In continued support of the College Football Playoff Foundation Extra Yard for Teachers program, the Tag a Teacher social promotion will gift $500 Donors Choose gift cards to educators each week this fall. Teachers that have been nominated or “tagged” in the Rose Bowl Game Tag a Teacher social posts will be randomly selected to win a Donors Choose gift card that can be used toward student support tools and classroom essentials.

 

 

Headquartered in Pasadena, AbilityFirst is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides programs and services to help children and adults with disabilities reach their full potential.

On Sunday, September 13, AbilityFirst held their annual Festival of Fall, one of Pasadena’s premier food and drink events to raised funds in support of programs and services to help children and adults with disabilities. 

The Tournament of Roses was pleased to support the event, which was held virtually this year on YouTube and Facebook. Additionally, Tournament members volunteered to deliver the food and drinks to the homes of event supporters in Pasadena and across Los Angeles County. 

Table hosts and their guests (check out some photos here!) enjoyed gourmet cuisine prepared by top restaurants including Lawry’s the Prime Rib, Gale’s Restaurant and featuring celebrity Chef Michael Hung of Downtown Los Angeles’ Faith & Flower, paired with a signature cocktail from The Raymond/1886. 

VIP ticket purchasers had fun making their DIY pizzas from Blaze Pizza, paired with refreshing beer from Golden Road Brewery — all while raising much-needed funds for programs supporting children and adults with developmental disabilities!

Altogether, the event brought in $115,000 in donations that will go directly to help people with disabilities. If you missed the show, don’t worry! You can watch it anytime, right here. 
 
“Contributions from this year’s Festival of Fall Comes To You will positively impact the lives of more than 2,000 children and adults with disabilities and their families,” shared AbilityFirst CEO Lori Gangemi.  “We could not do this work helping individuals to build independent living and social skills and achieve their personal best, without the generosity of many donors, sponsors and volunteers including the Tournament of Roses.” 

Special thanks to Tournament members Casey Jagusch, Alan Dugan, Teverly Lazenby and Mike Crowley for volunteering their time in support of such a wonderful cause. To learn more about AbilityFirst, visit their website at www.AbilityFirst.org. 

The YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. Over the summer this Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation Grant Recipient partnered with the YWCA Glendale to host Camp Rosie virtual summer camp. Young women attended workshops surrounding the topics of mindfulness, self-care, exercise, art, self-expression and other various STEAM fields. In addition, participants were encouraged to plan for the future through virtual college tours, Know Your Rights workshops and business planning classes with Pasadena Federal Credit Union.

Currently, the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley is providing Girls Circle, an after-school once a week session over Google Hangouts. This empowerment program integrates relational theory, resilience practices, and skills training in a specific format designed to increase positive connection and personal and collective strengths in girls.

"When they have the knowledge and skills to recognize their power and use it to help and empower others, it makes me proud to know that I was a part of that." says Cynthia Martinez, Operations and Marketing Manager at YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley. "When they recognize that they have a place in higher education despite no one in their family ever attending college or university, I feel proud to know that they got that feeling from our program. When they feel more at peace and heard because they were able to express themselves in our girl's circle workshops or through their art or writing projects, I feel proud that we were able to bring them that assurance."

To learn more about the impact the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley is making on their community, visit www.ywca-pasadena.org. 

 

Pasadena Audubon’s Bird Science Program is an enrichment program for Pasadena Unified School District elementary schools. The program has two components; classroom lessons and a half-day field trip. The intent is to introduce children to the wonders of birds and the importance of conservation. Because of the pandemic and the “Safer At Home” order, the program has been modified to accommodate safety guidelines by creating videos for the classroom portion, and providing hand lenses to all participating students to replace the half-day field trip portion. A hand lens is a simple but powerful tool of discovery and since kids are now spending many hours on screens, any opportunity to spend some time outdoors is a plus.

The library of video lessons being created allows the Audubon Society to expand their program to include many more schools, in addition to, home-school families and the general public. The funding received from the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation has allowed this organization to continue partnering with schools within the community.

“Birds connect me to the magic of nature and this is something I want children to experience. I also want them to understand that we share this earth with a myriad of creatures and as the dominant species, it is incumbent upon us to protect the natural spaces that remain.” Says Lois Brunet, Pasadena Audubon Program Director. “Birds are a fantastic conduit to conservation and my hope is that as these kids learn to love our birds, they’ll understand that we all have a role to play in their protection and the protection of the natural resources they depend on.”

To view more on the Pasadena Audubon's Bird Science Program, click the picture above!