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Carter Work Project Day 1: ‘A Culture of Kindness’

October 7, 2013 By
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carter-work-project-habitat-for-humanity-east-bay-silicon-valley-jimmy-carter-rosalynn-carter-volunteers-kindnessI spent the day with dozens of volunteers today in San Jose for Day 1 of Habitat for Humanity’s Carter Work Project. One of the best lines of the day was from a long-time volunteer who told me she volunteers because of Habitat’s “culture of kindness.”

Best moment of the day: when a member of one of the partner families—someone who thought she’d never be able to purchase a home in her lifetime—was in tears when I asked her what being able to purchase a Habitat home means to her. She could barely speak.

My day as a volunteer started at 6:30 a.m. at Lake Cunningham Park in East San Jose to help at the registration tables, before heading off to work sites to interview people and take photos as a Social Media Volunteer. Of the volunteers I met today, most were from around the Bay Area, but some were from as far away as Los Angeles.

Tomorrow’s day starts at 6 a.m., to greet the hundreds of volunteers showing up to work with President Jimmy Carter, his wife Rosalynn, and country music stars and husband and wife Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood. The couples worked in Oakland today.

Here are some other highlights from the day: [Read more…]

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Habitat’s Carter Work Project in Bay Area Begins!

October 7, 2013 By
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president-jimmy-carter-rosalyn-carter-work-project-habitat-for-humanity-east-bay-silicon-valleyThis morning marks the beginning of the 30th anniversary Carter Work Project (CWP), Habitat for Humanity’s annual large-scale volunteer event, and I am ready for the roller coaster ride about to launch here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I volunteered to be a “Social Media Volunteer” in San Jose for the week-long service event. Mostly I’ll be doing what I always do as a journalist, interviewing people, taking photos, and writing stories, only on the fly around San Jose. I’ll also be sending bits of content to the people in charge of Habitat’s media for tweets and other social media posts throughout each day.

I’ve wanted to be a volunteer for the CWP for more than 20 years, but family, work, finances, and distance have all been a factor in not signing up. The special service and fundraising event is held in a different location every year, in the U.S. and abroad. When I heard this past spring that the CWP was coming to the Bay Area, I jumped at the chance to help. [Read more…]

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‘Unless’ Carnival For Those Who Care a Whole Awful Lot

October 6, 2013 By
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Hana Reinhardt and Cole, a Humane Society Silicon Valley foster dog.

An 11-year-old girl is inspiring her Sunnyvale church to take a page out of Dr. Seuss “The Lorax”, and host an “Unless” Carnival on Saturday, Oct. 12, to raise money and awareness for rescued pets and homeless people, and make the world a better place along the way.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not,” says The Lorax in the famous children’s book. That quote became the basis for the “Unless” Carnival, led by Hana Reinhardt of Congregational Community Church, who took hold of the carnival idea and drummed up support from others to make it a reality.

The carnival will feature game booths, a rummage sale, food, prizes, and animals ready for adoption. All the proceeds will go to the Humane Society Silicon Valley, and the Faith In Action Silicon Valley Rotating Shelter. It takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the church, 1112 S. Bernardo Ave., Sunnyvale.

“We will have something for people of all ages to enjoy,” Hana said in a church press release. When asked how much a carnival can do to make a difference for the homeless people and animals, Hana responded, “When we help even just one, it makes a difference to that one.” [Read more…]

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Five Ways to be a Good Neighbor in October

October 1, 2013 By
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Bay-Area-Pet-Fair-Adoptathon-pet-adoptions-be-a-good-neighborThe Federal Government may be temporarily shut down, but the business of being a good neighbor is always open, which is why I present to you the monthly “Five Ways” column. This month is probably the best month to act on one of these suggestions, because chances are you alone can’t change what’s happening at the national level at the moment, but you can absolutely make a difference in at least one life in your own neighborhood.

Got more ideas for how to be a good neighbor? Tell us in comments!

1. Adopt a Rescued Pet: There are many opportunities to adopt a rescued pet this month, starting October 5-6 at the Bay Area Pet Fair and Adoptathon. In addition to hundreds of dogs, cats, and small animals available for adoption, the fair features stunt dog shows, splash dogs, police K9 units, 200 pet supply vendors, activities for kids, and much more. Admission and parking is free at the event, which takes place 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days at the Marin Center, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. For more dog rescue events this month, check out the Doggie Protective Services website.  Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue is hosting an adoption event from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Brentwood Shadow Lakes Golf Course Event Center, 401 West Country Club Dr., in Brentwood. You can find out more about this event, and other Mickaboo October events at the group’s website.  [Read more…]

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Funds Needed for Poster Asking Us to See, Not Watch, Our Neighbors

September 12, 2013 By
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see-my-neighbors-not-watch-poster-Micah-Bazant-Reach-and-Teach-Indiegogo-crowdraising“I don’t watch my neighbors. I see them.”

So starts a poster recently created by San Francisco Bay Area artist Micah Bazant, to promote seeing our neighbors with compassion, rather than suspicion. The team at Reach and Teach in San Mateo, and Bazant, are partnering to promote the poster on Indiegogo, a crowdsourcing platform for raising money and awareness for charitable causes.

Reach and Teach is seeking $2,000 to fund the first print run of posters, to be sold for $10 each. A portion of the sales will go to Bazant, and another portion will go to the Oakland organization, Justice for Families, which originally commissioned the poster. Fundraising started Aug. 14, and ends Sept. 20. The project had raised more than $1,100 as of Sept. 11. [Read more…]

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San Francisco Vigil For Missing Bay Area Young Men This Weekend

September 10, 2013 By
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Jackson Miller

Jackson Miller

The families of five young men last seen in San Francisco are banding together for a vigil at 2 p.m., this Saturday, Sept. 14, in Golden Gate Park to raise awareness and advocate for more police involvement in search efforts.

“Why are five young men, most of them in their early twenties, missing from San Francisco?”, asks a press release for the vigil. “What is San Francisco Police doing to help locate the missing young men?”

The five families are hoping that the public vigil and the sharing of their “heart wrenching stories”, will bring new light to the missing men’s cases, which are going cold as time passes.

One of the families behind the vigil is that of Jackson Miller, 23, who went missing three years ago on May 15, 2010, from his home in Cupertino. His car and identification were found in San Francisco, and witness sightings place him in the city after the disappearance. He is considered an “endangered adult”, yet he remains missing despite many search parties, media, and other efforts by his parents, Paul Miller and Gina Funaro, family, and friends. [Read more…]

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Church Pieces Together Healing for San Bruno

September 9, 2013 By
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Bethany Presbyterian member Roberta Henry with the mural.

Three years after a massive explosion along a PG&E gas pipeline underneath a San Bruno neighborhood, a local church is helping the community heal using shattered bits of ceramics and glass from the blast itself in a poignant mosaic.

Three of the eight people killed on Sept. 9, 2010, were members of the Bullis family and Bethany Presbyterian Church—Lavonne, 82, her son Greg, 50, and his son William, 17.

All that was left of the Bullis home were pieces of cups, saucers, and Christmas decorations from Lavonne Bullis’ collections. Lavonne’s daughter, Jeannie Bullis Young, found shards of the orchid pattern china used when the family gathered for Easter and summer birthdays, a small angel holding a harp, and a sweet nativity scene that once decorated the home at Christmas, along with other reminders of happier times.

Young and other stunned family members scooped up the remnants out of the ashes of the family home while escorted by emergency personnel and Red Cross workers days after the tragedy. They tucked away the fragments, not sure what they would do with them. [Read more…]

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Five Ways to be a Good Neighbor in September

September 3, 2013 By
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housing-one-housing-1000-silicon-valley-homelessness-five-ways-to-be-a-good-neighbor-september-2013Summer vacation is over and the rush into fall has officially begun. Before you rush ahead too far, consider carving out a little time to help others around you this month. Use one or more of our five suggestions below as a way to get started. Have more suggestions? Tell us in the comments section!

1. Help the Homeless: Cuts to Section 8 housing vouchers this month and sky high housing costs will most likely throw some Bay Area neighbors into homelessness, and will definitely keep those who are already homeless, and want to be housed, on the streets. Consider helping an organization in your community that is making significant progress in working to house people. Housing 1000 is a community campaign in the Silicon Valley that has been working the past two years to house 1,000 people by the end of 2013. As of July the campaign is still more than 50 percent away from that goal, but the efforts continue. You can help by visiting the Housing One website, where you can see stories of people Housing 1000 is helping and donate either toward specific clients, or more generally to the organization. For a sobering look at what we’re up against in the fight against homelessness in the Silicon Valley, see the Business Insider’s recent special report on the issue.

2. Volunteer in Honor of 9/11: Sept. 11 was declared a National Day of Service and Remembrance in 2009 to honor the fallen from the [Read more…]

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Islam: Separating Fact From Fiction Free Event in Sunnyvale, Aug. 22

August 19, 2013 By
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truthislam_1In an era of misinformation prompting fear and wondering about Islam and Muslims, a Sunnyvale church is hosting a free community dinner and discussion on Thursday, Aug. 22, featuring a Silicon Valley “Woman of Influence” who is the founder of a national Islamic outreach group, and a local Christian author of a new book on Islam.

The goal of  “Islam: Separating Fact From Fiction”, taking place at 6:30 p.m., inside Fellowship Hall at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church, 728 W. Fremont Ave., is to help people better understand their estimated 300,000 Muslim neighbors and coworkers here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Speakers Maha ElGenaidi, founder of Islamic Networks Group (ING), and Ben Daniel, a local Presbyterian pastor and author of The Search for Truth About Islam; A Christian Pastor Separates Fact From Fiction, will speak and answer audience questions.

Advanced registration is encouraged. Register at https://islamfactfromfiction.eventbrite.com. [Read more…]

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Five Ways to be a Good Neighbor in August

August 1, 2013 By
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Photo by Nikolaus Koumoundouros

Every month I give a shout out to five ways to be a good neighbor/better citizen/all-around-nicer person. It could be a special event, a kindness idea, or a volunteering opportunity. Check out this month’s suggestions, and chime in with your own ideas for August in the San Francisco Bay Area, or upcoming months.

1. Promote Peace: Commemorate the 68th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the 12th Annual Peace Lantern Ceremony, 6:30 to 9 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 3, at the north end of Aquatic Park in Berkeley. All ages are invited to decorate shades for the lanterns, listen to music and messages, and then participate in floating the lanterns between 8 and 9 p.m. If you’ve got time during the day, consider volunteering to set up the event.

2. Practice Forgiveness: The first Sunday of every August is International Forgiveness Day, and this year the Bay Area’s Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance is sponsoring an extraordinary event at 7 p.m., on Aug. 4, to [Read more…]

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