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The Gary and Mary West Foundation Help PACE Open a New 20,000-Square-Foot Center in San Marcos

Plus more good news from the Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County, Rest Haven Children's Fund, and a celebration of 30 years of providing better education in Tijuana.
Gary and Mary West PACE opens in San Marcos (L to R): Rena Smith executive director and Tim Lash, president, Gary and Mary West PACE; San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones, philanthropists Gary and Mary West, and Shelley Lyford, president and CEO of West Health/Gary and Mary West Foundation.

By Jenna Miller

The Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) has just opened the Gary and Mary West PACE in San Marcos. Established with a grant from the Gary and Mary West Foundation, the nearly 20,000-square-foot center houses a team of physicians, social workers, nurses, nutritionists, and physical and occupational therapists. The center offers comprehensive healthcare, social services and support for seniors with chronic care needs who want to receive care in place rather than in a nursing home.

“Our goal, privilege and responsibility is to help low-income seniors live as independently as possible for as long as possible in their own homes, while also providing much needed support to their family caregivers,” says Shelley Lyford, president and CEO of the San Diego-based Gary and Mary West Foundation.

The Gary and Mary West Foundation Help PACE Open a New 20,000-Square-Foot Center in San Marcos

The Gary and Mary West Foundation Help PACE Open a New 20,000-Square-Foot Center in San Marcos

CEO Lorie Zapf speaks at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Annual Gourmet Dinner

The Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine was filled with 600 guests for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County’s Annual Gourmet Dinner, themed “Rooted to Rise: Growing the Unlimited Potential of Every Little.” This was one of their most successful fundraisers to date, raising $878,000 for their one-to-one mentoring programs. BBBS of SDC is a donor and volunteer supported mentoring network which helps children achieve positive outcomes, such as educational success, higher aspirations, greater confidence, and healthier relationships

“We are grateful for the support of our Gourmet Dinner attendees and their generosity towards this important cause,” says BBBS of SDC board member and Dinner Chair, Matt Stoyka. “The funds raised will support over 550 children in the program for a full year with life changing mentoring services.”

Rest Haven Children’s Health Fund has awarded grants, a total of $217,439 in funding to 19 area nonprofit agencies through its 2019 grant funding cycle. Rest Haven has averaged nearly $200,000 in annual giving since 2008, and through this process, the foundation has awarded a total of $2,215,349. They have given special one-time grants to 56 different nonprofit agencies that share its children’s health mission, which is supporting health-related services for underserved children in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

“It is a privilege for Rest Haven to be able to support these exceptional community agencies,” says Executive Director Peggy McNamara. “Whether it is for a life-saving piece of equipment or for the improvement and expansion of critical health-related services and programs, these grants will have a direct impact on the most vulnerable children in our communities.”

The Gary and Mary West Foundation Help PACE Open a New 20,000-Square-Foot Center in San Marcos

The Gary and Mary West Foundation Help PACE Open a New 20,000-Square-Foot Center in San Marcos

At the Americas Foundation gala: (Back Row) Travis Pied, Octavio LLano, Isabel Diaz-Brady, Briana Sanchez, Emily Kosko, Fina Madrid, and Tanya Sanchez. (Front Row): Beatrice Benson, Elizabeth Perer, Kathrine Hall, Parisa Jafari and Emilio Guerra.

The Americas Foundation hosted a ’30s Mexican Cinema themed party at The Lot in La Jolla to celebrate three decades of hard work bringing schools to the border of the US and Mexico. The organization’s founder, Christine Brady, started this nonprofit 30 years ago when she saw the need for better education in the poorer regions of Tijuana. There have been 5,000 students who have graduated from the Esperanza system which Brady helped build.

“At one point we brought over ballet teachers from the Kirov Ballet Company in Russia,” says Brady’s daughter, Emily Kosko. “And we now have a prestigious orchestra program as well.”

The Gary and Mary West Foundation Help PACE Open a New 20,000-Square-Foot Center in San Marcos

Gary and Mary West PACE opens in San Marcos (L to R): Rena Smith executive director and Tim Lash, president, Gary and Mary West PACE; San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones, philanthropists Gary and Mary West, and Shelley Lyford, president and CEO of West Health/Gary and Mary West Foundation.

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