April 1, 2011
Good morning, Dear Members,
Since last we "talked" - we have not been idle…
On the Ides of March, we enjoyed a lovely lunch and held our meeting at the beautiful Forum in Cupertino. Many thanks to ELIZABETH MODENA, ROSAMOND MARTIN AND BETTY CLANCY for their gracious hospitality.
On March 8, nine of us visited the LPCH Teen Van at East Palo Alto High School in East Menlo Park. This 38 ft mobile home was converted to a mobile medical unit complete with two exam rooms, a reception/pharmacy area and a consultation room. The van rotates twice a month through six sites from San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties providing medical care for under served and at-risk teens.
This program is three fold: comprehensive medical care, research and training. The research being done is far reaching and benefits all involved with psychosocial and nutritional issues of young adolescents. The training of medical students and residents enables them to learn hands-on the very best in the practice of community medicine for under served youth.
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KAREN STEVENS, JOANN PFOST, MARZETTE WOODS, DEBORAH POTASH, DR. SETH AMMERMAN, THORA RICHARDSON, DR. MARGARET DEANESLY, LUISA PLISKA, ELLEN LATOUR AND SHIRLEE STITES GERRY NELSON is missing from the photo because she took the picture.
Dr. Seth Ammerman created this program that serves as a lifeline for these young adults - a group that research has indicated are the most under served population of children. He spent over an hour with us and arranged for us to meet his staff (an RN, a social worker, a dietitian and a registrar/driver.) This multidisciplinary staff provides more than comprehensive exams and free medications. They focus on prevention and early intervention and deliver a sense of purpose helping many of these youths turn their lives around. All this free of charge and without passing judgment.
Our donations to the Teen Van enabled them to purchase stadiometers for height measurement (these had yet to be delivered, )a hemoglobinometer which was being calibrated at LPCH and the medical weight machines which we did get to see.
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| Luisa Pliska, Dr. Deanesley & Gerry Nelson |
Dr. Ammerman made a special point to tell us how much the teddy bears, pillows and blankets are appreciated by the teens. I believe his exact words were “Keep them coming!” THORA RICHARDSON, SHIRLEE STITES AND YOUR COMMITTEES TAKE A BOW!)
You cannot help but walk away from this visit without a renewed sense of pride in what we do to support LPCH. Thank you, DEBORAH POSTASH for arranging this visit.
“One Common Thread” was the theme of a luncheon at Stanford“for women who give” which DEBORAH AND I attended on March 16. Invitees were representatives from the auxiliaries, other volunteers, staff, physicians, nurses and doctors. All had one common goal, “ one common thread” - the care of the children at LPCH. Guest speakers were Susan Packard Orr, Susan Ford Dorsey, Claudia Mueller, MD, PhD. Each underscored how important is the work that is being done and that we do.
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR (see website Events page for details)
- April 5 – Pillow sewing and knitting will be held at SUSAN HULL’S HOUSE
- April 14 – Vintage Gals Luncheon at University Club of Palo Alto
- April 25 and 26 – Restaurants With Heart at Iron Gate in Belmont
UPDATE ON OUR GOALS:
- Special thanks to CATHERINE MCGILVRAY who arranged for us to use the lovely Fireside Room at the Lucie Stern Community Center on Middlefield in Palo Alto. We have reserved the room for September 20 and November 15. When we find a venue for the June meeting we will have met our goal to find an appropriate place for meetings
- As of this writing, 17 members who would have been dropped from our Directory responded to the second dues notice and renewed their membership. Thank you to all who renewed and to SHARON BRUGOS, THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE AND MARY KOEPPEN for making this happen. Mary tells me checks are still coming in.
- Regarding new fund raising projects: We have been invited to participate in Allied Arts Guild’s Holiday Market. We will sell cookbooks and any other items. SHARON BRUGOS has offered to chair this event and hopes to get our knitters, quilters and crafters busy making boutique items. More on this in subsequent Blogs.
- Also, thought is being given to starting “MATINEE MAIDENS” a fundraising project wherein we attend plays at local professional and community theaters. I would like to hear your thoughts on this before we start work on the logistics. And if any of you would be interested in working on this project please let me know.
NEWS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AUXILIARIES:
This year LPCH will be 20 years old. Two of the many events celebrating this 20th birthday are:
- APRIL 7 – A luncheon at Los Altos Golf and Country Club hosted by LPCH and the Foundation. Invitees are those who served as their auxiliary’s president since the hospital opened in 1991. For PAA that means AUDREY LAYMAN, RUTH WOOD, ELLEN LATOUR, CATHERINE MCGILVRAY, KAREN SUTHERLAND, JOAN HEYE, THORA RICHARDSON, SUE-ELLEN NAUGHLER, CARLYN KEELEY, GAIL SACHS, SHARON BRUGOS, DEBORAH POTASH AND LUISA PLISKA. Gail will fly in from San Diego and Joan from Texas.
- SUNDAY JUNE 26, A free celebration open to the community to take place on the Stanford campus. The Association of Auxiliaries will share a booth where we jointly promote our fundraising events, publicize our work and our history and invite prospective new members. Each auxiliary is asked to provide two volunteers to work on the steering committee to help determine booth decoration, a staffing schedule shared among the 7 auxiliaries and any handouts to offer. More information on this will be in future Blogs. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BEING ON THIS STEERING COMMITTEE, PLEASE CONTACT ME. This appears to be a fun, not difficult, nor long lasting assignment to be shared with 6 other auxiliaries. AND YOU ARE NEEDED.
At every meeting of all the auxiliaries, I am made so aware of the fact that we are, indeed, one very important common thread in the tapestry of a child’s life. I wish you could all come to those meetings to see how our one common goal enhances the camaraderie and mutual support.
- APRIL 7 AND APRIL 14 The San Jose Auxiliary is having two fundraising Beethoven Concerts at Le Petit Trianon Theater in San Jose. If you would like to purchase tickets please call 650-964-4000 or register online at http://audiohigh.eventbrite.com/.
DID YOU KNOW THAT:
- MALKAH CAROTHERS’ grandson, Shiloh Fernandez (yes, that is his real name) is in the movie Red Riding Hood which is playing in the theaters now. His role - Peter the Woodsman.
- DOLLY MINARD died last July five weeks short of reaching the age of 103. She was one of the “Tea Bag” ladies made famous by being mentioned in Herb Caen’s column. She had been paying her dues for 72 years. At her memorial her daughter served snacks using recipes from TASTES, TALES AND TRADITIONS. Her daughter wrote that she and her siblings remember Dolly bringing home the orange toast sticks on the days she worked.
- On the Children’s Museum grounds next to our Lucie Stern Community Center meeting place there is a lovely spot with a bench that has a brass plaque with our ELEANOR SETTLE’s name on it!
- For those who are computer dinosaurs a group of students created a website www.TeachParentsTech.org which has 40 short free videos in five categories with step by step instructions to watch when your children or grandchildren aren’t available to show you how!
BIRTHDAY WISHES: Unfortunately, I have no one listed for the month of April. How can that be! So this is a generic Happy Birthday to all the April birthday girls. I know you’re out there!
Have a lovely time at the Vintage Gals Luncheon. I will not be able to join you because I will be in New York for two delightful events. My daughter-in-law’s non-profit organization is having it’s fund raising gala and I’ll also be attending my son’s show. He is the musical director for “War Horses” which premieres at Lincoln Center on April 14.
Please remember, dear members, I always welcome your thoughts and ideas for PAA.
Luisa
