CEO OF SAN DIEGO'S NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE, NAMED TO LEAD UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS OF AMERICA
 
March 3, 2010 (San Diego) - As a small child, Rudolph Johnson learned school skills through the Head Start program. Today he runs it -- along with Neighborhood House,  Head Start's parent organization.  Later this month, Johnson will assume command of United Neighborhood Centers of America, taking a national leadership role in striving to help children in neighborhoods nationwide.
 
“I’m trying to model behavior for the children of San Diego—the next generation of leaders,” says Rudolph Johnson III, president and CEO of Neighborhood House Association in San Diego. “There were no role models when I was growing up. We are trailblazing.”

East County Mother-Daughter Philanthropic Organization Hosts  Fashion Show and Silent Auction 

February 22, 2010 (El Cajon).-SPRITES of East County, a mother-daughter philanthropic organization, will hold its 42nd annual fundraiser at Steele Canyon High School on Saturday, March 20 with all proceeds to benefit SPRITES supported charities. The theme of this year’s event is “Takin’ it to the Streets!”

By Miriam Raftery

February 21, 2010 (Julian) – “Mexican gray wolves are the rarest land animals in North America. They are highly endangered—there are only 52 in the wild,” said Erin Hunt, general manager of the California Wolf Center in Julian, which is open to the public, researchers, photographers, education and youth groups. “This is a binational effort," she added,  "because once, the only population left was in captivity.”

The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego has awarded the following individuals the Bishop’s Servant Ministry Award for outstanding service work in his or her church and community.

February 13, 2010 (San Diego)----San Diego Self Storage’s Jamacha Point facility in Spring Valley donated 100 corrugated boxes for shipping supplies to benefit earthquake victims in Haiti. The boxes transported items collected at the Light of the World Church, including clothing, medical supplies, food and water.

 
LIONS, TIGERS & BEARS IS RAISING FUNDS TO CREATE A COUGAR CONSERVATION AND EDUCATION STATION

February 6, 2010 (Alpine) – Shrinking habitat in San Diego’s backcountry has led to inevitable clashes between mountain lions, humans and domesticated animals. But unlike some predatory animals, mountain lions can't be repatriated after capture due to their large, exclusive territory (up to 100 square miles), drastically reduced amount of remote habitat, and the growing number of lions being captured.

With few places to take captured cougars, authorities often must kill these carnivores whose ranges conflict with people. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that between 100 and 135 mountain lions are killed in California each year.

February 4, 2010 (El Cajon)—On February 7, East County Bahá’í members will join supporters around the globe in offering prayers for Baha’i leaders in Iran, known as the “Yaran,” who have been held in prison for nearly two years for their religious beliefs.

The gathering will be held at 1:30 pm at the Rancho San Diego Branch Library, 11555 Via Rancho San Diego, in El Cajon. Relatives of Mrs. Kamalabadi, one of the prisoners, will be present for comment. The Baha’i community asks people of all faiths to “join in prayers and show their support for religious freedom.”

 
EVENT HONORS LONG-TIME SUPPORTERS ANN & DON WALKER
 
By Miriam Raftery
 
January 31, 2010 (El Cajon)—Home of Guiding Hands (HGH), the El Cajon-based nonprofit which has provided services and support for children and adults with developmental disabilities for over 40 years, will pay tribute to Ann and Don Walker at its “Heart and Hand Gala” at Loews Coronado Bay Resort on Saturday, Feb. 6. The gala is HGH’s largest fundraising event.
Over 300 revelers are expected to enjoy this year’s “Explore-Quest for the Forbidden Temple” theme--searching for hidden treasure, betting on silent and live auction items, enjoying a gourmet dinner with wine, and dancing to music of The Heroes--all while fulfilling favorite “Indiana Jones” fantasies.

 
January 29, 2010 (Mt. Helix) – Dr. Carolle Jean-Murat, founder of Angels For Haiti and Health Through Communications, was among the first to bring food and water to quake victims. Now she has teamed up with other local doctors to obtain thousands of dollars in donated orthopedic supplies. They seek additional supplies--and money to pay shipping costs.

At a fundraiser in her Mt. Helix home last weekend, Jean-Murat showed photos of homes ravaged by the quake—homes she helped build for Haiti’s impoverished people. Now she now aims to rebuild the homes, repair a damaged hospita, and bring much-needed medical care to the people.
 
VIEW  VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH DR. JEAN-MURAT, INCLUDING HER PHOTOS OF QUAKE DAMAGE & RELIEF EFFORTS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h-p-rTcLj4

January 28, 2010 -- Through the crisis and chaos in Haiti comes life – three new lives.

World Emergency Relief’s Rescue Task Force team from San Diego continues to save lives in Haiti. Darryl Hall, team leader, and the RTF team were delivering newly arrived medicines and medical supplies to a small clinic when they discovered a mother desperately holding onto her new babies. Her babies – triplets only hours old -- were fighting for their lives.

 
January 21, 2009 – Over 700 Salvation Army relief workers are in Haiti, bringing food and medical attention to earthquake survivors. Amid the devastation, there are some tiny miracles –including three babies born at the Salvation Army clinic since the quake struck (photo, left).
 
Locally, The Salvation Army Kroc Center’s Verge Theater Company invites you to an event on January 29 to raise money for Haitian relief.

Drop-off centers established around the County, including SDSU, UC, coastal and East San Diego areas

January 27, 2010 (San Diego) – “Watching the horrors unfold on television, we wanted our students, our future leaders, to understand that they can make a different in the world through Gimilut Hasadim, deeds of loving kindness,” said Dr. Jeffrey Davis, upper school principal at San Diego Jewish Academy.

The school is collecting supplies from the public through Friday to deliver to victims of the Haiti earthquake.

 
 

“We do not rest much. Every minute is the difference between life and death.” – Darryl Hall, team leader, Rescue Task Force
 
By Miriam Raftery

January 23, 2010 (San Diego) –International Relief Teams (IRT) and Rescue Task Force (RTF), two San Diego-based humanitarian organizations, were among the first to reach Haiti after the earthquake struck. Both teams have saved countless lives since their arrival, though much more help is needed.
 
Below are stories of their heroic efforts and their eyewitness accounts of one of the worst natural disasters in the western hemisphere.

 
 
IRT leader shares details in exclusive interview
 
By Marisa Kezirian and Miriam Raftery
 
January 21, 2010 (Haiti) – Last night a local rescue worker from International Rescue Team (IRT) in San Diego helped treat a five-year-old boy pulled from beneath a collapsed building in Haiti. Miraculously the child survived eight days without food or water, as far as rescuers can determine.
 
The boy was dehydrated but in remarkably good shape given his ordeal, emerging with what one TV newscaster has dubbed "the smile seen round the world."  Watch video on CNN or on IRT's website.
 
"Our own IRT volunteer Colleen Buono, MD helped to save the little boy,” Barry LaForgia, executive director of IRT in San Diego, told East County Magazine. 

 CHALDEANS & ASSYRIANS COMMEMMORATE 1600-YEAR-OLD SYNOD

 By Miriam Raftery

January 22, 2010 (El Cajon) – “We look forward to establishing a New Babylon. This is something many of us have dreamed of,” Bishop Bawai Soro, a Chaldean Christian from Iraq, told East County Magazine in an exclusive interview.

Soro is among an estimated 65,000 to 70,000 Iraqi Christians now living in the western U.S., of whom most are in East County. He provided insights into the plight of persecuted Christians in Iraq, the struggles faced by thousands of local Iraq War refugees, the rich heritage of their ancient culture, and his hopes for the future of his people. 

He spoke with us at the Catholic Diocese of St. Peter the Apostle in El Cajon, where Chaldean and Assyrian bishops led a symposium January 7-9 to commemorate the 1600th anniversary of the Synod of Mar Isaac in 401 AD.

January 22, 2010 (San Diego) -- Five years ago, San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) raised over 30 tons of donated supplies for Katrina victims in just four days. (photo). Starting Sunday, January 24th, the private school in Carmel Valley will seek to recreate those efforts for victims of the massive Haiti earthquake.

January 17, 2009 (San Diego) – Two San Diego organizations, International Relief Teams (IRT) and Rescue Task Force (RTF) are dispatching teams to aid victims of the devastating 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti last Tuesday. 

The situation is criticial with infrastructure destroyed including most hospitals, the major port, roadways and the palace. Hundreds of thousands are feared dead and many remain trapped in rubble, yet survivors continued to be pulled out of debris as late as today. 

January 16, 2010 (La Mesa) - Roy Springer, MD, a doctor with Center for Family Health in La Mesa, has presented an $11,000 check to the challenge Center, a nonprofit fitness club in La Mesa dedicated to helping people with disabilities achieve independence.

“This give will provide a lot of health and life skills for those most often overlooked in these areas,” said Challenge Center president and founder Bill Bodry.

January 15, 2010 (San Diego) – Vera Valdivia, a former San Diego resident and alumni of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, is in Haiti and seeks help from San Diego County residents for children in a Haitian orphanage that she co-founded and helped build. The 7.0 earthquake which struck Haiti earlier this week has destroyed the orphanage, East County Magazine has learned.

“As of right now, Valdivia and the orphanage children are living outside in the harsh, earthquake-ravaged conditions,” Denice Menard, communications coordinator for Thomas Jefferson School of Law informed ECM today. “The latest thing I heard is that they are not close enough to Port Au Prince, so they are not getting anything.”  The orphanage cares for approximately 60 children who are in need of food, milk, and other supplies.

 
Open House for Haiti fundraiser planned Jan. 23 on Mt. Helix
 

January 14, 2010 (Mt. Helix) – “It would say it’s an act of God,” Dr. Carolle Jean-Murat told East County Magazine upon learning that a hospital she has helped to support still stands amid the rubble of the 7.0 earthquake that ravaged Haiti. “People built it with their own hands…The hospital is still standing except for the E.R.," she said, "but many of the homes are flattened.”

GHANA TRIBAL CHIEF TO SPEAK AT FEB. 25 FUNDRAISER IN SAN DIEGO
 
January 12, 2010 (San Diego)--While living in Encinitas in 2008, Jacqueline Prairie decided to act upon a life-long dream of helping children in Africa.
 
At 21, long before mobile phones or internet connective, shetraveled to numerous African countries. She later found a career in information technology and education, resolving to bring access to information to the forgotten children in Africa. The thought of "teaching how to fish rather than giving a couple of fish" is the foundation of her dream to help the children.

December 28, 2009 (El Cajon) -- A few months ago, El Cajon Fire Captain Dave Rickards sent a group of Army Rangers based in Iraq the department’s Breast Cancer Awareness shirts. Through a mutual friend, Captain Rickards was able to send this care package of shirts along with some other items in a gesture to show support for our troops fighting in the Middle East.

According to Captain Rickards, “Members of the El Cajon Fire Department are proud to wear their department logos with the pink lettering, showing their support in the fight against breast cancer. Sharing that pride with our troops is an honor.”

December 25, 2009 (Spring Valley) – Eddie Arredondo enjoyed Christmas at his brother’s home in Spring Valley thanks to a holiday goodwill project from American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance service. Arredondo, who suffers decreased mobility and muscle contractures, resides and receives care at Windsor Gardens Golden Hills.

“Anyone who has been away from home during the holiday season knows the longing that comes with missing that special time with family,” said Travis Kusman, operations manager for AMR San Diego. “AMR’s paramedics and EMTs look forward to this project every year. Our caregivers often build personal relationships with nursing homes and their residents, and ‘Home for the Holiday’ let’s our dispatchers and crews interact with the nursing home staffs, their residents and families in a warm light.”

Dear Readers,

December 14, 2009 (San Diego) -- Did you know that 200 homeless people a year die on the streets of San Diego? That’s what a counselor who works with the homeless told me at our holiday party last night. Children account for 39% of all homeless people nationally—and families are the fastest growing segment. This holiday season, as most people are opening gifts and enjoying warm meals, nearly 10,000 homeless men, women and children are living on the streets or in their cars, enduring bitter cold, hunger, and hopelessness. Many have lost their jobs and homes in this difficult economy. Fortunately, there are some things that each of us can do to help this holiday season.

46 Back Packs for severely wounded military packed and ready to ship

 
December 6, 2009 (San Diego) -- Today, World Emergency Relief (WER) does not have to travel thousands of miles to provide for needs. Through its program, Project NOT Forgotten, WER provides backpacks to returning severely wounded military personnel. Medical care is so good today that a severely wounded serviceman (or woman!) can be in a bed here in a U.S. Military hospital in three days. However, they are often med-evaced so quickly that all of there personal belongings are left behind.

By Penny Raftery

Photos by Miriam Raftery and Leon Thompson

December 5, 2009 (El Cajon) – It was a frisky romp through Wells Park this morning, where I joined a pack of other dogs and their owners in the first-ever “Jingle Paws!” walk to benefit El Cajon’s Animal Shelter. Much to my delight, I discovered even more entertaining activities—such as a canine agility course, bobbing for hotdogs, vendors selling every imaginable gift item any dog could want, and even a visit from Santa Paws…er, Claus.

 
Fundraising prank takes wing
 
By Kristin Kjaero
 
December 1, 2009 - - If you’ve wondered what’s up with those pink flamingo flocks you’ve been seeing around East County, wonder no more. In a clever response to charity fundraising in a down economy, San Diego La Hermanas  is stealth-flocking people’s yards.
 
The group sneaks into people’s yards at night (at the request of friends or colleagues), to leave a flock of the plastic yard decorations and a sign requesting a donation of $20 or more to send them on to the yard of your choice.

 
 
By Gina McGalliard
November 30, 2009 (La Mesa) --The Academy of Performing Arts, San Diego’s acclaimed dance studio which has sent numerous students on to professional ranks, has just relocated to La Mesa. The new four-studio home is located at 5120 Baltimore Drive in the same shopping center with a Discount Dance Supply Store.
“There’s so many [of our] dancers that have done Broadway, film, television, everything.  We've been really fortunate to see all these former students doing so much work,” says APA  owner Kevin Patterson.  Patterson co-founded APA along with “Liam Harney, , a two-time world champion in Irish step dancing and star of the London production of Riverdance.