Childbirth Connection Foundation

The Childbirth Connection welcomes John Wilson as our new Santa

rsteckel — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:47:32 +0000

This is the first year John volunteers at our annual Holiday party and we look forward to many more…

“ When the Childbirth Connection asked me to be Santa, I was honored because I had the privilege to witness and be part of making the children smile and laugh. This is my first time volunteering so seeing the children enjoying themselves was very rewarding.”

Family “Adopted” by Local Dental Hygienist Society

rsteckel — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 08:00:30 +0000

The San Fernando Valley Dental Hygienists Society has adopted one of our families for the holidays. The group hosted a party for the family where they were presented with food, presents and a gift card to a local supermarket. The group also gave the entire family a free teeth cleaning and dental hygene instruction. Additionally, they purchased clothing for each of the kids for Christmas. Check them out at: sfvdhs.org

Theater Day – Mary Poppins

rsteckel — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:01:20 +0000

It was a cold rainy day in December when 35 of us set out to spend a day at the theater. In spite of the weather, all had a terrific time. We started off with lunch at the famous Philippe’s restaurant, a Los Angeles landmark, and then headed down the street to the Music Center. The dancing fountain in the courtyard was an event in itself. The children delighted in guessing when the water would spring up from the ground!

When we entered the Ahmanson Theater, the group was impressed with it’s size and they loved the holiday decorations. Once everyone was settled in their seats and the lights went down, you could feel the excitement in the air. From the overture to the finale everyone was glued to their seat. The play was magical; Maria I. said “It felt like my heart was happy” and Christina G. stated “It was like connecting with my inner child”.

This was an event that will not soon be forgotten. Thanks to all our donors for making this special day possible.

Annual Holiday Party Huge Success

rsteckel — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:20:30 +0000

The foundation held its annual Christmas party at the Central Lutheran Church in Van Nuys. Volunteers came early to decorate the hall. There was a crafts table to keep the children busy while we were waiting for Santa. We had over 100 people. The party featured entertainment, pizza and Santa, who came to hand out presents to all the youngsters. This year our Santa was John Wilson. It was a very festive party enjoyed by all.

Westland School Sponsors Holiday Dinners

rsteckel — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:00:35 +0000

We were so pleased to receive support from Westland School. Once again they came through for the Thanksgiving holiday and provided dinners or gift cards from markets for more than 17 families. They have been doing this every year for the last 18 years. Check them out at: www.westlandschool.org

Girls Group

rsteckel — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:21:36 +0000

Several school age girls along with a few teens met with mentors to get their nails done and enjoy a meal together while they talked about school, homework, boys and parents. The Nail Shop in Northridge was kind enough to offer a discount while we practically took over their shop on a warm November afternoon. We are hoping to get all the girls together during the two week vacation in December and bake cookies to give as gifts to celebrate the season of giving.

New Computer for Honor Student

bsteckel — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:02:49 +0000

This past spring, Childbirth Connection Foundation purchased Sanda a new lap top. Sanda is a promising student who will be a high school senior this fall. With a full lineup of honors and advanced placement classes, Sanda will use her new computer to do homework, write papers and work on class projects. Sanda says, “I am going to write my future on the computer by using it to write all of my papers.” In addition to school, Sanda has a part-time job and just made it onto the dance squad at her high school. Sanda will start applying to colleges this year and hopes to attend a great school in 2010!

Mentor Spotlight – Janet

bsteckel — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:56:28 +0000

Janet has been a mentor with Childbirth Connection Foundation since November of 2008. This is Janet’s first time mentoring, and although she has no children of her own she loves spending time with kids. Since November, she has been meeting monthly with Laura, a sweet, soft-spoken 11 year old. Janet has taken Laura on outings to museums, the theater and music concerts as well as trips to the park and other free community activities.

She gave Laura an art set and they have enjoyed painting together on their outings to the park. An interior designer with a love of the arts, Janet hopes to instill in Laura an appreciation for the arts by “exposing her to cultural experiences”. Janet helps Laura to observe and comment on art and the world around us. She says that Laura has shown a great deal of enthusiasm and real willingness to learn. Janet stated “it has been very satisfying and worthwhile as our relationship grows.” Additionally, Janet states “it is a real pleasure to spend time with Laura.”

If you are interested in impacting the life of a child by becoming a mentor, please contact us!

Family Spotlight – Dina, Daniel & Brandon

admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:36:27 +0000

Dina has been involved with The Childbirth Connection for the past 3 years. She is the proud mother of adorable and active 2 ½ year old named Brandon. She lives with her son along with her wonderful husband of seven years, Daniel.

Over the past three years, Dina has grown into a strong self-confident mother. Dina states, “The Childbirth Connection has assisted me in working through my fears such as learning to hold Brandon in my arms, rocking him to sleep and playing at the local park with him.”

Since Dina became connected to The Childbirth Connection, she has noted that she feels more self-confident when interacting with Brandon. The Childbirth Connection has helped her with floor time play along with other stimulating activities. This was something that she was nervous about due to her physical limitations. She states, “Now, I can interact with him on a daily basis. I kick the ball with him, play cars, go to the park and even take him to the mall play area with confidence.

For some time, Dina felt a disconnect from her son that she could not pinpoint. She watched as everyone cared for Brandon’s physical needs and she wanted to do more for him. With the help of the instructors at The Childbirth Connection, Dina now takes an active role in some of his daily needs including the occasional dirty diaper. She puts him down for his naps and now feels closer to him.

Dina has enjoyed many of the activities that The Childbirth Connection offers. She and her husband have really enjoyed going on the annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Last year, they attended the annual holiday party. Brandon especially liked his gift of a train set. They attended a trip to the Los Angeles Zoo where Brandon enjoyed the animals, however, his favorite activity at the zoo had nothing to do with the animals rather it was frolicking on the jungle gym!

Brandon currently attends a local preschool where he enjoys baking, playing, creating exquisite paintings on rock and scaling the jungle gym. Here in this class he has significantly increased his vocabulary and is now using complete sentences. He is looking forward to moving up to the “three-year-old” class where he will be staying for four hours a day instead of three hours a day. He is very motivated in this program as he knows how challenging kindergarten entrance exams can be!

When asked if she would recommend The Childbirth Connection to other parents she replied with a resounding “definitely!”

Volunteer Spotlight

rsteckel — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:45:15 +0000

Richard has been our Santa for the last 8 years at our annual Holiday party where we give out presents to all of the clients and their children. He has now volunteered to be our 1st mentor.

“I am a 46 year old divorced father of one 17 year old son. The time I spend helping out Childbirth Connection is very rewarding to me. We all have our own things in life going on but is so great to see the joy and laughter in the faces of the people that are being helped by spending some time with them. The reward of doing the volunteer work is so much more to me because of all the hectic and sometime not so wonderful things that go on in the world today. I look forward to the times that I get to spend with the people that I am working with. It is a good feeling to know that you are helping someone to better their life and in the same way making you feel good too.”

Dodie, 92 years young has been an inspiration to us all. She has been Santa’s helper, for the past 4 years, by wrapping presents for all the children who attend our annual holiday party. She also helps with serving the food and was a volunteer for us even before we became a foundation and has been a contributor from the beginning. She always has a smile on her face and is always ready to help. Dodie states, “I find it a pleasure to wrap the gifts for the children”. Thank you Dodie for all the years of help, we’re glad you are part of our Childbirth Connection Foundation family.