Archive for May, 2010


Orangewood Children’s Foundation May Event!

0 Comments By Amanda Wernick on May 27th, 2010
Tags: , , ,      Categories: Communitiy, Social Media

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Once again, we are thankful to everyone that helped make this month’s event such a hit!

We know that times are tough, and want you to know that your contribution of goods, food, and time are priceless to us! We appreciate all of your help and look forward to continuing to help this amazing organization!

Wednesday morning several of us stopped in at the Tustin office to pick up last minute drop off’s of clothing for interviews and food. Three car loads later we were off to Orangewood!

We were overwhelmed by how much was given by our agents and our community!
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We were excited when we mentioned this month’s theme was BBQ and looked forward to seeing how we were going to be surprised this month!
See for yourselves!

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So thankful for all the donations!

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If this doesn't make your mouth water, I don't know what will

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Kash brought some delicious Mac and Cheese...don't tell him I stole some!

Gotta have your fruit!

Just to offset all of the home made goodies

Clothing for these great kids to be able to interview with

Thank you for helping these kids have clothes to wear to job interviews

That's ME on the end!

A dedicated team of Community Builders who couldn’t do it without you!
THANKS!

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Client Satisfacation is our Top Priority!

0 Comments By Amanda Wernick on May 25th, 2010
Tags: , ,      Categories: Communitiy, Marketing, Real Estate

I don’t know if you were aware of this, but here at Seven Gables, we have a Concierge/Client Services Center.  We reached out to our past clients and asked for recommendations on contractors, tax consultants, window washers, curtain makers, lawyers etc.  You name it, we probably have someone that was referred to us by a satisfied client.

Next we reached out to our agents.  We asked who had they worked with in the past that they would recommend again?  Someone of integrity, honest, reliable and priced competitevly.

Next we looked for two quality people that would have the commitment to answering any questions that come in from the community, offering their services, knowledge and expertise without a cost!

They answer the phone with a smile that can be heard on the other line, and they are ever resourceful.  I’d like to introduce you to them!
They are  Karen Cannon and Vicki Melin.

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Stay tuned for a great story about how our Concierge Services helped out our Marketing Director!

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Orangewood Children’s Foundation May Drive!

0 Comments By Amanda Wernick on May 25th, 2010
Tags: , ,      Categories: Communitiy, Newsletter

As you know, Seven Gables will be supporting Orangewood each month by promoting a themed Collection Drive AND hosted Dinner for the young adults affiliated with the organization. These individuals (ages 18-21) still rely on Orangewood for guidance and direction, and are in need of everyday items to help them through the transition into independence and adulthood.

For this month’s Collection Drive, we will be collecting and donating Interview Clothing & Accessories. Items needed include gently used or new ties, scarves, socks, dress shoes, jackets, dress pants, dress shirts, skirts, blouses, belts, jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, earrings), etc.

Items may be dropped off at any Seven Gables office and will be delivered to Orangewood tomorrow morning, Wednesday, May 26th in conjunction with our monthly themed Dinner. See below for more details and how you can help!

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People Continue to Donate to Haiti

1 Comment By Amanda Wernick on May 7th, 2010
Tags: , , , , , ,      Categories: Communitiy

Do you remember what you were doing when Haiti happened?

Just to refresh your memory, on January 12, 2010 Haiti was struck by a horrible, magnitude 7.0 earthquake.  We all pulled together, some using Twitter to relay messages, offer help and support.

Remember the wonderful Telethon…worldwide…that George Clooney and others in the entertainment industry created?  They came together to raise funds and awareness.  What a great and inspiring event in our worlds history!

Time has moved on, and unfortunately, we’ve had many other catastrophes that have pulled our attention away from Haiti.

Fortunately there are those who remember and continue to move forward, looking to raise awareness and contribute…

Supplies are still being sent to Haiti and I recently heard a wonderful story about a local mom who wanted to help.  Want to meet her?

Her name is Sharlin Craig. She is a Mom, active member in her community and writes and records her own music.  She is also a patient music teacher.  Her daughter Anna attends Spurgeon Pre-School, a part of Spurgeon United Methodist Church.  I had the pleasure of interviewing her today.  I asked her what prompted her to get involved.

Me: What prompted you to get involved?

Sharlin: I felt horrible and asked the school if they were going to do anything to help, possibly send supply kits (they were going to send 60).  I decided that I needed to help and I asked permission to record a CD with the kids talking, singing songs and see what results we would get, sell them and then donate the proceeds to the Red Cross.  The conversations are all set with classical music in the background.

Me: What kind of research did you do to know what kind of questions to ask and how to go about putting it all together.

Sharlin: I was inspired by Bill Cosby and Art Linkletter and started watching their shows to get ideas of what kinds of questions to ask the kids.

She rallied her friends for help and support.  Her friend Emily Frye created the CD layout (which wasn’t easy being a 4 page jacket).  She looked to see the colors of Haiti were and chose the color of the flag.

Her friend Gina Chiaramonte did the photograph’s.

Michael Maughan did the CD mastering,  Sharlin worked on the production, engineering and music and Groove House records helped with the manufacturing and packaging it.

I asked her what her goal was.

Sharlin: We created 300 CD’s and I would like to get them all sold before the end of the school year (June 10th) and then donate all the proceeds to the Red Cross for relief for Haiti.  I would for all of the children to know what it’s like to make a difference.

Here are her own words:

A benefit CD for the Haiti earthquake survivors was just recorded by Spurgeon preschool children in Orange County and is now available for purchase at CDBaby . The CD is filled with silly, profound, touching, unpredictable comments and songs by the children accompanied by beautiful classical music. Kids of all ages are responding to this CD. They love hearing the children’s’ voices. It’s also a great gift for expectant moms, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and basically for anyone who loves children. You will find yourself laughing and crying at its sweetness. Even though the voices on the CD are of the children at Spurgeon, they could be the innocent, sweet voice of any child.

We were inspired to find a way to help the Haitian people. We decided that recording and selling a CD would be a wonderful way for the children, at a very young age, to learn about the importance of helping others and allow them to take an active part in the process.

All proceeds of the purchase of this CD will be donated to the Haitian earthquake survivors. We will donate all proceeds to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund. Many thanks to CDBaby and Groove House Records for donating a portion of their proceeds to this cause.

What a great and inspiring story!  Please help Sharlin and the children of Spurgeon Pre-school help those in Haiti.  Order here.

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Looking to Donate to Charity but don’t know where to start??

0 Comments By Amanda Wernick on May 6th, 2010
Tags: , , , ,      Categories: Communitiy

Donating to a charity, whether it be your time or your money is not always as easy as one would think.  In todays day and age, we may have the tendency to be a cynic, and rightly so.  There are so many scams out there that take advantage of giving souls.

So where does one begin?

First, you need to begin where your passions are.  What things intrigue and motivate you?  What would you contribute your money to and more than that, your time.

Once you have discovered your passion, you can ask your friends and family if they know of a charity that resembles who you are and what you want to donate to.  If you don’t have this as a resource, you will want to start your search online.

Google it!  Type in what kind of charity you are looking to contribute to in your home town, become a slueth, and check them out online.

A great place to start is Network Solutions.

What this does is give you insight into who the person is that created the account, when it was created and how to contact them.  Be sure to do your due diligence.  Check for an offline contact source as well as online (phone, fax and snail mail address)  Here is an example of what this looks like on  my this site.

Or, if this sounds like just too much work, you can always go to Consumer Reports.  There is a bevy of information on different charities who have already had the once-over!

No matter which route you choose to take, our world is a better place, thanks to people just like you!

(As a side note, we contribute to charities like “Make-A-Wish Foundation” “Orangewood Children’s Home” “Habitat for Humanity” just to name a few.  Feel free to check them out yourselves!)

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Orangewood Children’s Foundation April Contribution…

0 Comments By Amanda Wernick on May 3rd, 2010
Tags: , , , ,      Categories: Communitiy

It never ceases to amaze me…when you call on your community to assist with a great cause, your community rallies, comes together, donates it’s time, money and resources…and this month’s Orangewood Children’s Foundation rally was beyond SPECTACULAR!

Pam, Kash and I arrived by 9:00 a.m and started unloading the cars! We had BAGS of donations from our Seven Gables Agents and the community.

Pam quickly started working on her Taquito casserole. I had never had that, but after she was done putting it all together…this is what it looked like:

This is the chicken with salsa verde recipe…

Next, Kash brought in a cake that his wife had made: Jell-O cake

Kash had to hold me back from stealing one!

Then my Friend Teresa showed up with the home made Spanish rice and Beans we had made the night before, and Pam continued to work on her beef version of her Taquito Casserole:

Is your mouth watering…

Gina brought her famous Mexican Beef Brisket and home made refried beans (Sorry…no photo…I was too busy drooling!)

Pam had also brought some oranges and apples and just to be balanced a HUGE bag of bite size chocolates!

Comparing apples to oranges!

Our agents donated home made goodies:

Thanks to everyone who donated their time and gave so unselfishly

Then came the rest of our troops: Lisa, Gina, Vanessa…all ready to take inventory!

Before we take inventory…

And what a lot of inventory we had!
Body Lotion:10 bottles
Body Soap: 67 bars
Conditioner: 24 bottles
Cotton Balls:500 (OK, so one bag )
Deodorant: 42 bottles
Feminine Products: 4 Boxes
Hair Brushes and Combs: 7
Gel/Mousse: 8 bottles
Make up: 15 different types
Q-Tips: 2,020 (counted individually by Kash and Vanessa!) KIDDING!
Razors: 168
Shampoo: 41 bottles
Shaving Cream:11 cans
Toilet Paper: 120 rolls
Toothpaste:33 boxes
Toothpaste:52 regular size and 288 sample size
Body Wash: 11 bottles
A host of sample size shampoo’s, conditioners, lotions
Liquid Hand soap:5 bottles
Floss: 11 packs
Mouthwash: 2 bottles

First of the bags to arrive

A big thanks to all who contributed and stay put for information on next month’s theme’s: BBQ!

Thank you all for your wonderful Donations!
It was a job getting this all together!

I also want to share with you the wonderful email we received from Kristin who helps us out monthly and works there at Orangewood:

Hi Lisa,

Just wanted to let you know that the youth devoured the food!  They also wrote you notes.  I’ll either drop if off or take a picture, but I wanted to let you know.  One youth loved the cake and I have to tell you, I wish you could have seen how happy they were.  Some even took it outside and ate on the grass.  They just love this!

Thank you!

Kristi Piatkowski

Volunteer Services Program Manager

Orangewood Children’s Foundation

1575 E. 17th Street, Santa Ana, CA 92705

Tel:  (714) 619-0248   Fax:  (714) 619-0252

Website:  www.orangewoodfoundation.org

We are truly blessed and thank you!  We will be posting our monthly theme for donations soon, so keep your eyes open!

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