A CELEBRATION OF SERVICE HONORING THE 2020 KPIX JEFFERSON AWARD RECIPIENTS JANUARY 27, 2021
CELEBRATING GREATNESS, MULTIPLYING GOOD Founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard, Multiplying Good (formerly the Jefferson Awards Foundation) is the largest multiplier of public service in America. Created during a time of widespread national discord, we have become synonymous with the power of public service and good in America. Our immersive training programs, activation opportunities, and prestigious awards platform help individuals and organizations create change and multiply their impact in the community. For the past 16 years our media partners KPIX 5 and KCBS have been highlighting Bay Area Jefferson Award winners — sharing stories about the grassroots unsung heroes who show how one person can make a difference in our community. Starting with our first honoree, Principal Chris Bischof of Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto, we have honored 800+ Unsung Heroes and amplified their stories of service. We are proud to honor the class of 2020 KPIX Jefferson Award recipients on a virtual stage and to share their stories with you. This is truly a remarkable group of leaders. Over the course of 2020, we navigated unprecedented challenges and crisis, from the pandemic sweeping the globe to the climate crisis marked by raging fires here in California to the crisis of systemic racism and inequality, leading millions to march in support of Black Lives Matter. Our 2020 KPIX Jefferson Award recipients rose to help our community face these challenges together, and lifted millions of people with them. From matching over 1 million units of PPE across the country, to helping over 1,000 people gain technology skills along with six-figure jobs, to empowering tribal and rural communities with the tools to build their own broadband access so young people can attend school remotely, our 2020 recipients demonstrated resiliency, leadership and the power of service above self. Hillary Schafer CEO, Multiplying Good
Artavia Berry Executive Director, San Francisco Bay Area
Jack Russi Chair, Board of Governors
KPIX JEFFERSON AWARD SELECTION COMMITTEE Ar tavia Berr y Sharon Chin Akiba Davis-Everett Juliana Deans Leann James Stephanie John Kate Kelly Allen Mar tin
Ar trese Morrison Melody Phipps Stephan Pippen John Power Rosemar y Roach Barbara Rodgers Jack Walsh Lisa White
SPECIAL THANK YOU TO Jen Mistrot, KPIX Sue Lane, KPIX Rachelle Antonio Chad Simpson
Mark Neerman William Murray Dee Joyce
MULTIPLYING GOOD BAY AREA ADVISORY BOARD Jack Russi, Deloitte LLP – Chair
Greg Nemitz, Entercom Radio San
Sandra Bass, UC Berkeley Public
Francisco
Ser vice Center
Melody Phipps, Deloitte LLP
Ar tavia Berr y, Multiplying Good
Star Plaxton Moore,
Lorraine Cohen, Deloitte Ta x LLP
Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public
Jose Corona, Eat. Learn. Play.
Service and the Common Good
Shana Daum, San Francisco Giants
John Power, The Volunteer Center
Lauren Dillard, LiveRamp
Lisa Spinali, Lisa Spinali
Matt Dillard, TPG Si xth Street
Consulting
Par tners
June Sugiyama, Vodafone
Marlon Evans, Nex Cubed
Americas Foundation
Amy Lesnick, Pledge 1%
Taj Tashombe, Oakland Athletics
Ronnie Lott, All Stars Helping Kids
Ashley Vo, HUD
Darien Louie, Darien Consulting
Kevin Walsh, KPIX-T V KBCW-T V
Patricia Manubay, Above Apathy
San Francisco/ KST W-T V Seattle Committee Members: Jack Nelson, Jack son Ladder Noreen Singh Mandeep Ladhar
MULTIPLYING GOOD
THE POWER OF SERVICE We believe individuals are transformed through service to others. Applying service as a tool for personal growth, we help people discover their ability to bring about positive change, deliver the skills they need to do it well, and, by validating their impact, inspire them to do more. We’ve proven this continuum of activation, training, and recognition generates ripples of good.
#celebrategood
SERVICE OFFERS A SOLUTION We face real problems in our country, and the impact is steadily mounting. We believe the solution lies in creating positive change through helping others. Service reconnects us to one another. It provides opportunities for us to grow as individuals. It transforms us into happier, more active members of society. It creates stronger, more connected communities.
SERVICE CONNECTS
SERVICE FEELS GOOD
Nearly 43 million Americans suffer from chronic loneliness. Service reconnects people to communities, building connections and networks of support.
Anxiety and stress are at all-time highs. Service combats depression, increases selfconfidence and promotes active healthy lifestyles.
SERVICE BUILDS SKILLS
SERVICE IS COMMUNITY
50% of CEOs struggle to find employees with the zest century skills that drive workplace success. Service delivers those skills, such as empathy, undersatanding of difference, project management, communication and results-orientation.
Empathy rates are down by 40%. Service cultivates compassion and commitment to others.
Making an impact every day Deloitte congratulates the 2020 KPIX Bay Area Jefferson Award recipients who are helping to strengthen our communities. www.deloitte.com Copyright Š 2021 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
2020 KPIX JEFFERSON AWARD RECIPIENTS (Listed by air date) FREDDY WILLIAMS | January 8, 2020 23-year-old Freddy Williams has been a volunteer for Project Avary, a Marin County based non-profit that serves the children of incarcerated parents, for 7 years. Before that, Freddy was a ‘Project Avary’ kid himself. Freddy’s father has been incarcerated for most of Freddy’s life. Project Avary provides children like Freddy with a ten-year commitment to mentorship and healing activities like summer camps and horseback riding. Current campers say they consider Freddy a role model. Freddy, an East Bay native, recently joined the Oakland Police Department. AMY WENDER-HOCH | January 15, 2020 Amy Wender-Hoch is the founder of the Wender Weis Foundation for Children. Since 1994 the foundation has been committed to improving the self-esteem and self-confidence of children living in underserved communities across the San Francisco Bay Area. Through the foundation, thousands of children have been able to experience wonderful events such as the ballet, the zoo, ice skating and meeting sports heroes like players from the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers. Older children are also offered opportunities to visit Bay Area tech firms, as well as learning about sustainable farming and animal care. Amy has been a dedicated volunteer throughout her high school and college years and sees the foundation as an extension of her commitment to helping others. CHERYL PADDACK | January 22, 2020 Cheryl is passionate about helping her friends and neighbors in Marin County succeed. As the Executive Director of North Marin Community Services for the past 11 years, Cheryl has led efforts in North Marin to ensure that the community has services to succeed at school, at home and in life. Since merging with another organization, North Marin Community Services now serves 6,000 community members yearly, through programs like a food pantry, free and low-cost childcare and rent assistance. LUANA VAETOE | January 29, 2020 Becoming Independent serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with the goal to help people live meaningful and productive lives. Since taking on the role of CEO in 2013, Vaetoe has expanded the nonprofit’s service enterprises to include a cafe at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, concession services at a SMART train station, and a mobile document shredding truck, which was an expansion of the organization’s long standing document shredding service. Along the way, Becoming Independent has given over 1,000 clients a year an opportunity for market wage employment and job skills. CURT YAGI | February 5, 2020 For the past 16 years Curt Yagi has been the Executive Director of Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K.), a San Francisco based non-profit that serves youth in Visitacion Valley. R.O.C.K. serves youth through an innovative combination of learning enrichment, sports and fitness, leadership training and outdoor adventure programs. These programs are yearlong and are vital, providing a way to encourage positive living and healthy emotional relationships. Curt brings a positive attitude to both the young people served as well as R.O.C.K. staff and volunteers.
MULTIPLYING GOOD
DR. GAIL WAGNER | February 12, 2020 In 2002, Bay Area based Doctor Gail Wagner met a young community organizer, Daniel Ogola, in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. The two discussed an audacious idea for a comprehensive community health care system in Dan’s impoverished, rural home outside of Lake Victoria where there was no doctor. He did not expect that Gail would actually show up with seven other Bay Area doctors ready to provide support for a community in Kenya they only had heard about through Gail. Now, 40 volunteers from the Bay Area visit Kenya annually. Seeing the continued need of this community led Gail to found the Matibabu Foundation USA (now the Tiba Foundation). Since then, Tiba and Matibabu have helped to cut the rate of HIV/AIDS in the community in half - from over 40% to less than 20%. Gail, who describes the work she does with Tiba as “the most important thing I will ever do in my life”, is inspiring, optimistic, and committed to her Bay Area and Kenyan communities. PAM & GARY SCHROEDER | February 19, 2020 Pam and her husband Gary Schroeder founded the non-profit Pads4pets.org six years ago. They repurpose old yoga mats into pads for dog owners who are unhoused. Pam says she was inspired to help when she saw an older man and his dog sitting on cold concrete during a rainstorm in San Francisco. She went home and fashioned a pad for the dog out of an old yoga mat she owned. Recently Pam and Gary accepted a donation of 70 mats from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. They work with Vet SOS (Veterinary Street Outreach Services) to distribute the pads to dogs and their unhoused owners. Pam says they do not fundraise and receive donations mainly by word of mouth. JANET LAWSON & DAN SWEARINGEN | February 26, 2020 Janet Lawson and Daniel Swearingen are the parents of Ian, a teenager with autism. Looking ahead for their son and what his life would be like after high school they were very unhappy with the lack of appropriate services, work choices, and living situations available for people like their son, so they started their own non-profit. Autistry Studios is a pre-vocational program that promotes the growth of independence. The organization’s staff and students work in small groups pursuing projects the students have chosen, offering programs like continuing education, vocation, life skills, and physical fitness. Janet and Dan are filling a large and growing need; in the 20 years between 1987 and 2007 California has seen a twelve-fold increase in the number of people with autism. HERBERT HELLER | March 4, 2020 Herbert Heller, 90, a long time Marin resident, is a Holocaust survivor. Herbert escaped Auschwitz at the age of 16 and has a beautiful story of strength, love and resilience - a story and life colored with joy and the most positive outlook, even after his early years of suffrage and loss. Herbert has given many talks over the years for church groups, at synagogues and schools. Herbert’s daughter Vivian reports that “the students, and other audience members, are always in for a remarkable experience meeting this magnificent human being who seems unjaded by the magnitude of his presence as a symbol of survival. They all sit riveted and hanging on every word as he gives them a factual account of his days living under Hitler in Czechoslovakia during World War II.”
MARY HIDALGO | March 11, 2020 Mary Hidalgo has volunteered as a docent at the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum for 38 years, and she just celebrated her 100th birthday with family and museum friends. But one could argue that she is celebrating her 25thnbirthday as she was born on Leap Day, February 29, 1920. For 16 years, Mary also volunteered at the VA hospital, logging 20,000 hours of volunteer service. She continues to aid veterans through her service to the American Legion Auxiliary. JUDI SHILS | March 18, 2020 The dearth of answers around Marin County’s high cancer rates led Judi Shils to found the non-profit Search for the Cause, now Turning Green, a global student-led movement advocating for healthy food, safer products, and ethical businesses. She is also the force behind The Conscious Kitchen, a paradigm shifting model for school food service, transitioning school meals from pre-packaged, processed, heat-and-serve to chef-prepared, scratch cooked local, organic food, cooked in on-site zero waste kitchens. Believing that access to healthy food is a right, not a privilege, she began this work on a campus where 95% of children live below the poverty line, qualifying for free-and-reduced governmentsubsidized school meals. TAMRA PETERS | March 25, 2020 Tamra Peters is the founder & Executive Director of Resilient Neighborhoods, a non-profit that helps individuals do their part to address climate change by reducing their own carbon emissions. The organization also helps individuals to build resilience in their own communities by becoming prepared for emergencies or disruptions, getting to know neighbors (who may be the only people there to help each other), and supporting local business and agriculture who may sustain communities when outside supplies are unavailable. The organization accomplishes this by providing free 5-session workshops that teach folks all the options for reducing carbon emissions. So far, Tamra says nearly 1,000 Marin County based people have reduced 5 million pounds of CO2 pollution through Resilient Neighborhoods. ERIC GAN | April 1, 2020 Eric founded Books4All his freshman year of High School. His mission is to promote literacy by collecting used and new books and raising funds for underserved children. As of today, Eric has donated $7,500 and over 1,000 books to underserved school children at 2 elementary schools in the Hollister School District - located in an agricultural area where many families struggle financially. The funds Eric raises also help teachers at these schools by providing supplies and other necessary items for the kids they serve. Eric himself has contributed about $5,000, thanks to his musical talent.He performs an annual benefit concert in San Mateo and he donates his prize winnings from regional piano competitions as well as his earnings from tutoring.
MULTIPLYING GOOD
KATE WILEY | April 1, 2020 Kate Wiley is the founder and director of the non-profit Seniors Around Town (SAT) program in Orinda CA. Seniors Around Town is under the auspice of the Orinda Association, a 501 3 (c) program in Orinda CA. 70 fully vetted, volunteer SAT drivers provide over 1,400 rides annually for Orinda senior residents to medical appointments, social engagements, shopping and general errands. Kate was inspired to form SAT as a way to create comfort for Orinda seniors, as well as generate an overall feeling of community for all of Orinda. Kate says the rides are more than just safe transportation, rides also provide a way for community members to get to know each other and make friends. Kate runs the organization, but she also drives whenever needed. CARLOS MARTINEZ | April 15, 2020 Carlos Martinez is the director of the Castaneda Kids Foundation (CKF), a non-profit founded in 1985 by Mr. Martinez’ grandparents Carlos and Marina Castaneda. The family is from El Salvador and has lived between the US and El Salvador for decades. Carlos and Marina started the foundation as a way to help those underserved in El Salvador, and as a way to inspire their entire family to serve others. CKF delivers food baskets, provides scholarships and sponsors sports programs. And Carlos, who’s an emergency medical technician in San Jose, expanded the foundation’s work even further, inspired by his experience as a medical volunteer in Haiti. Changed forever by what he saw there, Martinez decided to add medical services to CKF’s mission. To date, CFK has treated some 12,000 patients. AYELET WALDMAN | April 22, 2020 Writer Ayelet Waldman had just ordered dinner to support a local restaurant when she heard from a doctor friend that was overwhelmed at receiving a surprise meal delivery at the emergency room. A light bulb switched on. She asked a local restaurant to prepare 25 meals, then drove them to a grateful ER staff at Highland Hospital in Oakland. Ayelet spread the word on social media, and East Bay FeedER was born. The non-profit partners with World Central Kitchen and uses thousands of private donations to purchase full-price meals from 78 East Bay independent restaurants. Dozens of volunteers deliver the meals twice a day to feed those fighting the pandemic in five East Bay hospital intensive care units. So far East Bay FeedER has donated over 30,000 meals serving 25 care sites. FRANK PLUGHOFF & BIANCA NANDZIK | April 29, 2020 In less than two weeks, a post in a neighborhood Facebook group evolved into an organized support system for an entire community during San Francisco’s first COVID-19 shelter-inplace order. The Sunset Neighborhood Help Group, made up entirely of volunteers, directly connects residents with elderly and at-risk neighbors who need help buying groceries and running errands. Sunset residents Bianca Nandzik and Frank Plughoff created the group on Facebook on March 13 after Plughoff saw a post from Nandzik asking if neighbors needed help. Bianca and Frank also wanted to reach out to elderly neighbors who might not have internet access, as well as neighbors who may be native Chinese speakers. So the group created a flier that they distributed to every house in their neighborhood, written in multiple languages, containing contact information for the organization. Both Frank and Bianca say they are grateful to the hundreds of neighbors who have stepped up to help.
Congrat lations,
KPIX Jefferson Awards Winners
From the Clearsight Advisors Team
Integrity. Service. Impact. Clearsight Advisors is an independent merchant banking firm dedicated to providing world-class M&A and capital raising solutions exclusively to growthoriented Business Services and Technology companies. For more information about our services and initiatives, please visit www.clearsightadvisors.com Washington, D.C. | New York, NY | Dallas, TX
TANUKA GORDON | May 6, 2020 In 2016, Tanuka Gordon began Mindful Littles. Tanuka wanted to create a holistic model that provided children, educators and parents with tools and practices to foster and sustain positive change in the community. The idea was to start from the inside out with one’s self, feeling good by doing good, along the way installing lifelong habits of compassion and kindness. Tanuka and her volunteers lead workshops for parents and kids that always conclude with a charitable activity such as making free, reusable masks for healthcare providers. When the Paradise Fires devastated California communities, Tanuka organized student field trips to the area, where Mindful Little participants distributed supplies and taught 1,600 school children breathing exercises designed to help calm their fears and anxiety. Tanuka says she is inspired by her own children: she wants them ‘to view kindness as a natural and organic part of their everyday lives”. RYAN NELSON | May 13, 2020 When Ryan Nelson, owner of Pacific Coast Custom Interiors in Santa Rosa, shut down his business due to Covid-19 he knew he wanted to serve his community. So, inspired by his best friend- a CHP officer- Nelson decided to sew masks for first responders. Using fabric and other supplies from his shop, Nelson and his employees made and donated hundreds of masks to local law enforcement agencies. Nelson and his family are no strangers to serving others. When the 2017 Tubbs Fire burned down his house, his mother’s home and displaced his brother Evan, they found a way to help during the crisis: they gave out 400 wooden sifters they made for free. DAVID NAYFELD & DICK COSTOLO | May 20, 2020 As the shelter in place order went into effect, Che Fico owner and chef David Nayfeld and Che Fico investor Dick Costolo decided they needed to act. Both wanted to help keep the restaurant open and keep the employees working while serving the greater community that would be impacted by job loss and the economic downturn. So, they created Che Fico Family Meal. Those in need were able to sign up for a free meal, cooked at the restaurant, that could feed 2-3 people. Dick started it off by donating $2,000 nightly to make 40 meals. Soon others like Warriors coach Steve Kerr stepped up to donate as well and ultimately more than 50,000 people were fed. JOELL & DARIUS DUNLAP | May 27, 2020 Joell and Darius Dunlap Founded Square Peg back in 2004. Their goal was to make the therapeutic horse-riding model even more effective by taking the approach that participants would not be coming to the Square Peg ranch because of illness or disability but because the horses, ones that need a second chance, needed the student riders. The Dunlaps say this approach has made a powerful difference, as the animals themselves become teachers. With the help of the student riders Square Peg serves, the horses thrive. MEREDITH JOHNSON | June 3, 2020 Meredith Johnson founded Happiness is a Warm Quilt in 2017. Meredith coordinates volunteers nationwide to manufacture quilts and pillow cases, contacting them through friends, Facebook, and her church group, the Gifted Quilters Guild in Newark. Together, they’ve sewn and given for free nearly 2,000 quilts and more than 1,000 pillowcases to survivors of the North Bay and Butte County wildfires. Meredith is also spearheading a project to sew masks to protect health care workers from COVID-19 and has already pledged 2,000 free masks for Compass Cares, an organization that serves the developmentally challenged.
FRANK LARA | June 10, 2020 During the March shelter in place, Frank Lara, a ten-year veteran public-school teacher, couldn’t stop thinking of his fifth graders at Buena Vista Horace Mann Elementary School in the Mission District/ Many of the students and their families would not be getting federal stimulus checks.Frank led his fellow public school teachers in San Francisco to pledge their Covid-19 relief checks to help undocumented members of the San Francisco community. Frank also asked his union, United Educators San Francisco, to pass a resolution, reaching out to its 6,000 members to also pledge. With the support of his union nearly 300 members have raised more than $110,000 in relief. Members donated their pledges to Undocufund, a fund created by 6 organizations in partnership with San Francisco city governmental officials. Frank hopes that others will see that they do not have to be wealthy in order to help - thus inspiring more folks to give what they can. SHIRLEY ZINDLER | June 17, 2020 Shirley Zindler has worked in rescues and shelters for thirty-five years, fifteen of those as a Sonoma County animal control officer. A few years ago, Zindler founded Dogwood Animal Rescue Project, the name inspired by a favorite flower from her childhood. Zindler and her army of volunteers have helped thousands of pets over the years, as well as their owners. Dogwood offers low cost spay and neuter programs, free pet food and supplies plus vaccination assistance and pet rescue. Zindler says she will help animals and people as long as she is needed. RALPH BOWER | June 24, 2020 Ralph Bower, CEO for The Melt, stepped in to serve his community and employees during the Covid 19 pandemic. Through Mr. Bower’s direction The Melt has distributed thousands of donated meals to medical first responders. He also kept every one of his employees on the job with a paycheck. More recently, The Melt began giving free meals to the hungry in San Francisco. It has partnered with Food Relief to help food banks feed a growing number of people in need. JHINA ALVARADO MORSE | July 1, 2020 Jhina Alvarado recently presented a friend with a portrait of a family member who tragically passed away from COVID-19. Jhina created the piece as part of the service project she began while sheltering in place in her San Francisco home. She’s painting portraits at $200 apiece - a fifth of her normal rate - and donating the money to people in need. The professional artist, who’s also a math teacher at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, spread the word through social media. So far, Jhina has painted 55 portraits based on people’s photos and made more than $11,000 since mid-March, giving all of the funds to more than 55 families. Each work of art takes Jhina about two hours to craft, and those that receive the portraits say they quickly become treasured possessions.
Watch the Jefferson Awards on KPIX 5 News: Wednesdays at 6pm | Thursdays on at Noon On all news radio 106.9FM & AM740 KCBS: Wednesdays at 6:50pm, 9:40pm, 11:50pm | Sundays at 11:50am, 3:50pm MULTIPLYING GOOD
BECKY MILLER | July 8, 2020 Becky Miller wanted to share Bible stories during a church mission trip to Uganda in 2006, but there was a problem. Whenever she was in an impoverished village, she noticed its residents did not have books or pictures. So, the retired Redwood City teacher and realtor co-founded Imagine Acts Ministry. Since 2007, she’s raised money to print and give away thousands of Bible story books illustrated by a Ugandan artist. Imagine Acts Ministry has also raised more than $880k and expanded its reach by building an outpatient clinic in 2014 - co-founded by Dan SSempanyi, a doctor the non-profit had helped put through medical school. Shalom Medical Clinic in the poor village of Kimunda now serves about 50 people a week. Near the clinic, Becky is also overseeing and funding the construction of a new 10,000-square foot hospital in southern Uganda near the Tanzania border. The well has already been built, and the construction plans also include an emergency room, delivery room and surgical center. Becky and her non-profit also helped feed 400 area families that were starving during Uganda’s COVID-19 lockdown. DR. BELINDA HERNANDEZ-ARRIAGA | July 15, 2020 Dr. Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga started off serving Latino families pro bono as a clinical social worker when she discovered they needed more. So, in 2011, she founded Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, or ALAS for short. It means Helping Latinos Dream. The non-profit offers cultural arts, mental health, educational, and social justice programs for Latino families from Half Moon Bay to Montara. ALAS volunteers have also sewn 7,000 masks to protect coastal farm workers on the frontlines of food production. And ALAS partners with community businesses to give free lunches to farmworkers every Friday. Belinda is also an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco School of Education as well as a member of the Bay Area Border Relief Team, which helps families at the U.S. border seeking asylum from Mexico. She also co-founded the Half Moon Bay Latino Advisory and founded the Latino Trauma Institute. JENNIFER & TODD ARROUZET | July 22, 2020 In March, the Arrouzets came down with what doctors thought was COVID-19. Todd recovered quickly, but Jennifer was sick for weeks. But even while sick Jennifer was determined to help others, so she put the word out over social media asking for donations of PPE. Masks came pouring in. Thousands of disposable gloves rounded out the donations and the Arrouzets bought wipes and locally made sanitizer themselves, then gave it all away to first responders like the San Pablo and Richmond Police Departments. Hundreds of masks, thousands of gloves and cases of sanitizer were shared by the two agencies, at a time when those items were nearly impossible to get. And as the Arrouzets saw grocery store shelves empty out, they created food packages from their cafe’s pantry, containing staples like chicken, eggs, milk, and bread. Community members could buy them for $40 but Jennifer gave many of the food boxes away for free to those hit hard financially by the pandemic. Both say their experience with COVID-19 was life-changing, and both hope sharing their story will inspire others to help those in need.
MULTIPLYING GOOD
DR. AHIMSA PORTER SUMCHAI | July 29, 2020 Dr. Ahisma Porter Sumchai runs The Hunters Point Bio-Monitoring Program, the first-of-its kind independent, community-wide program at a federal Superfund site that screens individuals who have lived at least one year within a one-mile radius of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The screen is for possible exposure to 35 potentially toxic metals and radiation. She co-founded the program in 2019 as a volunteer, and now the program is now funded with a $70,000 grant from the Lucile Packard Foundation. While the Navy has maintained its cleanup of the toxic dumping ground has been safe, and has remained skeptical of any connection between neighbors’ health problems and toxic and radioactive elements in the old shipyard, Dr. Sumchai remains determined to continue her research, especially as the area is slated for major city redevelopment projects. The testing program is also very personal for Dr. Sumchai, as the Stanford-trained medical doctor grew up in Hunter’s Point, and her father, a shipyard longshoreman, died of asbestos poisoning. BRENDEN PRAGASAM | August 5, 2020 San Jose State University senior Brenden Pragasam started making face shields in his garage to protect his relatives and friends from Covid-19. Then he received a phone call from Stanford, asking him to make and donate 300 face shields for its essential workforce. Since then Brenden has given away hundreds of face shields for free to Bay Area Hospitals and community groups. He is also making face shields for children with special needs. Several years ago, Brenden co-founded InFuse, a San Jose based non-profit that supports kids and adults with different abilities. Now he is taking orders for face shields from area schools, as he continues to change and improve upon his designs so that the shields are more comfortable and usable for those with special needs. JOY ZHANG & MADELINE DANGERFIELD-CHA | August 12, 2020 In 2018, Madeline Dangerfield-Cha and Joy Zhang created Mon Ami, French for “my friend.” The business technology platform was designed to match senior citizens with volunteers who could provide companionship and help with errands like grocery shopping and prescription drug pick-up. To create Mon Ami, the Stanford business school graduates combined Zhang’s background in healthcare and hospice with Dangerfield-Cha’s expertise in education and digital marketing. When Covid-19 struck the pair pivoted their business model to help others. Now Mon Ami licenses its technology to San Francisco and Los Angeles so their city governments can link volunteers with food pantries and other service providers who may need help reaching clients of all ages. Through those efforts, Mon Ami now reaches more than 3,500 volunteers across 50 states. MARIEL TRIGGS & MARTIN CASADO | August 19, 2020 It’s estimated almost half of Americans living in rural areas don’t have access to broadband internet service. And the numbers are even worse for those living on Native American tribal lands. To help end this gross inequity, Mariel Triggs and Martin Casado founded MuralNet in 2017. The non-profit helps tribal nations build and operate their own reliable broadband networks. The approximately $10,000 to $15,000 installation fee is paid from donated funds and is free or low cost to the tribal areas. MuralNet has also led the way in changing FCC policy to give tribal lands priority to claim free bandwidth that’s reserved for education. With its guidance, so far nearly 300 tribal lands have applied so they can build their own high-speed internet networks. Casado brought his expertise as a venture capitalist to MuralNet, and Triggs brought her background as an educational researcher with engineering degrees. They met while interns at Lawrence Livermore Lab in 1999. And both say their work has just begun in this project!
BOB BUTLER | August 26, 2020 A reporter for KCBS Radio In San Francisco, Bob Butler has been delivering groceries and other essential items to his neighbors since COVID-19 started. When the Bay Area sheltered in place in March, the US Navy veteran was concerned about senior citizens, those with compromised immune systems, and parents with small kids. So, he began making multiple daily runs to Costco and other stores, picking up anything and everything his neighbors needed, then delivering it to their doors free of charge. He connects to folks in need through Neighbors Helping Neighbors on Facebook, and delivers mostly to Antioch, Brentwood, Discovery Bay and Oakley. When he makes deliveries, Bob also brings treats like Otter Pops and water balloons for households with children. ARJUN GUPTA & RAYAN GARG | September 2, 2020 In 2018, high school seniors Arjun Gupta and Rayan Garg founded Elevate the Future, a San Jose non-profit that organizes free virtual conferences and business competitions for emerging entrepreneurs. So far, Elevate the Future has served thousands of students in more than 40 chapters. Now the non-profit has turned its attention to keeping small businesses afloat during the pandemic. Through Elevate the Future high schoolers train middle schoolers to build free websites for businesses without one. Elevate the Future pays for the first year of domain and hosting charges for each business’s website. Arjun and Rayan say they have made a special effort to reach out to and help Black owned businesses during the pandemic, creating and maintaining websites for those business owners. LES TSO | September 9, 2020 Les Tso works for Food Runners, the 33-year-old San Francisco non-profit that picks up excess food from places like stores and restaurants and delivers them to neighborhood food programs. And it’s a big job - Les coordinates the distribution of up to 20,000 tons of food in San Francisco every week.Because many businesses stopped meeting on site during the pandemic, company cafeteria donations have dropped. So, Food Runners began filling the gap with meals prepared by chefs and volunteers. Les now oversees the distribution of up to 2,500 meals six days a week to agencies serving the hungry. Even on his days off Tso has been bringing free food to some 100 seniors sheltering in place in their apartment building. SUNNY SINGH | September 16, 2020 In 2013, Sunny Singh of Walnut Creek founded the non-profit Yours Humanly to give underserved kids access to an education. As Sunny grew up in his native India, he witnessed heartbreaking poverty that deeply affected underserved children. Sunny also realized he could have been one of them had his adoptive parents not given him a better life. Sunny says Yours Humanly has served more than 25,000 children in the U.S., Cambodia, Haiti, India, Nepal and the Philippines. In Nepal, Yours Humanly director Candina Gurung says Bay Area donations have funded scholarships, uniforms, and books for two thousand kids since 2015. MARIAN AIKEN | September 23, 2020 Marian Aiken had never sewn a mask until friends needed Covid-19 protection. The former teacher, who is deaf, organized several women from her church, Los Altos United Methodist to sew the masks with her. So far the group has sewn 2,000 masks, sending them for free to whoever’s asked, from nurses to farmworkers, and even the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Marian, who reads lips, even made masks with a clear covering using transparency film so the deaf and developmentally challenged can see a person’s facial expressions when the mask is worn. Marian has also parented or adopted 27 sons over the years, all with disabilities. And for her church’s annual fall Compassion Week event, she also sews dresses and tote bags for sexually abused women in African hospitals.
MULTIPLYING GOOD
KEYA GUPTA | October 14, 2020 Keya Gupta noticed a student wasn’t following the teacher’s instructions in their weight-lifting class. The student spoke limited English, so Keya, who knows Spanish, started translating for him. It turned out that about a third of the class did not speak English. So, with her school’s permission, Keya founded Arriba Academy, an afterschool program with all student volunteers who tutor other students in English, Math and other studies. Since the pandemic began Arriba has tutored more than 70 students from seven local schools in a variety of subjects via Zoom, and Keya has expanded the program by creating an interactive ChatBot named Lexi on the Arriba Academy website so students can practice conversations in English. And since one in ten students in American public schools are English language learners, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, Keya says she hopes to expand Arriba to help many more students. JESSICA CHOI | October 21, 2020 Given the resources shortages in some areas, Jessica Choi was inspired to found GETPPE, to connect healthcare providers working on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic who need PPE with donors who can provide it. Jessica’s nonprofit also helps those interested in donating blood find the right location to do so in their local community. So far more than 40,000 volunteers have helped ship approximately 850,000 pieces of PPE like masks, gowns, gloves, and hand sanitizer to more than 540 hospitals, nursing homes, food pantries and schools. LARRY APKE & DAVE RAWLINGS | October 28, 2020 Childhood friends Larry Apke and Dave Rawlings founded The Job Hackers three years ago. The non-profit provides free 6 week courses, currently offered via Zoom, designed to help older workers, women and people of color master Agile and Scrum, the most up to date language and way of working in tech. So far, 750 people have gone through these classes, many of whom have obtained new jobs in tech as a result. Larry and Dave also encourage all students who have attended their classes to act as peer mentors for each other, and ‘pay it forward’ by volunteering in their communities. JASH GADA, VINCENT SU & EDDIE WANG | November 4, 2020 Since June 2020, Lynbrook High School students, Jash Gada, Vincent Su and Eddie Wang, have given out around 50 free haircuts to unhoused individuals served by Grace Baptist Church in San Jose. The longtime friends say they enjoy meeting and getting to know everyone who ‘sits in their chairs’ for the haircuts. And they post photos and short stories on their Instagram, in hopes of bringing more awareness to the Bay Area’s housing crisis. REGINA EVANS | November 11, 2020 Regina Evans founded the Oakland based Regina’s Door, a small consignment shop specializing in vintage couture complimented by hand sewn items. All the store’s profits are used to help human trafficking survivors. The space is also used for community events designed to bring awareness surrounding human trafficking in the Bay Area and beyond. Regina also does outreach in areas of Oakland known for prostitution, and makes art pieces on the street, leaving notes of encouragement and love, as well as supplies like warm blankets and toiletry items for individuals who may be in need. Regina is also active in other important and vital community service projects such as Black Lives Matter.
ANDREW LU | November 18, 2020 With the shift to remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic, South Bay teenager Vincent Lu and his friends came up with Youth Academic Programs Association (YAPA Kids) to supplement what students learn at school and encourage younger kids. So far, more than 3,000 students are taking its free virtual classes in all 50 states and ten countries. From music and writing to math, more than 400 volunteers teach dozens of subjects to elementary and middle school students. YAPA Kids is also a growing experience for its teen instructors, who say teaching the younger students has refined their leadership skills and boosted their own levels of confidence. ARI WEISWASSER | November 25, 2020 When the wine country fires hit in Northern California, Ari Weiswasser, founder and chef of Glen Ellen Star began cooking free meals for first responders. In the beginning, Ari and his staff would literally drive around the fire zone areas and hand out the free pizza pies to any first responders they crossed paths with. Local community members heard about these efforts and set up a GoFundMe to raise additional funds and other restaurants began providing meals as well. Now with the fires thankfully out, Ari continues to serve first responders by donating meals that are served during free seminars and classes provided to those responders suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. ARTHUR CHAN | December 2, 2020 When Arthur Chan first arrived in the U.S. as a foreign student, a lieutenant helped him get from San Francisco to his college in San Luis Obispo but would not take any money for the ride. The new immigrant decided then that he would pay back that act of kindness by giving back to his new country. Over the years, Chan has made five and six-digit donations to a host of organizations, from the Teo Chew Community Center he founded in Chinatown to the American Red Cross. He also donates cemetery plots to those who can’t afford to bury family members. Mr. Chan, now 80, has never forgotten his immigrant roots, and he has helped many new immigrants gain jobs and launch their own businesses. JASON ANGELES & RONNIE TAYLOR | December 9, 2020 San Francisco business owners, Jason Angeles and Ronnie Taylor, are a part of a small group of prominent Filipino food businesses selected to produce free meals for the #FFTF program, or #FILIPINOSFEEDTHEFRONTLINE, an initiative that provides funds to Filipino owned food service businesses who then in turn make free meals for first responders. Jason and Ronnie saved their business with funds from the program, and now they are donating money to other smaller restaurants so that those businesses can then produce meals and feed others for free. To date, #FFTF program restaurant owners, like Jason and Ronnie, have produced over 10,000 meals. LISA MCNANEY | December 16, 2020 Lisa McNaney founded Culinary Angels in November 2016 as an all-volunteer, donationbased group that provides nutritious and delicious meals at no cost to people struggling with serious health challenges in the cities of Livermore, Pleasanton, and Dublin. Culinary Angels is focused not only on feeding patients nutritious, organic, antioxidant-based meals, but also on educating their clients about such foods as a route to wellness. Since its launch, Culinary Angels has served approximately 5,000 meals, and has doubled its monthly meal deliveries to patients and their caregivers. Each of the approximately 45 volunteers who are behind the Culinary Angels effort, has been trained and successfully completed the California Food Hander’s safety course.
MULTIPLYING GOOD
STUDENTS IN ACTION IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA is run in 20 schools across over a dozen school districts. In the 2019-2020 school year, more than 400 youth participated in the SIA program and focused on a range of issues ranging from food insecurity, homelessness, and cancer awareness and research to name a few. When Covid-19 hit, many teams didn’t just keep going, they ramped-up their efforts to serve their communities.
STUDENTS IN ACTION IS A MULTIPLIER The purpose of SIA is to unleash potential in each young person and multiply the good they achieve. Wherever participating teams start, they create a positive ripple effect, from the team to their school, community and wider world.
WORKING WITH US, YOUTH DIDN’T JUST DELIVER GREATER IMPACT, THEY GREW IMMEASURABLY AS INDIVIDUALS. Since the program started in 2007, we have trained and engaged more than 5,200 young leaders in the Bay Area, gaining the 21st century skills to be effective and empathetic service leaders as well as prepare them for higher education and the job markets. In turn these youth have had a tremendous impact on their communities, generating close to 3 million volunteer hours valued at over $77M in community impact and raising over $2.9M to benefit people and communities in need both locally and globally.
MILLS HIGH SCHOOL, MILLBRAE, CA Even as The SIA team from Mills High School has been sheltered in place, they’ve found many ways to serve their community during these difficult times. Over the last few months the team has created PPE for those in need, supported seniors by running errands for those that can’t go out, provided emotional support to seniors by sending handmade cards and phone calls and so much more. Club co-president Sophia also created a Google document with volunteer ideas to help others at their school get involved.
ARROYO HIGH SCHOOL, SAN LORENZO, CA Arroyo High School’s Students In Action team’s community service kept serving the community throughout the summer; for example holding a recent #BLM fundraiser, where they raised almost $300 for People’s Breakfast Oakland and creating an online resource guide with links to petitions, books, donation funds, etc. at https://tinyurl.com/BLMSIA.
SAN LEANDRO HIGH SCHOOL, SAN LEANDRO CA San Leandro High School’s SIA Team created an event called “Attacking the Vape”. The goal for this project was to educate as many people as possible about the harms of vaping on students and their communities.They partnered with the Oakland Athletics and hosted a day of awareness to educate students and community members on the dangers of vaping. In addition, on the day of the event nearly 200 students ran 12 miles around Marina Park to raise money for their community- almost $30k!
SAN MATEO HIGH SCHOOL, SAN MATEO CA The Students in Action Club at San Mateo High School collaborated with “Free The Flow” to host a school-wide feminine hygiene product drive to raise awareness of the issue of Period Poverty and collect donations for LifeMoves. Ultimately the team collected 3,000 hygiene products and raised almost $700 to help low-income women & girls in need in the Bay Area community
After participating in multiple service projects year-round, such as blood drives, fundraising events, and voter registrations, SIA has taught me how to encourage others to participate in community service and how impactful it can be in our society. I’ve developed leadership skills, so that I can lead a team from start to finish to fulfill a specific goal in a timely manner. I’m grateful for the opportunity to promote service and I know that my school has a greater impact on my community because of SIA. Jennefer, Pioneer High School Students In Action student leader
Congratulations to the 2020 KPIX Jefferson Award recipients.
OLUKAI.COM
The One in a Million Awards Campaign was created by Multiplying Good to honor those making a difference by serving others in response to crises. Throughout the summer we celebrated the acts of bravery, generosity, and kindness that brought our nation together. All over the country, millions of people put others first and used service to impact the lives of those who need it most. Individuals and organizations from across the country have been recognized with the One in a Million Award. Read their stories. Get inspired. Multiply Good.
THANK YOU TO OUR BAY AREA CHAMPIONS AND DONORS
Mr. Tom Steyer & Ms. Kat Taylor
Josh Becker Brig'erre Berry Artavia Berry Gillian Bhaskaran Brian & Kim Bonney Cal West Trades Best, Inc. Carondelet High School Deondray Calhoun Julie Chen Lorraine & Noah Cohen Maureen Coslett Lauren & Matt Dillard Dena & Marlon Evans Victor Fernandez First Republic Bank Michael Fong & Darien Louie Founders Equity Partners
The Laluyaux Family Foundation
Patrick & Collette Fracisco Wil Hobbs Gloria Hum Daniel Huynh Jackson Ladder Co. Amelia Jasinski Safi Jiroh Thuyduong Le Amy Lesnick & Mark Roach Naomi Lindsey Ronnie & Karen Lott Patricia Manubay McCance Foundation David McNeil Nelson Mei Ben Nguyen
Raymond O'Connor Jan Othen Melody Phipps Star Plaxton-Moore & Andrew Moore John Power Jack & Jodie Russi Nai S. Charles Schwab Foundation Lisa Spinali June Sugiyaa Taj Tashombe Genevieve Tayo Union Bank of CA Ashley Vo Marie Wolbach Mark Woodward
THANK YOU FOR MULTIPLYING GOOD WITH US @BAYAREA4GOOD #CELEBRATEGOOD