VCCAR members present check to Peter McClintock with the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura.

The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura was forced to close its facility in West Ventura in June over a dispute with the Ventura Unified School District over state grant requirements. Since then, club officials have been scrambling to find an alternate facility where they can reopen their teen center as a first step in reopening the entire club – a fixture in the low-income neighborhood since 1968.

Those efforts took a giant leap forward this month when the Young Professionals Network (YPN) of the Ventura County Coastal Association of Realtors donated $10,032.89 to the Boys & Girls Club – the proceeds of its wildly successful fundraising auction in August.

“We were so surprised at how much we received. It was a godsend,” said Peter McClintock, the club’s director of resource development. “The YPN group was so much fun to work with and they’re really focused on helping the community. We are so grateful.”

Patti Birmingham, the club’s CEO, said reopening the teen center is extremely important as it provides mentoring and support for teens who otherwise would have too little of either.

“Most of their parents are working two jobs at the least, and most of the parents can’t really help them with their homework,” she said. “The teens’ experiences are limited – lots of kids in that end of town haven’t even been to the beach. And that can lead to a lot of bad choices in a dangerous environment. They need a safe space and mentoring to get through middle school and high school and into a job or a career.”

Birmingham added that they are close to closing a deal and have set an ambitious date of Nov. 1 to open. At worst, they are confident the center will be open by the end of the year and expect to have between 80 and 100 teen members. The donation will be applied to the start-up costs.

The group reached out to Jack Dyer, owner of Topa Topa Brewing, who has a long track record of helping with fundraisers, and he immediately agreed to host the auction and to contribute a portion of the proceeds to the club.

While the auction proceeds will greatly benefit the teen center opening, the club is still looking for additional support for ongoing operational costs and to reopen programs for younger children. For more information, contact Peter McClintock at (805) 641-5585.

VCCAR is a professional trade association of nearly 2,000 licensed real estate agents in western Ventura County, including the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Santa Paula, Fillmore and Port Hueneme.

Sherri Greif, Nurse Practitioner, Stroke Program Manager and Nicole Schumacher, Neuro Nurse Practitioner are proud of the recognition.

Dignity Health—St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC) and St. John’s Hospital Camarillo (SJHC) have received the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Quality Achievement Award for their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.

Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to assist health care professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.

Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.

“We are pleased to recognize St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital Camarillo for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.

“Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The
Guidelines quality improvement initiatives can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”

SJRMC and SJHC also received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

Additionally, both SJRMC and SJHC received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”
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VCLA hosted a welcome mixer.

The Ventura County Leadership Academy (VCLA) hosted a welcome mixer for their 27th cohort, kicking off their upcoming year that begins this month and ends in May of 2022.

Special thanks went out to the VCLA board and featured speakers:

• Brad “Brick” Conners, VCLA Board President
• Dr. Steve Elson, VCLA Board Treasurer
• Robert Harrell, VCLA Board Secretary
• Jennifer Caldwell, VCLA Board Director
• Darren Kettle, VCLA Board Director
• Sheriff Bill Ayub, VCLA Alumni, Cohort XXIII
• Danielle Borja, VCLA Alumna, Cohort XXIV
• Dr. Julius Sokenu, VCLA Alumni, Cohort XXVI

Congratulations also to VCLA Alumna Angela Fentiman (Cohort XI) for being named Cal Lutheran’s inaugural chief of staff. Fentiman “had a set of professional experiences, prior positions, and academic credentials that made her extraordinarily well suited for the role,” President Lori E. Varlotta said.

VCLA connects and cultivates a diverse network of passionate, capable leaders through an immersion in both critical issues shaping Ventura County and opportunities for personal and professional growth. VCLA’s comprehensive program ignites awareness and inspiration, helping cohort members discover their individual pathway toward impacting our region.

How do you get to join Ventura joggers?

A safe space to get your body moving with fun activities and involvement in local events and charities – welcome to Ventura Jogger’s Club. Upon hearing the name of our community group, people often ask, “Do I have to jog?”. The short answer is no – but we hope after seeing how much fun we have that they’ll eventually join in on our most popular event. The name itself gives a nod to how we began – with community jogs. Now, we lean in to showing up as a group of recreationalists who care about moving our body for the purpose of movement and meeting like-minded individuals who enjoy the myriad of activities we present. We open our club to anyone and everyone, stressing that we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind – and do our best to involve all those who want to join us.

Ventura Jogger’s Club was founded in January of 2019 by Candace Larson. Candace is not a Ventura native but visited many times as a child and fell in love with the area – knowing someday she’d call this area home. She doesn’t describe herself as a runner and didn’t begin jogging until shortly before founding the club. Candace moved to Ventura in 2017, knowing a few family friends and quickly discovered how difficult it can be to make friends as an adult. After a quick battle with pancreatic cancer, her father passed in 2018 and shook her foundation. This massive life change led to a search on how to do things differently, and with the push of Whitney Riles at Findings Market in Downtown Ventura, she started Ventura Jogger’s Club.

The club got their name out with just an Instagram account and a few posts announcing their first event. The first jog had 14 new friends show up, and from there they’ve seen over 300 people come through – some who show up for every event, and others they see every now and then. Event dates are announced at the beginning of each month, for the month ahead, to help joggers plan their weeks. Each jog is about 2 miles and ends at a brewery or a coffee shop to encourage community. The purpose of the club is to move your body, yes, but also to engage and meet new people. Connection and collaboration are at the core of human interaction and while you can jog solo, why not jog with a group that pushes you forward?

How do you join the club? Just show up! On our website, www.vtajogclub.com, you’ll find more information on all our upcoming events and how to reserve your spot. We are currently offering jogs, hikes, yoga, and community clean-ups. We also collaborate with other organizations and businesses around town for special events, like our most recent .05K with Ventura Coast Brewing Company and Mile26, and our upcoming Sloshball Tournament. Most events are no cost, but with a formal yoga instructor and some that include delicious beer, we provide those at a low rate. Follow us on Instagram at @vtajogclub for more information and we hope to see you out there!

Volunteer members Mary Harrison, Anita Hensley, Ariel Cottrell, and Sandi Brown prepare books for the upcoming book sale/fundraiser.

by Shirley Lorraine

The San Buenaventura Women’s Club continues to find ways to contribute to the community. For over 80 years, the Club has been committed to fulfilling its mission of giving back to Ventura County. The Club annually supports arts in the high schools, the community concert band, Search and Rescue Dogs and groups offering housing and assistance to women and children in need to name a few. Fundraisers are held for the purpose of collecting money to be given back to chosen programs. Each May, at the end of the club’s fiscal year, checks are issued to the board-approved entities.

Despite this last year of no in-person meetings, members have continued to find creative ways to raise funds to fulfill their mission. Donations back to the community for 2020 were $9,550.00.

On September 25, 2021, the Club will be operating “Expanding Reading Horizons”, a drive-through grab-bag book extravaganza. Buyers are welcome to drive in from 12:30 – 4 p.m. at the Church of the Foothills, 6279 Foothill Road, Ventura.

Volunteers have been collecting book donations for months and are now in the process of cleaning, sorting and filling the bags. Trader Joe’s generously donated the paper bags which will contain a mix of hardbacks & paperbacks covering assorted genres and interests to inspire and expand reader’s horizons.

For a $10 donation per bag, pre-filled and sealed bags are handed to you – no need to get out of the car! Also available are Bonus Bags for $15 which include a donated jigsaw puzzle.

Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month, September to May at the Poinsettia Pavilion (originally named the Women’s Club) 3451 Foothill Road, Ventura. Reservations are required for the lunch, program and business meeting. Contact Business Manager Jennifer Enoch at (805) 844-9399.

www.sanbuenaventurawomensclub.org . Membership in the 501c (3) is open to all persons 18 and over (men welcome too!). The Club and the community welcomes your participation.

A truly inspirational lady.

Bekkah Doyle is a Ventura County local living in Ventura. She used a personal tragedy to inspire her to help people in need.

She told us how she got into demo derbies as a way to raise money. “I was actually involved in a bad car accident in 2019. A car rear ended me on the 101 at 50mph freeway while I was stopped in traffic, which left me with very crippling PTSD in cars. Now I drive in demo derbies as my way of overcoming my PTSD and becoming comfortable in cars again. My mom took me to the Ventura Raceway demo derby at a very young age and it became a lifelong dream for me to drive in it one day. Now that I have finally made that dream a reality. I use my demo derby cars to help others.”

Bekkah went on to say “On Oct 9th I will be driving in an all Women’s Demolition Derby for Cancer at Irwindale Speedway, the derby is composed of female drivers from all over Southern California representing their hometowns. I’m the lone representative so far for Ventura County (I actually just drove at the recent demo derby at Ventura Raceway as the only female driver). I want to raise as much money as I possibly can so I’ve decided to sell spots on my car for people to put the names of loved one they have lost to cancer or in support of those currently battle cancel. 50% of all proceeds will be donated directly to charity. I’d love to be able to raise a significant amount to donate while also giving people a way to honor their loved ones.”

If you would like to donate to the cause and get the names of their loved ones on the vehicle, they can email Bekkah directly at [email protected].

The food will go to families struggling with food needs from Ventura County.

Last week, a truck carrying over 40,000 pounds of food – from cases of canned salsa, peaches, peanut butter, and more – arrived at Project Understanding in Ventura to help with the organization’s efforts to feed hundreds of families in Ventura County over the next few months.

This donation was organized from the Ventura Stake (congregation) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to assist with the needs of those in Ventura County. One of four large food deliveries to Southern California this week, this donation is a small part of the efforts of the congregations who contribute to a Humanitarian fund that helps with crucial needs around the world such as providing shelter and supplies to victims of the Haiti earthquake, assisting Afghan refugees with shelter, food, and supplies and, like this week’s project, supporting local needs such as food inequality through organizations such as Project Understanding.

The food will go to families struggling with food needs from Ventura County. Project Understand has helped families with food insecurity with their food pantry since 1977, and many may not be aware they also help with many other community programs such as their Homeless to Home program and the successful Tutoring program with centers around the county. They are always open to having volunteers help at the food pantry as well and will be having a golf tournament on November 8th to raise funds for their crucial programs. ProjectUGolf.givesmart.com