By Mimi Pollack

January 9, 2016 (La Mesa) — Recently, I interviewed five ebullient German Shorthaired Pointers. Their owner, George Juchum, was there, too, clearly relishing giving his dogs the run of his large home and garden  near Mt. Helix in La Mesa.

East County News Service

January 1, 2016 (La Mesa and Santee) -- On Saturday, March 5, 2016 the cities of La Mesa and Santee will hold one of their most grand traditions, the Miss La Mesa and Miss Santee scholarship pageants.  The pageants are currently seeking outgoing residents ages 12-26 to participate in a program that has been a tradition in the cities since the late 1960s and is an outstanding mentoring program for young women.  The pageants are sponsored by the local Chambers of Commerce and focus on community service, networking, improving public speaking and interview skills and overall personal growth.

East County News Service

December 24, 2015 (Santee)--Kellie and Dallas Coates-Legare had fleeting but frequent thoughts of opening a "serenity shop" sometime in their lives. They wanted to create a place focused on all of the anonymous recovery programs that would enhance the recovery journey of individuals while creating a supportive and compassionate environment for all seeking serenity in their lives; a place to buy tokens, books, cards and gifts of inspiration, celebration and healing.

This desire came from a long history of addiction and alcoholism in family members and friends which created a unique awareness of the disease of addiction in Kellie, both as a registered nurse and personally.

December 15, 2015 (San Diego) - During the holiday season, members of the Sheriff's Senior Volunteer Patrol work hard to make sure seniors who live alone feel extra special. Throughout the month of December, Senior Volunteer Patrol members will be delivering gift baskets or hot meals to seniors enrolled in the Sheriff's You Are Not Alone program.

Story and photos by Leon Thompson

November 30, 2015 Thanksgiving Day (Santee) – The fourth annual Waddle and Trot 5K Fun Run (that’s the waddle part) and race (for the trotters) took off from the parking lot of the Pathways Community Church at  8 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.  Over 600 runners raced down Mast Boulevard and into Santee Lakes park.

 The course took competitors around three lovely lakes while Egrets and Great Blue Heron watched with cautious curiosity.   You cannot imagine a more eclectic group.  There were people of all ages from 90 years old to the unborn and every color you can imagine. 

But we all had one thing in common – to reach out and help someone in need, collectively do a good deed and in spread a little holiday cheer along the way.  All proceeds went to benefit the Santee Santas and the Santee Food Bank.

Part 2 in our series on foster youth programs.  Read Part 1 here.

By Tasha Matthews

November 25, 2015 (San Diego)--Just in Time (JIT) is an organization that helps foster youth receive necessary resources in finance, education, basic needs, and life skills.  Just in Time for foster youth was a part of the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation in 2003 (now known as Promises2Kids).  Since then, Just in Time has vastly expanded, dedicated to helping foster youths through their early adult years. Just in Time has eight programs and is growing more along the way:

Donations to help  victims of the French terrorist attacks are being accepted through Friday on the Adventures by the Book website

by Sárka-Jonae Miller, Ask an Author columnist

On the drive home to San Diego from an event in Los Angeles, USA Today best-selling author Jennifer Coburn and Adventure by the Book owner Susan E. McBeth came up with an idea to throw a fundraiser benefiting the French Red Cross. The two women had recently taken trips to Paris and wanted to do something to help the victims of the November 13 attacks.

By the time they arrived home, they already had four authors of Paris-themed books on board, according to Coburn. Eight days later on November 22, the Je Suis Paris fundraiser was realized and proceeds exceeded the initial goal of $5,000.

Source: CAL FIRE

November 9, 2015 (San Diego)--Members of CAL FIRE Firefighters, along with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, will celebrate their 61-year partnership and kick off the fire fighters' annual Fill the Boot fundraising campaign to benefit children and adults affected by muscle disease throughout the San Diego area.

More than 300 members of CAL FIRE will fan out across San Diego County with boots in hand for this year’s drive during the week of November 9 through 13^th at intersections throughout the San Diego region.

Source: Cuyamaca College

November 5, 2015 (El Cajon)--About 30 military veterans, now students at Cuyamaca College, enjoyed a barbecue and received school supplies at a Veterans Week commemoration hosted on campus Wednesday by the El Cajon Elks Lodge. The event, which also included a raffle for prizes including T-shirts, gift certificates from merchants and a pair of tickets to a Chargers’ football game, marked the second year that Elks Lodge 1812 joined the college in honoring student veterans.

November 1, 2015 (La Mesa) - The La Mesa Chamber is beginning to gather items for the 22 seniors that the Chamber adopts each year during the holidays. It is the goal of the Chamber to collect, purchase and assemble items and place them in large gift baskets. These gift baskets are delivered along with a hot turkey dinner, with all of the trimmings to the selected seniors by the La Mesa Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol.

City of La Mesa Food Drive October 17

October 13, 2015 (La Mesa) -- The City of La Mesa Human Relations Advisory Commission is sponsoring a food drive to benefit the San Diego Food Bank. The food drive will be held on Saturday, October 17, from 8:00 am to noon in the municipal parking lot (Farmers Market site) at 8130 Allison Avenue, along Date Avenue. The drive-thru drop off will be fast and convenient – no need to get out of the car.

October 1, 2015 (San Diego) — As it prepares to celebrate 35 years in business, Toward Maximum Independence, Inc. (TMI), a well-respected San Diego non-profit, has appointed Jane Moore as its new Community Relations Specialist. TMI has a longstanding reputation for implementing “Best Practices” that help people with developmental disabilities and deaf and hard of hearing to live, work and fully participate in their communities. TMI is dedicated to “Transforming Lives” for the people it serves.

El Cajon cancer survivor is organizer of “Dance for Life” event

September 30, 2015 (San Diego)--Jazzercise instructors will bring San Diegans together to fight breast cancer and dance for a cure aboard the USS Midway on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 8:30-10 a.m. More than 1,000 Jazzercise instructors, customers, family and friends, including many who have been affected by breast cancer, are expected to participate in a huge group fitness class on the deck of the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier located at 910 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego. Proceeds will benefit the Susan G. Komen 3-Day®. At last year’s Jazzercise Dance for Life event, more than 1,100 people danced together and raised more than $93,000 to fight the disease.

By Mimi Pollack

Photo: Maggie Espinosa in the Oxnard Strawberry Fields

September 25, 2015 (La Mesa)--In Spain, there is a famous pilgrimage/walk, called El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a 450 mile walk. Many people have that walk on their bucket list. La Mesa resident Maggie Espinosa has completed her own version of that peregrination by walking the 800 mile El Camino Real, up the California coast.