Homeless count seeks volunteers

The Regional Task Force on the Homeless conducts an annual count and survey of homeless individuals throughout San Diego County called We All Count for a one-day snapshot of where the region’s unsheltered neighbors are living. This is an engaged count to meet them where they are at.

San Diego County’s annual Point-in-Time Count campaign helps the Regional Task Force to better understand the state of homelessness in our region in order to help individuals, veterans and families leave the streets. This year, that day is Thursday, Jan. 23. Volunteers meet starting at 3:30 a.m. and head out for counting from 4-8 a.m. at most deployment sites.

This effort has involved 1,600 volunteers countywide in the past, but this year more volunteers are being requested for a thorough count. Organizers describe the volunteer experience as “a great way to serve the community as it gives a voice to them and helps direct critical funding for housing and services.”

To sign up, visit the Regional Task Force on the Homeless page for We All Count at bit.ly/35kQYTO.

For questions, reach out to [email protected].

Crusaders Soccer Club 2020

Crusaders Soccer Club’s (CSC) recreational spring soccer season begins April 1. Players, born between 2005 and 2016 can be registered through Jan. 15 (there is a late registration fee beginning Jan. 16) for the recreational spring season which begins on Sunday, March 1, through April 26 (no games on Easter Sunday). For more information and to register a player, visit bit.ly/39KhtWf.

Crusaders Soccer is also inviting all soccer players to tryouts for the upcoming 2020-21 competitive season. Under the direction of Rene Miramontes, director of coaching, the mission of CSC competitive soccer is to provide a fun, safe, and professional soccer environment. The Competitive Elite and Academy divisions are continuing and have expanded. CSC will also have players participating in the National Premier League.

Below is the tryout information for each age group along and a URL to register for the proper tryout session. For any other competitive soccer questions, please contact Rene Miramontes at 619-807-2951 or email: [email protected]. All tryouts for boys and girls are from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pershing Middle School on the following dates:

• 2007 and 2008 players – Jan. 11 and 12
• 2006 and 2009 players – Jan. 18 and 19
• 2010 to 2013 players – Jan. 25 and 26.

Please bring shin guards, a ball and plenty of water. Players should arrive 30 minutes early so parents/guardians can check in the player. Register at crusaderssoccer.org/tryouts/.

For nearly 50 years, the Crusaders Soccer Club has focused on developing leaders both on and off the soccer field within the East County community, consisting of players primarily from the cities of San Diego, La Mesa, El Cajon and Santee.

Del Cerro Food Drive is another huge success

The Kaisers’ 33rd annual Del Cerro Food Drive provided huge Thanksgiving feasts for 108 less fortunate families chosen by the Salvation Army.

Tom, Kassy and Lindy Kaiser said that over 60 volunteers (from passing out flyers, collecting, sorting, boxing food, and monetary donations to complete the boxes) made this possible.

The Kaisers want to specifically thank: Windmill Farms for providing frozen turkeys, Home Depot for providing the boxes, Pizazz Salon, Nancy Losek, for promoting the drive and collecting barrels of food, Jack and Candy Kirchner for providing the space for food collection and sorting, and to Norm Katz for all of his extraordinary organizational skill and help every year.

The Del Cerro Community was hugely generous in providing tons of food and donations to complete the Thanksgiving boxes. Each Thanksgiving box contained approximately 75-80 pounds of food, including turkey, bags of apples, potatoes and onions plus all other types of Thanksgiving food, freshly baked dinner rolls, roasting pans and recipes.

The letters of gratitude for the Thanksgiving box that the recipients send to the Salvation Army makes this drive so very rewarding to all of those who make this food drive a success.

Tom, Kassy and Lindy want to thank each and every one who put food out to be picked up, donations of time and money, and each person’s time and effort passing out flyers, collecting, sorting, filling boxes, and helping to make this year’s drive a huge success.

District 7 candidates forum in Serra Mesa

Cubberley PTA and the Serra Mesa Community Council are co-sponsoring a District 7 City Council Candidate Forum on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Cubberley Elementary School, 3201 Marathon Drive. The forum will be moderated by the League of Women Voters according to their guidelines. District 7 encompasses Allied Gardens, Del Cerro, Grantville, Linda Vista, Mission Valley, San Carlos, Serra Mesa, and Tierrasanta.

As the result of 2017 state legislation, California becomes one of 14 states to hold primaries on Super Tuesday, March 3. Mail-in ballots will distributed in February. Consequently, if you haven’t already selected a city council candidate, this forum is for you. It’s a chance to meet the candidates, ask questions, and find out their position on issues — citywide and locally. If you can’t attend the forum but have a question you want asked, please email [email protected].

The two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary advance to the general election in November. The City Council representative is extremely important since District 7 tends to keep representatives for a long time. In the last 18 years we’ve only had three representatives — Scott Sherman, Lorie Zapf (representative for only four years because her residence changed to another district as a result of redistricting), and Donna Frye.

The forum is open to all — invite your friends and neighbors!

Type O blood at ‘critical levels’

San Diego Blood Bank is asking those who have never given blood and those who haven’t given blood recently, and have Type O blood, to donate blood immediately. Supplies of O-positive and O-negative blood are at critically low levels.

Type O-positive is the most common blood type, and therefore needed by many hospital patients, while Type O-negative is the universal blood type and can be given to any patient, and is often used in emergency rooms when there is no time to determine the blood type of the patient.

“Coming out of the holiday season, we typically see a decrease in donations of all types at this time due to schools being out of session for the holidays and seasonal illnesses like the flu,” said David Wellis, San Diego Blood Bank CEO. “The need for Type O blood has hit a critically low level and we need the community to help us keep a safe supply for local hospital patients.”

San Diego Blood Bank has six donor centers throughout San Diego County and bloodmobiles out in the community, making it convenient to donate.

To be eligible to donate blood, you must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 114 pounds and be in general good health. Anyone who is eligible to donate blood and has O-negative or O-positive type blood is encouraged to make an appointment immediately at SanDiegoBloodBank.org or by calling 1-800-4MY-SDBB. Walk-ins are also welcome.

STEMM Foundation Mini Golf Challenge

The Henry Cluster STEMM Foundation has announced the fifth Mini Golf Challenge for all schools and youth groups which will be held on Saturday, April 18. The 2020 event will be held at the Mission Trails Church at 4880 Zion Avenue in Allied Gardens and is open to all school and youth groups.

There is no registration fee for student or youth group teams. Teams design and build a mini golf hole that reflects this year’s theme, and bring it to the mini golf course on the day of the event. During the Mini Golf Challenge, team members will interact with attendees (the golfers) to share what it was like working as a team, how they came up with their ideas, new knowledge they’ve acquired during the process, and other aspects of their experience. Event attendees will vote on the “Favorite Hole” and the winning team will bring back to their school the Henry Cluster STEMM Foundation Mini Golf Challenge Trophy for display.

Teams may range in size from two to six students. Teams will work with an adult mentor volunteer (a teacher or parent/guardian) to collect the starter kit, design and build the hole, set up and take down the hole at the Mission Trails Church, and prepare submission materials. Detailed registration packets will be distributed to adult team mentors, and will also be available for download.

Scott Bailey, president of the HC STEMM Foundation stated, “This is a fun event for the teams and the public; the team members learn to work together to create a challenging mini golf hole and the public always has fun as they play each hole.”

For more information and to register a team, visit hcstemm.org.