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To sweeten the pot, the HBA is offering every shopper the chance to win a $1,500 shopping spree, courtesy of dozens of Hillcrest businesses.<\/p>\n
Check off everyone on your holiday shopping list and stop in for a bite to eat, all while giving back to your neighborhood and giving your neighborhood the opportunity to give back to you.<\/p>\n
All you have to do is Shop Hillcrest \u2014 each visit to a participating retail or dining location will reward your purchase through Dec. 24 with a raffle ticket. Go to five locations, make a purchase a four of them, receive four raffle tickets; go back the next day for more purchases and get more raffle tickets; each raffle ticket is a separate chance at winning.<\/p>\n
After Dec. 24, all raffle tickets will be tossed into a hat and placed in the running for a basket filled with $1,500 worth of gift cards and services. The winner will be announced Monday, Jan. 5, through social media.<\/p>\n
There is something for everyone on your list in Fabulous Hillcrest. To date, participating businesses include Pure Barre, The Smoothbar, Empire House, Adam & Eve, Village Hat Shop, Green Fresh Floral\u2019s, Americana Clothing, Cody\u2019s Home + Gift, Obelisk Mercantile, Establish, Crest Caf\u00e9, Gioia\u2019s Room, Urban Optiks Optometry, Uptown Tavern, Detour Salon, Babette Schwartz, Luigi Vera, Urban Mo\u2019s, Baja Betty’s, Gossip Grill, Hillcrest Brewing Company, Local Habit, Purity Apothecary, 100 Wines Kitchen, Artist and Craftsman Supply, The Wine Lover, Pretty Please, Mankind, Blue Stocking Books and Beauty By Dolly.<\/p>\n
For more information and a complete list of up to date participating businesses, visit ShopHillcrestfortheHolidays.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n When football fans tune in to watch the United States Marine Corps\u2019 fourth annual Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl on Jan. 4 at 6 p.m., they\u2019ll get to see one of San Diego\u2019s own take the field. Frank Buncom IV, a safety at Saint Augustine High School in South Park, will play for the \u201cWest\u201d team in the game at StubHub Center in Carson, California. Buncom, a senior at the Catholic high school, is the grandson of San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame linebacker Frank Buncom II, has a 4.0 GPA in school and plans to study neurology in college. Nearly 90 student players in all were chosen and will be honored with a week of activities \u201cpromoting leadership and positive life choices.\u201d For more information on the game visit semperfidelisfootball.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 7th annual Home Start Holiday Toy Drive was held on Dec. 17, distributing over 1,300 toys to San Diego children in need. The distribution celebration in City Heights at Price Charities allowed for children and teens of Home Start families to select their own gifts from what had been collected.<\/p>\n Home Start is a North Park-based nonprofit that works with families year round to prevent and treat child abuse. Their countywide programs provide services to children \u201cliving in poverty who require immediate, comprehensive solutions to ensure their safety and healthy development.\u201d<\/p>\n For more on the organization visit home-start.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n RMHCSD provides a \u201chome away from home\u201d for families of children being treated for serious and life-threatening conditions at local hospitals.<\/p>\n To learn more about the organization visit rmhcsd.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Buddhist lama from Eugene, Oregon, is bringing his Buddhist teachings to Hillcrest for a week long urban retreat in San Diego, from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4.<\/p>\n Venerable Archarya Lama Orgyen Zangpo, a practitioner in the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig lineage of Mahayana Buddhism, is known to be quite accessible and inspiring when sharing his teachings. He is authorized by His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche as a Dharma Teacher of The Buddha Path and has taught the fundamental principles of Buddhism in the United States and Asia. Rinpoche has trained thousands of students around the world and written more than 30 books.<\/p>\n The teachings are designed to help students apply Buddhist principles to enhance their happier and experience less suffering in their everyday lives. The focus will be on how one discovers the true causes of happiness, which Buddhist wisdom says lie within us. Through learning, contemplation and mediation, participants will find ways to unlock their innate potential and relax dependence on relationships, careers, reputations and materialistic endeavors.<\/p>\n The retreat will take place in Hillcrest at a private home; the address will be provided upon registration. Suggested prices for the six days and five nights from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4 are as follows: advance, $200 for adults (age 18-59 who register and pay by Dec. 21); $250 for onsite registration; $100 for senior citizens (age 60 and up); $150 for anyone who has attended a previous retreat with an authorized Dzogchen Lineage teacher; $100 for anyone who has completed a Dzogchen Lineage Internship; and $30 per day drop-in rate (only available to those who have previously attended a DL).<\/p>\n Attendees will also be encouraged to offer \u201cgenerosity\u201d to the teachers. No previous Buddhist experience is necessary to attend. Those from all spiritual backgrounds are welcome and no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Registration is limited.<\/p>\nSouth Park high school athlete to play in Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl on Jan. 4<\/h3>\n
Home Start toy drive distributes gifts to more than 500 local children<\/h3>\n
Old Tiger releases holiday song to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Normal Heights-based band Old Tiger has released a Christmas single to benefit the local chapter of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHCSD). The song, \u201cThe Best Part of Christmas,\u201d was self-recorded in part at singer Dustin Lothspeich\u2019s home in Normal Heights as a way to \u201cgive back during the holiday season.\u201d Local radio stations 91X and FM94.9 have played the tune recently to help spread the word. Visit oldtiger.bandcamp.com<\/a> to hear the track and purchase it for $1. 100 percent of the money raised from sales will go to RMHCSD.<\/p>\nBuddhist lama to visit San Diego<\/h3>\n