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This afternoon, I had the privilege to join some fabulous BlogCrush members and volunteer at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa, CA.
Marcy Massura, co-founder of BlogCrush, organized the meetup. Once we arrived on location, we were given a tour of the facility, met with some key members that make it all happen, and were able to jump behind the line and serve a delicious, nutritious, feast to those in need.
The mission of Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is simple: To feed a daily nutritional meal to the homeless, unemployed, working poor, mentally & physically challenged, senior citizens, and most important, the children.
I was highly impressed with the nutritional, well-balanced dishes that were offered. Meals are made fresh daily and consist of vegetable soup, lettuce and fruit salads, heart and filling side dishes, breads and muffins, desert, milk and water.
The Soup Kitchen serves over 450 guests every day. Meals are served Monday through Friday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and a pancake breakfast is served on the weekends. For many guests who walk through the door, it is the only meal they eat all day. Their guests are comprised of the following:
- 25% are families with school aged children
- 30% are homeless
- 20% are working poor or unemployed
- 10% are mentally or physically challenged
- 15% are senior citizens
The holidays are upon us and on Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter, the Soup Kitchen serves up a special meal to over 500 guests. At Christmas, a toy drive is also organized for the kids. Children are able to visit with and have their picture taken with Santa Claus and receive their Christmas presents. It is the busiest day of the year for the Soup Kitchen.
As we sit down at the table to feast our holiday meals, it is important to remember that are so many people right here in Orange County, who go to bed hungry. The Someone Cares Soup Kitchen has launched a $50,000 in 50 Days campaign to help feed the less fortunate.
In 2009, Corey Donaldson, local business owner, and his taskforce successfully spearheaded a campaign to raise $40,000 in 40 days for Someone Cares Soup Kitchen’s holiday programs. The campaign allowed Someone Cares Soup Kitchen to fill 450 backpacks with more than 14,000 items, host a holiday dinner for 1,200 and give away more than 3,000 new, unwrapped toys as well as support the soup kitchen’s ongoing programs, including its tutoring center for at-risk kids.
This year, they aim to raise 50K in 50 days. If you would like to make a donation, you can visit www.SomeoneCares50Kin50Days.com.
It was an eye-opening experience volunteering in the Soup Kitchen today and I look forward to volunteering again soon!
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I had the pleasure of exploring Ocean Institute for the first time on Friday and I was blown away! If you have not been to Dana Point to see this place, it is a must see in Orange County! They host hundreds of field trips, overnights, and sea adventures. Kids walk away saying it was the best trip they ever had.
Ocean Institute is a non-profit organization that has become nationally recognized for its hands-on marine science, environmental education and maritime history programs. More than 110,000 K-12 students and 8,000 teachers annually participate in the Institute’s 61 award-winning, immersion style programs.
To learn about oceanography, science, and California history, students voyage onto the ocean, study in labs and live aboard tall ships or in the chaparral, where they can feel and taste the salty sea spray, sort through live specimens, observe migrating whales, collect scientific data and investigate the culture and world around them.
On weekends, we open our doors to the public for a sneak peek into how ocean science, history, and literature are used to inspire life-long learners!
I was completely fascinated by Ocean Institute and wished that my school in Maine could’ve taken part of some of the adventures. Then I found out that the organization is nationally recognized and they also bring in groups of kids via live stream around the world. How cool is that! Seriously, this place is amazing.
So, you may have heard of Ocean Institute’s 6th Annual Laguna Beach Million Dollar Home Raffle. Since OI is a non-profit organization, this is the biggest event of the year and plays a large role in keeping their doors open. For the 6th year in a row, they are raffling off a Million Dollar Home in Laguna Beach! Don’t want a home? No problem, you can take the $1 million dollars instead!
Raffle tickets are $150 and a maximum of 20,000 tickets will be sold. You will have a lot better odds in this raffle than winning the lottery! Over 300 prizes will be awarded, including the grand prize of $1,000,000 cash or a beautiful, ocean-view home in Laguna Beach. Other prizes include cash, shopping sprees, dream vacations, iPods, hotel stays, and more!
Buying more then one ticket? You will also be entered into additional multiple ticket drawings including a Toyota Prius, South Coast Plaza Shopping Spree, Cash, or a dream vacation! If you refer-a-friend you will be entered into a separate drawing where you AND your friend could win $10,000 cash!
Raffle tickets may be purchased over the phone by calling 949-542-3600 or by faxing your order form to 949-542-3601.
By purchasing a raffle ticket, you will also receive a complimentary Individual Membership to Ocean Instittue. If you purchase two or more tickets, you will receive a complimentary Family Membership! Get ready to explore a whole new world, under the sea!
All proceeds from the raffle will benefit Ocean Institute, so really, this is a 100% win-win!
ConnectOC brings professionals, companies, government agencies, networking groups and non-profits, from around Orange County, together for social networking mixers. This group is very active in social media and for the most part, everybody originally met online.
Tonight’s event, ConnectOC 2.0: Children and Community, was graciously hosted by Hilton Costa Mesa. The event was free to attend, parking was $5 and all proceeds raised went to benefit two charities, Build Futures and the Orange County Chapter of Child Help. Additional money was also raised through a raffle and silent auction. Rumor has it, over 400 people attended and over $4,000 was raised tonight!
I have met a lot of amazing people through social media and have made some great friends that I probably would never have come in contact with before my tweeting days. In this tough economic time, social networking is more important than ever. It is always great to connect in person and walk up to @TwitterName and shake their hand. ConnectOC really does a great job of bringing people together.
Shout out to some incredible tweeps I hung out with tonight: @OceanInstitute @MarkGundlach @DippinDotWoman, @TravelCostaMesa, @DanaSipper, @RicDizon, @kphamsmiles @theglamlife @jjerryreed, @FutureLeadersOC, @inksaint…and many more!
BIG BIG Thank you to @HiltonCostaMesa and @ConnectOC for putting on yet another awesome event! It was so good, I did not even have time to tweet… that is impressive!
Remember those special days in elementary school that happened once or twice a year that you dreamed about? Field Trip Days!! Everyone had to remember to get their permission slip signed by their parents so they could attend. Your mom would pack you a little lunch and send you off on your excursion. The bus was so much cooler because it was taking you on an adventure and away from the school. I think once or twice a year, adults still NEED those field trips. Today, was that day for me!
Recently, I took the course through the Anaheim Visitor & Convention Bureau, to become nationally recognized as a Certified Tourism AmbassadorTM(CTA).
“The Certified Tourism AmbassadorTM(CTA) Program is a ground-breaking, nationwide certification program that serves to increase tourism by training and inspiring front-line hospitality employees and volunteers to work together to turn every visitor encounter into a positive experience. The CTA Program goes well beyond basic customer service training; it gives participants the opportunity to build upon their knowledge of the local region, enhance their skills in serving customers, increase their awareness of information resources and discover the power of tourism!” (www.CTANetwork.com)
Today, a group of 30 CTA’s from all over Orange County, went on a FAM trip to learn more about the amazing county we live in! At 8:30 this morning, we loaded up on a double decker bus, hosted by Southern California Gray Line, to visit some areas that I have never been to before. I actually learned SO much about this bus service. Did you know they offer FREE shuttle service to Sea World AND Knotts Berry Farm? I definitely encourage you to check out some of the great deals on their website, especially if you’re like me and not a fan of driving in traffic. (Unless it is for BASEBALL reasons)
Around 10AM, we arrived at Balboa Fun Zone to set sail on a Harbor Cruise! We took a relaxing 45 minute cruise on the “Showboat,” along lower Newport Bay. This cruise was awesome! It seemed like every other home or yacht we saw belonged to a celebrity! I saw the home that Shirley Temple purchased when she was 12 years old. TWELVE. Apparently, I must be totally slacking in life! Some other homes of the stars included, John Wayne, Buddy Ebsen, “Mrs. Fields,” William Wrigley (gum), and Dean Koontz just to name a few.
I also learned that in the early 1900′s, you could order your home out of a Sears Catalog, which would be delivered by box car and then assembled when it arrived. There are not many of these homes still standing, but you will see one on this cruise! The house was purchased for about $12,000 and now the lot itself would sell for millions! Are you a fan of Gilligan’s Island? Take this cruise to see where the first taping of the shipwreck was filmed.
The Harbor Cruise we took today was $14 for adults, $11 for seniors, and $7 for kids. If you’re looking for a different way to “see the stars,” I highly recommend it. To learn more about this cruise and others, visit them on the web at Balboa Fun Zone!
Next stop of the day, South Coast Plaza! This is without a doubt, the classiest shopping destination I have ever been too! Vacations Magazine said SCP is 1 of the 5 best in North America! If you want to experience a luxury shopping experience with extraordinary designers and personal service, you’ve come to the right place! There are 280 boutiques and luxury retailers including Chanel, Gucci, Rolex, Tiffany & Co., Valentino, and more! It is the Orange County version of Rodeo Drive and collectively, the employees here speak over 40 different languages.
You may have walked through South Coast Plaza and not even noticed the VIP Hospitality Suite called, Access. Walking in this suite, literally blew me away! Access provides guests a place to relax during their shopping experience. (If anyone needs a place to relax here – it is your Credit Card!!) Access is located on Level 2, adjacent to Saks Fifth Avenue. The room is elegantly decorated and features a Sports Lounge and Zen Room. A concierge staff welcomes guests with complimentary champagne, beer, tea, coffee, snacks, and refreshments and attends to personal requests like restaurant and theater reservations. You need a VIP card to get in, but I think if you check with concierge upon arrival, you may get lucky!
Okay, by this point, I was starving! We hopped on our Bus – AWESOME – and headed to The District at Tustin Legacy, where we were invited to enjoy lunch at the Bluewater Grill. I’m not sure if I was more impressed by the food, atmosphere, or staff, but overall, it was a great experience! This would be a great choice for banquets or catering because they can easily accommodate groups of over 100 and the pricing is very reasonable. I will also forever remember the general manager’s name, Chris Rock!
My lunch:
- Hors D’oeuvres
- Pacific Prawns
- Maryland Style Crabcakes
- Ponzu Sashimi Sea Scallops (OMG.. MUST TRY)
- Starters
- Maine Lobster Bisque
- Entree
- Simply Grilled Atlantic Salmon
All fueled up and ready for the next stop, Anaheim Farmer’s Market. I have never been before but it was really cool! It is located in Downtown Anaheim at Center Street Promenade and Lemon Street. The market is open every Thursday from 12PM-8PM.
You can shop for items such as farm-fresh produce, bakeries, crafts, or international food. Me… I bought three pairs of shoes at $8 a piece.
Definitely check their website for entertainment schedules because I know they will be having Reggae Festivals every Thursday in July!
Last stop of the day, MUZEO! The MUZEO is also located in Downtown Anaheim and is open daily from 10am-5pm. Every year they host 3 traveling exhibitors and now through September you can see “Frogs: A Chorus of Colors” exhibit.
This exhibit includes over 100 live frogs from around the world! Learn about their evolution, biological importance, various ecosystems and threats they face. It was really fascinating to see so many colorful species!
Admission fees to enter Muzeo are $13 for adults and $9 for children, but it is a totally unique experience!
Whether you are 7, 37, or 92, everyone deserves to go on one or two field trips a year! There is SO much more to do in Orange County then “Disneyland.” This is your backyard… so get out and explore it!
