Media Release
South Pasadena Prayer Breakfast awarded six local nonprofits last Thursday with $1000 grants in its largest main event distribution to date.
About 200 community members, including clergy, residents, civic and business leaders, educators, first responders, and students, attended the free breakfast, the breakfast committee said. South Pasadena High School’s choir performance set the tone for the morning, which closed with a recitation by clergy from several different religious organizations of prayers for the community written by breakfast committee member Kathryn Sievert Hutto.
Boys and Girls Club of Pasadena, YoungLife of South Pasadena/San Marino, 626 Village, My Refuge House, Blood Cancer United and South Pasadena High School Boosters Club (Choir) were selected as grant recipients for their work that aligns with the prayer breakfast’s mission of supporting prayer and service in the community, said Nancy Norris, chair of the South Pasadena Prayer Breakfast committee.
In the keynote address, “The Power of Showing Up,” Boys and Girls Club of Pasadena chief executive officer Lisa Cavelier recounted the ways that the club uplifted its 110 families who lost everything in last year’s devastating Eaton Fire. After closing only one day for the fire, the club reopened to take in 400 children for three weeks while schools in the burn areas were closed, she said.
Showing up for one other validates the recipient’s feelings and “fulfills a fundamental human need for a sense of belonging,” Cavelier said at the event at Oneonta Congregational Church. The Boys and Girls Club’s Family Assistance Fund raised $500,000 to hand out in $5,000-$10,000 checks to affected families and provided a safe and healthy environment for the children, Cavelier said.
Blood Cancer United was a new grant applicant as Jonathan Yee, son of longtime Arroyo Vista Elementary School teacher Helena Yee and local attorney Paul Yee, aims to raise $42,000 for the nonprofit’s leukemia research by next month. The goal represents $1000 for each of the years Helena has been alive since diagnosed with childhood acute lymphotic leukemia.
Jonathan is applying to medical school and will devote his career to finding cures for leukemia, a different form of which, called CML, struck his father a few years ago. Because Blood Cancer United not only seeks oncological medical cures but also supports the quality of life for families affected by leukemia, Jonathan said he can be a productive helper even now before he becomes a doctor.
Another new grant reciipient is 626 Village, a group that supports older adults through intergenerational experiences in South Pasadena. The voluntary board, comprised of South Pasadena residents, said the group is part of a movement that celebrates cultural diversity and a variety of fun and educational activities to create a vibrant community of seniors.
YoungLife, My Refuge House, and the high school boosters are repeat recipients.
South Pasadena Prayer Breakfast is a nonprofit organization funded entirely by private donations, including legacy sponsors Athens Services, Oneonta Congregational Church, Holy Family Church, Moms in Prayer of South Pasadena, and Karin and Jon Primuth.
Planning committee members along with Norris and Sievert Hutto are Rev. Sam Park of ReNew United Methodist Church, Rev. Lincoln Skinner of Oneonta, former mayor Bob Joe, Dawn Ponnet, Ashley Lynn Hengst, Elizabeth Dever, Karen Kano, and Roxy Ortiz.
