionals such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, and retired orchestra players.

Meghan started playing viola since she was 9 nine years old and as a youth, performed in Europe and throughout the United States, including the Lincoln Center in New York.

For additional information on next events for this holiday season, check their website: http://millvalleyphilharmonic.org/concerts/ [By Charlotte Kobayashi]

Tahoe Family Solutions, in Incline Village, provides mental health support, summer camps and homework tutoring for local families. Nicci Hammerel, baby and all, bowled in this fundraiser on Saturday October 25th, 2014. A number of her co-workers helped to sponsor her and raised a chunk of money for this fundraiser. See Nicci in action below:

[Photo above: Kris Axell and his sister, Karla]

Sports in Schools is a non-profit organization in Seattle founded in 2009. Their mission is to enrich the lives of middle-school and high-school children by increasing athletic opportunities in schools. The goal of this organization is to ensure kids have the chance to stay connected to their respective schools during out-of-school time, through positive athletic experiences.

As volunteers, we helped kids to fill their out-of-school hours with healthy activities, by assisting staff at the school districts, athletic directors, coaches and by increasing opportunities/activities, as well as, helping to remove financial barriers for underprivileged families.

This past summer, Kris Axell and Christine Horvath from the Seattle office helped raise money for disadvantaged middle and high school students. They volunteered their time with other supporters at the Seattle Seafair Beer Tents operated by the non-profit organization Sports in Schools. Seafair is centered around an unlimited hydroplane race on Lake Washington and is the biggest event on the Seattle summer calendar and the second biggest fundraiser of the year for Sports in Schools.

This year, Kris, a Sports in Schools Board Member, volunteered from Noon – 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday, August 2nd and 3rd. Christine Horvath and her husband Winter volunteered for the 2-6 pm shift on Sunday, August 3rd.

Christine Horvath and her husband Winter, spent the day volunteering with Kris and sister, Karla.

[By Kris Axell]

[Photo: Jen, the champion survivor, husband David, (Elise Moores’ brother), and sons]

Elise Moores, Client Services Associate from the Doylestown office, participated in the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event on October 25, 2014. She walked in support of her Sister-in-Law, Jen, who is a proud breast cancer survivor and her cousin, Sheri, who sadly succumbed to the disease in February 2013. With the help of Corporate Visions, Elise’s team ranked 8th overall in funds raised. [By Elise Moores]

Kevin Guthrie joined Helen Atkinson, Steve Sorah and John Osborne for a UK team volunteer day in London on October 13th, 2014.

The team helped The Conservation Volunteers, a UK environmental charity, to help kick-start their autumn and winter woodland management programme in the Leaf Yard Wood in Regents Park, in the heart of London.

This involved keeping access to the woodland open, clearing bramble and ivy from pathways, as well as coppicing hazel and ash trees, and creating habitats for wildlife such as deadwood hedges.

[Helen Atkinson]

The Wood is generally only opened to the public during guided nature walks and is one of the richest areas for the number of species of fauna and flora and also holds one of three pairs of Tawny Owls that breed in Central London.

We all got stuck in, in pretty wet conditions, and made particular progress creating a fantastic dead hedge for wildlife to hibernate in. You’ll have to take our word for it though as we forgot to take before and after pictures. [by John Osborne]

Sabina Frison, in Connecticut, volunteered at her children’s school for the Mathewson Fall Book Fair. [Sabina in photo above with two children from Mathewson Elementary School.] It was a great event, where students were able to purchase a variety of books at discounted prices.

It was a two day event, Oct 6th and 8th, from 11am – 3pm, where she helped with the set-up, cash register, and guided students to the right book sections, etc. Events like this are great for children as they create excitement for the kids, help them become proficient readers, and enrich their knowledge!
[by Sabina Frison]

On September 21st, Sabina Frison volunteered as a Course Marshall for the CT Cycling Festival. This annual event is organized by CCAP (Connecticut Cycling Advancement Program) and draws large crowds year after year as some of the best professional and amateur cyclists race through downtown Hartford, Connecticut.

Sabina loves this organization because every event encourages and assists non-cyclists and juniors in the pursuit of the sport of cycling. As a Course Marshall, she made sure racers stay on track and pedestrians stay out of track. The spot she was in charge of was specifically challenging, so she was able to experience number of crashes!

Thankfully no one was seriously injured and she is happy to report it was another great cycling event that the whole community truly enjoyed! [By Sabina Frison]