Orange County Blog

Homelessness, Hunger, Poverty: A Reality in Orange County
Let’s join with The Orange County Register in helping those in need during 2011’s Season of Caring. http://www2.ocregister.com/about_us/seasonofcaring/

The 2011 Season of Caring campaign recipients include the following Orange County charities:

Casa Youth Shelter - The purpose of Casa Youth Shelter is to provide temporary shelter for runaways and youth in crisis, enabling them to come through the crisis with an increased personal strength and a sense of renewal while in a supportive environment, with family reunification as a primary goal.

Project Dignity - Project Dignity is a 501c3 nonprofit organization serving Orange County’s homeless population. In 2010 Project Dignity's 16 volunteers provided over 2,000 hours of service to nearly 10,000 individuals, distributed over 130,000 pounds of food and clothing, assisted 400 children with school enrollment and distributed 1600 gifts at various events; and hundreds of books.

Providence Speech and Hearing Center - Enriching life through the gifts of speech and hearing by offering a one-of-a-kind experience where patients receive care with advanced technology and a supportive, optimistic vibe.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County - Working to eliminate hunger in Orange County.  In partnership with over 470 member charities, the Food Bank helps feed more than 240,000 individuals each month. Those served include the working poor, children, seniors on fixed incomes, single parents, the disabled, the homeless and individuals experiencing medical emergencies or recent job layoffs.

The Salvation Army Orange County – Provides emergency shelter, food, career counseling, substance abuse rehabilitation, youth center programs, and senior citizen programs. In addition, The Salvation Army's services include a home for unwed mothers, a missing person’s bureau, a residence for destitute AIDS victims, prison visitations, food pantries, assisted living homes and English as a second language classes.

Community SeniorServ – Provides healthy, tasty meals to adult day health care centers, adult day care centers, and seniors throughout Orange County. More than 15,000 clients are served annually with 1.5 million meals delivered. The majority of these clients are below the poverty line.

Orangewood Children’s Foundation – Provides innovative services for abused and neglected children and at risk families to end the cycle of child abuse. The Foundation focuses on transitioning emancipated foster youth, supporting children in foster care, sustaining the Orangewood Children’s Home, and strengthening at risk families.

Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Service - Provides emergency food, transitional housing and other support services to the hungry and homeless in our community.

 

 

Did you know that approximately 24,000 parents and their children are homeless in Orange County on any given night?  Enter HomeAid Orange County –

HomeAid Orange County is the founding chapter of a national non-profit organization with the mission to build and maintain dignified housing where homeless families and individuals can rebuild their lives.  Their vision is to be a vital force in eliminating homelessness.

And now HomeAid Orange County’s Project Playhouse has arrived in Irvine Spectrum for its 20th anniversary.  The Playhouse Village will remain on display for five weeks in the Edwards Courtyard. Take a sneak peak at the amazing creations at Playhouse Photo Gallery www.projectplayhouse.org/cat5.php The Playhouse Village Tour tickets will be available for purchase at the Playhouse Village during operating hours from 12:00 – 6:00 pm every weekend until Sunday, November 6th. Tour tickets are only $2 for both adults and kids. 

With the support of the community, HomeAid has renovated or constructed 47 housing developments in Orange County providing refuge for homeless men, women, and children. (The Coto de Caza News, Oct.7, 2011)
For more information, please visit:
http://www.homeaidoc.org/
http://www.projectplayhouse.org/

Sand Dollar Guild’s California Cruising Event Benefits Ocean Institute

Dana Point – On Sunday, August 28, 2011, The Sand Dollar Guild is having their annual California Cruising event. Event goers will experience an evening of lively surf music, a sampling of delicious food from local restaurants, a classic Woodie Car display, and casino –themed fun. Guests can try their luck at casino games, enter opportunity drawing and bid for some great silent auction items.

The proceeds of this event benefit the Ocean Institute, nationally known for its hands-on marine science, environmental and ocean education, and maritime history programs. More than 110,000 k-12 students and 8,000 teachers annually participate in the Institute’s 61 award winning programs.

Since 1988 the Sand Dollar Guild has been dedicated to furthering the education goals of the Ocean Institute by fundraising activities and events. To date the Sand Dollar guild has raised over 1.3 million dollars helping with the capital campaign for the new building, purchasing items over the years to enhance the education programs, ocean in motion van, sails for the pilgrim, squid lights, just to name a few. The new goal is to raise funds for the seaside learning center.

California Cruising
Sunday, August 28, 2011
4:00 to 8:00 pm
Location: Ocean Institute, Samueli Lecture Hall and Conference Center

For more information how to purchase tickets to the event contact
Natasha Berenzden
nberenzden@ocean-institute.org
(949) 496-2274, ext. 412

To learn more about the Sand Dollar Guild go to: www.sanddollarguild.org

The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a lifechanging event which brings people together to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and empower individuals and communities to fight back against a disease that takes too much.

Teams of 8-15 members gather with tents and sleeping bags to camp out at a local high school, park, orfairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events, and each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times.

What Makes Relay so Unique?

Relay For Life gives us an opportunity to celebrate, remember, and fight back. We celebrate cancer
survivors by inviting them to participate in the Survivors Lap, the first lap around the track. The Luminaria Ceremony is another highlight of the event. A Luminaria is a small bag filled with sand, containing a candle that makes it glow. Each Luminaria bears the name of a person who has battled cancer. At dusk, we light all the candles along the path. They burn into the night, honoring and memorializing those who have faced cancer, lighting a path of hope. The event closes with the upbeat fight back ceremony, which reminds us that we have the power to change the course of this disease.

How Can I Get Involved?
To get information on volunteering, becoming a sponsor, or forming a team, call the American Cancer
Society’s office at 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit http://www.relayforlife.org..

To see a complete list of Relay events in Orange County, take a look at the Relay for Life Quick Link.

 

Looking for an easy way to make a difference?  Take a look at Cell Phones for Soldiers

Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to turn old cell phones into more than 12 million minutes of prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas in 2008. To do so, Cell Phones for Soldiers expects to collect 50,000 cell phones each month through a network of more than 3,000 collection sites across the country.

The phones are sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone – enough to provide an hour of talk time to soldiers abroad.

“Americans will replace an estimated 130 million cell phones this year,” says Mike Newman, vice president of ReCellular, “with the majority of phones either discarded or stuffed in a drawer.  Most people don’t realize that the small sacrifice of donating their unwanted phones can have a tremendous benefit for a worthy cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers.”

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $2 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

“Cell Phones for Soldiers started as a small way to show our family’s appreciation for the men and women who have sacrificed the day-to-day contact with their own families to serve in the U.S. armed forces,” says the teens’ father, Bob Bergquist. “Over the past few years, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of others. But, we have also seen the need to support our troops continue to grow as more troops are sent overseas for longer assignments.”

Through increased fundraising efforts, the Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $9 million in the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones with prepaid service to allow soldiers abroad to see their families on a regular basis.

For more information on this worthy program and learn how you can help, visit http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/index.html

Advertising, pricing items & having strangers in your home is not the way you want to spend your valuable time. So what do you do with the beautiful sofa that just doesn’t fit your décor anymore?

Consider Furnishing Hope.

Furnishing Hope was founded to provide a home-like environment for kids and families in stressful situations. Recipients include: graduates of the foster care system,qualifying new homeowners,homeless veterans, the developmentally disabled and families who have lost their home to fire.

With your donations, a network of designers & volunteers use their skills to transform the environment of each home; giving those in need the opportunity to experience life with the comfort of living in pleasant & cheerful surroundings.

Orange County Assoc. of Realtors (OCAR) & Furnishing Hope are looking for donations to outfit remaining homes in Habitat for Humanity’s “Habitat for Heroes and Foundation for Families” neighborhood.

For more information:
(949) 644-9106
www.FurnishingHope.org

Thinking About Having a Garage Sale This Weekend? THINK AGAIN!