Holiday Outreach For The Homeless

Every year, I try to do some volunteer work to benefit the homeless in the Bay Area. This year, I worked with Hope 680 and Trinity Center. Trinity used to want coats and miscellaneous clothing items, but they are now a bigger organization with a list of items on Amazon that you can donate to and of course they still accept gift cards and cash.

I can’t really know whether Trinity received any items from the outreach I did, but I hope so! I did have a lot of neighbors who dropped off blankets, sleeping bags, coats, and socks for Hope 680. That organization partners with NorthCreek Church on Ygnacio Valley Rd., which is where I dropped off those donated goods.

Hope 680, a Christian non-profit ministry in Concord, is an independent entity partnering with local churches to provide food, prayer, coats and blankets. They are dedicated to the vision that every homeless person in the 680 corridor experience love and have access to services.

At Trinity, they collaborate with the Walnut Creek P.D. to form a Walnut Creek Homeless Community Task Force to make a positive impact in the area’s homeless community. If you have the time and means, please give to a charity of your choosing this holiday season! Wishing you a Happy Holiday season and a moment to reflect on how much we have to be thankful for.

One Warm Coat drive – thank you!

My team and I recently coordinated a local coat drive to donate clothing to One Warm Coat, an organization that gives clothing to the homeless and others in need during winter.

I’m proud to say that we had so many contributions, we had to use two cars just to haul all the bags of coats to One Warm Coat! I really enjoyed meeting everyone when I stopped by to pick up the coats and for those who dropped them off on my doorstep or left them on their porch for me to grab, I am shouting out a big THANK YOU ALL so much!

Your contributions will go a long way in keeping people warm this winter who otherwise might not have been. Keep an eye out for another One Warm Coat drive next year!

fullsizerender-14 — It was dark, so the photo didn’t turn out great but this is one of the volunteers on the pile of bags in the truck – all full of coats!

How to Buy Happiness, According to Science

Ski day with some of my WC Lifestyle team members!

I stumbled across an interesting blog recently that collects scientific research to prove that money can, in fact, buy happiness if it’s spent correctly.

For example, if you are spending your income on gifts for others, experiences for yourself, and time with your family, you’re scientifically more likely to be happy.

As someone who dedicates many hours of her life to work, I can relate with the difficulties in finding the free time and money to make all of those things happen.

That’s not to say I don’t achieve happiness, but with the right mindset, I could probably increase my level of happiness – and so can you.

In the blog, the author writes:

Consider this: The two days your spend waiting for your Amazon Prime package to arrive doesn’t build the same kind of anticipation as planning and dreaming about that vacation to Belize does. You take the time off work, brush up on your Spanish, read travel blogs and more, all the while thinking about how epic this trip is going to be. And once it’s over, you’ll tell the story of zip-lining through the rainforest to anyone who will listen for the rest of your life.

My winnings from the charity poker tournament for Walnut Creek Bulldawgs!

I’ve made it a point to spend my time and money skiing in Tahoe; this year, I bought a pass to Squaw Valley. Not only does that allow me to escape the office for a day and do one of my favorite activities, but it oftentimes brings me in close proximity to my youngest son, who attends school in Reno.

And if you’ve followed my blogs or received my newsletters, you know I enjoy combining charity with my real estate work; from this past winter’s coat drive to my passion helping past and present military use their VA benefits to buy a home, to playing in charity poker tournaments to fostering Weimaraner’s until they find their fur-ever home!

So, if you try, buying happiness is possible. I choose to experience happiness through experiences, giving to charity and spending time with my family and friends and that does take money, but in the end it is a decision to choose to be happy.