Area rep also sought to help place foreign exchange students

By Miriam Raftery

Hear our radio  interview  on KNSJ with Karen Toledo  from the ISE (Click audio link, top left)

June 10, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Families are wanted to host international exchange students in East County and across our region, says Karen Toledo, assistant manager for the International Student Exchange (ISE) locally.  An area rep is also sought to help place the many students eager for local homes for the next semester—and those who place 7 students or more will be rewarded with a trip to Ireland.

Toledo, a Lemon Grove resident knows first-hand the joys of the program, having hosted over 100 foreign exchange students at her own home.  She’s also traveled the world – visiting students she formerly hosted to experience their cultures, too. 

“It’s an amazing experience…I’m a single mom and I was hosting two at a time…I’ve traveled to many of their homes and stayed with them,” says Toledo, who cites Spain and Brazil as recent places she has visited. “They treat you so well when you come, because they are so thankful that you treated their kids so well and they had an amazing year.”

By Miriam Raftery

May 24, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—Rescue Task Force, a nonprofit which started in East County and is now headquartered in San Bernadino, is helping deliver relief supplies to survivors of two devastating earthquakes in Nepal.

May 22, 2015 (El Cajon) - The Home of Guiding Hands 41^st Annual Black Tie & Boots Gala will take place on Saturday, June 6^th, 2015 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the world famous Hotel Del Coronado. Former National League Cy Young Award winner will be the master of ceremonies. Money raised from the gala will benefit programs and services the Home of Guiding Hands provides to over 1,000 infants, adolescents, and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties.

By Mimi Pollack

May 14, 2015 (San Dego's East County) - As a child in Mexico City in the 1960s, I remember my older siblings listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’s album, “The Lonely Bull”, and I thought he was a handsome, musical, Mexican bullfighter. I loved his distinctive trumpet and signature sound. That signature sound could later be heard in various commercials, the Dating Game, and the movie, Casino Royale.

May 3, 2015 (La Mesa) — Himalayan Cuisine, on the corner of El Cajon Blvd. & Baltimore Dr., 7918 El Cajon Blvd. #P, La Mesa, 91941,  will hold two fundraising events next week to help raise funds to aid victims of the devastating 7.8 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks that struck Nepal on April 25.  The lunch and dinner events will be held Tuesday, May 5 and Thursday, May 7.  

The $10 lunch will be served from 11:00AM - 3:00PM on both days, with $5 of the fee going directly to help survivors in Nepal.  For dinner, a small $2 donation can be added to the bill to assist in relief efforts.  If you can’t make it for the fundraising events, you can still drop by any day to donate and say hello.  

May 2, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--Mothers across the country are telling their personal stories of drug war damage with stories, articles and interviews in honor of Mother’s Day. By sharing these powerful stories of losing loved ones to drug-prohibition-related violence, incarceration, overdose and addiction, they are bringing focus to a real need to reform our nation’s drug policies.  Many of the moms leading this campaign have been personally impacted by the war on drugs, including having children who suffer from addiction and who have been repeatedly incarcerated, or have died from preventable drug overdoses and other drug related problems.

By Rishi P. Dakal, Honory Consul of Nepal for San Diego

April 28, 2015 (San Diego)-- A massive earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday, April 24, killed over 4,000 people, and the death toll is rising because hundreds of victims are still missing in the debris.  Thousands of people have been injured, and several thousand others have been forced to spend nights out in the open because their homes have been destroyed.  

Nepal needs your help to tackle this massive scale of devastation.

By Robert Gehr©

April 26, 2015 (El Cajon)--The grand opening  of Cajon Classic Cruises last Wednesday night appeared to be a rousing success. Everywhere I looked there were crowds of people checking out old cars. Most were fully restored in various manners, yet a few were ‘as is’ and still needing much work. Perhaps the owners had not gotten around to that yet, or maybe the ‘rat’ look was by design.

April 23, 2015 (El Cajon) – Aces Foundation invites the public to its annual Barkitecture Bash on Sunday, April 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Downtown Café, 182 East Main Street in El Cajon.

County News Service

April 6, 2015 (San Diego)--Doors were being shut on Deann Todd and her five children, and she was running out of places to turn.

Officers to offer full service---pumping gas and washing windows

Photo credit: Nita Jatar Kulkarni

March 31, 2015 (El Cajon)--The El Cajon Police Department, along with other law enforcement agencies, is helping to launch a two month “Icon” promotion across Southern Californian on behalf of the Special Olympics.

East County News Service

March 14, 2015 (San Diego) – East County Magazine Editor Miriam Raftery is among the nominees for the  Women of Influence Awards set to honor women business leaders as well as organizations and individuals championing women in leadership. 

More than 250 nominations were submitted and 137 final nominees will be honored by ConnectedWomenofInfluence.com at the event on March 25th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mission Valley Hilton.  For tickets and details, visit www.womenofinfluenceawards.com.

March 9,2015 (San Diego’s East County)--On Friday, March 6, 2015 the city of La Mesa and the city of Santee crowned winners in the Miss La Mesa and Miss Santee Pageants.  The programs have been traditions in the cities since the late 1960’s and provide mentoring for young women.  Santee Mayor Randy Voepel and La Mesa Vice Mayor Ruth Sterling were in attendance to formally present Miss La Mesa 2015 Tiffany Hoffman, Miss Teen La Mesa 2015 Kaitilyn Mayhue, Miss Santee 2015 Rebecca Hudson and Miss Teen Santee 2015 Heather Cantin.