Posts Tagged donations


Orangewood Foundation-July Event-Back to school Gear

0 Comments By Amanda Wernick on July 26th, 2010
Tags: , , , , , ,      Categories: Communitiy

Orangewood Children’s Foundation

Orangewood Children's Foundation

Once upon a time, we all were in school.  We all dreamed of lazy summer vacation days, and then we all dreamed of reuniting with our friends at school in order to get caught up over what happened, showing off new clothes…the smell of new pencils and notebooks…Ah…Youth!

Of course today’s youth are exposed to a different culture…they have iPads, iPods, laptops and DELL notebooks….

None-the-less, they still look forward to going back to school to be with their friends.

Not everyone could afford new school supplies…then or now….and this month we are looking to help out these youngsters by providing them with much needed school supplies to get their year off to a great start and this is where you come in!

What can you contribute to the Orangewood Foundation that will make an impact on these kids?  We’re not talking about buying laptops etc (though we’re not discouraging that either), just the basic necessities.  Target, Walmart even CVS are replete with aisles of school supplies…stroll the aisles and then contribute what you can.

New pencils, pens, notebooks etc…whatever your budget will allow.

Feel free to drop them off at our offices:

12651 Newport Avenue, Tustin or

5481 Santa Ana Canyon Road, Anaheim Hills

Look forward to seeing you there!

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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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