Living Better in San Diego

Little Angels Service Dogs

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:45:00 GMT

Service dogs assist people with all kinds of disabilities, from autism to PTSD.

Katie Gonzales is the Founder and Executive Director of Little Angels Service Dogs, an El Cajon-based organization which trains and places trained assistance dogs for the disabled, enabling children and adults to enjoy the life-changing benefits of a service dog at no cost to them.

Little Angels Service Dogs is able to do this by the generous financial support of individuals and businesses in the San Diego community, and through the hard work of dedicated volunteers.

Service dogs are trained to pull wheelchairs, open doors, turn on lights, and retrieve clothing and blankets, but are also able to alert their users in advance of seizures, or alert deaf or hard of hearing users by being trained to respond to certain sounds. Service dogs can even expand communication and social skills for children with autism.

Little Angels Service Dogs has been placing service dogs throughout the U.S. since 2000, but in order to place as many dogs as possible they are expanding their kennel so as many as 40 disabled children and adults can receive dogs each year.

To reach this goal Little Angels needs to raise an average of $10,000 for the training and expenses of every dog which goes through the Little Angels program. Utilizing Little Angels' team of volunteers, this amount is about $20,000 less, per dog, than other assistance dog schools.

Little Angels will be holding their Halloween Doggy Fest on Sunday, October 30th from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at Woodglen Vista Park in Santee. There will be a costume contest, music, food, games, adoption event and a raffle for prizes.

Admission is free, though there is a small donation fee to register your dog. Register with Little Angels Dog Training.

Like what you hear? Download this show HERE.

Cultivating Leaders at Shakti Rising

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:09:00 GMT

Another successful Birdies and Butterflies Golf Tournament benefitting Shakti Rising.

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A social change organization which transforms the lives of women and girls, Shakti Rising cultivates the health and emerging leadership of women, and empowers them to utilize personal transformations as a catalyst for positive change in families and communities, creating gradual cultural change which supports a sustainable, cooperative, healthy society.

Shakti Rising's work actively promotes community well-being by creating women and child-friendly societies which are safe, healthy, vibrant, diverse, sustainable, and culturally alive, while empowering young women to uncover, rediscover, and reclaim their whole selves.

Jordan Stanton, the Regional Co-Director of Shakti Rising's Southern California programs, and Kelley Cohill, the Director of Education and Community Wellness at Shakti Rising, join Tommy to talk about Shakti Rising's annual Birdies and Butterflies Golf Tournament at Sycuan Resort's Oak Glen Golf Course, held this year on June 24th.

Listeners are encouraged to call Shakti Rising for more information at (619) 501-2746, or contact them on-line.

"An affirmation is a strong, positive statement that something is already so." - Shakti Gawain

Implementing the Marine Life Protection Act

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:19:00 GMT

The Marine Life Protection Act was passed by the state of California in 1999.

Tommy welcomes former California State Assembly member Lori Saldaña, now running for Congress in the newly-redistricted 52nd District in San Diego County, and businessman Dave Rudie, the founder and proprietor of Catalina Offshore Products and the president of the San Diego Oceans Foundation, to talk about the implementation of California's landmark Marine Life Protection Act in a special edition of Living Better In San Diego.

Already in effect along the state’s North and Central coasts, the Marine Life Protection Act creates special undersea areas where fishing is limited in order to preserve native species and near-shore marine resources .

The act also requires the state to intermittently re-evaluate existing marine protected areas, or MPAs, and to design new MPAs to function together as a statewide network of offshore, undersea conservation. Ideally, MPAs are to be developed on a regional basis with specific Marine Life Protection Act goals in mind, and evaluated over time to assess their effectiveness.

The move has not been without controversy, with access to fishing areas significantly limited in several areas which have been popular with commerical and sport fishermen for decades. So what has the impact been, and will these undersea reserves and sanctuaries really offer an opportunity for oceanic conservation in a manner which balances commerical interests?

For more on the Marine Life Protection Act and Marine Protected Areas, click HERE.

Like what you hear? Download the show HERE.

Photos courtesy of Wildcoast, CalOceans, and Dana Roeper Murray.

Produced in association with Treehuggers International.

I Love A Clean San Diego

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:00:00 GMT

Iconic San Diego: the bluffs at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

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With the abundance of outdoor recreation in San Diego and our location next to the Pacific Ocean, visitors are sometimes surprised to learn San Diego isn’t necessarily as environmentally aware as some other U.S. cities.

While the Miramar landfill continues to make award-winning strides in effectively handling waste, and recycling has slowly become the norm, San Diego County still has a significant problem with litter, exacerbating already serious problems with stormwater runoff and beach pollution.

Originally founded as the San Diego War Against Litter Committee, I Love A Clean San Diego has been working exclusively in San Diego since 1954 to make conservation concerns a priority, and to educate the community on conserving and enhancing the environment through outreach, community involvement, and perhaps most importantly, by example.

Mobilizing and activating volunteers, and emphasizing the practical reasons for a cleaner environment, I Love A Clean San Diego effectively taps into the wealth of civic pride San Diegans have for their region in order to enable them to think more responsibly about the environment.

I Love A Clean San Diego's Executive Director, Pauline Martinson, talks not only about the history of I Love A Clean San Diego, but also ILACSD's Online Recycling Database for San Diego, and the Ninth Annual Creek to Bay Cleanup, happening Saturday April 30th from 9:00 am to 12 noon at dozens of locations around the county.

Thanks to Connie Glenn and Morgan Justice-Black for their help making this program come together.

Produced in association with Treehuggers International.

Ruben H. Fleet Science Center Oh! Zone Fundraiser

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:59:00 GMT

The Ruben H. Fleet Science Center, located at San Diego's landmark Balboa Park.

It's time once again for the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center's annual Oh! Zone fundraiser, happening Saturday, March 12th at the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center at Balboa Park, home to Southern California’s only IMAX Dome Theater and hundreds of hands-on science exhibits for all ages.

Proceeds from the Oh! Zone fundraiser benefit the Science Center's long-running educational mission, aimed at inspiring "life-long learning by furthering the public understanding and enjoyment of science and technology."

A significant portion of those proceeds funds the Ruben H. Fleet's School Scholarship Program, enabling schools with limited science resources to bring their students to "the Fleet" for a daylong field trip of enlightening, hands-on science activities. Over the years the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center has been able to provide the Fleet's field trip experience to more than 100,000 students and their teachers each year.

Joining Tommy to talk about this year's Oh! Zone fundrasier and the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center's School Scholarship Program is Erin Zangari, Public Relations Manager for the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center, making her second appearance on Living Better In San Diego, and special guest Lori Fleet-Martin, the great-grandaughter of Ruben H. Fleet, and a member of the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center Board of Directors.

Special thanks to Maureen McFarlane for her help with this program.

Like what you hear? Click HERE to download this show.

The Nierman Challenger Learning Center at the Fleet brings NASA science to students.

Jerome's and the City of Hope Walk of Hope

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:53:00 GMT

Like what you hear? Download this show HERE.

City of Hope is a biomedical research, treatment and education center dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer and other life-threatening diseases. City of Hope's mission is to shorten the time from initial research to new treatment, with the goal of quickly bringing new cures to patients who need them.

Since its founding, City of Hope has acheived numerous scientidic breakthroughs and pioneered life-saving procedures which have impacted cancer treatment worldwide, and one of City of Hope's main fundraising efforts is the annual City of Hope Walk for Hope, happening this year in San Diego on Saturday, May 21st at Point Loma Nazarene University.

Jerome's Furniture has extended their support as a local sponsor of the Walk for Hope, part of Jerome's decades-long commitment to the City of Hope.

Robyn Hima, the Regional Director for the Southwest Regional office of City of Hope, joins Tommy to talk more about this year's Walk for Hope, along with Jim Navarra, the Director of Marketing for Jerome's Furniture, and Jerry Navarra, the proprietor of Jerome's Furniture.

For more information on this year's Walk for Hope or the San Diego Regional Office for the City of Hope, call (858) 452-6846.

Walk for Hope participants at the 2010 Walk for Hope in Los Angeles.

Reaching the finish line at the 2010 Walk for Hope in San Diego.

The entrance to the City of Hope campus in Duarte, near Los Angeles.

Center for Information On Clinical Research Participation

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 02:33:00 GMT

More on the Center for Information On Clinical Research Participation can be found by clicking HERE on the CISCRP's website.

Like what you hear? Download it HERE.

2011 San Diego Black Film Festival

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 01:21:00 GMT

The Director of Public Relations for the San Diego Black Film Festival and the San Diego Black Film Foundation, Yahanna Bey, talks about this year's San Diego Black Film Festival, happening January 27th to January 30th at the Regal U.A. Theater in Horton Plaza.

Like what you hear? Download it HERE.

26th Annual Martin Luther King Human Dignity Award Breakfast

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:37:00 GMT

Martin Luther King Jr. and baseball great Jackie Robinson in 1962.

The 26th annual YMCA of San Diego County Martin Luther King Jr. Human Dignity Award Breakfast is this Friday, January 14th, at the Town and Country Resort Hotel in Mission Valley at 6:30 am.

Making some time to talk more about this year's breakfast on Living Better In San Diego is Michael Brunker, the Executive Director of the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA in Southeast San Diego.

The Jackie Robinson Family YMCA serves more than 25,000 individuals each year in a community of over 72,000 households, and the YMCA's fitness programs, technology center, and outdoor areas give families a place to belong and recreate. The YMCA also hosts free community and holiday-related events, works with other community agencies to expand outreach, and like many neighborhood organizations, relies upon an army of dedicated, tireless volunteers.

This year's keynote speaker at the Martin Luther King Human Dignity Award Breakfast is the Rev. Calvin S. Morris, the Executive Director of the Community Renewal Society in Chicago, and a civil rights activist who worked with Dr. King, and later, served as the Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change in Atlanta.

Tickets for the breakfast are $40 dollars each. Click HERE to order.

For more information, call (619) 264-0144, extension 104. You can also purchase your tickets in person at the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA at 151 YMCA Way, San Diego, CA 92102.

Like what you hear? Download it HERE.

You can download last year's interview with Michael Brunker HERE.

Special Olympics In San Diego

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 04:08:00 GMT

Living Better In San Diego welcomes Kelcie Kopf, the Regional Sports Manager with the San Diego County branch of Special Olympics Southern California, and Teresa Contreras, the San Diego County Regional Volunteer Manager.

For more local information on Special Olympics Southern California, contact the San Diego branch in Mission Valley at (619) 283-6100.

The main number for Special Olympics Southern California in Long Beach is (562) 354-2600.

Like what you hear? A download link is coming soon.

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