Stories of Giving from Michelle Garcia

We would like to tell you about Chantel Lopez and her non-profit organization Athletic Dreams. We believe that Mrs. Lopez’ selfless efforts to create and coach our daughters special needs cheer team makes her deserving of this recognition. Mrs. Lopez has continuously demonstrated her willingness to go above and beyond to benefit our children. Mrs. Lopez was driven by her passion for special needs children to create a competitive cheer team and organization that previously did not exist in our community. Mrs. Lopez has embraced what all children with disabilities deserve and has created this amazing cheer program for children with Autism. We are a small group of parents that just want to provide our children (who have many challenges) with the same opportunities that other children have. Mrs. Lopez has offered that to our girls. In addition to all the hours she puts in at the gym, Mrs. Lopez is the mother of four. Her three youngest children have challenges of their own. She has extended her personal experiences into the community to help others. By definition, autistic children experience a delay in social skills compared to their peers. Social skills are the foundation for a child to be able to function independently in school, work or maintain meaningful relationships with others. Social skills therapies for special needs children are not routinely provided by school or by health plans. For all of these reasons, as parents of special needs children, we recognize the importance of having our girls participate in numerous social skills groups and sport related activities. It is quite ingenious how Mrs. Lopez has combined her success in using applied behavioral analysis with her own children and her coaching abilities to provide this wonderful opportunity for our girls to experience being part of a team. She is patient, kind, caring and understanding to each of the girl’s needs and challenges and works with them accordingly. She has the ability to look beyond ones individual disability and identify the individuals’ strengths. She then collectively brings the strengths together creating a cohesive team environment. We admire Mrs. Lopez’ ability to see past the disabilities and challenges by having each team member do something we as parents would never have dreamed of them doing. She believes in them, treats them with respect. She gives of her own time every practice, regardless if there are one or five girls in attendance. Her time is spent making them achieve their goals. Her devotion to making our girls part of a “bigger picture” and “accepted by all” is seen each time we gather to practice. The world becomes a better place due to simple acts of compassion. Mrs. Lopez brings this to a whole other level. Her compassion directly impacts the special needs team. She teaches the typical cheerleaders tolerance for children with special needs. She has recruited these cheerleaders to volunteer their time to serve as role models and facilitate teaching our girls the cheer routines. Mrs. Lopez instills in them a sense of fulfillment by helping coach our girls to become part of their unique team. She’s utilizing the volunteer cheerleaders’ skills and talents to help others. While providing valuable opportunities to teach acceptance, compassion and build character for all who volunteer. Coach Chantel and these young women give from their hearts when working with our girls. The experience of participating in this program has given our daughters huge physical and personal growth. Each team member has gained confidence, friendships and the sense of “belonging”. These are all important areas that are often lacking for children with Autism and various other conditions. Mrs. Lopez has gone above and beyond to bring an inclusive competitive cheer program to our area that is making a difference in the lives of children with Autism and other special needs. She goes above and beyond by looking past individual limitations. Instead, she see’s their possibilities are limitless! There are no words for how much we appreciate what Mrs. Lopez has done to benefit our children who have so many challenges. Mrs. Lopez deserves recognition for her dedication and determination to make these children with disabilities gleam with pride at their own accomplishments. It is with enormous appreciation for her dedication to special needs children that we share Mrs. Lopez Story of Giving. Sincerely, Michelle Garcia, Nan Doyle, Sandra Zaragoza-Kaneki, Deanne Bialy, and Jodi Crutchfield Parents of the Shining Stars Team

Story of Giving from Elizabeth Alvarez

John Griffith is a conservationist, and devoted educator to young people about the health of the planet, and the care of animals. He has been writing stories and articles since he was 11 years old - he is now in his early 40s. Through his books in the Totem Magic series, John empowers young people to take personal action in the stewardship of the planet. John's writing is both original and humorous - John personally pays for the publication of his books, and ALL profits from sale of book go directly to conservation nonprofits, including The Ojai Raptor Center; Center for Diversity and the Environment; the California Conservation Corps, among others. Thank you for considering the Totem Magic mission in your annual Stories of Giving program. TotemMagic.com

Story of Giving from Anonymous

Mackenzie Dandoy has contributed more than 5,000 philanthropic hours over the past six years in the name of NCL. Not only is Mackenzie a great representative for National Charity League, the organization itself should be recognized for the ongoing commitment to philanthropic service to our local communities. During her six years as a Ticktocker with the Foothill Chapter of National Charity League, Mackenzie has performed a remarkable amount of service hours to the community. All tolled, her philanthropic efforts have surpassed 5,000 hours! What an amazing feat! (And we're not even done with the 2012-2013 year yet!) The breakdown is as follows through early December, 2012: Volunteering (onsite hours): 759 Donated items (offsite hours): 692.50 Handmade items: 3,556 hours (this is truly astonishing!) We are all thankful for her wonderful service to the various philanthropies we serve.

Story of Giving from Veronica Pantaleon

My passion for community service started in the Spring of 2012. I’m a business major at California State University Fullerton and a member of America’s foremost business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi. One of the things Delta Sigma Pi teaches is “he profits most who serves best.” You receive rewards from giving whether it be the acknowledgment of your peers or just the satisfaction of knowing you've made a positive impact in the world. Prior to pledging, I did not have any significant experience in giving back to the community. I've done indirect things like raising money for charities and giving money to the poor but nothing that directly involved donating my time and effort to serve the community. We were required to plan a community service event as part of our pledging program, and my pledge class chose to do our event at Isaiah House, a homeless shelter in Orange County. Lea, the owner of Isaiah House, greeted us and put us to work right away. There were many regular volunteers who were in charge of transporting donations of clothes, food, toiletries, and other miscellaneous supplies to the shelter. As they arrived we would sort out the donations and move them into storage areas. A group of four generous people are involved in running Isaiah House, but a lot of the work is also handled by volunteers who come to help prepare meals for the homeless and to help the owners of the shelter with upkeep. Making meals for the poor made me realize how much we take a warm meal and a roof over our heads for granted. It made me thankful for what I have to see what others don’t have. When we were finished with our assigned tasks, Lea told us about the history of Isaiah House. She founded it along with her husband and another volunteer. They live at Isaiah House and run it because they want to live their faith by doing charitable works. She talked about how rewarding it was to help people, and how she succeeded in providing a place for homeless people to stay when other shelters were closed or had limited space. Her humbleness and dedication to giving inspired me to pursue more opportunities to give back to the community and become the Vice President of Community Service for my chapter of Delta Sigma Pi.

Story of Giving from Anonymous

Gratitude is something that can take many faces. I am grateful for the opportunity my family and I had in knowing Gary Troyer.

Gary Troyer had a resume that extends beyond the capacity of this submission. He had a distinguished career at Pomona College influencing and inspiring the lives of hundreds of student athletes in both water polo and swimming. Gary also was a SCUBA instructor and taught a variety of other water sports while keeping an eye on his other love, football.

To those who did not know Gary, he could appear to be gruff and unapproachable. For those who had the opportunity to get behind the wall, there you would find the warm, kind, gentle and giving man known as Gary. That is how I knew him, as did my family.

Gary passed away a few weeks ago while on a volunteer assignment. He left a legacy of time, talent and treasure that will live long past his years. In addition to his time at Pomona College, Gary was an active volunteer with the Claremont Chapter of the American Red Cross. He was a Disaster Service Team member and an instructor for first aid and CPR classes. Among other things, he also served as a CERT volunteer for the City of Claremont.

Gary gave of himself throughout his life and professional career to his students and athletes, his family and his friends. Additionally, he gave to his community through his ongoing gift of service and friendship, as well as his unbelievably deliciously grilled tri-tip sandwiches! Gary will be missed and fondly remembered, as his contributions are something for which all in Claremont and those who knew him can be grateful.

Story of Giving from Libby Gill

As we embark on 2012, I can't help but recognize just how much I have to be grateful for this year. My sons, Harrison and Zack, are juniors in college and high school, respectively. They are happy, healthy, vibrant young men (okay, so I'm biased but it's true). And they continue to teach me lessons in gratitude. It's through their giving that I'm inspired to give. From Zack serving as a "Tree Musketeer" and planting trees in El Segundo to Harrison suggesting I launch a "Libby Cares" non-profit campaign on my website, they continue to be great examples of service to others.

While I haven't fully set my long-term charitable campaign in motion, my Libby Gill & Company team members and I have tried to make a difference in the lives of people who, simply put, have less than we have, at least, in terms of material goods. In the past few years, we "adopted" Salvation Army families to holiday shop for, we gave gently worn women's suits to Dress for Success, and we kicked off a tee-shirt drive for an orphanage in Kenya - thanks to the hundreds of people who donated!

This season, my older son Harrison inspired me to make a donation to Kiva.org on behalf of all the wonderful clients, colleagues and partners I've had to good fortune to work with this year. Kiva, a non-profit whose tagline is "Loans That Change Lives," offers micro-loans to entrepreneurs in emerging and economically challenged countries to help them launch and build local businesses. Harrison, at the ripe old age of 21, has already given ten loans to Kiva. In fact, as each micro-loan is repaid, he rolls the donation over into a new loan for a different company under Kiva's oversight.

We chose a group, run by eleven women and one man, that runs a grocery store in Bolivia. Our loan will help them continue to serve their community and take care of themselves and their families. Thanks, Broadview Mortgage, for putting the spotlight on the joy of giving!

Libby Gill, Business Coach and Author of You Unstuck

Story of Giving from Larry Notheis

I have worked with RI in Pakistan and I would like to share some of the great work they do around the world. RI believes that donated money should be put to work and they make sure that 87 cents of every dollar goes directly to services.

1. Emergency, Health, and Sanitation: Relief International meets the immediate needs of victims of natural disasters and civil conflicts worldwide with the provision of food rations, clean water, non-food items, transitional shelter and emergency medical services. Beyond emergency situations, Relief International’s field teams provide long term health and nutrition services to communities in need by operating clinics and training health workers. Relief International also provides water and sanitation programming, providing communities with access to clean water, decreasing the incidence of communicable diseases, and improving quality of life.

2. Food and Agriculture: Relief International’s food and agriculture programming embraces environmental awareness by incorporating climate change, natural resource management, and conservation principles into projects that improve global food security. By increasing communities' knowledge of sound agricultural methods suitable to the regional landscape, cultural needs, and environment concerns, Relief International empowers farmers how to diversify viable crops, make the best use of the local growing season, and preserve local natural resources. The result is communities that can produce nutritious food for themselves in a sustainable way.

3. Education and Empowerment: Education is vital to the social and economic integration of future generations. Relief International places a significant focus on this sector to ensure that children affected by conflict can continue to pursue their education. Programs include a wide range of activities: teacher training programs, building libraries and Internet centers, providing books and classroom furniture to under-resourced schools, and promoting equal access to education. These programs also empower youth through service learning and leadership training to become active in their communities and act as agents for change.

4. Livelihoods and Enterprise: Finding new or better work is the most direct path out of poverty for families in need. Relief International facilitates this process by providing vocational training, offering microfinance opportunities, and developing promising value chains. As a result of these efforts, farmers in Tanzania can get their crops to market before they spoil and women in Afghanistan can earn an income to support their families. These programs are aimed at long-term, reliable growth, and Relief International often engages private sector partners to leverage additional resources and guarantee sustainability.

5. Shelter and Infrastructure: When natural disasters destroy housing or conflict forces families to flee their homes, Relief International provides for temporary and permanent shelter. Relief International also contributes to local infrastructure by building schools, irrigation canals, and community centers in impoverished communities. Relief International supports training for local residents so that they can participate in the construction process, creating livelihood opportunities for community members. Complementary programs help make homes safer and more comfortable by promoting products like high-efficiency cook stoves, which decrease indoor air pollution and reduce the need to gather fuel.

6. Protection and Human Rights: Millions of individuals worldwide face discrimination, persecution, and even violence. Relief International is on the forefront of implementing programs to protect and support these individuals and encourage peace through nonviolent conflict resolution. The result is programming that provides legal-assistance, fights trafficking in persons, promotes media and journalism, and encourages democratic governance. The rights of women and girls is a critical issue in this sector, and is incorporated in many of Relief International’s programs. Relief International's approach to civil society development emphasizes cross-cultural understanding and empowerment of vulnerable and under-represented members of society.