Dear Friends and Supporters of Saint John's:

With the ongoing spread of COVID-19, we have decided to temporarily close our campus to outside visitors effective immediately. With nearly 250 women and children and 114 employees on our campuses, we are taking all precautions to protect our clients, our staff and our volunteers from possible COVID-19 exposure. We are following the directives from the CDC and the Governor’s office, and working with city and county staff and other local agencies. To that end, the following processes are in place:
 
  1. Plates Café and Catering, Plates Midtown and First Steps Child Development Center have suspended operations until further notice.
  2. Clients and their children have been asked to remain on campus and implement social distancing unless they must attend a court or medical appointment.
  3. We are suspending our volunteer program, other than a small group to help with critical needs, until further notice.
  4. Deep cleaning of living and working spaces is occurring three times daily.
  5. All who enter must use hand sanitizer located at the front desk, and all on campus are asked to wash hands frequently.
  6. Employees who can work from home, and those in the high risk categories, are working from home as possible and until further notice.
  7. Our April 2 and May 7 Guest Chef Dinners have been postponed (see details below).
  8. A contingency plan has been developed, including isolation rooms and processes, in the event that someone on our campus is infected by the COVID-19 virus.
 
Due to the postponement of our volunteer engagement program, we’ve had to cancel many days and evenings where volunteer groups were scheduled to provide, prepare and serve meals to our women and children. As a result, our food expense will be much larger for the next several weeks, perhaps months. In addition, the postponement of several of our upcoming fundraising events will also have an impact to our operating budget. Now, more than ever, we are in need of support from our community partners to help us through this unexpected international crisis. We are in touch with our county, city and state officials to determine what assistance is available to us, and we are grateful to the many members of our community that have already stepped up their donations in support of our program during this difficult and challenging time. 

If you’d like to provide a monetary donation to help us with our added food expense and other financial implications of this crisis, we welcome any and all assistance, now more than ever. Please DONATE HERE to help in this time of need.

We hope this finds you all safe at home. During this time of “social distancing,” we are focusing on the health and well-being of us all, and prefer to view this time as “virtually uniting.” When times get tough, we as a community, have always found a way to unite. Together, we will get through this, too.

Sincerely, 

Marc Cawdrey
Interim CEO
April 2 and May 7 Guest Chef Dinners Postponed!

We are saddened to have to postpone our April 2 and May 7 Guest Chef Dinners, as we were so looking forward to seeing you all and enjoying the delicious culinary creations of Origami Asian Grill (April) and The Firehouse Restaurant (May). We hope to reschedule these events for later in the year and will keep you posted on any rescheduled dates.

If you are a Guest Chef Dinner Club member, you will be able to use your tickets to these events at any other Guest Chef Dinner in 2020 (you can use any combination of your 16 tickets to invite family and friends to any dinner), or at a rescheduled event, should we secure new dates for those we had to postpone.

Thank you so much for your understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Stacey Scholz, Events and Special Projects, sscholz@saintjohnsprogram.org , 916-453-1482.
March Guest Chef Dinner

Our March Guest Chef Dinner was a wonderful event featuring Chef Deneb Williams and Elizabeth-Rose Mandaiou from Allora . Thank you to all who gathered with us. We look forward to getting together again in a few months!
March Guest Chef Deneb Williams of Allora puts the final touches on this Carne Cruda crostini.
Beets and ricotta with citrus, pomegranate and fennel.
Smoked hamachi with caviar, watercress and cucumber was a hit!
To view our photo album of March's Guest Chef Dinner, click HERE .
It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!
Our brand new fabulous Girl Scout Troop #434 attended the March Guest Chef Dinner to sell their world famous Girl Scout cookies! And, as you can imagine, they had many interested customers! All of the money they raise goes straight to the troop to fund activities and educational outings like the Girl Scout Camporee Troop #434 attended earlier this month.

If you are in need of cookies to feed your sweet tooth, c lick COOKIES! t o purchase:

If you want to support but don’t want all those cookies yourself, enter 2443 Fair Oaks Blvd. #369, Sacramento 95825 at shipping. Donated cookies will be used for snacks and desserts for the women and children of Saint John’s!
Troop #434 at the Girl Scout Camporee!
SAVE THE DATE! Polo for Change - June 13, 2020

Sponsorships are filling fast!
An action-packed day of polo and festivities is coming on June 13th! Polo for Change will be here before we know it! We are in the planning stages and getting very excited about this fabulous event.

Individual tickets for the seated dinner and access to all activities are $300. Lawn tickets are $50 for adults, $25 for children 7-12, and children six and under are free with an adult lawn admission.

For more information, contact Sasha Wirth or Bethany Knudsen at info@saintjohnsprogram.org or 916-453-1482.
EVENT SPONSORS: Presenting: Steven & Gayle Campora and Catia Saraiva-Munoz and Marcus Munoz;
Platinum: Chevron, PhRMA, St. Anton Communities, Valero; Gold: Buzz Oats, Eason and Tambornini, Jenifer and Tony Russo, Colliers International; Silver: Fisher Tile and Marble, Jason Law, Kaiser Permanente, Kellie and Jeff Randle, Runyon, Saltzman, Inc., Big Hairy Dog; Bronze: First Citizens Bank, Daltile & Stone, Erin Levi; Valet Sponsor: Towerpoint.
Ariel's Awakening
Ariel B. received a very special invite from First Partner  Jennifer Siebel Newsom to be her personal guest at the Governor’s State of the State Address on February 19! Ms. Newsom met Ariel when touring Saint John’s in the fall, and was incredibly moved by Ariel's story, her determination and perseverance. We are so proud of Ariel and all she has accomplished!

You can read Ariel's story in our new blog post HERE .
Saint John's Welcomes Two New Board Members!

We are pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to Saint John’s board of directors! 
Kimberlie Hiltachk , a longtime volunteer at Saint John’s and chair of our Party for Change fundraising event committee in 2018 and 2019, Hiltachk is principal at Hiltachk Marketing Group, a strategic branding and marketing company she founded in 2008. Prior to forming her own company, Kim served as account supervisor at Glass McClure and as account executive at Mering & Associates, both located in Sacramento. Her philanthropic affiliations include work with the Junior League of Sacramento, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Hope Productions and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento. 
Arlene Mahoney, divisional sales manager and senior vice president for Wells Fargo Bank in Roseville and a 16-year Wells Fargo employee, also joins Saint John’s board of directors. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Maloney served as vice president and regional sales manager for GMAC Mortgage LLC in Horsham, Pennsylvania. She has been an active supporter of Saint John’s for many years via her involvement with the Wells Fargo Foundation.


Welcome Kimberlie and Arlene!
Sacramento Piano Day
Piano Day is an annual worldwide event that takes place on the 88th day of the year - March 28, this year - because of the number of keys on the instrument being celebrated.

Proceeds from a local live-streamed concert on March 28th at 7:30 p.m., featuring Philip Howard and Tanya Vegvary, will fund a pilot program providing piano lessons to the children at Saint John’s Program for Real Change. The concert venue was changed and will be live-streamed so you can enjoy it from the comfort and safety of your home.

Visit www.sacpianoday.org for detailed log-on information and please consider making a donation toward piano lessons for the children at Saint John's.
2020 1st Quarter Grant Report 
We are incredibly grateful to the following community partners who have awarded Saint John's Program for Real Change a financial commitment to support the women and children of our program on their journeys to creating Real Change. With much appreciation, we thank you!
Grantor
SMUD
Nationwide Insurance Foundation 
Soroptimist Int’nl Sacramento North
Setzer Foundation
Drysdale Community Foundation
Rotary Club of Point West Sacramento
Kikkoman Foundation
Sacramento Kings Foundation
Reynen Foundation
Overstreet Foundation

TOTAL:
Amount
$47,452
$30,000
$10,000
$7,500
$4,700
$3,875
$2,500
$1,214
$1,000
$500

$108,241
Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Sacramento's job force just got EIGHT women stronger!

Congratulations to Ariel B and Jennifer M. for their new jobs at UC Davis; Delia B. and Sumiko S. for their new jobs through Nelson Staffing at NorCal Beverage; Alexa C. and Jessica A. for their jobs with Vitalant; Reina C. for her job at Corti Brothers; and Katrina F. for her new job with Sierra Pacific Synod.

These women are affecting REAL CHANGE in their lives and in the lives of their children, and we couldn't be more proud!
Upcoming Events


POSTPONED! New dates to be announced.
To make a monetary donation, please contact Bethany Knudsen, Development Officer, at bknudsen@saintjohnsprogram.org.

Today is a Perfect Day for a New Beginning
Together, we will give more women and children the opportunity to start a new life - a life filled with hope, joy and endless opportunities. With your gift today, you will provide a family at Saint John's not only a safe home, but also a hand up through an educational program that empowers mothers to provide for themselves and their families.

For more information, please contact info@saintjohnsprogram.org

Saint John's Program for Real Change
Nonprofit, 501(c)(3)
Tax ID: 68-0132934
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