Nonprofits, businesses, partner to feed needy on Thanksgiving

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer Posted: 11/14/2009 06:11:00 AM PST 
 

Last November, more than nearly 500 people showed up for the free Thanksgiving feast provided by Catholic Charities at a San Bernardino nightclub.

This Thanksgiving, at the end of yet another tough year for countless families, the number could easily grow.

So to ensure there is enough turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie to go around, the nonprofit is partnering with other organizations and businesses.

"It takes many entities working together. For example, it's not just Catholic Charities making this happen, it's the community that makes it work," said Beverly Earl, director of the San Bernardino County Family and Community Services Department for the nonprofit.

The organization, that reaches out to the needy in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, is one of many partnering with others to make sure they can provide food and other services during the holiday season.

In the case of Catholic Charities, it is working with nonprofits, including Young Visionaries and Time for Change Foundation. to provide a meal for the needy from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., on Thanksgiving at the Brandin Iron Saloon in San Bernardino.

Bill Thomas, owner of the saloon, said it is a big enough facility to provide the service and he is happy to do it.

"One of our philosophies is to be part of the community, and I couldn't think of anything better to do on Thanksgiving than feed the needy," he said. "It also offers our guests the opportunity to participate in serving the less fortunate."

To ensure everything works out for a Thanksgiving dinner and coat giveaway slated for 4 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 24, at San Bernardino's Family Focus Center, the center has partnered with a nearby high school and a Redlands-based radio station.

"We operate from the perspective that when you bring to gether a number of people who have a passion for the poor and the underserved, you can definitely make a difference," said Linda McDonald, vice president of mission services for St. Bernardine Medical Center, which operates the center.

Athletes from San Bernardino High School will serve food and clean up at the center.

And Redlands-based radio station KSGN, is helping out with the drive to collect gently-used coats, jackets and sweaters, which will be donated to families after the dinner.

People are invited to drop off items at valet parking at the main entrance of St. Bernardine Medical Center, in the week ahead.

"We all have a different role we play, and in our case we use the airwaves to get the message out to the people," said Peggy Stapleton, account executive for the radio station.

Another long existing partnership is between Inland Empire Job Corps culinary students and the Salvation Army's Hospitality House shelter on Fifth Street in San Bernardino.

The culinary students typically bake hundreds of pies for the annual Thanksgiving feast, which has brought as many as 800 people to the Salvation Army.

This time around they will donate, 300 cherry, apple and pumpkin pies to the shelter for the dinner at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving.

The students then stick around to volunteer.

"They are a joy to work with," said Roosevelt Carroll, director of the Hospitality House shelter. "And by doing this together, we touch everyone not just one or two people."

San Bernardino Community Police Academy aims to improve communication, trust between police, residents

"We need to get some sensitivity in there, put together small events so we can both better understand each other," said Stone, who is president of the Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy. "Then regular folk might have a different idea when there's a police shooting or other incident."

The Police Department's first Community Police Academy concluded last week and about 30 residents who varied in age, ethnicity and neighborhood graduated from the six-week class.

Out on patrol Friday, San Bernardino police Officer Jose Loera, left, updates Westside Food & Liquor employee Bassem Hassanieh about a recent burglary. (Al Cuizon / Staff Photographer)

They got crash courses in crime analysis, SWAT training, graffiti investigations, traffic laws and how Internal Affairs processes complaints of police misconduct.

Karla Miles, a teacher at Riley Elementary, brought a dozen sets of parents to class with her to ease their uncertainty about police. She was delighted that the department provided a Spanish translator so the parents could fully understand.

Thomas McCaa, 65, is a former taxi cab driver and said he joined the academy to enhance "situational awareness" in his neighborhood and better learn how to lower crime in San Bernardino.

"There's a lot more people than there are police. We can't leave it all to them," he said. "I think most of the problem is the fear of the unknown. A little understanding on both sides can do a lot of good."

Police instructors said they also learned and appreciated the questions asked by attendees because it gave them insight into community concerns.

Homicide Sgt. Dave Dillon knows people are afraid of being labeled a snitch. He is no longer surprised when a witness refuses to identify a killer or even give a statement.

"People are afraid. They're scared to death to come forward," Dillon said. "But if they're not willing to cooperate, there's not much we can do."

"It's a shame. We have hundreds of unsolved cases that we can't solve because people won't talk to us."

stacia.glenn@inlandnewspapers.com, (909) 386-3887

Job Corps Center is the nation’s largest job training program for young adults provides academic, vocational, and social skills training to more than 70,000 students at 122 residential Job Corps centers nationwide.

On Tuesday, February 2nd, local employers will host students to Job Shadow as part of Groundhog Job Shadow Day 2010, a nationwide effort to give young people an up-close look at the world of work by letting them shadow various "career mentors" in their places of work. If you or your company is not available on the 2nd, you can also select another day during the month of February.

National Groundhog Job Shadow Day is a coordinated effort of America’s Promise - The Alliance for Youth, Junior Achievement, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor. National partners include the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and is made possible through the support local sponsor PIHRA Foundation, Jobing Foundation, YWCA of Greater Los Angeles and NAAAHRLA.

We are looking for companies like yours to take a day and host a shadow day at your workplace. We are also looking for volunteers to help conduct pre-workshops to help gear the students for their shadow experience.

For more information about how you can get involved, please contact:

sheila.wiley@jobing.com

Honestly, being the victim of a layoff is probably the worst possible thing that could ever happen. It is a terrible turn of fate that comes our way. Not only is it the ultimate loss of control but the timing is usually horrible. Is it really possible to love your layoff? 

Yes.  Although it may not seem like it today, Loving your Layoff is the key to getting back on track.  No one chooses to get laid off but we can choose to benefit from the time we have off. Loving your Layoff (TM) is our opportunity to take control by making effective choices about our time, skills and talents.

Having positive thoughts is not enough. We have to make positive choices that lead to positive actions daily. Only then will we be able to shed the feelings of victimization and regain control of our lives.

In the October FLTLP workshop, the group came up with a list of reasons to Love your Layoff. Here’s what made the top 10:

10. You get to take care of Numero Uno (not the kids, your boss, parents, partner or spouse  – YOU)

9. You have time to explore new opportunities

8. You can renew by releasing the old and making room for the new

7. You can balance your checkbook (ATM cards, Credit Cards, Online Accounts, etc…)

6. You can learn something new (for fun check out this website: www.learnsomethingeveryday.co.uk)

5. You can fall in love with the things you (used to) love all over again, and again…

4. You can read – whether you join Oprah’s book club or go it alone, reading provides the opportunity to expand your mind

3. You can reconnect with friends and loved ones

2. You can keep your skills sharp by volunteering (we just love the Taproot Foundation! www.taprootfoundation.org)

1. You can breathe and enjoy your free time and maybe even have some fun

Auri Morris, FLTLP workshop facilitator, is loving her layoff by reading a book a week and writing about it on her blog. Check out the FLTLP reading list to find out what books are on her list.

How are you Loving your Layoff? Tell us on the FLTLP idea site.

Angelina Iyamah-Wilson is a Motivational Coach and founder of From Layoff to Launch Pad (www.FLTLP.com). She lives in Los Angeles where she provides affordable group and one-on-one coaching to people impacted by layoffs.

Gary Ridge is the CEO of WD-40, and he has transformed WD-40 into a learning organization by making learning the number one responsibility of each of his organization’s leaders.  He has coined the phrase, “The Learning Moment”—the point after execution when we can learn from what happened—and will discuss how he used the learning moment (and the Ridge Leadership Model in general) to dramatically change his organization.

The people I spoke with who attended Garry’s presentation in San Diego told me it was one of the best attended and best received of all the presentations in the chapter’s history; that Gary is a powerful and inspiring presenter; and that the presentation is perfect for training managers, directors and VPs interested in transforming their own organizations as well as for trainers, consultants and any who wish to influence the management personnel they interact with.  (On a side note, several also mentioned that Garry’s Australian accent makes him a pleasure to listen to; I’m not sure if this is an added draw for you, but I thought I would mention it just in case!)

Please note that this meeting will take place on November 18 th  from 6:00—8:00 p.m., a week earlier than our usual meeting due to the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday.  You can register for the event here.

I will very much hope to see you there.

Anthony Harmetz
President, ASTD-Orange County

By the way, we found a clip of a Garry Ridge presentation.  We included it here, on our site.  Click Play to hear more!

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer Posted: 11/08/2009 06:02:38 AM PST

To ensure students at San Bernardino High School do not experience gang violence or other negative influences as they walk to and from school, an area nonprofit is working with the school on a new safety program.

Young Visionaries, a nonprofit that helps youth stay on the right path, the mayor's office and high school staff are behind an effort to get Operation Safe Passage up and running.

"We know we live in a city that has its challenges, so this is a way to be proactive, to put eyes and ears in the community to keep students safe," said principal Sandra Rodriguez.

There have not been specific problems at the high school, but it is on the border of one of the city's most crime-ridden areas, where there were 65 felony arrests in October.

And incidents near the school have included a jogger targeting young women and students getting their pockets checked for cash, iPods and cell phones, said Roberto Martinez, program coordinator for Young Visionaries.

To make students feel safe the program will entail placing easily identifiable volunteers, wearing orange vests with the Operate Safe Passage logo, at locations near the school as students walk to and from school.

If the monitors see any signs of trouble they will use two-way radios to contact school police.

The high school and Young Visionaries had hoped to get the program under way in October.

But it needs volunteers, preferably people who live near the high school, to get off the ground.

The volunteers will need to go through background checks to ensure they do not have a history of violence or a criminal background.

So far, steps taken to start up Operation Safe Passage include creating a logo for the program.

The artwork, a large hand clasping a small hand in front of a backdrop of buildings, a city street and mountains, was created by San Bernardino High School student Fernando Sosa, before he recently graduated.

In addition to appearing on vests worn by monitors, the logo will be posted on some business and nonprofit windows in San Bernardino to let students know they can enter the offices, if they run into trouble.

Safe passage programs have meet with success in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Moreno Valley Unified School District, said Martinez.

Khalid Shah, board member of the Regional Violence Prevention Coalition in Moreno Valley, said Safe Passage was created in the school district there after a fight at a middle school in 2007, that led to a parent being pulled from a car and knocked unconscious.

It has proven to be successful, with teachers reporting no major outbursts since, he said.

Eventually, organizers hope to see Operation Safe Passage implemented at other San Bernardino district schools.

"A safe community is a community where residents are actively engaged in keeping it safe," said San Bernardino City Unified School District Police Chief Gary Underwood. "So we hope to get this running by the end of this month."

Without a doubt, the process of job search has evolved substantially over the course of the past decade. For candidates that are back on the market for the first time in years, the process of job search can be daunting at best.  One of the most significant changes is how the resume has become more of a function of the application process, as opposed to the primary tool used to garner access to choice interviews and opportunities.

A substantial amount of job search and candidate selection takes place in social networking platforms. This too has evolved as employers opt to post free versus paid job listings  and actively seek out millions of  both passive and active job seekers in these environments. Additionally, candidates with solid professional brands and professional biographies have  access to and can  directly contact decision makers like never before.

To compete in online and social networking platforms such as linkedin.com, the premier professional networking site with over 240 million users, candidates must have a professional biography, an online profile and post personal advertisements to tout their brand and proactively seek out opportunities. The age of active job search without a social networking strategy  has passed. Candidates must proactively utilize both traditional and online social networking sites to increase their odds of securing a position ahead of the competition and to leverage a  relevant presence online.

Are you still conducting your job search without a professional biography and online profile? TLT Consulting Services specializes in personal branding, career reinvention and career marketing strategies. Let TLT Consulting Services help you begin the process of job search with a branded professional biography that you can use to seek out opportunities in social networking platforms. Let TLT Consulting Services, "Show You The Power Of Your Personal Brand!"

Until next time,

Terri Horton, MBA,MA

President

TLT Consulting Services, LLC

www. tltconsultingservices.com

800.793.4308

 We look forward to seeing you!
 
visit www.usvetsinc.org                                                                           

Program urges youth to become advocates for social change

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer Posted: 10/25/2009 07:02:32 AM PDT 

 Young Visionaries  a program that gives kids and parents more individualized attention in areas like anger and stress management and building potential that has had an impact on youth in the community," she said. "So we felt how can we get youth to be empowered to make changes in their own community."

Around 30 teens and their parents showed up at Friday night's orientation at the Young Visionaries office.

Parent Pete Hernandez, who was there with his son Sammy Hernandez, 12, said he came because it sounded like a good project for teens.

"I used to be involved with gangs and drugs myself, when I was around his age," he said. "So I want to see my son take the right path."

Teens who attended the orientation and enrolled in the project will attend an annual youth violence prevention/intervention leaders training retreat, help establish a youth and parent violence prevention council and attend community organizing and advocacy training with Congregrations Organized for Prophet Engagement, C.O.P.E.

In addition, they will attend creative writing workshops through The Let's Write Out Loud Program and develop a Pistols 2 Pencils online newsletter and a public television talk show, as well as participate in showcases, radio shows and concerts.

"I want my son to get involved in writing and other activities to utilize his hands in a better way," said Delita Woods, who attended with her son Chris Campbell, 15. "I really hope it is a life changing experience for him."

deborah.pfeiffer@inlandnewspapers.com

(909) 386-3879

Below is the information from the California Hospital Association...take a look!

CHA is pleased to announce the release of a brief educational video honoring allied health workers during Allied Health Professions week, November 1-7.  Sponsored by CHA and The California Endowment, the video is part of a larger effort being led by CHA’s Healthcare Workforce Coalition. The coalition was established by CHA in response to the need for a coordinated, statewide effort to develop and implement long-term strategies that will address allied health workforce shortages in the state. 

The release of the video coincides with Allied Health Professions Week which is celebrated nationally and locally to honor health care providers working in the more than 200 allied health professions.  When most people think about health care, they think about doctors and nurses who provide care directly to patients.  However, there are many health care professionals working behind the scenes to provide laboratory, imaging and other critical services needed to diagnose and treat patients. This segment of the health care workforce, called allied health, comprises 60 percent of all health care providers.  Allied health professionals have a tremendous impact on health care delivery by supporting, facilitating and complementing the roles of physicians, nurses and other health care providers.

This video pays tribute to the important role that allied health professionals play in the delivery of health care, and emphasizes the long-term need for an adequate supply of qualified, diverse allied health professionals given California’s growing and aging population.

To view the video, visit the CHA website at http://www.calhospital.org/AlliedWorkforceVideo