December Goods Drive

We collected 7 bags of clothing, toiletries, groceries and household items for families in transition at Harbor Interfaith.

Empowering the homeless and working poor to achieve self-sufficiency by providing support services including shelter, transitional housing, food, job placement, advocacy, childcare, education and life-skills training.
http://www.harborinterfaith.org

View their wish list at www.harborinterfaith.org/wish.html‎

Kathy will always accept donations and deliver them to HIS.  You can bring them to any Counterpoint Dinner or drop them off at Bob Bruton Screen Service in Lomita.

 

http://www.bobscreens.com/

Fair Trade Shopping Trip & Brunch

We had a great time at our annual Fair Trade Shopping Trip to Ten Thousand Villages.  It is one of the world's largest fair trade organizations. We enjoyed browsing for Christmas presents through all the unique handmade gifts made by artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East while helping improve the livelihood of artisans in 38 countries.  
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/

But first, of course we stopped for brunch at Lamill Coffee to get energized!
www.lamillcoffee.com

STEM Advantage Networking Night

November 19, 2013 was Networking Night to Fund STEM Advantage Scholarships

STEM Advantage was founded by a group of business, technology and talent acquisition executives to encourage underserved communities to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through internships, scholarships and one-on-one mentoring.

www.stemadvantage.org

Shoe Box Packing 2013

The Shoe Box Packing was a big success!

We packed 52 boxes,
with toys, shoes, school supplies, toiletries and more!

The donations will be dropped of with Samaritan's Purse and distributed to needy children overseas.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/ 

The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to needy children around the world.

October Dinner - Where the Heart Is

Wow!  What a moving experience.  Candice showed us her Master's project on the homeless, a film she and team created through her own film company.

Where The Heart Is: a documentary

http://www.agentchill.com/

by Agent Chill Entertainment

Gals Starting Over

We got an update on Holly's new organization:

Gals Starting Over believes that women helping women to build their job search skills and develop their self-confidence is the most effective approach and that creating a positive, supportive community around these women is the most lasting key to their success.
www.galstartingover.vpweb.com

July Dinner - Outreach in Australia

Dave came back from his "mission" in Australia and shared with us photos and the many things he learned while on vacation about efforts to protect the environment down under.  Very informative!

Dave writes:
"I have always been fascinated by Jared Diamond's book 'Collapse' published in 1995, particularly Chapter 13 regarding Australia, so it was interesting to see some of the agricultural and environmental challenges and solutions first hand.  I also observed two parallels to environmental issues in the United States:

1)  The aftermath of a horrific fire in Alpine National Park, similar to the destructive levels of our 1988 Yellowstone conflagration, exposing artificial fire suppression as a failed policy

2)  At the community level, a habitat restoration project that showed native plant issues are much the same in Australia as is California."

Roy's Run 2013

He did it!!

250 Miles for 250 Lives

Many of you met Roy last year after his 24 hour run.  This year he ran 250 miles to raise money for safe water in Ethiopia through Lifewater International.
www.lifewater.org

http://roy-wiegand.com/roysrun/

We had a wonderful time supporting him on one of his days through the amaizing Carrizo Plain, past Soda Lake and into the beautiful Los Padres National Park.  George rode his bicycle alongside Roy all day while I drove the support vehicle, provided supplies and took pictures.

Antarctica

We shared our pictures from our trip to Antarctica (oh my!) 

http://indyjo.smugmug.com/Travel/

And conservation organizations dedicated to the Antarctic:

• Penguins Lifelines
  Researching the threats to Antarctic penguins
  http://www.penguinlifelines.org
• Oceanites
  A science and educational foundation, which intends to foster the conservation of the world’s oceans, islands, and their wildlife
  http://www.oceanites.org/

February Coat Drive & DInner

We collected 12 bags of coats and jackets at our annual coat drive!

Then we sorted them for distribution to

Then we rewarded ourselves with dinner and a glass of wine with good friends.