Extraordinary Lives Foundation Newsletter
June 2020 Edition 1
Welcome to our FIRST semi-annual newsletter!
 
The mission of the Extraordinary Lives Foundation (ELF) is to improve children’s mental health and wellness and support families by providing awareness, educational tools, and resources.
 
We encourage families to recognize symptoms, overcome the stigma and reach out for help. Through prevention, early intervention and holistic treatment, we believe many of the big problems facing today’s youth can be transformed within a generation.


Comedy Night

ELF’s second annual comedy night was a big success! We had over 300 attendees at the Irvine Improv in Orange County, California and raised over $55,000. The event opened with a hilarious event host, comedian Francis Dilorinzo followed by multiple children’s performances by Center Stage Studio. The featured comedians Eric Deskin, Julie Kidd and headliner Andrew Norelli delighted attendees with three very entertaining comedy skits.

Event proceeds will be used to purchase and donate “The Power of Piggie Bear” book and the Piggie Bear plush to organizations including CHOC Children’s Hospital, Human Options, Laura’s House, The Family Care Center Shelter (Mercy House) and to children in foster and military families.

We are grateful to our event sponsors:
Each Mind Matters, Tilly's Life Center, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Adrienne & Rick Matros, Laguna Beach OBGYN & Midwifery Services and The Reproductive Fertility Center.

Thank You To Our Amazing Sponsors!
In The News

We have been featured in several magazines this year including Parenting OC Magazine and Laguna Niguel’s Lifestyle Magazine:
FREE Webinars To Help Reduce Fear & Anxiety

In response to the pandemic, we have begun offering free webinars to the community. We were pleasantly surprised that we had several attendees from around the United States, as well as Australia, Puerto Rico and the Philippines!
 
The first Webinar was on May 20th and the topic was “Reducing Fear and Anxiety in Children, their Families & Expecting Couples.”    
 
The second Webinar was on June 24th on “Reducing Fear & Anxiety in Children during these challenging times.”  
 
We are working on the third Webinar which will be held in July. Please check out our website for the exact date and topic:  www.elfempowers.org

May 20th. Webinar
June 24th. Webinar
Piggie Bear Plushes Have Arrived!

We have partnered with Build-A-Bear to create the Piggie Bear stuffed animal. Soft and cuddly, the stuffed animal will provide comfort to any child needing a little TLC. The plush is designed to complement Piggie Bear’s teachings from the book and reinforce positive emotional skills.

What People Are Saying About Piggie Bear

“Piggie Bear is an adorable character that helps teach young children that we are all unique. Piggie Bear identifies and encourages acceptance of a range of emotions as well as demonstrates ways to breathe and express those emotions. Every child should have a Piggie Bear to love.”
Adrienne Matros, Psy.D.

“It can often be a challenge for children to find the right words to express what is going on inside. However, hearing Piggie Bear express these feelings makes it relatable. The Power of Piggie Bear is a wonderful, heartfelt approach to giving children tools for dealing with their feelings and developing self-acceptance."
Debbie Hutchinson, Psy.D. MFT.
Recent Donations

The first half of the year has been an exciting time for Piggie Bear’s birth into the world! The plush arrived in April just in time to donate Piggie Bear Easter Baskets to Mercy House and Human Options.
Mercy House and Human Options


We are grateful to the City of Laguna Niguel for their generous donation in order to provide Piggie Bear coloring books, crayons and plush to children at the YMCA Hidden Hills.
YMCA
English Book

Spanish Book

English/Spanish Book

Coloring Book
Piggie Bear Plush
Piggie Bear Products



PB Book in English - Available on Amazon.












PB Book in Spanish - The translation is complete and available on Amazon.













The Bilingual English/Spanish “The Power of Piggie Bear” has been completed and is available on Amazon.









PB Coloring Book - “The Power of Piggie Bear” has been transformed into an adorable coloring book! This will give children an activity to do along with teaching Piggie Bear’s toolkit.





Piggie Bear was created as a friend to empower children and increase their emotional intelligence by helping them to identify and manage their emotions, develop self-calming skills, utilize empowering words, experience self-love and know that they are amazing just the way they are!
If you would like to help bring Piggie Bear to children that need it the most, including children in the hospital, foster and military families, and homeless and other shelters, please donate today!