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valleysentinel.com
April 2011
VOL 16, NO 4
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
SPOTLIGHT
Athenian student gives the gift of education in Malawi, Africa By Lisa T. Wood
Emma Schwartz has big plans, and a big heart. While most teenagers think about homework, friends or what to wear, Emma has another idea on her mind—providing an educational scholarship to a girl her age in Malawi, Africa. Working with Lafayettebased VoiceFlame Writers International, who provides the scholarships, Emma is raising funds for her goal—collecting $1,556 by April 30. Emma recently helped identify the Malawian girl who will receive her scholarship. Her name is Bettie. At only 15, she is a double orphan taking care of grandparents and siblings. “Here is a girl who wants to go to school,” said Emma. “This is more than just
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Diablo Scorpion Stingers U-15 Boys, coached by David Preston, played the San Ramon Valley Raptors, coached by Spencer Giansante, February 27, 2011 at Diablo Vista in Danville. The Diablo Scorpion Stinger players from left to right are Connor Young (#17), Chris Cranston (#28) and Alex Engle, and the Stingers players from left to right, Tristan Ferreyra (#41) and Alonzo Altamirano (#4). The Stingers beat the Raptors 3-2. Photo by Jeffrey Weil
Alamo student volunteer travels to China By Dana Guzzetti
Alamo’s Marika Geron is headed for Shaxi, a village in Southern China, to teach English and help repaint the school. Marika also will distribute slightly used digital cameras and school supplies she hopes to collect by June. “Mr. Wu (head of the school) said the cameras will be used as educational devises to photograph nature and later be used in the classroom to supplement the teachers’ curriculum,” Marika reports. This will not be the first time Marika has traveled abroad to help others. Last year she went on a Rustic Pathways trip to Beerwah, Australia in the Glasshouse Mountain area to help build a trail network, make
bird nesting boxes for sugar gliders and other animals. “We taught conservation and how to care for the environment to young kids,” Marika explains. The prior time that she spent volunteering at Saint Martin de Poores in Oakland helped prepare Marika for foreign volunteerism, but she revealed that the trip was also a personal learning experience. “I learned a lot about native plants and it was the first time I saw a sugar glider,” Marika remarks. “I always wanted to go on a charity trip. Mrs. O’Leary (Carondelet teacher) gave me three different companies, and I picked Pathways because it was well organized and had a clear mission statement,” Marika
reasoned. The Australian experience motivated Marika to take her volunteerism to the next level by founding a tax deductible entity to gather and distribute resources. With help from her father, Attorney Tasos Geron, Marika set up Hera’s Helping Hands, a non-profit for the purpose of gathering and distributing resources to “fulfill the financial and physical needs of these children and create a hopeful environment by establishing new education centers and providing financial assistance to existing schools.” Marika says that her nonprofit is different from most others. “The full amount of any donation will go to the
beneficiaries. I will not take any money from the corporation or make any profit. I love volunteering,” she declares. “I babysit and I am recruiting friends who will ask that their babysitting payment checks be made out to the charity,” Marika says. The Hera’s Helping Hands website is also set with Paypal to
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