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Lanna Coffee Co. launches “Valley Children’s Blend” to raise funds for hospital

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Sarah Soghomonian
TV Producer and fan of all things fabulous.Bulldog Born, Bulldog Bred!
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Fresno-based Lanna Coffee Co. has launched a new product designed to raise funds for Valley Children’s Hospital.

“Valley Children’s Blend” is a medium roast with vanilla undertones and a lingering nutty finish. Five dollars from every bag sold will be donated to the hospital’s Children’s Fund, which goes to improving care and services for patients, recruiting pediatric surgeons, and providing the most advanced technology.

“Lanna Coffee Co. wanted to provide an opportunity to use their product as a means to fundraise and give back to our community,” says Kelly Mitchinson, Administrative Director of Lanna Coffee Co. “With the daily ritual of drinking coffee, this new blend gives consumers another great reason to choose Lanna Coffee and make a difference in their community.”

Valley Children's Blend

Hospital serves over a million children in the area

For more than 65 years, Valley Children’s has provided care for our community. With more than 575 physicians and 3,400 staff members, the hospital serves 1.3 million children in their 12-county service area.

“We are so grateful to have the support of local businesses like Lanna Coffee,” says Zara Arboleda, Valley Children’s spokesperson. “We are humbled by their generosity and will use funds raised to continue providing the best pediatric care to Valley families.”

Valley Children’s Blend is sold in 12 oz. bags and will be available through Dec. 31. It sells for $15 and can be purchased online or at the Lanna warehouse at 617 Broadway St. in downtown Fresno. It’s also available at the cafeteria of Valley Children’s Hospital.

Valley Children's Blend

The team at Lanna Coffee Co. says they’re excited to support Valley Children’s mission to provide high-quality, comprehensive care. This isn’t the only way the company gives back. They use beans from Northern Thailand, and a portion of every sale is sent back to that region. The funds are helping build gravity feed water tanks in remote villages.

To learn more about Lanna Coffee’s mission, check out this FresYes article.

Wiffle Ball and Walk-n-Roll combine for a good cause

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JoAnn Hallum
Houseplant killing optimist- freelance writer -kid herder
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This month, a rare opportunity awaits you. You can play ball or take a stroll in your Batman costume (I know you have one) and actually help your community at the same time thanks to the Walk-n-Roll and Wiffle Ball Tournament.

The Walk-n-Roll and Wiffle Ball Tournament will both take place on Oct. 28 at Chukchansi Park. They are events to raise money for UCP of Central California and they’re going to be fun! 

UCP Walk n Roll

What is UCPCC?

UCPCC stands for United Cerebral Palsy of Central California, and it serves over 1,100 people in the area. Through adult and children’s day programs, community engagement, and support for families, they provide a valuable service to people who have disabilities.

Although their name stands for United Cerebral Palsy, UCP actually helps people with a broad range of disabilities and special needs. UCP was founded in 1949 as a civil rights movement for people with disabilities, and they’re still at it with local affiliates like UCP of Central California. UCPCC’s goal is to create a world “where disability is neither limiting nor defining.” In short, they’re a great organization to go to bat for!

UCP Walk n Roll

[photo via UCPCC]

Step Up To the Plate for UCPCC 

The Wiffle Ball Tournament is open to all ages and abilities. There are three divisions: 18 and over, ages 13-17, and 12 and under. This is an event the entire family can sign up for. You simply need a team of 3 to 5 players and about 20 bucks per player ($15 for the 12 and under set).

Tickets include a t-shirt and a three-game minimum. Excitingly, there will also be prizes awarded for Best Costume, so wear that Wonder Woman uniform with pride. Alternatively, you could keep it team-themed and try to get the award for Best Uniform. For those who are more competitive, don’t worry, division winners win a prize as well.

Check-in is at 9 a.m. and games start at 9:30. To read up on the rules for this tournament, click here. To sign up a team, visit the UCPCC website here or call (559) 221-8272.

Walk-n-Roll around Chukchansi Park

If a leisurely stroll, walk, or roll is more your speed, you can still be part of this fundraising event by signing up for the Walk-n-Roll. A unique way to celebrate Halloween, participants are encouraged to wear costumes. The walk and roll starts at 10 a.m. There will be a Kids Fun Zone, food, and a team spirit competition. Since it’s so close to Halloween, expect candy as well.

If your costume isn’t completed in time, you can wear your shirt that comes with registration. This is an easy way to show support. Again, it’s $20 for adults and $10 for kids under 12. To register for the Walk-n- Roll, check out the UCPCC website here. Bring a friend, child, or even your boss and help raise money and awareness!

For event updates, make sure to follow UCPCC on Facebook here.

Dogs can dress up, eat pumpkin pie at Furry Fall Festival

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FresYes Writing Team
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Serious question: Is there anything better than animals in costumes? No, right? Which is why Valley Animal Center’s Furry Fall Festival is THE place to be this weekend. Not only will there be tons of animals in costumes, there will be plenty of other fun to be had for canines and humans alike!

Furry Fall Festival

Fun for the whole furry and non-furry family

The Second Annual Furry Fall Festival, which takes place at Valley Animal Center on Sunday, Oct. 8, from 1 to 5 p.m., is a fundraiser for the no-kill shelter. Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased online here or at the door. Dogs are welcome as long as they’re well-behaved and on a leash. They get in for free, but owners will have to sign a waiver at the entrance.

Bring your whole family to hang out at the Kid Zone, complete with a bounce house, face painting, pumpkin decorating, “paw-casso” pictures for kids and dogs, a petting zoo, and more. There will be a food court featuring Dutch Bros. coffee, La Imperial Taqueria, and pet-friendly treats. You can also shop from vendors for humans and animals alike.

Costume and food-eating contests a highlight

Personally, I am most excited about the contests at the festival. In addition to a biscuit toss, there will be pumpkin pie-eating contests for both people and dogs. For the sake of their health, the canine version will be a speed round rather than volume, featuring pet-friendly pies with pumpkin purée and whipped cream. I will be signing up my beagle, Grover—aka the canine garbage can—for this one. I have high hopes of victory.

Furry Fall Festival

Contestants in last year’s pumpkin pie eating contest. [photo: Valley Animal Center]

What I will not be signing Grover up for is the costume contest. Because this is what happens when I try to put him in a simple t-shirt for warmth in the winter. He acts like he’s being tortured. Not dramatic at all.

Furry Fall Festival

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with for your dogs, though! Based on the photos from last year, it should be epic. I’ll be taking pictures to feature in another story on FresYes next week, so bring your “A” game!

Furry Fall Festival

Two of my favorite things at last year’s Furry Fall Festival: tacos and dogs. [photo: Valley Animal Center]

Furry friends are available for adoption

Most importantly, make sure you check out the adoptables fashion show, featuring dogs from Valley Animal Center that are looking for a loving home. You might find the perfect match for you or someone you know!

Furry Fall Festival

I got to hang out with the adorable Marmaduke at Valley Animal Center recently. He and many others are looking for their forever homes!

After all, that’s what the Furry Fall Festival is all about: Supporting the amazing work the shelter does for animals in our valley.

The Valley Animal Center is one of my favorite local organizations. So come out, have some fun and learn more about this great place!

Support Storyland this weekend at the Happily Ever After Party

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FresYes Writing Team
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No matter how mature you are now, if you grew up in Fresno chances are you have a soft spot in your heart for Storyland.

Built seven years after amusement park Playland, Storyland has been a magical FresYes destination since the 1960s. Remember the magic keys? The castle that made a drive down the 99 more thrilling?

Of course, some things have changed since its opening (personally, I still miss the giant Jack and the Beanstalk metal slide), but thanks to a lot of hard work, dedication, and community love, Storyland is looking fabulous and better than ever nowadays.

Happily Ever After Party

If you’re new in town or didn’t grow up here, you might not know what Storyland is all about. Located in Roeding Park across from the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Storyland is a storybook-themed park where you can visit the three little pigs, Hansel and Gretel, and more of those characters you read about as a kid.

The displays are original to the park and a plastic “magic” key allows you to hear the nursery rhymes and stories as you visit. After years of falling into disrepair, the park had to shut down for awhile, but it has been renovated, reopening in September of 2015 after repairs and repainting took place.

Happily Ever After Party

How you can help Storyland while eating some tri-tip

Since it’s a local treasure that has delighted generations of Valley children, it’s easy to make the case that our community should step up once in awhile and help support the upkeep of Storyland. And in these parts, it’s always more fun to support something when there’s tri-tip involved, right?

So here’s the deal: this weekend is the annual fundraiser for Storyland. Thanks to the Fresno Police Officer’s Association, there will be tri-tip on hand, so here’s your tasty opportunity to keep Storyland looking spry while enjoying a good meal. Of course, there’s more than just meat involved.

Tickets to the Happily Ever After Party are $35 and include the above-mentioned meal, live music from Boxcar Figaro, and a DJ in the carousel over in Playland. If you’ve always wanted to ride the Willis B. Kyle Express, this is your chance, because train rides and magic keys are included.

Happily Ever After Party

This is your opportunity to revisit childhood memories, or make new ones with your own children or grandchildren, all while supporting Fresno’s fairytale park.

Event Details

Happily Ever After Party
Saturday, Oct. 7
6 -9 p.m.

The event Facebook page is here. Tickets are available here and cost $35 for children and adults. Happily, 100% of the proceeds go to Storyland park improvements.

For upcoming events, check out the Storyland and Playland website here or follow them on Facebook here. 

Have you been? What’s your favorite memory of Storyland?

Mr. E: Together We Stand

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FresYes Writing Team
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By Mr. E

This piece is a little different from the others I’ve written in the sense I’m searching inwardly to find meaning to what is taking place outwardly, within this world of ours.

On Tuesday morning, the unthinkable took place in our town and many of us, myself included, were left attempting to find understanding, peace, and forgiveness. We live in a world of news reports, Snapchat, Facebook/Twitter updates, and of course Instagram posts; this is where our emotions are diverted, these are the sites which capture our very beings.

A bomb being set off in an airport in Belgium, a gunman in Paris, a man broadcasting a killing on Facebook are all parts of the aforementioned world — these are quick hits to buckets which allow the various outlets to stake their claims to the importance of it all, but in reality the importance always seems a world or two away from “us.”

The truth is, on Tuesday morning we were affected by an active shooter, a shooter who not only took the lives of three people but also a fourth the week prior. My house was shaken due to the fact that one of the victims was someone whom I knew: he was the best friend of my flat-mate. In an era where people are fixated on appearances, I’m sure many missed an opportunity to befriend a special person.

So on Tuesday morning, the nation cast its gaze upon a town best known for its agriculture and not its violence. Many seem to forget or for that matter not know that Fresno is the fifth largest city in California, and it affords people the chance to live and travel to and fro without the burden of price; yet what is being portrayed is different in some sectors because sensation sells.

Instead of adding to the sensation, I’m going to address the goodness which has been poured out by the community. We’ve shed tears but then we remember that none of these men would want anyone to harbor ill feelings.

Earlier today, I sat and listened to stories being recalled about one of the victims. There was nothing but laughter and fond memories. One patron said, “I can’t think of anything bad he ever did.”

So it’s within this vein, I ask those in our community to venture to a fundraiser for one of the victims, which is taking place this Saturday and Sunday, April 21-22, at 1826 Van Ness Ave, from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. (on both days).

My job is to find the uniqueness within our community and abroad. This weekend, let’s all be unique together if not but for just a moment.

together we stand

High-tech glasses could help paralyzed man achieve higher education dreams

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Kendra Gilbert
Writer at FresYes.com
Kendra Gilbert is a writer born and raised in Clovis. She has written for publications from Boston to Los Angeles and loves writing about fashion and people most of all. The abbreviated list of things she enjoys outside of writing includes: thrifting, photography, harmonica, beer, movies, hiking and skee ball.
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As a kid, Miguel Chavez never wanted to be inside. The further his childhood adventures took him from his family’s southeast Fresno home, the happier he was. Now it’s inside that home where he spends most of his time. Confined to a wheelchair under the constant supervision of a nurse, Chavez has spent the majority of the last 19 years indoors. His only escape? School. And now he hopes higher education will take him the furthest from home he’s ever been…all the way across the country. But first, he says, he needs a special pair of glasses.

Miguel Chavez

Chavez was hit by a car while crossing the street when he was four. He wasn’t expected to survive the accident, but he did. A doctor was able to restore his ability to breathe and mobility from the neck up. After more than a year in a hospital, Chavez was released and had to learn how to adapt to his new life. It was a roller coaster emotionally, but Chavez eventually found purpose in school. When he got to junior high, he started to envision a future for himself that would carry him through his high school special education courses, earning him a certificate of completion. Two years later, Chavez would earn his diploma through an adult education program.

“A certificate just says, well, you just completed 12 years of school. A diploma gives me an opportunity to go to any college I want.”

Before heading to Fresno City College, his first step towards higher education, Chavez hopes to raise enough money to buy special glasses that will allow him to operate a computer. But make no mistake, he’s already pretty tech-savvy. (When I arrived to interview Chavez, he was texting using a stylus he operates with his mouth.) Chavez says the glasses he’s hoping to get will allow him to fulfill his goal of being the first person in his family to attend college. And not just any college, but his dream university: Harvard. After that, he hopes to open his own business.

Here, Chavez talks about the events of October 11, 1996, learning English in the hospital after the accident, and his big goals for his education and future.