Alameda County Agency Serving People with Developmental Disabilities Announces Award Winners

June 25, 2009 - PRLog -- The Arc of Alameda County, a nonprofit agency that offers programs to help people with developmental disabilities improve their quality of life, announced today the winners of the “Dove” awards given annually to clients who have made extraordinary progress and to business and government leaders who have offered exceptional support to the organization during the previous 12 months.

Client of the Year Awards
“Dove” awards are  presented to one client at each of The Arc’s programs that are available in San Leandro, Hayward, Union City and Livermore.  Client of the Year recipients are:

Xavier Wilson – First Step Children’s Center in Hayward.  Xavier is 32 months old and has made great strides in socialization skills.

Marissa Hewitt – San Leandro SCOPE Program.  Marissa operates the snack bar and is active in the program’s recycling effort.

Rick Atkins – Union City SCOPE Program.  Rick has increased his verbal skills in the last year – especially when it comes to expressing his support for the San Francisco 49’ers.

Cathy Ogle – TriValley Vocational Development Center in Livermore.  Cathy is practically mistake-free in her packaging job which keeps our customers happy.

Keri Jones – Walpert Vocational Development Center in Hayward.  Once shy, Keri is outgoing and loves to sing.

Adam Lee – Union City Vocational Development Center.  Adam is the safety expert at the center and is more than happy to help others who have mobility issues.

Gim Leung – San Leandro Vocational Development Center.  Gim is much more self sufficient this year and is determined to get the job done.

Lupe Castro – Alternative Ventures Program in Hayward.  Lupe’s personality has blossomed in the last 12 months – today she makes people smile with her comic one-liners.

Teresa Woodside – Alternative Ventures Program in Union City.  Teresa volunteers for almost every project and is joined the fitness program.

Thomas Meyers – Individual Job Placement.  Tom has done exceptionally well at his job at the Cheesesteak Shop in Berkeley.

Rosalie Henley – Group Job Placement.  Rosalie has been doing a great job keeping police cruisers spic-and-span for the Livermore Police Department.

Other Awards:
Business of the Year – Shasta Soft Drink Company.  Shasta has been loyal to The Arc and our clients since 1997.  We repackage the "Rainbow" cases of canned soda for Shasta -which has also sponsored numerous Arc events over the years.  

Business of the Year – Japonesque.  Japonesque is a leading beauty supply manufacturer.  The Arc packages some 30 Japonesque products including make-up brushes, eyelash curlers and tweezers.

Bob Perrotti Volunteer of the Year Award – Denice Daly.  Denice is the Fire Inspector at the Fire Department in Union City. She has given many hours of her time talking to clients about fire safety.

Organization of the Year Award:  The LARCs. The LARC organization began in 1967 and operated a thrift store in Hayward to raise money to support various Walpert Center projects once of which was the construction of LARC Hall - venue for the awards dinner. The group disbanded in 2008 and gave its final donation of over $90,000 to rennovate the upstairs floor of the Janes building at the Walpert site.

The Arc Service Award – Castro Valley Adult School and teachers Rori Rigney, Cathy Castenada, Pat Vukman, and Signey Barry. All teach classes at the Walpert Center that make the lives of our clients richer.

The Dove award refers to the dove in the agency's logo.  The dove is a symbol, not only of peace but of gentleness and tenderness - characteristics often shared by the people we serve.

The ceremony on the 26th will feature the big band sound of "In Full Swing" - a group of 20 local musicians who will donating their time that evening.  The bandleader is Bob Wiseman who's mother, Ernestine, was very active in the LARC organzation for many years.

The Awards Banquet begins with a social hour starting at 6 p.m., the buffet dinner at 6:30, the Awards Ceremony at 7:15 and dancing beginning at 8 p.m.  The Walpert Center is located at 1101 Walpert Street in Hayward.

The Arc of Alameda County has been impacted by the State budget crisis and gratefully accepts donations of any amount at http://www.arcalameda.org.

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About the Arc of Alameda County: we are a non-profit providing life skills education and vocational training to adults with developmental disabilities. We also operate The First Step Children's Center in Hayward, available to children with or without developmental disabilities.

The SCOPE program employs life skills instructors to teach hygiene, socialization, counting, etc.

Vocational Development Centers bring clients together to package products for real companies such as Shasta Cola, Japonesque and The San Francisco Chocolate Factory.

Group Placement is a work crew of 4 or 5 clients who, with support from an Arc staff person, perform jobs in the community. Such crews provide janitorial service for the Oakland Museum and clean bus stops for the Livermore Amador Valley Transportation Authority.

Individual Placement is finding a job for a client - with or without Arc support. Safeway, Walmart and East Bay BMW in Pleasanton for example.