Posts Tagged Charity


The Wooden Floor

5 Comments By Amanda Wernick on October 14th, 2010
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,      Categories: Communitiy, Real Estate

Friday, I was on caravan for the city of Santa Ana with Sandy DeAngelis.  She is what I aspire to be when I decide to grow up! She is knowledgeable, resourceful, a true joy to be around and I am thankful to be a part of her Real Estate team. We started talking about Real Estate (what else is new) and then about community.  She then started to share with me about an organization that I had never heard of.  It is called The Wooden Floor. Have you heard of it? She started to bubble over with excitement when she was telling me about who they are and what they do for the community.  I couldn’t help but become inspired and look deeper into who they are.

The Wooden Floor, “Formerly known as St. Joseph Ballet was established in 1983 to serve underprivileged youth in Orange County.”  Watch an 11:00 minute video giving you a glimpse into their cause here.

Hard to imagine that Orange County, one of the richest counties in California would have such a need, but the need is rampant.

On Saturday October 9th, 2010, The Wooden Floor hosted “Keep the Promise,” a wine tasting benefit to raise funds for their community. One young lady involved in the program had the opportunity to give her testimony.  Her name is Meyby.  In her words:

“Through the dance program, I have excelled to the top level 10 class.  The discipline and focus in dance helps me in all areas of my life.  I am enrolled in the tutoring program that also helps me with my homework and keep my grades up. I don’t have to go through the difficulties my parents had.  Here you get to create a new future-one that has never been seen before.  Thank you for supporting The Wooden Floor.”

I was so inspired by seeing the power behind this program that I “liked” them on Facebook and now follow them on Twitter as well (@TheWoodenFloor).

This Saturday, October 16th The Wooden Floor will once again be holding auditions and it is reported that people will line up at the front doors starting at 4:00 IN THE MORNING.

Now there’s an organization filled with hope and inspiration.

Thank you Sandy for opening my eyes, yet again, to such a wonderful cause!

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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