Thumbs up, thumbs down: Acts of generosity this Thanksgiving week
Thumbs up to Erlinda Vargas for winning a free dental makeover valued at $35,000 from Fresno Oral Maxillofacial Surgery & Dental Implant Center. The dentists reviewed 400 online applications for the launch of their Second Chance program to offer a $50,000 complete smile makeover to a resident of Fresno or Madera counties.
Vargas is a hard-working mother whose story inspired the dentists. A Fresno day-care worker, she is in almost constant pain and of the extensive dental work she needs is expensive: Vargas has 14 teeth remaining; most adults have 32. She is the primary breadwinner for her family of five. They can’t afford day care for their three children so her husband stays home with Cali, 1, Michael 2, and Israel, 7.
Most of us don’t look forward to work on our teeth, but we cannot wait to see the “after” photos.
Thumbs down to the nonvoting Coalinga residents complaining about their defeated Measure C tax, which lost by 33 votes. You can hear the howling all the way in Fresno about how unfair it is that the patients in Coalinga State Hospital can vote. About 1,000 sexually violent predators and a few hundred other mentally disordered prisoners are living there. An estimated 304 active voters are registered at the hospital.
Coalinga residents think the patients possibly tipped the scales in the Measure C election. The fact is a paltry number of perfectly healthy folks troubled themselves to put a stamp on an envelope and vote.
The measure failed by 33 votes, 578 votes to 545. The city has 20,000 people. They have no one to blame but themselves for this sorry turnout. Time to wake up.
Thumbs up to the officers in Fresno’s Northwest Policing District and Citizens on Patrol volunteers for providing a dozen families with turkey dinners.
“There’s a lot of tears today. People are extremely happy with what we are doing,” said police Lt. Joe Gomez, who helped organize the campaign.
Gomez noted how that “usually, we are going after suspects. But here is a different reason we are arriving at the house, so it’s really a happy time.”
Thumbs up to the 60-plus Tree Fresno volunteers for planting 50 trees at Mosqueda Park in Fresno this month. Tree Fresno is planting 1,200 trees at area parks this fall.
Thumbs up to the volunteer young people with visual impairments for serving breakfast and lunch recently to the clients at Poverello House in Fresno. Poverello is a shelter for the homeless and needy.
Their service was part of a Valley Center for the Blind program that helps those with visual impairment to learn job skills.
“Our partnership with Poverello House is a great way for these young people in our the program and our organization to raise awareness of vision loss, educate the community about the abilities of people with visual impairments and to promote disability inclusion,” said Ken Warkentin, executive director of Valley Center for the Blind.
No limits!
Thumbs up to Fresno State for its annual Helping Hams campaign under way through Dec. 4. Donations of $5, being collected at the Gibson Farm Market, will be used to purchase hams for students and needy families.
Thumbs up to Kathy Looper, co-founder and executive director of Gloria House in Visalia, a new youth shelter for runaway and homeless girls 14-17 with a history of abuse, abandonment, trafficking or exploitation. Two dozen young women can stay temporarily for up to 45 days. It provides meals, showers, hygiene items, laundry and computer services, plus counseling and educational support.
Check out their wish list for needed supplies at Gloria-house.org.
Thumbs up to Fresno Ruiz Foods squad for restoring the ReStore in Visalia for the Tulare/Kern Habitat for Humanity. ReStore is a place to find discounted supplies for home repairs, but even a home fix-up store sometimes needs some extra care, so Ruiz employes spruced the place up with a new paint job.
This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Thumbs up, thumbs down: Acts of generosity this Thanksgiving week."