I'm sending this out as a re-cap of the year of 2007.
As you all know my last surgery took place on January 13 th , 2007 and I have been in and out of the hospital more times than I care to count. I'm still active military until further notice. I'm looking to start working Great Community (GC) as my sole income sometime early in 2008.
First and foremost, I would like to thank you all for taking an interest in what I have been doing with this organization.
In 2007 GC was able to work directly with over 35 families being treated at Balboa Naval Hospital and Children's. Not to mention the families we were able to help out of the area in Ohio and Arizona. GC was able to work with these families and help them with food, gas, travel, hotel money and gift certificates.
During Thanksgiving 2007, GC provided 12 families with Thanksgiving dinners. We hope to double our efforts in 2008.
GC was also able to drop off over 100 unopened toys to families at Balboa and Children's hospitals. This will be a program that I would personally like to expand in 2008.
GC was able to provide two families with special trips to sold out Padres Games including private tours of PetCo Park and a chance to meet with Hall of Fame recipient and Cy Young winner Randy Jones.
GC had the pleasure of working with the San Diego Chargers to provide families with the rare opportunity to meet and hang out with Charger players. The Charger players visited kids at Balboa hospital as well as special trips to Chargers headquarters, and attend private practices.
Charger Kassim Osgood and Alana and Spencer from Fox's hit TV show 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?' were present to help us with a special bone marrow drive. With their help, we were able to add 350 names to the National Bone Marrow donor list.
Our second bone marrow drive was held at the USS Midway on July 4 th in honor of 13 year old Kevin James. With the help of the San Diego Bone Marrow center we were able to register 200 more people to the National Bone Marrow list.
GC also hosted a couple of special events during 2007. Our VIP party at Airport lounge was an amazing experience that raised some money and awareness about our organization in the San Diego community. We had live entertainment performances by singers Amber Ojeda and Katie Allyson.
Unfortunately, San Diego County was hit hard by the wildfires that swept through our county this past October. Thanks to generous donations by Great Community supporters we were able to provide blankets, toiletries, coloring books and other miscellaneous items for several families in San Diego.
On December 15 th it was out pleasure to team up with the National Latino Peace Officers Association (NLPOA) and Oggi's to host a fundraiser for the Hathaway and Escamilla families. This event was a great success and attracted sponsors like Jarhead Clothing and Planet Frame.
Items were donated from the Padres, Chargers, Jarhead, Planet Frame, Mary Kay, Better Body Day Spa, Yanni's Bistro, Tom's Light House, Pala Casino, Target, Big5, John Travolta and more.
Great Community had a fantastic start in 2007 and would like to keep the ball rolling in 2008. The reason we had so much success in 2007 were the people and business partners that we worked with. I have listed some of our supporters and contributors below. I would like to thank you all for your support and look forward to working with you in 2008.
Special Thanks To:
- My Family, Tana and Sara Carranza
- Denny and Jessica Barrera
- Betty Barrera and Family
- Brian and Mindy Goldberg (Planet Frame)
- Brian Rodrigues and Family (Planet Frame)
- Sharon Holloran (A and R Management)
- Robert and Candace Waldon (Oggi's)
- Amber Ojeda
- Katie Allyson
- Airport lounge
- Christopher Glennon
- Sara King (San Diego Blood Bank)
- National Latino Peace Officer Association
- XK San Diego
- US Navy
- US Marine Corps
- A Better Body Day Spa
- Lt. Danchanko, USN
- Lt. Kerry, USN
- Katheryn Edwards and Family
- Balboa Medical Center Staff
- San Diego Chargers
- Dick Lewis
- Kassim Osgood
- Ernie and Christine Martinez
- XX Sports Radio
- San Diego and National City PD
- Chief Michael James, USN
- Jamie Kuntz
- Jason and Sonya Rocha
- Emilio Narez Foundation
- Richard Narez
- Patty and Alana Hill
- Brandon Stiles
- Danny and Andrea Wallace
- Steve Yuhas
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