Hearts & Hands Luncheon Raises Nearly $447K & Counting

On April 22, more than 240 attendees came together at Pacific Clinics’ Campbell headquarters for our Hearts & Hands Luncheon and raised nearly $447,000 for some of our Bay Area programs, including our Specialty Applied Behavioral Analysis services for children on the autism spectrum, Crisis Stabilization services, Addiction Prevention Services, Foster Care & Adoptions and our “Whatever It Takes” fund, which helps families with emergency items such as food, blankets, clothing, diapers, and supplies for hygiene and school.

Following a warm welcome from Bay Area Regional Executive Director Don Taylor, attendees learned about our client, Marleen and her children. Her two youngest children who are on the autism spectrum were coming to Pacific Clinics for services when their father — Marleen’s husband — suddenly passed away. Beyond continued Specialty Applied Behavioral Analysis services, they also received resource support and therapy to help process the family’s grief.

“For my husband and I, the most important thing has always been our children. Now that he’s gone, seeing how well they’re doing gives me the strength to keep going, to keep fighting, so that my children will be OK, so that they won’t be in need and will grow up happy and strong like their father would have wanted,” said Marleen.

Next, attendees celebrated the impact of three honorees:

Angelica Cortez, Pacific Clinics’ senior vice president of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, recognized Silicon Valley De-Bug with the Community Hearts & Hands award for partnering with Pacific Clinics to build the social safety net in efforts to push for increased behavioral health services, including the Protect Your People Budget with Santa Clara County.

Don Taylor honored Supervisor Susan Ellenberg of District 4 in Santa Clara County with the Community Civic Leader award for being a critical champion for youth and families, early education and mental health. From pushing the county to have every school provide mental health services to boldly leading the county to prioritize investing in community alternatives to treatment before investing in incarceration, she has passionately advocated for our county to innovatively support those in need.

Finally, students of Hillbrook School received the Community Hero award from Associate Director of Fund Development Aviana D’Souza for working tirelessly to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in our community through their dedicated support of Pacific Clinics’ annual backpack drive and holiday giving, as well as other on-campus fundraisers.

Twenty-two Ming Quong alumnae were also in attendance and made a special presentation about their history and legacy.

A special thanks to title sponsors, Jan and Neal Dempsey and SWENSON, as well as our wonderful emcee, NBC Bay Area traffic anchor Mike Inouye, and, as always, Pacific Clinics’ generous sponsors, donors, event attendees and guests.

Per Santa Clara County requirements and in an abundance of caution, this was a tented, outdoor event. In addition, we asked that everyone be fully vaccinated and wear a mask when not seated at their table.