SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) – Directors of Volunteers in Agencies (DOVIA) celebrated volunteerism on Thursday, May 18^th with a reception honoring the nominees and winners of the Youth Volunteer of the Year, the Individual Volunteer of the Year and Volunteer Manager of the Year awards. The reception was held at Eskaton Village Carmichael, 3939 Walnut Avenue, Carmichael.

Six youth volunteers were nominated for Youth Volunteer of the Year, twenty individual volunteers were nominated for Individual Volunteer of the Year and three volunteer coordinators were nominated for Volunteer Manager of the Year.

The winners are:

Youth Volunteer of the Year
Rose Luo - Rose is a longtime teen participant at the Sacramento Public Library's Arcade branch. She re-joined the volunteer team after the library reopened to the public during COVID-19 and immediately took on a more prominent volunteering role. A talented artist and dedicated helper, she soon shouldered two monumental tasks: illustrating their seed library dividers to better advertise the collection and assisting with teen events every Saturday.

Individual Volunteer of the Year
Thuy Nguyen - Thuy serves in the Outpatient Services Department, Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento. She escorts patients to their assigned bed, helping get them ready for surgery. She checks on patients after surgery providing whatever comfort items are needed. Thuy served as one of their Volunteer Trainers. In this position she helped with training new incoming volunteers; however, she also assisted with review and update of all documents. This requires working closely with the department liaison to assist with communication and information disbursement.

Fast Forward 2022 - When COVID hit, and volunteers were given an opportunity for “leave of absence,” everyone except Thuy decided to take leave. Outpatient Surgery was suddenly not an option. Instead of taking the easy route, Thuy walked in and said, “Where do you need me?” She became an ambassador.

Here is a list of the types of services she performs: wheelchair round up and cleaning, Personal Protective Equipment distribution, Admissions Kits preparation and distribution, Greeter/Ambassador coverage and training, member escorts and general information. All these services helped to coordinate visitation, navigation, and safety.

Volunteer Manager of the Year
Lynn Pesely - Lynn Pesely is the Coordinator for the Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps. During the COVID-19 pandemic she supported Sacramento County’s testing and vaccination clinics and other efforts supplying hundreds of volunteers. 424 volunteers served a total of 28,000 hours, an economic value of $1.4 million, for COVID-19 response at vaccination and testing clinics, COVID-19 Hotline, case investigation, after-hours calls, courier, and logistics.

The silver lining of COVID-19 was the 700 volunteers who stepped forward to help in a time when most people were staying home. Volunteering not only helped strengthen the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services/Public Health COVID-19 response effort, it helped the Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps volunteers (MD’s, RNs, LVNs, EMTs, Dentists and more medical professionals and non-medical volunteers) to make it through the pandemic by giving them a reason to get up and get dressed in the morning to go out and help the community which also helped give the volunteers purpose.

Lynn often had too many volunteers trying to secure the same shifts – a good problem to have! Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps volunteers often served multiple days a week, including overnight and weekends. Sometimes 20 volunteers were deployed a day at 5 different locations. During the COVID-19 response, 20 volunteers served 500+ hours, earning a Gold Presidential Service Award and 6 of those served 1000+ hours. 15 volunteers served 250+ hours earning a silver presidential service award, and 51 volunteers served 100+ hours earning a bronze Presidential Service Award. The volunteers who came onboard during COVID-19 are now dedicated to the Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps program, continue to volunteer for a variety of events, have started friendships with other members, and some even support the Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps Foundation with donations on the Big Day of Giving. In addition to the COVID-19 response, Lynn's volunteers have also supported the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services’ response to wildfires and the recent winter storms and flooding.

DOVIA (Directors of Volunteers in Agencies) of Sacramento provides a forum for exchange of information on relevant issues facing professional volunteer managers. Through collaborative efforts, DOVIA is committed to promoting service and emphasizing professional growth and development of the volunteer administration profession.  DOVIA Sacramento hosts monthly educational programs featuring relevant topics in the field and semi-annual training seminars. For more information, visit www.doviasacramento.org

For more information about the awards, contact Lyndsey Dammann, Awards Chair, at awards@doviasacramento.org or call (916) 334-1072, ext. 3.

SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) is entering year four of the RydeFreeRT fare-free rides for youth program. Launched in 2019, RydeFreeRT was the first unrestricted youth fare-free ride program in the country. The program allows all 265,000 youth living in SacRT’s service area, from transitional kindergarten to 12th grade, including home-schooled students, foster and unhoused youth to ride all buses and light rail trains for free, all day, any day of the year.

The RydeFreeRT program has helped boost student ridership, which now accounts for nearly 25% of all SacRT bus and light rail rides over the last year compared to 8% before the launch of the program in 2019. In fact, student ridership is on pace to carry nearly 3.5 million youth in FY 2023, double what it was in 2019 pre-pandemic. This demonstrates that students and youth are one of the most price sensitive groups impacted by transit fare.

“We value our young people and that means helping them get to school, jobs, and activities,” said SacRT Board Chair and Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy.

The ridership growth is a testament to the success of the program, which initially aimed to reduce truancy and absenteeism in schools. However, a study by the University of Texas, which evaluated the program, also found that RydeFreeRT not only improved school attendance and reduced congestion from vehicle pick-up lines, it also successfully reduced the transportation barrier to get to jobs, internships and extracurricular activities after school and on weekends.

“We’re introducing a new generation of riders to transit,” said SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li. “Research shows that people who ride public transportation at a young age are more likely to use it as adults, building ridership for life.”

As students head into summer break, SacRT is reminding them and their families that youth in kindergarten through 12th grade can continue to ride the entire SacRT transit network, including SacRT buses, light rail, and SmaRT Ride on-demand microtransit service for FREE! To ride free, students need to show a valid RydeFreeRT card.

New RydeFreeRT cards with a valid date of June 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, are being delivered at various school locations and Sacramento Public libraries. The current RydeFreeRT card is still valid through June 30, 2023. Cards are also available at the SacRT Customer Service and Sales Center at 1225 R Street in Sacramento (adjacent to the 13th Street light rail station).

The RydeFreeRT program is possible with funding from all member jurisdictions that comprise of SacRT (the cities of Sacramento, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, and the County of Sacramento).

New RydeFreeRT cards are available at schools, public libraries and SacRT Customer Service and Sales Center.

Learn more about the program at rydefreert.com.

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Don’t miss the upcoming 65^th Sacramento Suburban Kiwanis Art Fiesta in air-conditioned comfort at its new location at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center at 6151 H Street in the capital city on Saturday, June 10, from 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday, June 11, from 10 am to 5 pm.

Meet the artists, browse the fine art pieces, and purchase quality art for yourself, your family and friends. Jewelry, painting, photography, pottery, metal work, woodwork, glass, and fine textiles are just some of the styles you’ll find on display.

Previously held outdoors at the Pavilions Shopping Center in Sacramento, where high June temperatures were often common, the Suburban Kiwanis Art Fiesta has moved to a new venue, and a different weekend this year, said its president, Caren Daniels Lagomarsino. Parking and admission for the event are free.

“We’re very excited about our new location, which will be especially cool inside with plenty of space for our participating artists,” she said.

The Sacramento Suburban Kiwanis Club, chartered in 1958, is a community service organization, dedicated to serving the Arden-Arcade community in Sacramento. Its annual Art Fiesta is the longest-running annual art show of its type located west of the Mississippi River. It’s also a juried art show, which ensures that all artistic work presented is authentic, with genuine products and original creations.

“The Art Fiesta provides a wonderful opportunity to expose the whole family to local art while supporting these local artists and helping the Sac Suburban Kiwanis fund its many community and youth-assistance programs,” Lagomarsino said.

Food is for purchase and consumption in an outdoor patio setting at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center. Local food trucks and beverage vendors are slated for the event including Top Notch Food Spot, a hot dog cart, Zintzuni, offering Mexican cuisine; “Party at Pops”, offering Southern-style cuisine and sellers of shaved ice and herbal-infused lemonade.

“We’re tying the Kiwanis’ mission into our event this year in a new way, by offering the non-profit partners with whom we work the opportunity to display information about their organizations and the many shared projects on which we jointly work,” Lagomarsino said.

One of the Sacramento Suburban Kiwanis Club’s newest non-profit partnerships is with the group Wide Open Walls, which promotes diversity through artistic expression. Participating mural artists have painted large scale works throughout Sacramento including three in Citrus Heights.

“We think art should be part of our daily life and want art to reach a much wider audience,” Lagomarsino said.

The Sacramento Suburban Kiwanis Club is part of Kiwanis International, a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community at a time.

The club supports four high school Key Clubs (El Camino Fundamental, Rio Americano, Mira Loma, and Rosemont) in Sacramento County. Key Clubs teach leadership, communication, and community service skills.

Kiwanis, and its family of clubs, nearly 600,000 members strong, help raise more than $107 million annually and dedicates more than 18 million volunteer hours to strengthen communities and serve children.

Local nonprofits supported by the club include Kiwanis Family House, Boy Scout Troop #53, Sierra Arden Food Closet, the American Legion and Auxiliary Boys and Girls State, Wellspring Women’s Center, Sacramento Crisis Nursery, Easter Seals and Just for Kids, a program for children who have an immediate family member diagnosed with cancer, just to name a few.

The Sacramento Suburban Kiwanis meets on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 12:10 pm at Seasons 52 at Arden Fair Mall in the Sonoma Room, 1689 Arden Way, Suite 1065 in Sacramento. If you would like to visit the Kiwanis for lunch, or need more information on membership, call 916-972-7337.

Members of every age attend regular meetings, experience fellowship, raise funds for various causes and participate in service projects that help their local communities.

Kiwanians around the world have come together in partnership with UNICEF to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. Members make an impact throughout the world by participating in Kiwanis International’s new global campaign for children, The Eliminate Project, which focuses on ending maternal/neonatal tetanus.

Visit /www.kiwanis.org/foundation/impact-and-programs/the-eliminate-project to help Kiwanis finish the fight.

The free 65^th Suburban Kiwanis Art Fiesta at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center at 6151 H Street in downtown Sacramento will be held Saturday, June 10, from 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday, June 11, from 10 am to 5 pm.

For more information about the event, follow the Sacramento Suburban Kiwanis on social media or visit: www.sacramentosuburbankiwanis.org/

 

SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - New Rising Publishing is pleased to announce the release of the publication “The Funk Queen Dawn Silva: An Autobiography.”  The deluxe coffee-table book spans the wide-screen life and career of funk icon Dawn Silva who was the founder and lead vocalist for the George Clinton-created Brides of Funkenstein, while also having enjoyed stints as a vocalist in some of funk music’s greatest groups including Sly & The Family Stone, Parliament Funkadelic and the Gap Band.

As a memoir, the publication serves as a reference work that touches on Silva’s participation in many key historical events and developments within the funk music genre while also serving as a cautionary tale as Silva navigated through a myriad number of inequities, challenges, and obstacles as a woman artist in the male-dominated music industry of the 1970s and 1980s. 

“My mother once said that there is nothing in the music industry that prepares you for that lifestyle,” said Silva.  “She was right, and it was all the motivation I needed to complete my autobiography.  I felt very strongly about putting my story in print in hopes of it inspiring and empowering those who read it.” 

Epic in scope, the publication chronicles Silva’s rich cultural heritage, growing up during the Jim Crow era of the 1950s & 60s as well as her stint in the Black Panther Party of the 1970s.  Her musical journeys are spotlighted through her tenures with Sly & The Family Stone, George Clinton / Parliament-Funkadelic (aka P-Funk), Brides of Funkenstein (lead vocalist), as well as her background songstress days for the Gap Band and her later forays into rock/new wave with Was Not Was as well as her going solo and defying many of the norms for women in funk music. 

The book takes a kaleidoscopic look at her musical experiences and how they galvanized her reputation as the “Funk Queen,” as Silva directly challenged the long-established status quo and institutional misogyny of the music industry.

“This is the story of a rebellious American female recording artist who escaped an era of subjugated institutions, misogyny, and physical and mental abuse, beating the odds and recapturing a worldwide underground cult following,” said New Rising Publishing Executive Director Henry Mayers.  “This true story is no longer funk’s best kept secret. It is the story of survival and persistence, a tale of a courageous woman who stood against the male-dominated music industry and never backed down; no matter how often she was knocked down, each time, she would rise stronger and better than before.” 

The release has garnered praise from some of pop culture’s foremost music critics and scribes who have hailed the book as an authentic masterpiece. 

Noted cultural critic and scribe Nelson George added, “Dawn Silva is a dynamic storyteller with a raw, incandescent aura.  Dawn was not twenty feet from stardom.  The stars were twenty feet from Dawn,” he added.

“It’s one of the most honest in my-life-in-music and books you’re going to read, and it’s also one of the most exploratory. (Each event is) preceded by cause and followed by effect, each one building up a portrait, of people, places, and things, that are themselves as real as the pages in your hand,” said music critic Dave Thompson.

“The Funk Queen Dawn Silva: An Autobiography” is a limited-edition 544-page book and is the first project to roll out from New Rising Publishing, a progressive artistic publishing house dedicated to high-quality publications, ranging from fiction to non-fiction for writers with unique stories to tell.  To order the publication, visit newrisingpublishing.com.

 

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Three local community leaders have been honored for their community service by the members of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) General John A. Sutter Citrus Heights Chapter on Monday, May 15^th at their general business meeting for their many volunteer contributions to our local community.

Husband and wife, David and Chris Ishikawa have served with Troop 380 of the Boy Scouts in the Rosemont area for over 30 years. David is a Scoutmaster, and his wife Chris serves on the board. Together they were recognized for helping boys and girls learn the fundamentals of Scouting and leadership skills as they progress towards becoming an Eagle Scout.

Chris also coordinates meetings, Camporees, community service projects and often wears many hats for the Scout troop, including working in fundraising; and evaluating the Troop 380 documentation for verification of Scouts hoping to earn the highest Scouting honor of Eagle Scout.

The couple work with other leaders in the troop, including their son Neil, to teach young men and women much needed survival and leadership skills; and help train the next generation of Scouts.

The troop organizes and participates in service days such as collecting expired Christmas trees, cleaning cemeteries, and many other projects. Together the Ishikawas have taught, mentored and supported members of Troop 380 in participating in multiple community events, camporees and public service events.

Mary Anne Povey, a resident of Orangevale, was also recognized for her community service efforts as an active volunteer in the office of the Orangevale Chamber of Commerce and on the Orangevale Community Council.

Povey also uses her skills to promote local business in print and social media. She writes for the Orangevale View community newspaper, and for the Messenger Newspaper Group and helps raise money for Casa Roble High School football programs. Povey was also recognized for her mentorship efforts in connecting local business leaders with high school students to teach young people the importance of giving back to the community.