 Please welcome Karen Baker, the Secretary of Service and Volunteering. She's the leader of Cal Volunteers. Well, what a wonderful, wonderful, amazing talent, Eric. That was so inspiring. Great acoustics in here. I loved the sound. It was wonderful. Eric Seiler is from the California Army National Guard. We are so proud of your service. Thank you. Let me begin by welcoming, of course, everyone to the 2013 Governors Service and Volunteering Awards. We've got so many special people in the house, but I'm going to just call out a few that came from some long distances and are very special public servants. Some not so long. Secretary Peter Gravitt from our CDVA. Peter, I know you're here. There you are. If you could stand. That's great. Secretary Caballero from California State and Consumer Services Agency. And I think they're really the backbone of so many of our communities. We have our mayor, Lynn Ashbeck, from the city of Clovis. He's fabulous. Sheriff D'Agostini from El Dorado and Fire Chief Gareth Harris from El Dorado. And I believe it's Fire Chief Mike de Spain. I hope I got that right. Thank you so much, Fire Chief. And we know that you all are so excited to be a part of this special event that really honors these unsung heroes who tirelessly work every day to do the work our communities so greatly need. There really are two quotes I thought I'd share with you today. One Dr. King said so well. He said, life's most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others? What are you doing for others? We're here tonight to honor incredible people who decided to do for others in extraordinary ways. If we do our job right tonight, you are not only going to be inspired, but you will up your game. You will like me after last year's event. Go home and go, I've got to do more. Oh my gosh. That's Scott Budnick. Unreal, right? There were so many inspiring people on the stage last year. It was fabulous. I know that some of you are probably thinking, you know, who am I to make a difference? I'm just one person. And that leads me to my other favorite quote, which is, if you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito. Now just think on that. It takes a while. Okay? So it could feel like we're taking those small baby steps when we're tackling the issues in our community. But it all does really add up to something pretty extraordinary. And I want to begin by first of all thanking the great team, Alexis Podesto, who put so much into this in the great governor's office. Thank you so much, Alexis. And, you know, what's wonderful about this governor and the team that he has assembled is we really do work across agencies. And the great team led by Kelly Houston at Cali MA. What a great group. Thank you so much for your assistance. And of course, I do have to thank the team from California Volunteers. How many people here have talked to Alice Rodriguez on the phone? Okay, Alice. And I know we have the best executive fellow in the world, Ashley Buckner. They both have worked tirelessly. And of course, there's always a little bit of sponsorship that's needed for these events. And Deloitte, you were there for us. We so appreciate your support. Please join me in thanking them. So as I know you must know, California Volunteers is the governor's office that aims to increase the number of Californians involved with service and volunteering. Most of you know about our AmeriCorps program, the California Disaster Corps. But we work with so many partners, faith-based organizations, nonprofits, local volunteer centers, and of course, businesses. Our business partners are here tonight if you could raise your hands. If you're part of our business partners program. We've got a lot in the house. Thank you so much. You know, tackling any of these problems that California faces takes, you know, your talents, your time, your skills. We have to be all involved. We all have to be working together. And when I think of someone who gets this value and loves our state so deeply and is just a true champion for us and for service and volunteering, they just get it. It would be the executive secretary to Jerry Brown. It's Nancy McFadden. This woman deserves a huge round. Nancy is not only going to be our master of ceremonies or mistress of ceremonies. That sounds a little not right. Well, she might be serving that up. And then you were working in Washington during the Clinton and Gore administration, of course, when AmeriCorps was launched. Then you moved to the corporate world and you believed in supported employee giving efforts. And now the state, as the governor's right hand, you remain a believer in the work that everyone in this room is doing and everyone in this room supports. Just please join me in thanking you and please join me at the mic. Well, Karen, thank you for those incredibly generous words. Let's just say who could not be a believer when we are following our North Star in the state. The person who has really made California the standard bearer for what volunteerism is and can be, not just for the people that volunteers serve, but for the state it serves. And you and your galaxy from volunteers and your organization and the business partners, you're really our North Star. You're our leader and you're the one that's really made so much of this happen. And we are here in large part because of you, Karen. So thank you. Karen always does the thanks. Now, you had to do it with the quotes and those who know me, no, I cannot be outdone by quotes. If you do a quote, I got to raise your one. So you did Martin Luther King, I'll do Gandhi. So the best way to find yourself, and I'm sure you've heard this many times, is to lose yourself in the service of others. So tonight we're going to honor people who lose themselves all the time in the service of others. We have found you tonight. Before we get to the business of honoring these remarkable people and organizations and businesses that understand to their core the importance and value of volunteering, I feel like it wouldn't be right to not mention the tragedy in Oklahoma. And of course our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Oklahoma who have just endured such a devastating natural disaster. And people are finding themselves without the most basic of human needs being met. And of course who is stepping up, but volunteers. We know that selfless volunteers are stepping up to meet the needs of the people there just as much as possible and beyond. I can't help but think that if something like that happened in California that the volunteers that we are honoring tonight and the volunteer networks that Karen and her team have established across the state it would be the first to come to our aid. From search and rescue and the cert trained volunteers who would be the first responders. To the faith-based non-profit volunteers who would feed and shelter. To the AmeriCorps members who would redirect to aid, we redirect to try to aid in debris removal. And of course the foundations and the businesses who would be needed for the recovery. And our winners tonight across all those sectors and truly embody that neighbor helping neighbor spirit that first on the scene instinct. In fact we have some Californians that are there in Oklahoma right now who have answered the call to serve. And now I think we should get to the business of honoring those that answer the call to serve every day. Let's start tonight by honoring our California AmeriCorps member of the year. This award honors a California AmeriCorps member who has made a substantial contribution to community and to our state. The 2013 Governor's Volunteering and Service Award for California's AmeriCorps member of the year goes to Rico Sanders Jr. of City Year Los Angeles. Rico, where are you? Turn this page. So I would like to tell you a little bit about Rico. A City Year in the House? I said is City Year in the House. They are an inspiring AmeriCorps program and I'm so glad that you have so many great colleagues here with you. Let me tell you about Rico. He is a 23-year-old currently serving his second year with the AmeriCorps program City Year Los Angeles. He grew up in Pasadena and Rico's parents placed a strong emphasis on the importance of education. Rico knew that he wanted to make a difference in students' lives through education and he attributes his joining to City Year to his mother who has always stressed the importance of lending a helping hand to others and City Year offered the type of experience that would allow him to put his mother's words into actions. In the 2011-12 school year, Rico served as a first-year AmeriCorps member at Samuel Gompers Middle School in the Watts neighborhood of South LA. Gompers is a high-needs middle school with over 1200 students, 100% of whom qualify for free or reduced lunch and 30% of whom are English language learners. Students from Gompers, they continue on into Locke High School where the dropout rate hovers around 50%. After serving for a year at Gompers, Rico was invited to return for a second year of service with City Year Los Angeles. He serves as a team member, team leader, hence the yellow jacket, playing a vital role in leading his team in their service to students, maintaining high expectations in the classroom and after-school settings, creating a positive learning environment and providing essential feedback to his team on how to best provide academic support to their students. He is creative, he is passionate, he developed a fabulous March Madness event where he ran a month-long math competition for his students to prepare for their California standards test. What a great idea. The bonds that Rico has built with his students over the past two years have had a significant impact on his own personal development and revealed Rico's true passion for education. As a result of this experience with City Year Los Angeles, Rico now plans to become a teacher instead of a lawyer. So we thank you Rico for your service and congratulations on the AmeriCorps member of the year. Thank you so much for this amazing honor. As a part of the City Year community, I was introduced to a quote that's never seemed more true than tonight. If I've been able to see further than others, it is from standing on the shoulders of giants. The City Year members that I work with every day and the thousands of AmeriCorps members across the nation are true giants. Every day we go into schools as tutors, mentors, and role models to keep our students in school and on track to graduate. In the two years that I've worked at Samuel Gomper's Middle School, I've worked with a special student named Jordan. For the last two years, I've worked with Jordan to improve his math and English skills, but our relationship has gone so much further than that. Jordan has asked me how I respond to adversity and what college was like for me. I know my experiences are helping to reveal the role education will play in his life. I'm privileged to count myself among those providing the support and resources students need to reach their potential. As an AmeriCorps member, I've witnessed firsthand how both public and private organizations can partner together to be the giants we need to see change. Thank you to my parents for allowing me to stand on their shoulders and understand the value of service. Thank you to my greatest mentor, Professor Doug Edlin, for being a leader I will always aspire to emulate. My service with City Year has revealed that it will take everyone lending their shoulders for us to see all of our students graduate from high school. For the last two years, I've tried to lend my shoulders to students so they can see what opportunities await them beyond their high school graduation. Thank you for celebrating the service of AmeriCorps members and for giving me this honor. Rico, you give us hope. You give us hope. A 23-year-old can do what you've done and talk like that and beat both Karen and I on the quotathon. You're going far, really. Congratulations, you're really very, very inspiring. Now we honor a California foundation who has shown an extraordinary ability to leverage volunteers in service to California communities. Now foundations sort of of their essence are about service. So for one to be selected from all the others means this is some foundation. The 2013 Governor's Volunteering and Service Award for California's Foundation of the Year goes to Kaiser Permanente Foundation. Accepting, I want to introduce accepting on behalf of Kaiser Permanente Foundation is Ron Gruper. He's the Senior Vice President and Area Manager for Sacramento. And his team! Good! That is good! So let's talk about Kaiser Permanente. They are not just simply committed to treating diseases but preventing them. In 2012, Kaiser invested more than $230 million in community focused programs and services in California working towards eliminating those health disparities. They engage in many programs like the Educational Theater Program, the Healthy Eating Active Living Program to educate communities about health. But Kaiser is also exceptional because of its commitment to volunteering in service because you can distribute dollars but that doesn't mean you work in that component of service. For example, just here in Sacramento alone, Kaiser was one of the founding partners that invested in the training of mayors and all Chief Service Officers for the Pioneering Cities of Service Initiative. Go, Jennifer! Great job! Also, Kaiser engages their physicians and health professionals in volunteering to teach members of underserved communities how to use their prevention programs. They also participate in operation access where their physicians volunteer thousands of hours to perform free surgeries for people referred to them by local clinics. Since September 2011, Ron's leadership at Kaiser has improved his own community. He led his medical center in adopting a neighborhood school where Kaiser physicians and staff volunteer to mentor students. They created a vegetable garden and spruce up the campus. So thank you, Ron, for your leadership and congratulations to Kaiser for the foundation of the year award. Like most good foundations, Kaiser Public Affairs wrote me a very nice speech, and in that speech, they wanted me to talk about all of the things that just got mentioned. So, I want to reinforce for you about the generosity of Kaiser and the hundreds of millions of dollars that it gives away. I want to talk a little bit about the free things that we do to help the needy in our communities, and to some extent, that's already been done. So, I want to do two very quick stories with you. The heart and soul of Kaiser is the people that are in the audience tonight. So, here it is, mid-September last year. I get a call from an agency that has some money that it wants to donate to the needy children of Sacramento and wants to make their Christmas brighter. The catch. I need to assemble a team of volunteers that's willing to come out on the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving at 5 a.m. We talked about it with Bonnie and a host of others and agreed if we could get 100 volunteers to do that, it would be remarkable. The department store Kohl's was going to open at 5 a.m. and we were going to bring several of our people. We sent out a request. 250 volunteers signed up. We were able to open two Kohl's department stores that morning at 5 a.m., put white jackets and did a program where our employees shopped with second and third graders who were disadvantaged making their Christmas brighter. It was the best Christmas I ever had. Speaking on behalf of every Kaiser employee, I want to leave you with this story. Once upon a time there was a farmer and after many years of working his land, he called a realtor and said, I want to sell my property. The realtor came out, took the pictures, and the following day sent the pictures to the farmer. And in the pictures was this, green pastures and the fat cattle, the pond stocked with fish. The following day the farmer called the realtor and said, I've decided not to sell. The realtor, concerned about his commission but as well about the change of heart, immediately called and said, why not? The farmer responded, because based on your description, I've been looking for a place like this all my life. I think I speak for every Kaiser employee. We are proud to work for the organization. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the honor tonight. Thank you, Ron, when I remember some of my colleagues from my private world, when I was in the private sector, I used to tear up the speeches that the corporate communications people gave me too. So I admire that. I also admire that you so eloquently described that service is not just about money. It has to be about people too. So thank you and congratulations to Kaiser. Now we're going to honor a California non-profit that has shown an amazing ability to leverage volunteers in service to their organization, to leverage thousands of volunteers to help women out of poverty and skid row in Los Angeles. A tough thing to get people to volunteer and yet we have thousands doing it. In Los Angeles, because of the 2013 Governor's Volunteering and Service Award recipient for the non-profit of the year, the Downtown Women's Center of Los Angeles. Accepting the award is Lisa Watson, who is the chief executive officer of the Downtown Women's Center and doing a great hug there. Let's talk about the Downtown Women's Center. It is a remarkable agency, one I have been familiar with for a long time. It was founded in 1978 in LA, and it's exclusively dedicated to addressing the needs of 4,300 women that are overcoming poverty and homelessness each year in skid row. They effectively leverage volunteers as evidenced by the 2,500 individuals volunteering with them. Can you imagine that managing 2,500 volunteers that have served over 34,000 hours at the center last year alone? These volunteers serve 60,000 meals to the women of the Downtown Women's Center, but they also contribute to special projects. While renovating its Los Angeles street home so that 48 chronically homeless women could have housing, the Downtown Women's Center worked with over a dozen volunteer interior designers who not only donated their time and knowledge, but also helped bring in thousands of dollars in donations and furnishings for the rooms. This is that really critical pro bono volunteering trend that we all are familiar with. It's fabulous. The center also utilized union volunteers from 15 construction trades on another renovation project resulting in job training and apprenticeship opportunities and a beautiful storefront for Made by DWC, a resale boutique selling high-end clothing items and handmade crafts created by the women of the Downtown Women's Center. Within the past few years, this center has seen tremendous growth in programming. It has moved from 1,000 to 4,300 women that it's serving. We believe this is directly attributed to Lisa Watson's leadership and passion. After all, she was notably recognized in 2012 as Los Angeles magazine's Top 50 Women Changemakers. We want to thank you, Lisa, for all of your leadership and congratulations to the Downtown Women's Center for the nonprofit of the year award. So, thank you so much. I couldn't say it better, so I'm going to get rid of my speech because I think I was going to say a lot of those things. But, you know, I felt like when we sat down in this room and when we saw the list of honorees, I felt like I know we're doing something right because we're in a group of, like, so many of our colleagues, so many of our community partners, and we're just so proud of the work that we've done with Bank of America, with Kaiser, with City, or with Deloitte, like, it goes on and on. So it truly is such an honor. But besides all of the, you know, I think it's really important. We started with, you know, using volunteers to teach classes and make meals, and those are really important volunteer roles. But as we've kind of enhanced our volunteer program, there are a lot of different ways in which we use companies and businesses to create strategies around our stores, to re-look at our mission, to do assessments in our community. And there is something very special between the business community and the nonprofits coming together to work together. And that is very important. But the other group I want to talk about is we serve about 4,300 women a year. And so many of our homeless women feel like they go unseen, that when they're out on the streets or in our communities, they're kind of measured, you know, they're pushed to one part of the city. And when they say hello to people, people don't want to look their way, they're afraid, they're scared. And when they come to the center, they feel a lot of support that they get from our volunteers. But they also want to give back to their community. So of the 4,300 women that we serve, over 90% of them volunteer at least once a week. And I think that says a lot about volunteerism and how important it is for every member in our community. There's that huge desire to want to make a difference and give back. And I think these women are such an important piece in what makes Los Angeles and our state of California special. So I really wanted to share that story and also share that when DWC was founded 35 years ago, it was a volunteer and a homeless woman that created our organization. And for 14 years, it was led by those two women. And I think that shared leadership has continued within our organization. So it really is a true honor to be recognized for this award tonight. So thank you. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you for reminding us that there's something about volunteering that gives a sense of purpose and value to each and every one of us, even those that are served by volunteers. It was a beautiful story. Now we're going to honor and fitting for California, a California disaster volunteer program, a volunteer program that has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to its local community but has also set a standard for our state. The 2013 Governor's Volunteering and Service Award for California's Disaster Volunteer Program of the Year goes to the Clovis Community Emergency Response Team. And accepting on behalf of Clovis CERT is Chad Fitzgerald, who is the Life Safety Enforcement Manager for the Clovis Fire Department. Chad and Clovis CERT. So let's talk about Clovis CERT. With an initial graduating class of 25, today the program has graduated over 300 residents from the basic federal CERT curriculum and another 250 teen CERT members. That is quite an increase. You are a rock star. From the beginning, the success of the CERT program has been driven in large part by volunteers who are constantly discovering innovative ways to support their community, in addition to their main task of assisting others immediately following an event when emergency responders may not be available to help. So the team has averaged over 8,000 volunteer hours a year, and this is just a sampling of some of their projects, filling sandbags for residents to protect their homes from rising floodwaters, supporting cooling centers to assist those with the little means of sustaining themselves during heat waves, and the demolition and rebuilding of playgrounds that are burnt down by arson, rehabilitating firefighters on scene and starting the recovery process for families devastated by fires, providing CERT scholarships to those who demonstrate leadership, emergency preparedness proficiency, and communication skills in an effort to prepare future leaders and making emergency preparedness a lifelong skill set, sustaining public education programs using teen CERT volunteers, teaching 200 children fire safety skills and how to appropriately use 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency. As the leader of CERT, Chad has contributed to the growth of this program. Thank you, Chad Fitzgerald, for all of your service to the community, and congratulations to Clovis CERT on the disaster volunteer program of the year. Well, on behalf of our mayor, Lynn Ashbeck, our city manager, Rob Woolley, our fire chief, Mike DeSpain, and those volunteers that were up here, Bev Staketti, Stacy Clark, Chris Hayes, Lori Hayes, those are the brains, the hands, the feet, the heart, the lungs of the program. I'm just the face, and I can't say enough about the hard work that they put into the program itself. This last year, our mayor put in a new initiative called Care Clovis, and one of the very first things on the list is volunteerism within the community. It's proud to serve not in only a place where the citizens give, but where that effort is supported from the top down, whether it's the mayor or the fire chief, and I just get out of the way. And it's a beautiful thing to see the efforts and the things that those folks do, because our program may not be the largest, but it's a testament to what outcomes are really needed within the community and to see the efforts of every single individual touch the lives of the young children, the kids at CART, the folks that need a cooling center, the volunteers, again, are the heart, brain, soul of our program, and I want to thank Secretary Baker, the governor's office, and the outstanding staff at Cal Volunteers for their support in seeding, supporting, and making sure that these local volunteer programs stay afloat, because they truly produce great results. Thank you. Thank you, Chad. Thank you to everybody who could do a job and has made a job into a purpose and serving others. Thank you and congratulations to Clovis, and we're so glad that so many people were able to come to this honoring event. Now we're going to honor an outstanding faith-based organization which actively engages volunteers in addressing community needs. It's an incredible organization that stands for unity and crossing somewhat uncrossable boundaries in some ways at a time when that is so sorely needed. The 2013 Governor's Volunteering and Service Award for faith-based organization of the year goes to Muslims and Jews inspiring change known as magic. Accepting... Accepting on behalf of magic is Rabbi Sarah Bassin, Executive Director of Newground and Co-convener of Muslims and Jews Inspiring Change. So Muslims and Jews Inspiring Change is a program convened by Newground, an organization that equips Muslims and Jews in America with the skills, resources, and I believe most importantly the relationships, needed to normalize Muslim-Jewish relations and strengthen cooperation on issues of shared concern. Newground has trained over 100 leaders and worked with nearly 40 Muslim and Jewish organizations to reach over 4,000 people with the message of Muslim-Jewish collaboration. With magic, Newground formed a high school leadership council under the leadership of Rabbi Sarah Bassin and Sono Yazin of the Islamic Center of Southern California. Magic provides an opportunity for a select group of Muslim and Jewish high school students to build their leadership skills, create lasting relationships across faith boundaries and have an impact on important social issues in Los Angeles. Last year, Magic engaged more than 400 community members in their fight against hunger in Los Angeles through their service project A Carnival Against Hunger. This project helped educate community members about hunger and incorporating educational elements into traditional Carnival games. Attendees also planted fruit trees and packaged food for local hunger organizations. In its inaugural year, Magic was also named a Global Youth Service Day Lead Agency by Youth Service America. Congratulations, Magic, on the faith-based organization of the year award. 18 months ago, Muslims and Jews inspiring change, Magic was just an idea. Teens had been coming to their rabbis and to the youth group leaders asking for the opportunity to be able to get to know one another and to do some good in the process. So when these requests started piling up, Newgrounds knew that we had to listen. Our organization, Newgrounds, a Muslim-Jewish partnership for change works to overcome the conflict and the tension that have defined Muslim and Jewish relations in our country and replace them with collaboration to help build a better society together. And here, we had young leaders who were begging to live out our mission. So when I reached out to Soha Yasin of the Islamic Center of Southern California, we built a board of rabbis and imams and community leaders who were eager to make this experience a reality for these students. And with the backing of the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission and representatives of over a dozen religious organizations, MAGIC was born. Muslims and Jews inspiring change. We feel blessed to live in a state of California whose diversity makes such a program possible. We're blessed because this state values religious and ethnic minorities and has enabled us to live together side by side to be able to work with the betterment of our country and weave a stronger American fabric together. In its inaugural year, 16 students, four of whom we have here today, committed themselves not only to transforming their community but to learning about each other. They chose their issue. They planned their projects and engaged 400 people in a fight against hunger. They planted trees. They educated their peers about food deserts. They bathed food for families in need. But above all, they did exactly what their name proclaims that they do. They have inspired. These students have inspired us to think differently about the way that our communities interact with each other. And as I told the students at their graduation, there's a very appropriate saying within Jewish tradition that really embodies the work that they do. It's not upon you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it. The students of magic have taken this responsibility of citizenship seriously and inspired their communities to step up as well. It has been a privilege to provide them with the structure to live out their values. And it's an honor to accept this award for Faith-Based Ordering in the United States. To accept this award for Faith-Based Organization of the Year from California Volunteers. Thank you. Rava, you and the students have certainly lived up to your name. You've not only inspired through your work, but you certainly inspired us tonight with those words. And I think we need a little magic, not just in California, but the world. So maybe we can start it here and spread it out. So from Faith-Based Organization to California Businesses. We honor an outstanding California business with an innovative, high-impact employee volunteer program. And knowing the president of this business, it is no surprise that it's high-impact, it's innovative, and it's winning the award tonight. Governor's Volunteering and Service Award for Business Volunteer Program goes to Bank of America. Accepting on behalf of Bank of America is Janet Lampkin, the California State President. And she's trying to get a colleague up here. I don't think you can say no. Maybe you can say no to her, but not to me. For Bank of America, volunteering is ingrained into their corporate social responsibility efforts and supports their purpose to help improve the lives of individuals and families they serve. Last year, more than 8,800 California employees recorded more than 200,000 volunteer hours with hundreds of nonprofits across the state engaging in a variety of regional activities. I'll just name a few of them. Here in Sacramento, the Great American River Cleanup which was held in conjunction with the International Coastal Cleanup Day. Pro Bono collaboration with the Hunter's Point Family Center in San Francisco to completely redesign their website, creating a dynamic portal to help prepare youth to become independent, strong and productive adults. Providing more than 56,000 hours of volunteer service locally in LA, serving on more than 80 local nonprofit boards. Providing financial literacy, workforce readiness and entrepreneurship workshops for junior achievement of San Diego helping 1,500 students gain a better understanding of personal finance. And volunteering with Soldier Support, a grassroots partnership in the Inland Empire created by employees to support deployed military service members. To date, that program has sent nearly 4,000 packages to deployed troops. Janet, you have shown incredible leadership within Bank of America in California and of course, Susan Portugal, your teammate. I just want to thank you and congratulate Bank of America on the Business Volunteer Program of the Year award. Well, thank you so much. First of all, it's just such an honor to be up here with both Karen and Nancy, two women that I have just the utmost respect for and so we thank you very much. And yes, Susan Portugal is the director of volunteerism for our company across the globe and somehow when we got this award, she talked me into being the person up here and this is all about her great work. Talk me into that. I don't know what we got you in the picture. She's not a volunteer. There you go. That's what she does. Exactly. But really if we could squeeze on this stage, 45,000 employees of Bank of America we would because that's really why we're here tonight and I could not be more proud of them and our company in just representing them. The volunteers that we have as Karen described range in activity from training on financial skills to food banks to cleaning up our parks and we give greatly of time and thought and I think two things about it that are really important. First of all, our company culture at Bank of America I'm really proud of the fact that it's really in our DNA to do volunteerism, to do service. Our founder, APG and really set the standard for it and if I had a good quote I'm sure I would win that quote contest but it really is very much in our DNA and our associates just bring it to life. Our employees are the face of the company but they're also the heart of the company and I am inspired every week when I see the kind of activities they're doing at the end of the day on Saturdays on Sundays after working a full week and dedicating themselves and recently we did a great food bank activity in Los Angeles similar to the Kaiser story it was a Saturday morning, showed up hoping for a hundred and there were a sea of red shirts who could not have been more happy to be there. It's really what makes it such one of the wonderful reasons that we work at Bank of America is that we have a company that encourages it, that structures it, that enables it and that really celebrates it. So it's such a great honor to be in the company of the other honorees tonight and we thank you so much. I know Janet and have seen her work up close when I used to live and work in San Francisco and she's the real deal when it comes to insisting that a company actually incorporate service and volunteerism into its DNA so I know Susan runs the program and has a large part to deal with it but I know you set the tone at the top so Janet congratulations to you too. In California we honor and respect our big especially iconic businesses but we also have a deep appreciation for California small businesses and so we honor an outstanding California small business with another innovative high impact employee volunteer program and it wouldn't be a program with Karen and I involved if we didn't honor somebody that had something to do with music or arts or entertainment so the 2013 governor's volunteering and service award for the small business volunteer program of the year goes to and I love saying this Power 106 FM come on Martin accepting on behalf of Power 106 FM is Matthew Selza who's the director of insight Los Angeles so one thing that's not my remarks but that I love is this is a former AmeriCorps member but let's talk about Power 106 FM they have a volunteer program that raises nearly a half a million dollars annually for Los Angeles public schools ask how they do this and you'll find the answer in a gym and a basketball team made up of the station staff on-air personalities mixers celebrity guests and volunteers they spend their time playing against local high school teams to provide a fundraising and entertainment platform for high schools the Power 106 promotional street team provides music giveaways and entertainment for the students and faculty before during and after the game including timeouts and halftime most games feature a surprise performance from a recording artist such as Justin Bieber okay Chris Brown in the house okay this would kind of be exciting Power 106 staff and artists donate all of their time for all-star basketball with approximately 3,000 hours annually spent on creating and planning 80 games at 80 different sites that is so much time the school determines the entrance fee per student and faculty members averaging anywhere from $3 to $10 per student per person and each school retains 100% of the proceeds to date the all-star all-star basketball team has raised more than $2 million for local schools and has drawn more than 250,000 attendees I also want to just share that as an AmeriCorps member I understand that you were you served in Boston teaching ESL as I understand and serving as a career counselor and it just goes to show that service really leaves a permanent imprint on a person becomes a very strong part of who you are we just really want to thank Matt and congratulate Power 106 on the small business volunteer program of the year award so I work for a radio station they usually don't let me in front of a microphone where our privilege is another one I did start as AmeriCorps very proud to serve in 95, 96 in Boston and have been in service in various ways since the facts of the program Karen just ran through and they're impressive in their own right but I wanted to do was talk a little bit about the spirit and the people behind the program Power 106 is everything a little differently we are where hip-hop lives and we have been for 27 years as the nation's first hip-hop radio station so there's a little different spirit behind the program and what we do which means my quote I made up a quote because you know I didn't realize that was how this works but so my quotes from Jay Z who said thank you you can go to school but you can't buy class and so what we try to do at Power 106 is do things with class and so this started essentially there was no grand vision for this this literally started as the replacement for the company softball team seven years ago people were tired of playing softball so we decided well people at the station at the time decided let's do something fun hey a bunch of us like to play basketball let's play basketball no grand vision again lesson in the value of starting small let's call some local high schools that we know like us and let's see if we can play them they started doing that once a month and twice a month they realized early you double team the gym teacher and let the chemistry teacher shoot that works well so we now win most of our games so we've been growing this gradually and now it's grown to the 80 games a year program and when the NBA has a lockout like last year we actually play more games than they do but the spirit behind the program is really someone who I wish could be here his name's Emmanuel Cokey and he would have been here he would love to have been here except he's also a very dedicated family man and father and his daughter's graduating school tonight so he decided he had to be there so he sends his regrets but at power 106 it's very big to give shout outs so I think it's appropriate for all of us and the acoustics here are just good enough he might hear it if we can all do on the air he's known as DJ E-Man so if we can all give on three a big shout out to DJ E-Man I'm going to count to three and dig deep and give it your best DJ E-Man this hasn't been done before at award service so I'm breaking new ground so on three everyone get it? DJ E-Man 1, 2, 3 DJ E-Man is that on video because I'm not going to believe I pulled that off excellent so thank you today all unscripted because I had other remarks planned in any event the other thing I wanted to say in all seriousness is power 106 we know we're a public radio station using public airwaves and we take that responsibility seriously and so in the idea of service I'll ask you to do a service tomorrow which is think of your favorite radio station, your favorite TV station whatever news or media you have and call them and ask what they're doing for the community and ask them to do more because we at power 106 are always trying to do more and add on to what we're doing and it should be the responsibility of each one of our media outlets to do the same so I ask you to do that tomorrow and in the meantime I ask you to once more can we do one more DJ E-Man? No, I'm kidding but once again thank you very much and behalf of all of us at power 106 radio Matt I just love that I just exemplify the threat of service from your AmeriCorps service to it's clear you bring an infectious spirit of volunteerism and service but I do have one note of disappointment as Karen was talking about sort of what what you do there's always surprise performances and I don't know you and the DJ let me down because I thought Rihanna or somebody was going to come out and they didn't so oh well another time maybe so now we honor an outstanding Californian who is really our volunteer of the year whose volunteer service is exemplary and inspirational now here's where I totally get rid of my remarks because the remarks are a lot of explaining about what search and rescue volunteers do but I don't think anybody in California actually needs to be told what search and rescue volunteers do we see it too often frankly in our state the need so I'm just going to go right to the award and this year the 2013 governors volunteering and service award goes to Scott Gabler who is the manager of the El Dorado County Tahoe search and rescue volunteers Scott before I begin to talk about Scott's extraordinary volunteer service Scott someone else would like to say a few words congratulations Scott wish I could be there to celebrate with you tonight buddy you've accomplished some amazing things this year I'd like to thank the California volunteers office for selecting you as their volunteer of the year you've been a true hero from your willingness to risk everything to save a stranger to your trademark humility after a job well done this year you've given life back to almost a dozen people who thought they had lost it that's amazing they all say the same thing too they have never been happier in their entire life but they also really hope they never have to meet you again you're a shining example of the enormous impact that one volunteer can have on a community and the people of Lake Tahoe are very fortunate to have you standing watch for them I hope you enjoy this night I could not be more proud of you hi mom, hi dad if you couldn't tell that was Scott's brother Captain David Gabler he couldn't be here with us in person because he's currently serving in Afghanistan where he flies in F-16 for the United States Air Force he nominated Scott for volunteer of the year from Afghanistan if you can believe it so we just had to make sure that he was a part of tonight's program now let's talk about Scott you started off as a recreational climber but soon experienced his first rope rescue in college during a climb at Bishops Peak near St. Louis Obispo where he improvised to rescue an injured climber well that started it all he moved to South Lake Tahoe enjoying the El Dorado SAR team search and rescue team his goal was to put some of his passion for technical rope work to good use however he was surprised to find that El Dorado SAR did not have a technical rope team or much of a training program for that matter he needed his business to change that creating the first mountaineering SAR team in South Lake Tahoe Scott has volunteered over 2,500 hours to create, train and supervise a volunteer team for El Dorado County SAR Scott transformed the El Dorado County SAR team but his most impressive contribution is the 11 lives both he and his team have saved so it's an honor to celebrate your life saving service congratulations on the volunteer of the year award thank you very much with all the all the exceptional organizations and individuals that have been recognized here here tonight and are tirelessly serving in volunteer capacity around California every single day I am both humbled and honored to receive this award and be selected by most of the governor as the California volunteer of the year for 2013 thank you search and rescue definitely makes the news from time to time but also I think that a lot of Californians are unaware that these missions are going on literally every day that their fellow Californians are training and going out and risking life and limb on a regular basis somewhere in California literally every day these life saving efforts are taking place to save those who think they have lost life to reunite families with loved ones that have been lost in some of our vast and treasured open spaces here in California and that is something that most people most Californians I think experience and become fully aware of when they need those services the most and they are their loved ones are in those situations and they experience that dedication and professionalism of the of the SAR teams of the sheriff's offices of the state of California and benefit from all of that training that and dedication those people have put in so in our county of El Dorado much like most of the counties around the state the leadership for search and rescue and for our mission in general really starts at the top with us that starts with Sheriff De Agostini and his vision to provide total care for all of our citizens and visitors that are in distress this doesn't come at no cost or effort to the sheriff's office they allocate both resources and dedicated search and rescue coordinators to help fulfill these missions to get these calls rolling the foundation of that SAR response is the individual volunteer and much like most of our organizations here tonight that is the our only ability to deliver these services is that dedication and that willingness to come out in that terrible weather in the middle of the night there are fellow Californians and our visitors and tourists that get into trouble we can't do that alone there's a lot of agencies that assist our teams on a regular basis the California Highway Patrol operates an air operations unit that literally assists us maybe a quarter to half of our rescues providing air resources to remove seriously injured people from the back country in a very timely fashion the fire resources that we have for us that's a lake valley fire protection district comes to the medical aid of many of our subjects that are in serious need of advanced medical treatment the we also formed a partnership with the California National Guard we had a great representative the guard start us off with the National Anthem and they also provide both medical and air evacuation resources so it's really for us it's been about bringing all of these organizations together together with our frontline volunteers and trying to provide that whole package to deliver it right when that call comes in my inspiration well you saw him right there on the TV a few minutes ago my brother and all those that serve our country in the armed forces in addition to my family has given me a lot of inspiration to do this type of service I realized as I heard a lot of the other acceptance remarks that I was not really in the game here not really in the contest for the quotes I was inspired by both the quotes that you started off with from but for search and rescue purposes you might have to alter a little bit Gandhi's quote and maybe go with the best way to find those that are lost is not to lose yourself so I'd like to thank all of our partner agencies and all the teammates that I have worked with and a special organization called the Mountain Rescue Association that works tirelessly to unite our teams from around the state to set high training goals and standards to inspire teams to reach the level of training necessary to respond to subjects that are swept away in raging rivers subjects that are stranded on some of the precipitous sheer faces of the Sierra subjects that are lost deep in the wilderness these are very specialized skills and the Mountain Rescue Association of California does a great job of inspiring individual county SAR teams to attain the type of training and capabilities that allow us to complete these dangerous missions and I'd like to also just encourage my fellow Californians to seek out your local sheriff's office and take part in this you'll change the lives of those that are desperately in the most need that they may ever have in their life and you'll also change yours along the way thank you good evening everyone I'm Helen Torres and I have the great honor of sharing California volunteers and I would like to take a moment to ask my fellow commissioners and the staff of Cal volunteers to please stand up and for all of us to acknowledge their hard work I want to thank every one of you for taking the time out to celebrate volunteerism and service here in California for giving the time for all our unsung heroes to hear from us a round of applause to make sure that they felt the love that we feel for them I also want to thank Nancy McFadden who has been a fantastic supporter of our initiative here in California volunteers and a true true star for all of us in California so thank you so much Nancy I am not hip to the quotes but being a nonprofit executive director I always say that the one thing that always gets me up in the morning the reason that we do is because volunteerism and service is all about the love and it's the one area that you can always get those warm fuzzies but more importantly that you see the impact that you're making so thank you for all the honorees for sharing the stories that they did share for all of you that day in and day out make this a possibility and thank you for sharing the love I hope you enjoy the evening and I do have one housekeeping thing to say so I hope you stay around and share the love and enjoy the reception thank you everyone music music music music music music music music music music