Nineteen local non-profits have something to be thankful for – Dow employees who volunteer in their organizations.  Through a newly launched program called “iGive”, The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) allows employees who volunteer more than 25 hours a year to a single organization to nominate that organization for a $500 grant.

The criteria are simple.  The Dow employee must volunteer a minimum of 25 hours to the organization, the organization must be a 501(c)(3), school or municipality, and the organization must be in the community where the employee lives or works.  The organizations sharing this $10,000 gift are:

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  • American Red Cross – Concord
  • Antioch High School Wrestling Team
  • Boy Scouts of America (Troops 153, 298 and 248)
  • Clayton Community Library Foundation
  • Clayton Valley High School
  • Community Emergency Response Team – Concord
  • CYO Basketball Organization – Antioch
  • Delta Youth Soccer League – Antioch
  • Halau Ke Waikahe Lani Malie — Sacramento
  • JARCC Diablo Athletic – Concord
  • Junior Optimist Baseball/Softball League – Concord
  • Lindsay Wildlife Museum – Walnut Creek
  • Michael Valle Foundation (two grants) – Pittsburg
  • O’Hara Park Middle School – Oakley
  • One Day at a Time – Brentwood
  • Solano County SPCA – Vacaville
  • Survivors – Bethel Island

“I knew we had employees giving their time in a variety of places throughout the community,” said Patty Deutsche, Senior Manager of Public Affairs at Dow Pittsburg.  “What surprised me was the number of hours being donated.  In nearly every case (employees’ estimates ranged from 40 hours to 425 hours), as we verified the hours with the organization, the employee underestimated their own hours.”

In total, the twenty employees donated more than 2,400 hours in the past year.  Typically, Dow donations must meet strict criteria – relating to education, science or the environment.  This new program, iGive, “rewards” the employee by rewarding the organization about which they are passionate.  It’s truly a win-win-win situation.

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About Dow
Dow is a diversified chemical company that combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to constantly improve what is essential to human progress. The Company delivers a broad range of products and services to customers in approximately 160 countries, connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. In 2008, Dow had annual sales of $57.5 billion and employed approximately 46,000 people worldwide. The Company has 150 manufacturing sites in 35 countries and produces approximately 3,300 products. On April 1, 2009, Dow acquired Rohm and Haas Company, a global specialty materials company with sales of $10 billion in 2008, 98 manufacturing sites in 30 countries and approximately 15,000 employees worldwide. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About Dow’s Pittsburg Operations

The Dow Chemical Company purchased the Pittsburg facility in 1939 from the Great Western Electrochemical Company. It is one of more than 150 manufacturing sites located in 37 countries around the world and supports two of Dow’s eight global businesses – Dow AgroSciences and Performance Chemicals.  The Pittsburg facility produces a variety of products used in personal care products as well as a variety of crop protection products and intermediates. www.dowpittsburg.com

The County’s Office of Emergency Services is preparing for the winter’s first big rain. The National Weather Service expects the rain to last into next week. The series of storms will bring strong winds and as much as five inches of rain to the Bay Area.

“That’s a lot of rain in a short period of time,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover. “Flooding can occur suddenly in some parts of the county along streams and near the Delta.”

As a result, the county is providing free sandbags at three East County locations, including the County Fairgrounds, 1201 West 10th Street in Antioch.

The Ninth Annual Heart to Heart Ball benefiting An Elderly Wish Foundation, which helps make wishes come true for seniors, will be held Saturday, February 19 from 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the Lone Tree Golf Course & Event Center, 4800 Golf Course Road in Antioch.

The event includes an elegant dinner dance and silent and live auctions. Black tie is preferred. The cost is $60 per person (Tables will seat 8). Sponsors: $1,000, $500, $300 and $150. Donations of gifts and services a welcomed.

Reserve early because seating is limited. Phone: 925-978-1883 – Fax 978-1884. Email: info@elderlywish.org. Website: www.elderlywish.org.

By Allen Payton

The East County Branch of the NAACP announced the election of new officers and directors for the 2011 year. The election was held on Thursday evening, November 18, 2010.

The new President of the branch will be Odessa McGahee of Pittsburg. Also elected to the following posts were Idowu Akinleye, First Vice President; David Watts, Second Vice President and Victoria Adams, Treasurer. No one ran for the Secretary of the organization, so that position remains open.

In addition, members elected to the Executive Committee are Marietta Beals, Frances Greene, Willie Mims, Raymond Odienlami, Joseph Adebayo, Betty Burns, Yvonne Beals, Joe Burns, Charles Glasper, Jr., Curlie Jackson, Jessica Alexander, Frankie Robinson, Tique Caul, Dewitt Bussey, III, Cherice Gilliam and Cheryl Cooper. According to current branch president, Joseph Adebayo, the new officers will be inducted at the regular monthly meeting in January.

Formed in 1955, the NAACP East County Branch is a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and works for equality and civil rights. Monthly meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Rivertown Resource Center, 301 West 10^th Street, Antioch. For more information visit www.NAACPEastCounty.org or call the branch office at 753-5089.

Prominent business, government, labor, and education leaders will convene to discuss “The New Economy: Changing the Way Education Works,” presented by the East County Business-Education Alliance and Kaiser Permanente, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm, Friday, Dec 3 at Lone Tree Event Center, Canyon Oak Room, 4800 Golf Course Road in Antioch.

Panelists will include Donald Gill, Superintendent of the Antioch Unified School District and Chair of the East County Business-Education Alliance, Janet Auer from Chevron, Alan Ichikawa from Dow Chemical Company, and Carolyn Nelson, Dean of Education and Allied Studies, CSU East Bay. Youth Intervention Network founder and co-chair Iris Archuleta, from the firm of Emerald Consulting, will serve as panel moderator.

Also included in the program will be Richard Livingston, acting President of Los Medanos College and Stephen Baiter, Director of the Contra Costa Workforce Development Board.

This luncheon forum will highlight local best practices, including career-themed pathways and career-integrated academics that link learning to real-world applications to inspire more high school youth to stay and succeed in school; prepare them with strong, sustainable and market-demanded skills; connect them to high wage, high skill, high growth careers; and help them effectively transition to college or other post high school education and training..

Some of the questions we wish to address include:

How must we transform education to engage young people with vibrant, experiential, interactive learning? What will it take to apply best practices to K-12 education environments to improve student performance and achievement for 21st century careers? What steps is AUSD taking to create high performing schools and what are the implications for students, teachers, parents, the community, and private industry? How can we more strongly connect K-12 with 2- and 4-year community colleges, graduate and research work, and career opportunities? How can we build stronger “cradle to career” linked learning pathways to improve low student retention and graduation rates? Is the education community adapting to the rapid changes as quickly as it could?

The East County Business-Education Alliancedevelops business – education partnerships and strategies that support and equip students for life, post-secondary education and careers in order to benefit East County youth and their families. In addition, the Alliance works to provide and promote opportunities for students to develop career awareness, workplace experience, and life skills.

According to Keith Archuleta, consultant and director of the Alliance, “quality education and workforce development are central to the economic vitality and quality of life in any community. We are definitely not waiting for superman. Our community will not continue to allow disengagement to cause too many students to fail or drop out of school. High schools and higher education must be better connected with industry to ensure that all students gain the knowledge and skills critical for success in both college and careers. This means that education must focus on providing rigor and relevance connected to real people doing real things in the local economy.”

In order to engage students and address California’s dropout crisis, the Alliance hopes to create, expand and promote linked learning educational pathways that involve business and industry, blend academic rigor and real-world learning to inspire more youth to stay and succeed in school, and provide necessary teacher professional development that helps teachers provide career-integrated education that prepares high school students to effectively transition to college and career.

“We are all too familiar with the challenge facing school systems throughout the United States on how to provide students at all levels with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school, work, and life in the increasingly global and competitive 21st century,” says Archuleta. “In today’s knowledge and innovation-based economy, the skills necessary for success in the workplace have converged with those needed for success in college.”

Sponsorships of this event are available to assist the Alliance in developing and implementing its mission and vision for East County. In addition, individual tickets may be purchased for $50. For more information, please call 925-755-9291 or e-mail Keith Archuleta at keith@emeraldconsulting.com.

On Dec. 11, the Kiwanis Club of the Delta-Antioch, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, East Bay Regional Park District, Pacific Gas and Electric, and the Sutter Delta Foundation present the 34th Annual Holiday Run and Walk for Health and Health Fair.

This event raises funds to support the library, locals schools and the local youth. The run will be held at the Contra Loma Regional Park. The event will feature 3 runs: 1K, 3K and a 10K run. A major part of the race day activities is a Health Fair. Sutter Delta Medical Center and other Health Fair vendors will be providing health testing, fitness information and health food and drink sampling. For more information, please visit www.holidayrun.org.

Mayor Jim Davis with the help of Project Manager Lonnie Karste, fellow councilmembers, representatives of the Antioch Chamber of Commerce and Reddi Prewett, cut the ribbon at the ceremonies to officially dedicate and open the new Antioch Community Center at Prewett Family Park.

Article by Allen Payton, Photos by Dena Jeglum

Antioch officials, city staff, residents and representatives of the business community gathered for the ribbon cutting marking the official opening of the new Antioch Community Center at Prewett Family Park in Southeast Antioch, on Saturday, November 13. Also in attendance was Reddi Prewett, the widow of Ed Prewett who donated the land to the City of Antioch, and for whom the park is named.

Funded by $26 million from the Mello-Roos assessment district, the long-awaited 35,000 square foot facility, originally slated to be a library, includes a technology center where residents can order, pick up and drop off books from the county library system. It also includes a police services center replacing the mobile trailer that’s been used by the police department in front of the water park, a gymnasium, large community hall, preschool classrooms, meeting rooms, recreation services access area and a city hall kiosk. (more…)

Article and photos by Allen Payton, Publisher

Antioch honored America’s military veterans with a parade, today, starting at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, in recognition when the end of fighting during World War I – known as the armistice – began.

Before the parade began, a military helicopter flew low over the route, along 2nd Street, and downtown, exciting the crowd.

The bells of the El Campanil Theater tolled eleven times to begin the parade.

Parade participants included a variety of veterans’ groups and individuals, marching bands from Deer Valley, Antioch, Freedom and Liberty high schools, the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, local police and firefighters, local elected officials including Antioch Mayor Jim Davis, Mayor Pro Tem Mary Rocha, presumptive councilman-elect Gary Agopian and Antioch school board trustees Claire Smith, Walter Ruehlig and Wade Harper (also a councilman-elect), and families of current military servicemen and women. Antioch Veterans Day Parade video

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