October 8, 2004

NEWS BRIEFS

SCVCC Women’s Club holiday market on Oct. 20

Get a jump on your holiday shopping by attending the Silver Creek Valley Country Club Women’s Club Third Annual Holiday Market on Wednesday, Oct. 20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the SCVCC Clubhouse, 5460 Country Club Pkwy., San Jose.

Many local and out-of-state artists will display their wares, including, but not limited to; handmade jewelry, silk scarves, painted pillows, turned wooden bowls, candles, Italian glass bead jewelry, blown glass art, paintings on fabric, trays and handbags.

Representatives from Kase Cosmetics and professional makeup artists, Cookie Lee Jewelry, Home Interiors, Art Dolls, Polish Enchanted Boxes, Southern Living and much more will also be on hand.

Mike Ewing, a well-known local DJ, will be on hand to keep things lively. So bring a friend, shop till you drop and cross off a big chunk of your holiday shopping list. (Stop at the guardhouse and tell them you want to attend the Holiday Market.)

Your pet can be a celebrity in #1 bestseller book series

Americans own 68 million dogs and 73 million cats. Focused on this love of our furry companions, “America 24/7” is setting out to tell the American pet lover’s story.

The team behind the best-selling book series “America 24/7” has partnered with Webshots—one of the world’s largest photo-sharing Web sites (webshots.com)—to create a monumental online collaborative event: “DOGS 24/7” and “CATS 24/7.”
 
From now until Oct. 31, amateur and professional digital photographers are invited to submit their favorite dog and cat photos via Webshots’ site for possible inclusion in DOGS 24/7 or CATS 24/7, to be published by Chronicle Books in 2005 (www.chroniclebooks.com).

If a photo is published as a large display image, the photographer will receive a free copy of the book, a photo credit and the satisfaction of knowing their pet is the new family celebrity.

Dog and cat photos can be submitted in a flash through Webshots streamlined photo submission process. Pet lovers simply log on to www.cats24-7.com or www.dogs24-7.com and with just a few clicks, submit their top five favorite pet photos. All pet owners are welcome to participate.

Windermere donates $15,000 for City Team Ministries Back-to-School Program

Windermere Silicon Valley Properties proudly donated $15,000 to support City Team Ministries Back to School program last month. The $15,000 donation will allow more than 1,600 eligible children to start the school year with a brand new pair of shoes.

Every fall, City Team Ministries helps needy children get a good start on the school year by providing them with backpacks filled with supplies and a new pair of shoes. The Windermere Foundation has worked with City Team Ministries on other projects in the past and this year asked how they could participate in the Back-to-School Program.

Given the size of the donation, City Team suggested Windermere co-sponsor the shoe portion of their program. Each City Team backpack contained a voucher valued at $10 for a new pair of shoes at Payless Shoe Source.

“In the past we have contributed smaller sums to a number of needy organizations but this year we had the opportunity to help a large number of needy children with this one donation.” said Pamela Kliewer, vice president of the Silver Creek/Evergreen office. 

“When Carol Smith of City Team and I developed this idea, we were both very excited. To start the school year with a new pair of shoes doesn’t sound all that special, but to the children City Team serves, it is indeed a treat. Our agents got so enthusiastic about the project we were able to raise additional monies to further support City Team’s Back-to-School project as well.”

A portion of every commission paid to Windermere Silicon Valley Properties gets donated to the Windermere Foundation. Agents also contribute discretionary sums, as they desire. These funds have allowed Windermere to donate nearly $40,000 since its inception in this area in 2001.

“These funds have all been donated to local charities,” said Scott Kliewer, owner of the Silver Creek/Evergreen office.

“We believe in giving back to the community we serve. This is just one of the things that sets Windermere apart from other real estate organizations.”

Windermere Silicon Valley Properties is located at 5609 Silver Creek Valley Rd., San Jose, Calif., 95138. For more information, call (408) 239-5800 or visit the Web site at www.windermere.com.

American Cancer Society
Shop, save money, save lives

The Grand View League, a fundraising branch of the American Cancer Society, presents its newest event—the Holiday Shopping Card. For a suggested contribution of $60 to the American Cancer Society, the donor will receive the Holiday Shopping Card.

The cardholder is entitled to receive a 20 percent discount on regularly priced merchandise and services at more than 250 leading retail stores, restaurants and specialty boutiques from Menlo Park to Carmel. The whirlwind event week begins Oct. 30 with the final day of savings Nov. 7.

“This truly is a win-win concept and is your opportunity to both give and receive this holiday season,” said Kim Abelite, media relations for the Grand View League. “Shop early for your holiday gifts, save money and help the American Cancer Society save something even more precious—a life.”

For more information, call (408) 879-1045, ext. 233 OR VISIT www.gvlholidayshoppingcard.com for your card today.

PACT hosts Candidates’ Forum Oct. 16

Join PACT—People Acting In Community Together—at Most Holy Trinity Church 2040 Nassau Dr., San Jose (across from Overfelt High School) on Saturday, Oct. 16, from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

The forum will address local public education issues such as high school graduation rates, funding issues, and what the community can do. Alarming statistics will also be reviewed, including that only 45 percent of Santa Clara County students graduate high school with the credits to get into a University of California School or California State University school. (Source: California Dept. of Ed).

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Mayor Ron Gonzales and school board candidates from the East Side Union High School District, San Jose Unified District and County Board of Education will participate. For more information call PACT at (408) 998-8001.

It matters where you shop!

On Oct. 22 and 23, the International Gift Faire will impact the lives of thousands of artisans around the world by selling their handcrafted gifts and home decor. This event, held at Lincoln Glen Fellowship Hall, 2700 Booksin Ave., offers an opportunity for citizens of the Bay Area to make an impact on world poverty by shopping fair trade.

For the past 15 years, Mennonite churches of the Bay Area have hosted this nonprofit festival, each year showcasing handcrafted items and increasing sales of crafts marketed by Ten Thousand Villages—the oldest and largest fair trade organization in the United States with annual sales in excess of $16 million.

“For 58 years—long before anti-sweat shop efforts began—Ten Thousand Villages worked with very poor but talented artisans around the world providing vital, fair income for their beautiful handcrafted items,” says sale coordinator, Frances Schroeder. “Our sale gives Bay Area shoppers [the] opportunity to help these artisans provide better nutrition, health care, education and housing for their families.”

Marketing of small nativity candle holders helped artisan Juan Nolasco provide much-needed medication for his son. Small hand-painted eggshell ornament sales enable Magdalena Fernandez and her worker friends to send their children to school. A basket maker in Bangladesh says orders from Ten Thousand Villages mean that his children now have two meals a day instead of one.

The International Gift Faire is a spectacular celebration of folk art, pottery, jewelry, home decor and other hand made crafts from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Volunteers from local churches and a World Hunger class at San Jose State University will unpack the crafts, serve as sales clerks and clean up following the event. Profits are returned to Ten Thousand Villages to provide more jobs for artisans and their families.

Admission is free. Shop Friday, Oct. 22 from 9 a.m.- 8 p.m. and Saurday., Oct. 23, from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. For more information, call (408) 264-1662 or go the Web: www.internationalgiftfaire.com or www.tenthousandvillages.org.