Valentine’s Day may be over but we still feel like spreading the love here at Buckelew Programs! This month, we would like to honor and thank some of the individuals, businesses and foundations that are showing us their love by supporting Buckelew Programs.

“It feels good to support our local community”

Dennis Ryan and his wife Becca have lived in Marin for 30 years. From a young age, Dennis, who is the CFO of a venture capital firm specializing in health care, enjoyed giving back to his community. In college, he volunteered for a program tutoring autistic children. While pursuing his career in finance and business, Dennis always found time to support local youth and sports activities. He currently serves as Board President of Whistlestop and has been a “Big Brother” for seven years. When a friend introduced him to Buckelew Programs in 2003, Dennis decided to meet with Jay Zlotnick, Buckelew’s Executive Director at the time. Dennis had a close friend whose sister was living with schizophrenia, so he knew about the challenges that families affected by mental illness face.

Redwood High School's Thrift4Hope Club in Larkspur accepts donated clothing and sells it at semi-annual events to benefit local charities. We are so honored that the kids chose Buckelew Programs as their beneficiary this time! A big Thank You to Abby Rodler and all the other awesome teens with big hearts at Redwood High School for helping our programs AND breaking the stigma of mental illness.

Our friends at Orchard Supply Hardware in Petaluma donated over $300 in garden supplies and tools for our community winter garden at Boulevard Apartments in Petaluma, and for a second garden that our employment services clients will plant this spring at one of our Santa Rosa locations. We used the garden harvest at our Boulevard Apartments holiday party for a huge delicious salad that everyone enjoyed.

The folks at Mountain Mike’s Pizza in Petaluma were also very generous and donated 3 large pizzas for our holiday party. Now who doesn’t love pizza?! Our residents sure do!

Private and corporate donors and foundations contribute critical support that allows us to enhance our services beyond existing government funding. This month a special shout-out goes to the following foundations:

• St.Joseph Health Community Partnership Fund, for rental assistance and basic human needs in Sonoma County;
• Marin General Hospital Community Benefit Fund, for Casa Rene in Marin;
• Mechanics Bank, for our Marin Employment Services;
• Tamalpais Pacific, for renovations at two residential support services homes in San Rafael;
• Heffernan Foundation, for urgent client needs in our Marin housing programs.

Thank you for helping us make a difference in our community!

Join us for the 29th annual MarinScapes Fine Art Exhibit and Sale to benefit Buckelew's comprehensive mental health and addiction services! MarinScapes will take place at the historic Escalle Winery in Larkspur from June 22 - June 25, 2017. We are especially excited that Susan Schneider Williams has accepted our invitation to be the featured artist this year, and will give a special talk on Saturday, June 24th.

“Morning Splendor, Lake Lagunitas”
Acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”
By Susan Schneider Williams ©