- Part 19

Eighth Grader Making Birthday Wishes Come True For Less Fortunate Kids

April 3, 2012 By Pam Marino

Every child has a birthday wish. But some children from poor or homeless families don’t get those wishes fulfilled, which is why eighth grader Yasmine Davis decided to step in and make a difference.

Davis and her family are founders of the nonprofit Make a Birthday Wish, which provides presents and birthday parties for more than 300 disadvantaged children and teens in the Silicon Valley.

Along with her mom, Nike McDonald, Davis shops for presents for children and teenagers, then throws a party complete with decorations and cake for all the birthday boys and girls of one month. The children and teens are matched to Make a Birthday Wish through West Valley Community Services (WVCS).

“The kids all have a wish list, so we try and get them what’s on the wish list so they’ll be happy with their presents,” Davis said. “And even if we can’t they’re still really happy with the birthday party.”

While not shopping, planning, and party hosting—a volunteer job that keeps her busy for up to eight hours every weekend and sometimes after school—Davis is a student at Kennedy Middle School in Cupertino, where she keeps up good grades and plays sports. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: children, homeless, Make a Birthday Wish, Nike McDonald, teens, West Valley Community Services, Yasmine Davis

Five Ways to Be a Good Neighbor in April

April 2, 2012 By Pam Marino

It’s April, which means spring is now in full swing. Opportunities to be a good neighbor around Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are sprouting as fast as seedlings in the warm sun.

Here are five ways to do good for others (and yourself) this month.

1. Drive Focused: April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The California Highway Patrol and other local departments plan on cracking down on distracted driving all month as a way to bolster public awareness of this dangerous problem. Using a cell phone while driving—hand-held or hands-free—delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent, according to one university study. And text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted. Find out more at Distraction.gov. In the meantime, officials want everyone to take the pledge to drive distraction free, and to encourage others to do the same.

2. Knit for a Cause: A group of people who love to knit and crochet get together regularly to create hats and scarves for Sacred Heart Community Services. Called One Brink Knits, it’s a part of the One Brick Silicon Valley group that helps connect volunteers with service projects. Don’t know how to knit or crochet? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: Beautiful Day, Drive Less Challenge, Earth Day, Five Ways to be a Good Neighbor, knitting, National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, National Volunteer Week, One Brick Silicon Valley

Pitch In to Take Freeways From Trashy to Beautiful

March 28, 2012 By Pam Marino

With shrinking state coffers translating into mushrooming piles of litter along California freeways, one organization is collaborating with Caltrans to give residents a chance to pitch in and clean up at the end of April.

The nonprofit group Beautiful Day is organizing a massive week-long service event by the same name in the San Jose area April 21-29, including what organizers are calling Trash It, three days of cleaning up debris along Silicon Valley freeways.

“I hate driving on the highway and seeing all the litter there, especially when people from other states come into visit. I want to be proud of my state,” said Trash It team leader Kristy Espinoza. “I feel like I’m doing my part to be organizing such a large event to get rid of litter.”

Beautiful Day is looking for 600 adult volunteers to participate Friday, April 27 through Sunday, April 29. There are five total shifts that weekend, with one on Friday morning, and two each on Saturday and Sunday, morning and afternoon. Each shift is about three hours long. Volunteers will meet at one of four Caltrans yards in Cupertino, Milpitas and San Jose.

Trash It signups are underway now at the Beautiful Day website, along with signups for the group’s other projects during the service week. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: Beautiful Day, Caltrans, Kristy Espinoza, litter clean-up, Trash It

Reborn Homeless Shelter Puts Faith in Community

March 21, 2012 By Pam Marino

A rotating shelter for homeless men in the West Valley once cut in a budget-trimming move is now experiencing rebirth, thanks to a collaboration of more than 20 churches, community members, and businesses.

The newly incorporated nonprofit, Faith in Action Silicon Valley Rotating Shelter, is celebrating the grand opening of its program with a special benefit concert and reception for the entire community at 7 p.m., this Saturday, March 24, at the Congregational Community Church, 1112 S. Bernardo Ave., Sunnyvale.

Faith in Action volunteers reopened the once defunct shelter earlier this month at the first in a series of eight host congregations in Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Saratoga that are opening their doors for one month at a time.

The shelter can house up to 15 men who are actively working toward jobs and permanent homes. Eligible shelter guests are allowed to stay up to 90 days.

Facing Uncertainty

It’s a big success for the group, which faced a lot of uncertainty when the original Faith in Action rotating shelter was shut down three years ago, after nearly two decades of operation through the help of West Valley Community Services (WVCS). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Nonprofits Tagged With: Cathey Edwards, Faith in Action Silicon Valley Rotating Shelter, Gary Bouchard, homeless shelter, Orrin Mahoney, Pat Vorreiter

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Day

March 20, 2012 By Pam Marino

It’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Day, the day that marks Mister Rogers’ birthday. It’s a big day in Pittsburgh, PA., where Rogers lived, but the day is catching on elsewhere as a time to do something nice for others in the spirit of his neighborliness. Wearing a sweater is an optional, but a fun part of the tradition.

Fred Rogers would have been 84 today. He died Feb. 27, 2003, of stomach cancer, less than two months after he served as grand marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby. Rogers made an impact on childrens television like few others. In his own soft spoken way he became America’s neighbor.

So “make the most of this beautiful day,” and wear your favorite sweater (and if so inclined, submit a photo of you in said sweater to The Fred Rogers Company). And make sure to do something neighborly for someone you encounter today.

You could be a neighbor to this website by encouraging your friends on Facebook to “like” our Facebook page, or your Twitter followers to follow our Twitter page. If you do either of those things by midnight tonight, you’ll be entered in a drawing for the book, The World According to Mister Rogers; Important Things to Remember.

Have a wonderful day, Neighbor.

Filed Under: Community, Good Neighbor Tagged With: Fred Rogers, Mister Rogers, neighborliness, The World According to Mister Rogers, Won't You Be My Neighbor Day

Free Tax Help Available in Bay Area; Use Our Interactive Map

March 19, 2012 By Pam Marino

Hundreds of volunteers are being deployed throughout the San Francisco Bay area to help the region’s poorest tax payers prepare their taxes this year, thanks to regional United Way agencies, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and local nonprofits and businesses.

The tax help for those making less than $50,000 a year is available at 200 locations. Below is an interactive map created by Good Neighbor Stories showing locations in Santa Clara County. Clicking on the map links to a page that includes a full list on the left-hand side of the page.

According to the Earn it!Keep It! Save It! program led by United Way of the Bay Area, less than five percent of those eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are not taking advantage of the free tax preparation. Many turn to commercial tax preparers paying between $150 and $300, which officials estimate costs $2.2 million annually in the Bay Area alone.

“Unfortunately, thousands of low-income taxpayers are not taking advantage of our free, expert tax preparation,” said Kelly Batson, director of Earn It! Keep It! Save It! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: earned income tax credit, income taxes, interactive map, IRS, Kelly Batson, Tax Couseling for the Elderly, United Way of the Bay Area, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

Don’t Leave it to Luck: Designate a Driver on St. Pat’s Day

March 16, 2012 By Pam Marino

The best way to be a good neighbor on St. Patrick’s Day is to make sure friends don’t get behind the wheel while impaired. The California Highway Patrol and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are urging people to serve as designated drivers.

MADD officials said the popular holiday has become “quite dangerous” due to a large volume of impaired drivers. On St. Patrick’s Day in 2009, 37 percent of the crash fatalities that day involved alcohol, according to the MADD website.

This year the organization has coupons you can print or send to others celebrating the designated driver status. “Kiss Me…Tonight I’m DD”, and “Keep Luck on Your Side; Don’t Drink and Drive”, are available at no charge. You can even upload a photo and insert it in the middle of a four-leaf clover on the “Luck” coupon.

The CHP announced it will be on the lookout for impaired drivers this weekend.

“Driving under the influence is just not an option,” said CHP Chief Teresa Becher in a statement this week. “If you sit behind the steering wheel of a vehicle and make the decision to drink excessively and drive, you are putting lives in danger. It could be your parent, a spouse, a child, a friend, whose life maybe erased in just seconds.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: CHP, designated drivers, drunk driving, impaired driving, MADD, mothers against drunk driving, Sober Drivers, St. Patrick's Day

Enter to Win Our Mister Rogers Book Giveaway in Honor of ‘Neighbor’ Day

March 16, 2012 By Pam Marino

In honor of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Day on Tuesday, March 20—the day that marks Mister Rogers’ birthday—Good Neighbor Stories is giving away copies of The World According to Mister Rogers in a special drawing. We’re asking our readers to help us meet more neighbors by introducing friends to the website!

To be eligible to win a free copy of the Mister Rogers book you either need to ask your Facebook friends to “Like” Good Neighbor Stories, or ask your Twitter followers to follow our Twitter account. When you do either of those things between 8 a.m. PDST, Friday, March 16, and 12 midnight PDST, on Tuesday, March 20, your name will be entered into the drawing. You can increase your chances of winning by doing both. Don’t forget to tag us in your status update so we know you’ve promoted the site. We’ll pick two winners on Wednesday, March 21.

In the meantime, think about how to meet some new neighbors yourself this week as a way to remember America’s best neighbor ever.

Filed Under: Good Neighbor Tagged With: Fred Rogers, Good Neighbor Stories, Mister Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers, Won't You Be My Neighbor Day

Eighth Grader Making Birthday Wishes Come True For Less Fortunate Kids

Five Ways to Be a Good Neighbor in April

Pitch In to Take Freeways From Trashy to Beautiful

Reborn Homeless Shelter Puts Faith in Community

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Day

Free Tax Help Available in Bay Area; Use Our Interactive Map

Don’t Leave it to Luck: Designate a Driver on St. Pat’s Day

Enter to Win Our Mister Rogers Book Giveaway in Honor of ‘Neighbor’ Day

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