Costa Mesa, CA — On June 7, 2019 the SOS First in Family College Readiness Program celebrated the achievements of 8 low-income first-generation high school seniors with a special event held at the SOS Community Health Center. The program prepares students for success in college by supplying them with laptop computers, dorm room essentials, money for textbooks, and case management support through their first year of college. SOS also helped participants select new professional attire outfits for a school presentation that they can use for job interviews and other formal occasions in the future. By working with their college guidance counselors, SOS is also ensuring that they will have the support they need once in college.

Participants in this year’s project were high school seniors from Newport Harbor High School, Costa Mesa High School, Foothill High School and Estancia High School. Each student was recommended to SOS by an advocate at their school because of their determination to overcome difficult circumstances to succeed. They also submitted an application and wrote a personal statement describing why they should be considered for this project, as well as confirmed their attendance at a college or university in the fall.

All the participants will either be the first in their family to attend college, or part of the first generation in their family to do so. Some of the schools they will be attending are the University of California, Irvine; California State University, Fullerton; Saddleback College; California State University, Bakersfield; and Orange Coast College. Here are a few of their stories (we have changed their names to protect their identities):

The students and their invited guests gathered at SOS in Costa Mesa on Friday afternoon to celebrate their acceptance into the SOS First in Family College Readiness Program and accept their college supplies. Each student received a laptop computer and a $100 gift card for Amazon for textbooks. Student attending a community college got a backpack filled with school supplies, while those who will be living on campus got luggage with dorm supplies including hangers, towels, sheets and a hygiene kit. As a special surprise, SOS procured a sweatshirt for each student from their college or university. Many of the schools donated these items for the students.

Speakers at the event on Friday included community facilitator Maria Barragan from Estancia High School, who spoke about the school’s senior project and the history of the collaboration with SOS; SOS Director of Social Services Michael McGlinn; a student panel featuring past program participants; and the keynote speaker, Megan Lattimer, who spoke about her experiences helping those in need at the OCC food pantry. The event included dinner and cake for the participants and their families.

This project would not have been possible without the generous support of our community. Their kind donations of funds, college supplies and hygiene items allowed SOS to provide each student with a wonderful care package that will make the transition to college as effortless as possible.

A huge thank you to our generous chefs, sponsors, event sponsors, Wild & Crazy Taco Night Committee & volunteers for making this event a huge success!

Costa Mesa, CA – This holiday season marked the 49th year of Share Our Selves’ Annual Adopt A Family Program. This wonderful holiday tradition supports many struggling Orange County families by providing gifts and food for the holidays. In 2018, the Adopt A Family Program connected donors with 1,451 families with children recommended by Costa Mesa and Santa Ana organizations and schools.

Hundreds of families and organizations made Adopt A Family a part of their holiday tradition in 2018. Participating donors provided each child in the family with at least two new gifts and a complete holiday dinner. In addition to our donors, various companies, schools and religious organizations held food and toy drives, which assisted SOS in providing a memorable holiday for every family.

This year SOS was able to deliver Christmas gifts and a hearty meal to 1,451 families with over 4,527 children from 62 local schools and organizations. SOS would like to extend a big thank you to our amazing volunteers who put in countless hours of time over many months. We sincerely appreciate the generosity of the many families, companies and organizations that adopted families and held food and toy drives, as well as the numerous volunteer and staff members who worked tirelessly at the OC Fair & Event Center packing and sorting boxes of gifts and food. It is because of the support of the community that SOS was able to make this a Merry Christmas for families that desperately needed a little holiday cheer.

SOS also collected messages of thanks from the families who directly benefited from this program. Please take a look at their heartfelt words in the slideshow below.

Costa Mesa, CA – In 2018, Share Our Selves distributed 1,346 Thanksgiving food bags over the three days before Thanksgiving. The bags were full of everything needed for a delicious dinner, including turkeys, chickens, produce, rolls, stuffing, pies, and more.

Thanksgiving is truly a team effort. A huge thank you to everyone that helped out!

Costa Mesa, CA- Share Our Selves Family Service, which took place on Thursday, November  15, 2018, was a chance for families to kick off the holiday season together by working on projects that helped our homeless neighbors and taught children about the challenges they face. Geared towards families with children elementary school age or younger, this night was unique opportunity to introduce the next generation of OC philanthropists to issues of hunger and homelessness in our community. Throughout the night, our little helpers helped SOS prepare for the holiday season by:

• Sorting 1,900 pounds of canned goods
• Preparing 1,400 bags of Thanksgiving produce
• Packing 250 bags full of hygiene items
• Making 12 blankets to keep our neighbors experiencing homelessness warm
• Creating and decorating dozens of holiday cards and food bags to spread the joy of the season

Thank you to the 200 community members those who helped make this night a true success!

A huge thank you to our generous chefs, sponsors, event sponsors, Celebrity Chef Dinner Committee & volunteers for making this event a huge success!

Reception

First Course

Entrée

Dessert

Newport Beach, CA – On Friday, August 24, 2018 the entire SOS staff gathered at the Lido House Hotel in Newport Beach for an afternoon of fun at the fifth annual Vision & Values Awards luncheon. This event recognized the staff members that best represent the SOS Core Values of Dignity, Service, Excellence and Justice. There were also two additional awards, the Outstanding Achievement Award and the Client/Volunteer Award. The Outstanding Achievement Award honoree is awarded to the staff member who best furthered the vision of SOS by providing a unique contribution during the past year. The Client/Volunteer Award is given to a recipient who was nominated by an SOS patient, client or volunteer.

The event started off with iced tea, lemonade, appetizers, and a chance for staff members to mingle on the beautiful outdoor lawn. The program was then kicked off by HR Director, Kimm Sharp. New SOS Board Chair Will Klatte then said a few words about the organization.

Next, the awards presentation began, with staff members who had nominated their coworkers taking the stage to announce the honorees. Each honoree received a trophy, had their name placed on a plaque showcased at SOS, and got two tickets to the 2018 Celebrity Chef Dinner that will take place on October 5.

This year’s winners were Roxana Hurtado, who was the Dignity honoree; Karen Cuadros, who was the Service honoree; Hanna Shin Zameni, who was the Excellence nominee; Lidia Campos, who was the Justice nominee; Dr. Mary ann Huntsman, who was the Outstanding Achievement honorree; and the Beauchamp Dental Clinic Team, which was the Client/Patient/Volunteer honorree.

Karen McGlinn closed the awards with a touching thank you to the staff for all of the hard work they had put in over the past year.

• Maria Anaya*
• Ana Arroyo*
• Sara Barragan
• Jessica Brito
• Lidia Campos
• Mariela Carranza

• Jose Davalos
• Laura De La Rosa
• Ervin Dinh
• Roxana Hurtado
• Adilene Mendoza-Pelayo
• Vanessa Ontiveros

• Dr. Teresa Angelina-Prieto
• Diane Arroyo
• Ilona Artemov
• Maria Ballesteros
• Sara Barragan
• Dr. Samuel Benjamin
• Steven Calderon
• Lidia Campos*
• Janet Cho*
• Karen Cuadros*
• Katherine Fernandez

• Dr. Teresa Flores
• Luciano Leon
• Marie Macaulay
• Michael McGlinn
• Blanca Perez
• Erika Rodriguez
• Rosalva Salazar
• Hewitt Saldana
• Jennifer Solis
• Marisa Wayt

• Maria Anaya
• Martha Arredondo
• Lidia Campos
• Graciela Diaz
• Claudia Gutierrez
• Don Hoa
• Dr. Mary Ann Huntsman
• Ivette Ibarra

• Zoila Perez
• Rudy Ramos
• Hanna Shin-Zameni
• Anna Tiongco
• Kimberly Trejo
• Jeny Veneros*
• Jose Vizcarra
• Marisa Wayt

• Dr. Teresa Angelino-Prieto
• Lidia Campos
• Ana Dominguez
• Gladys Gutierrez-Teske

• Michael McGlinn
• Blanca Perez
• Rudy Ramos

• Kristin Almieri
• Karen Cuadros
• Dr. Mary Ann Huntsman*
• Jeny Veneros
• Jose Vizcarra
• Beachamp Dental Clinic

• Costa Mesa Medical Assistant Team*
• Costa Mesa Patient Service Rep Team*
• Harbor Clinic Team
• OSV Team Leads: Rudy Ramos; Dr. Mary Ann Huntsman; Anna Tiongco
• SOS Dentrix Team: Dr. Jila Nikkhah; Xiomara Joslyn; IT Department

• Angelica Aguayo
• Cindy Aguirre
• Rebeca Alcaraz*
• Adriana Alonso*
• Dr. Teresa Angelino-Prieto
• Rita Armendariz
• Martha Arredondo*
• Jessica Brito
• Steven Calderon*
• Lidia Campos*
• Erika Castro*
• Laura Cendejas
• Sergio Cruz Castro*
• Karen Cuadros*
• Riti Dayal
• Ana Dominguez Zamora*
• Sandy Garduno*
• Kacy Gomez*
• Damariz Gonzalez
• Gladys Gutierrez
• Claudia Gutierrez*
• Katie Hernandez
• Mia Hernandez
• Tammy Huang
• Roxana Hurtado*
• Ivette Ibarra
• Jonathan Kahn*

• Aleisha Knickerbocker
• John Le
• Ursula Loc
• Jeannette Lopez
• Yvonne Martinez*
• Jessica Martinez*
• Michael McGlinn*
• Mabel Morales
• Christina Nguyen
• Mireya Paz
• Zoila Perez*
• Blanca Perez*
• Tu Tina Pham*
• Rosa Reyes*
• Darin Rorrer*
• Stacey Sanchez
• Gabriela Sanchez*
• Betsy Trejo*
• Jeny Veneros
• Dr. Duc Vu*
• Marisa Wayt
• Deirdre Wilson*
• Angel Yap*
• Briseida Zavala*
• Beauchamp Dental Clinic Team*
• CFHC Patient Service Rep Team*
• El Sol Clinic Team

* This person was nominated multiple times in this category.

Costa Mesa, CA – Children living in poverty start their school year at a large disadvantage. Without crucial school supplies, these students cannot fully participate in classroom activities or complete their homework. SOS’s annual Back To School Program was launched in 1994 with the goal of closing the educational gap for low-income K-12 students.

This year’s program provided approximately 4,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to local students. “All children should have the tools they need to start school on an equal footing with their peers,” said SOS CEO Karen L. McGlinn. “Our program is here not just to give students school supplies; but to show them that the community cares about their futures, and to put them on the path to success this year and beyond.” More than 96,000 of the supplies collected were donated by fairgoers during the OC Fair’s We Care Wednesday Back to School Drive. The backpacks and supplies were stored in warehouse space generously donated by Reyes Holdings in Huntington Beach. Volunteers spent hundreds of hours sorting and stuffing backpacks and supplies to get ready for the distribution day.

This one-day event was held at the BESST Center, graciously provided by the Newport Mesa Unified School District for SOS’s distribution. On Saturday, August 4th, thousands came to pick up their backpacks. It was truly a community collaboration as volunteers, donors, and staff worked to distribute backpacks from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

Participants were also able to enjoy a “Resource Row” where community groups, including Save Our Youth, the Orange County Department of Child Support Services, the Melinda Hoag Smith Center for Healthy Living, Public Law Center, the Costa Mesa Family Resource Center, and USC College Prep occupied booths and provided information about their programs and resources.

With the help of our partners, donors, volunteers, and staff, thousands of local children are ready for the school year. Thank you to everyone who supported this year’s program. You’ve helped make a difference for children in the Orange County community.