Dean Spanos and Erik Jepsen
Dean Spanos and Erik Jepsen
Dean Spanos, chairman of the board and president of the San Diego Chargers has pledged $500,000 to University of California San Diego to support a new Athletic Performance Center. The gift will support the expansion of the existing Alex G. Spanos Training Facility. According to Dean Spanos’ wishes, the new center will be known as the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Performance Center, in honor of his father. The Spanos family has made gifts totaling more than $1.6 million to UC San Diego Athletics. “I’m proud to be able to support UC San Diego Athletics and the university where our family, the Chargers and Chargers fans have so many great memories,” said Dean Spanos. “The donation will continue my father’s legacy of giving to the university while helping to provide an athletic experience on par with the school’s first-class academic experience.”
Alliance Group Real Estate Services raised $2,200 to help build a home for a family in Tijuana in partnership with Puente de Amistad (Bridge of Friendship). The home was also furnished with household items, food and presents. Alliance Group’s goal is to build a home for a family every quarter moving forward.
Natural High
Natural High
Natural High, a drug abuse prevention organization is encouraging teens across the country to show how they give back throughout the month of December. . In the #LiveToGive contest, participants have been submitting images demonstrating acts of kindness in their communities using the hashtags #LiveToGive and #LiveNaturallyHigh on Twitter and Instagram. Entries include scenes of donating clothes to refugees, shoes to underprivileged children and haircuts benefitting Locks of Love. At the conclusion of the program, a grand prize winner will receive $250.
San Diego Padres Shop with a Jock
San Diego Padres Shop with a Jock
San Diego Padres players, coaches and executives recently participated in several community events. On Dec. 3 they participated in the 19th Annual Shop with a Jock event presented by the Junior Seau Foundation. On Dec. 4 first baseman Yonder Alonso hosted 20 kids from the 4S Ranch Branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego for a baseball clinic at Petco Park. Padres players Cameron Maybin, Nick Vincent and Mark Loretta joined first responders to give away turkeys and potatoes to 300 families at Fire Station 19 as part of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department’s Turkey Giveaway on Dec. 6. Bud Black, Trevor Hoffman, Tim Stauffer and Randy Jones were at Fire Station 17 on Dec. 7.
Christmas at Grand Del Mar
Christmas at Grand Del Mar
McKinney Advisory Group hosted its 2nd annual Holiday Charity event on Dec. 4 benefiting four charities at the Grand Del Mar Resort. The invitation only charity networking event featured charities focusing on health and wellbeing. All guests were given a voucher worth $100 to select which charity McKinney would donate to in their honor. The choices were Foundation Fighting Blindness, Vista Community Clinic, San Diego Center for Children and Rady Children’s Hospital. Sponsors included Wells Fargo, Sage Executives, McKenna Long & Aldridge, Allenbrooke Insurance, Pacific Medical Buildings, the Grand Del Mar and Ferrari Productions who created a video featuring all four charities. Over $100,000 was raised for the charities.
Walden Family Services began its holiday gift drive on Dec. 13 focusing on gifts for teenage foster children and foster youth who have aged out of the system. WFS is asking for new items such as hoodies, movie tickets, scarves, jewelry and accessories, curling irons, food and gift cards. Gifts can be dropped off at any WFS office.
Bill Walton & EES Kids – KPMG
Bill Walton & EES Kids – KPMG
The San Diego Office of KPMG hosted the KPMG Reading Relay to combat illiteracy at Jeff & Deni Jacobs Child Development Center to encourage reading. Former NBA player and Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton read Where the Wild Things Are while students and volunteers acted out the story. KPMG also presented each child with five new books to take home with them.
Tastes & Toasts to support art in schools was held on Dec. 15 at Wine A Bit in Coronado. The proceeds from Tastes & Toasts benefit the ArtReach free workshop program that offers free workshops to schools that have no visual art education or resources to fund such programs. Since 2007, ArtReach has provided free lessons taught to over 10,000 students at schools from North County to the South Bay and all points in between.
Joyce Glazer
Please send news items to Joyce Glazer at [email protected].
