Poway Days: Feeding the Hungry at the Always Positive Festival

It’s time to start planning your float for the Poway Days parade. I know, it’s not even the Fourth of July yet. So, brainstorm while you barbecue!

This year the Poway Community Association and City of Poway are teaming with the Always Positive Foundation, a 501c 3 founded in 2001 to inspire people, communities, corporations and organizations to choose a positive attitude and make a difference. Naturally the parade theme is Always Positive in Poway. It will take place Saturday, Sept. 8, starting at 9 a.m., along the usual route on Poway Road between Pomerado and Community. You can enter to participate online at www.powayparade.org.

Following the parade will be the Always Positive Day Festival. Along with vendors, food and entertainment for attendees, there will be a food-packing event, organized by Friends and Family Community Connection, with the expectation of packing more than 250,000 meals to feed the hungry and Do Something Positive. Will we keep you updated here? Positively!

GIVING BACK TO SAVE SENIORS

Statistics show that adults 65 and older are twice as likely as other segments of the population to die in a home fire. Those ages 75 and older are four times as likely. Yet, thousands of seniors throughout San Diego and Imperial counties live in homes without working smoke alarms.

Enter the Burn Institute and its Senior Smoke Alarm program to supply free smoke alarms and installation. Fire service personnel and volunteer groups throughout the counties are assisting the Burn Institute in installing the alarms. To qualify for this lifesaving program, you must be 62 or older, own your own home, and don’t currently have a working smoke detector. Sign up by calling the Burn Institute at 858-541-2277.

HONORED FOR A LIFE OF GIVING BACK

Congratulations to Poway resident Gary Rossio, for the 75th Assembly District. The award was presented in Sacramento by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, in a ceremony on the Assembly floor. Rossio has been an advocate for San Diego veterans, and played an instrumental role in developing the One VA program, bringing together organizations, advocates and community leaders in an effort to break down the roadblocks that separate veterans from services they need and the benefits they earned.

A NEW ROTARY YEAR

Congratulations to friend and fellow Rotarian Alan Noblitt, who has taken on a second year as president of the Rotary Club of Poway. Alan is dedicated to increasing the club’s service work in the community and improving its membership. “A lot of people have an image of Rotary as being an old boys networking club. It’s about service and actually about half the members of the Rotary Club of Poway are women.”

This year we served dinners at Ronald McDonald house, weeded and painted during and Rotarians at Work Day, gave scholarships to high school seniors, dictionaries to third-grade students and raised almost $50,000 for an international project to provide micro-loans to Hondurans seeking to start small businesses. The club meets Wednesdays at noon at the . Those interested in membership are welcome.

EAT, LOVE, GIVE BACK

Poway’s new burger, , continues its culinary philanthropy through July, this time in support of injured war veterans. During July, when you purchase the new Grunt burger at BGR, $3 for every burger will benefit the Warrior Foundation, which aids injured war veterans throughout San Diego. The foundation offers counseling and housing through the Freedom Station community center, among other services. The Grunt burger is aptly named after military slang for members of the infantry. Learn more about the Warrior Foundation at www.warriorfoundation.com.