Contra Costa Herald

News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California

St. Patrick’s Day Concert in San Ramon Friday night March 17

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The San Ramon Community Chorus is performing a free St. Patrick‘s Day Concert on Friday, March 17 start at 7:00pm at the Alcosta Senior & Community Center at 9300 Alcosta Blvd. This annual show will also feature performances by the McBride School of Irish Dance. We hope to see you there!

Source: YouTube video screenshot

Source: McBride School of Irish Dance

The Community Chorus is open to those who enjoy recreational singing in a friendly, stress-free atmosphere. We sing familiar tunes from Broadway classics and folk.  No experience or auditions are required. Sessions end with a performance (optional participation).

East County: Hold Your Horses evacuation and rescue group to hold new member orientation March 26

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By Chantel Tieman

Hold Your Horses Livestock Emergency Evacuation Response Team & Rescue is a local non-profit evacuation team and rescue based out of East Contra Costa County.

We are deployed by operations of emergency services, Calfire and local fire agencies and Animal Services. We not only rescue during disasters but whenever there are calls for neglect and abuse etc. For more information visit www.holdyourhorsesevac.com or our Facebook page.

Save the Date: Unity In the Community event in Bay Point June 24

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Sponsors needed

The Bay Point Community All-N-One will once again be hosting one of our biggest events, “The Unity In The Community” event on Saturday, June 24th, 2023 from 10am – 2pm. This is a Health & Wellness program for the community to be held at the Ambrose Community Center, 3105 Willow Pass Road, Bay Point, CA 94565.

To be a SPONSOR for the Unity in the Community Event please call contact us.

To REGISTER your organization to participate or for a table at the Unity in the Community event, please download and complete the registration form and submit it to us before April 17, 2023. Unity in the Community Table Res

For questions, please call Mr. Delano Johnson at (925) 812-2939, Irving Joe at (925) 858-2675 or Lovetta Tugbeh (925) 727-8291.

Please save the date & be on the lookout for more details to come in the near future.

New cycle of paid job-training in Contra Costa that transforms lives

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Mary Turner (left), a graduate of the WFD program at St. Vincent de Paul, hugs her mentor Gail F. (right) outside of her newly purchased home in Stockton, California. Photo: St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa

From St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa and the Workforce Development Program

A new session of the Workforce Development Program at St. Vincent de Paul is gearing up to help people in need find gainful and meaningful employment. Participants from past sessions note that the program has transformed their lives – given them the training and confidence to enter the workplace. With introductory sessions in Pittsburg, Brentwood, and Pleasant Hill – the WFD program at St. Vincent de Paul is aiming to help the most vulnerable in Contra Costa County develop the personal tools they will need to find and keep a good job. Interested participants are asked to attend 2 introductory sessions, which will take place in:

  • Pittsburg – at St. Vincent de Paul, 2210 Gladstone Drive, 2/22 & 2/27/23 from 2 – 5 pm
  • Pleasant Hill –at Christ the King Church, 195 Brandon Road, 2/23 & 2/28/23 from 10 am – 1 pm
  • Brentwood – at St. Vincent de Paul, 8890 Brentwood Blvd., 2/26 & 3/3/23 from 2 – 5 pm

The WFD program at St. Vincent de Paul is a job-training program which pairs paid on the job training at one of SVdP’s 3 thrift stores with transformative classroom instruction & 1-on-1 mentorship with dedicated community mentors to help people with barriers to employment find and maintain a good job. Compassionate community volunteers lead participants through paid classroom instruction geared toward helping them develop the interpersonal tools needed to navigate today’s working world and offer transformative 1-on-1 mentorship to help participants overcome the obstacles between them and meaningful employment. Many of the WFD program’s participants have overcome the barriers of homelessness, a criminal record, or the uncertainty of being a refugee in a foreign country.

Afghan refugee and WFD program graduate Ajmal Aria now works as the Director of Operations at Opening Doors, a Sacramento based non-profit that helps refugees acclimate to their new home.

“We were living in a small apartment in Concord, two bedrooms for the seven of us. I have a degree, but I had to support my family, so I was working for DoorDash and Uber to do what I could to feed my family,” Ajmal said. “The WFD program at SVdP gave me the breathing room I needed while making sure my family survives. The volunteers at SVdP helped me adjust to this country and find a job that truly utilizes my training and skills – and lets me provide a good income for my family.”

Today, WFD program graduate James Neitte works as a Shipping and Receiving Specialist for Lowe’s Home Improvement. A former construction worker, James found the WFD program after falling into a life of crime. At age 49 and facing multiple felony charges, he could not foresee a happy ending for himself.

“I was convinced I was going to jail for at least 10 year, I thought my story was over,” James said. “It was just so powerful to be surrounded by people who genuinely cared about seeing me succeed. No one in the program cared that I had a past, they just wanted to help me have a future. It taught me a lot. I’m really thankful for the volunteers at SVdP and for the WFD program.”

A senior citizen, Mary Turner was living in her car when she learned about the WFD program at SVdP. Dependent upon a fixed income between SSI and disability, Mary could not keep up with her rising rent. Today, a graduate from the WFD program, Mary not only works as an Advanced Medical Care Specialist with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, helping the county veterans, Mary was able to purchase her first home, and is no longer living in her car.

“I’ve lived a fairly hard life,” Mary said. “There were just certain things I never learned, because when I was young you just didn’t need to know those things to find a job. At SVdP they showed me how to do things I’ve never had to do before, like build a resume. It was a lot of hard work, but I was determined to turn my life around and they were there to help me.”

St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County has provided safety-net services in the county for over 58 years, serving 100,000 people annually and distributing over $1.7 million in direct financial assistance and over $2.3 million of in-kind aid. Over 700 SVdP volunteers and a small staff lead operations in Contra Costa including the SVdP Family Resource Center in Pittsburg, 28 branches, and 3 Thrift Stores. One of the largest charitable organizations in the world, St. Vincent de Paul is an international, nonprofit, Catholic lay organization of more than 800,000 men and women who voluntarily join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to the needy and suffering in 155 countries on five continents.

Applicants are required to attend both a Part 1 and Part 2 session, at the location most convenient for them. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age. To learn more and download an application, visit svdp-cc.org. To RSVP for a session call (925) 439-5060 or email info@svdp-cc.org

IORF holds 16th annual Christmas pajama and toy giveaway in Brentwood

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Pajamas are sorted and ready to be packaged for the 2022 giveaway. Photo: IORF

Thanks donors, supporters and volunteers

BRENTWOOD, CA – The International Orphan Relief Foundation of Brentwood held their 16th annual children’s pajamas, toy and grocery gift card giveaway on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. Led by organizers former Councilwoman Claudette and her husband Johnny Staton, they partnered with Toys for Tots by the U.S. Marines and helped about 150 families, this year.

The families signed up for the giveaway through three organizations, Sisters of Immaculate Heart, Delta Community Services and Village Community Resource Center of Brentwood. The giveaway was held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Brentwood.

“It was heartfelt to see people, especially the children with smiles on their faces and so grateful to receive the gifts,” Johnny shared.

“We want to thank Fremont Bank branch in Brentwood, specifically branch manager Deborah Willis and Community Outreach Manager Julie Moore who supported us throughout the years as well as McNally Insurance Company, as they are our major donors.”

“We also want to thank all those who donated toys and pajamas, Toys for Tots, Got Kicks and Tammy Young of the Streets of Brentwood, the volunteers, JoAnn Klement, Surah and Shaddin Abukishk, Dawn Bass, mother Gloria and daughter Gloria Pantoja, Claudia Rodriguez, Allen Payton, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church and Carol Ilch-Rojo,” Claudette said.

Organizers Johnny and Claudette Staton were joined by several volunteers for the 2022 giveaway event. Photo: IORF

The Statons also thanked last year’s donors including Dub 4 Kids and past volunteers Jilda Fairhurst, Roy and Elma Richards, Villa Millan Serrano, for helping on distribution day, as well as all the past volunteers over the years including Glen Combs.

Finally, they thanked their legal counsel, Hon. Elihu Harris, former Mayor of Oakland, and Dr. Sheila Wells.

Johnny said, “I also want to thank my wife, Claudette for being such caring person.”

“We do it all for the praise and glory of God,” he added.

For more information and to donate to IORF visit International Orphan Relief Foundation (www. iorf.org).

Kwanzaa is a “synthesis of continental and diasporan African cultural elements”

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The Gye Nyame Kwanzaa set includes a candleholder, candles, unity cup, corn and mat. Source: officialkwanzaawebsite.org

7-day celebration began Monday

By Allen D. Payton

Kwanzaa, the annual, seven-day African American and pan-African celebration of family, community, history, heritage and culture, was created in the 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chair of the department of Africana Studies at Cal State University, Long Beach. Each year it begins the day after Christmas on December 26th and continues through January 1st.

According to edarabia.com, “The term ‘Kwanzaa’ originates from the Swahili expression ‘matunda ya kwanza’, which means ‘first fruits of the harvest’.

During the holiday, families and communities gather to honor and remember The Seven Principles of  Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith. Participants celebrate with the lighting of seven candles, feasts, music, dance, poetry and narratives. It ends with a day of reflection and recommitment to The Seven Principles.

According to hearinnh.org, “Kwanzaa is celebrated by people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, but it is particularly popular among African-Americans. The holiday is observed in all 50 states, as well as in Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. It’s difficult to say precisely how many people celebrate Kwanzaa, as there is no official census data on the subject. However, estimates suggest that around 1.5 to 2 million Americans observe Kwanzaa each year.”

This year’s theme is “Kwanzaa, Culture and the Practice of Freedom: A Message and Model for Our Times”.

According to the Official Kwanzaa Website, “The Holiday Kwanzaa is a product of creative cultural synthesis. That is to say, it is the product of critical selection and judicious mixture on several levels. First, Kwanzaa is a synthesis of both Continental African and Diasporan African cultural elements. This means that it is rooted in both the cultural values and practice of Africans on the Continent and in the U.S. with strict attention to cultural authenticity and values for a meaningful, principled and productive life.

Secondly, the Continental African components of Kwanzaa are a synthesis of various cultural values and practices from different Continental African peoples. In a word, the values and practices of Kwanzaa are selected from peoples from all parts of Africa, south and north, west and east, in a true spirit of Pan-Africanism.

And finally, Kwanzaa is a synthesis in the sense that it is based, in both conception and self-conscious commitment, on tradition and reason. Kawaida, the philosophy out of which Kwanzaa is created, teaches that all we think and do should be based on tradition and reason which are in turn rooted in practice. Tradition is our grounding, our cultural anchor and therefore, our starting point. It is also cultural authority for any claims to cultural authenticity for anything we do and think as an African people. And reason is necessary critical thought about our tradition which enables us to select, preserve and build on the best of what we have achieved and produced, in the light of our knowledge and our needs born of experience. Through reason rooted in experience or practice, then, we keep our tradition as an African people from becoming stagnant, sterile convention or empty historical reference. Instead, our tradition becomes and remains a lived, living and constantly expanded and enriched experience.” From: “Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture – by Maulana Karenga / pp 15-16 / Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press (2008)

Be Exceptional Programs to hold annual Winter Ball in Brentwood Friday, Dec. 16

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Free event for special needs teens and adults

By Lynda Green

The Be Exceptional Programs for special needs teens and adults will hold our annual Winter Ball this Friday, December 16, 2022, in Brentwood, this is a free event.

We are also seeking community support to provide snacks or drinks.

To register and more information can be found on our website at beexceptionalprograms.com or our Facebook page.

Veterans’ Voices to air “Best of 2022” show Dec. 12

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Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Vito Imbasciani. Source: Veterans’ Voices

Includes interview with Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs Dr. Vito Imbasciani

By Ray Alvarado, Contra Costa County Office of Communications & Media 

On Monday, December 12th, at 7 pm (PST), the Veterans’ Voices show will premiere its “Best of 2022” show, highlighting some of the best moments from the past year. It will showcase some of the most interesting interviews from a wide range of topics important to the Veterans community. The show will feature Veterans from all branches of service sharing their experiences. It will also include an interview with the Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Vito Imbasciani.

The Veterans’ Voices program is broadcasted on Contra Costa Television (CCTV) on the second Monday of every month at 7 pm. It can be seen live online at facebook.com/veteransvoices1. You can find an archive of past shows and show resources at https://contracosta.ca.gov/5163/Veterans-Voices

or on our YouTube channel Veterans’ Voices of Contra Costa. The show is re-run multiple times on CCTV on Comcast Channel 27, Astound Channels 32 and 1027, and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99.

Join us as we present our year of topics discussed from the Veterans’ point of view. We are proud to share these open and honest discussions and honor those who serve.

 

East County Grand Community Chanukah Festival and Menorah Lighting in Brentwood Dec. 18

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Biggest Menorah in Eastern Contra Costa!

You are invited to join us for a grand Chanukah Celebration

Come celebrate the Festival of Lights with Chabad of the Delta and our surrounding communities as we light the Grand Menorah on Sunday, December 18 at 4:30 pm in Brentwood City Park.

Our local community leaders will participate in kindling the giant “Menorah of Freedom”. There will be fun activities for everyone including:

  • Chanukah crafts, glitter art and a photo op!
  • Delicious traditional latkes and donuts!
  • A Grand Raffle!
  • Fire and LED performer Aaron Zamarron

For many of us, Chanukah prompts warm, loving memories from our childhood. We light the Menorah every night of the 8-night holiday. These lights offer warmth, joy, strength, inspiration and renews our sense of identity.

Rabbi Peretz Goldshmid, director of the Chabad of the Delta Jewish Center, describes Chanukah as “a holiday that enriches our lives with the light of tradition. In ancient times our ancestors rededicated the Temple in Jersusalem with the Menorah. Today, we rededicate ourselves to making this world a better and brighter place.”

As we celebrate in East Contra Costa, we join millions the world over, promoting the universal message that good will prevail over evil, freedom over oppression and light over darkness!

Make sure not to miss this opportunity to celebrate with your family and friends! Outdoor event, please dress accordingly.

This is a FREE event. All donations are appreciated! Register by clicking here.

For more information, contact Chabad of the Delta at (925) 420-4999 or online at JewishDelta.com/Chanukah.