Ricoh Electronics Inc., Tustin, donated more than $12,000 to Providence Speech and Hearing and Parents Regional Outreach for Understanding Down’s Syndrome. The electronic company’s Community Assistance by Ricoh Employees raised more than $6,000 though various fundraisers, potlucks and auctions. Ricoh doubled the money raised by CARE.
The PacifiCare Foundation awarded more than $500,000 in grants to 40 nonprofit community organizations in the Southern California Area. Employees of PacifiCare Health Systems, Santa Ana, funded the grants. One recipient was YMCA Community Services, Tustin, which received a $10,000 donation.
The Irvine Health Foundation gave a $25,000 development grant to a new Orange County Bar Foundation program. The program, Stop Short of Addiction, is a juvenile drug and alcohol abuse program. The Pacific Life Foundation also donated $5,000 to the program.
The Entertainment Industry Foundation gave an $8,000 grant to the Easter Seals Senior Day Care Program in Brea. The Easter Seals program provides supervised care and companionship to seniors with physical and mental disabilities like Alzheimer’s disease.
Walnut Creek-based Nextel Communications Inc. donated 48 desktop computers to Greentree Elementary School in Irvine. The surplus computers will serve more than 500 students.
The Internal Revenue Service needs volunteers throughout Southern California for its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs in Laguna Niguel. Volunteers will learn to prepare and file tax returns electronically for limited income, disabled, elderly and non-English speaking taxpayers. To volunteer, call (949) 389-4605 or TCE at (888) 227-7669.
El Morro Elementary School’s Parent Teachers Association in Laguna Beach is raising money for multimedia tools in their classrooms and need the support of Orange County businesses. The school’s Jogathon 2000, a PTA sponsored fundraiser, will have students running for community pledges.
Deloitte & Touche, Costa Mesa, the Santa Ana Fire Department and the Santa Ana Fireman’s Association helped families at the Village Lodge Motel in Santa Ana by raising more than $1,700 and donating holiday goods and toys to the families.
The Orange County Farm Bureau and the Second Harvest Food Bank are bringing a “Cornucopia” of fresh produce to the hungry at the Farmer’s Market in Costa Mesa. The new program allows the Food Bank to provide a variety of healthy produce, donated by local farmers to the Bureau, every Thursday for those in need.
Paradigm Wireless Communications, Irvine, donated $10,000 to the Irvine Public Schools Foundation. The contribution will go toward programs within the Irvine Unified School District.
Orange County Blood Services is critically low on blood supplies for Southern California, causing some surgeries to be cancelled. The non-profit blood center is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 1-9 p.m. and Thursday though Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments can be scheduled by calling (714) 569-2600. Donors must be at least 17 and weigh more than 110 pounds.
The Forest Lawn Foundation awarded the Anaheim Memorial Medical Center Foundation a $50,000 grant for the MemorialCare Breast Center at Anaheim. The Employees Community Fund also gave to the Foundation, awarding a $2,500 grant for the only comprehensive Breast Care Center in Anaheim.
Aliso Viejo-based Seabreeze Management Company raised more than $135,000 at the Mission Hospital Foundation Holiday Gala at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Laguna Niguel. The contribution will go toward the hospital’s Cardiopulmonary Intensive Care unit and the completion of the Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center’s fourth floor.
Volunteers are needed at the Seal Beach Wildlife Refuge at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station on Feb. 26 to help clean up the nesting site for least terns, a protected bird species. The event is sponsored by the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. The program runs from 8:15 a.m. to noon. Call (562) 951-1694 for complete details.
The Anaheim Family YMCA, which serves 16 elementary schools throughout the city’s school districts, will launch its annual fundraising campaign March 8, headed by Disneyland Resort President Cynthia Harriss. The campaign is expected to raise $145,000 for the YMCA, a United Way agency serving Anaheim, Cypress, Stanton and LaPalma. For information, call (714) 635-9622.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, who headed OC’s United Way effort last year, recognized county department heads and employees for their contributions, which raised $696,183 for the agency.
Irvine-based Toshiba America Business Solutions sponsored a patchwork painting created by students of Whittier Elementary School in Costa Mesa. Toshiba’s sponsorship covered the cost of the project and supported the purchase of art supplies for the school.
The Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation granted $1.5 million to Chapman University School of Law for the purchase of materials for the Rinker Law Library collection.
The Taco Bell Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana will distribute free admission passes to all students who visit the center on school field trips this year. The passes are valid for one admission for persons age 17 and under, a savings of $7.50 per student.
The Westin South Coast Plaza hosted students from Tustin Elementary School for National Job Shadow Day on Feb. 2. The program, a joint effort of America’s Promise, the National School-to-Work Office, Junior Achievement and the American Society of Association Executives, helps students see how skills they learn in school apply to the workplace.
Goodwill Industries of Orange County provided eight funding grants ranging from $50 to $650 for individuals with learning disabilities.
