Community Service

The Community Service component of the PMC highlights a different organization each month for PMC members to support through contributions and volunteer time. We hope each one of you finds at least one organization this year that you are interested in and can support with your time or donations. If you have any suggestions for charitable organizations or events, please contact us! Thanks for all your wonderful contributions in the past. We are looking forward to organizing a year’s worth of charitable activities for a great group of Moms.

We’d like to remind everyone that collection for projects can take place the entire month, not just at the monthly meeting. We are both ready and willing to pick up items or receive items at our homes. If you can’t come to the meeting, but would like to participate in the community service project, just let us know.

Erica McNerney and Jennifer Zacharias
2007/2008 PMC Community Service Coordinators

April Community Service

In celebration of Arbor Day, we will be having an event to help with a habitat restoration which will include planting native plants, some litter removal and a close look at some native animals. Eric Nicholas, the Naturalist for the city of Pleasanton will be leading this activity and gearing it for our young children. So bring the kids and come learn about our environment in Pleasanton while helping to keep it natural.

Date and Time: Tuesday, April 29 from 10:00am - 11:30am
Location: Park in Pleasanton TBD, I will have location closer to date and will send directions after you RSVP
Details: Please bring a trowel (small garden shovel) for digging (if you have one) and wear shoes appropriate for a short hike
RSVP: Space is limited so email me at community@pleasantonmothersclub.org

For some background on Eric, he has taught classes for the East Bay Regional Park District as well as the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District. For Pleasanton, Eric is responsible for environmental education in the city. He has been the naturalist here for a year and a half and has been working with children in preschools and grades K through 12. He also teaches classes to families on Saturdays and runs the Ridge Runner summer program (See the Pleasanton Activities guide –Natural World section for more information on his classes or online at http://online.activecommunities.com/pleasanton ).

Eric’s mission is to begin environmental education with the youngest children (ages 2 – 6) before they have developed phobias or fears of the outdoors or animals. He has found that if kids are exposed to nature at an early age they are much more excited to continue the learning in elementary school and beyond. Eric tries to incorporate many senses in his teachings so kids really experience nature. For example in a hike through Augustin Bernal Park to teach about the trees, he has kids feel the tree bark, smell the leaves and sit under the tree to feel the dampness. Eric wants to take nature to the next level for kids so they become life long learners.

Here are a few things that we can all do to get our kids excited about and involved in our environment:

• Use the parks and trails in Pleasanton. We have so many nice ones with easy access. Augustin Bernal Park is Eric’s favorite since it really represents the habitat that was here hundreds of years ago.
• Get your kids involved in recycling now. The elementary schools here have great programs in which our children will be heavily involved but it is good to start at home now.
• Create a space for small gardens, containers or a small strip in the yard. It is a great learning opportunity for kids to plant, water and watch their plants grow. If you are adventurous you can turn your space into a butterfly or hummingbird garden.
• Get a pet besides a cat or dog and give the children the responsibility for taking care of it. Goldfish or Geckos are some ideas for pets with easy maintenance. Make sure you talk to someone at the local pet store to pick the right pet for your family.

Happy Arbor Day!

May Community Service

Get out your walking shoes; this is going to be the month for walking. We are supporting two groups in their efforts to raise money for causes they are passionate about and hit home for many of us. Several PMC Moms will be walking in the Bras for a Cause walk on May 10 and the ASK group (special interest group for parents of children on the autism spectrum) will be walking for Autism on June 7.

Bras for the Cause Breast Cancer Walk - May 10

The Bras for a Cause is a 10k walk that raises money for the San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, was established in 1982 by Nancy G. Brinker. Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures.

Today, a woman in the US is diagnosed with breast cancer every 3 minutes. Our own PMC Member Jeri Ann May is now a breast cancer survivor. She is now turning her energy to helping find a cure so others do not have to suffer like she and her family and friends did. Breast cancer does not just affect the person who gets it, but all those around it. She believes she can have an impact by helping to raise money so that hopefully our daughters and future generations won't have to worry about this disease.

The Bras for a Cause walk will be held Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend (May 10). It is sponsored by the Tri-Valley SOCKs chapter and is a night time walk through downtown Pleasanton with participants encouraged to decorate and wear a bra on the outside of their clothing. See http://www.trivalleysocks.org/ for more information on the walk itself and volunteering to help with the walk.

Several PMC members have joined Jeri Ann to form a team called 'Treasure Chest' to raise money for this foundation. They have a goal of raising $3200 and are well on their way to reaching it. To join Jeri Ann’s team as a walker, contact Jeri Ann directly. Her team will be having a Bra decorating party in April to prepare for the walk. To sponsor the Treasure Chest team with a monetary contribution visit their team webpage at http://www.active.com/donate/brasforthecause_2008/treasure_chest . To read more of the team members personal stories and reasons for walking , use the drop down to select the individual team members.

Walk Now for Autism – June 7

The Walk Now for Autism event is the Autism Speaks organization’s major fundraising event. Autism Speaks is dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder. You can visit their website for more information on Autism and what the organization does at http://www.autismspeaks.org/.

Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe. Autism spectrum disorders can usually be reliably diagnosed by age 3, although new research is pushing back the age of diagnosis to as early as 6 months.

The Walk Now for Autism event in the Bay Area will be held at the Pleasanton fairgrounds on June 7. The event will offer everyone a fun-filled experience with entertainment, refreshments, and an autism community resource fair and more. To participate you can walk with the PMC-ASK team, sponsor the ASK team with a monetary donation, or volunteer to help at the event.

For more information on the walk go to http://www.walknowforautism.org. Select the Bay Area walk on June 7 to get to the specific Walk Now page. To donate or walk with the PMC team use team name “ASK -Pleasanton Mothers Club” or go directly to their webpage.

Please contact Susan Wald for more information on walking with the PMC team.

Thanks to everyone who has participated in the recent Community Service events. We collected 18 blankets and 3 pieces of fleece for Blankets for Kids in February. In March, Jennifer single handedly delivered a lot of cookies and raised $165 for Share Our Strength. Hope everyone who ordered the cookies enjoyed them.

You can contact us at community@pleasantonmothersclub.org for more information on these events.

Past Community Service Projects