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I had the privilege last week of participating in the 24th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fellowship Breakfast.
The Pleasanton Community of Character Collaborative asked me to introduce one of the MLK Legacy Award recipients, Tri-Valley REACH. The organizers said my Oct. 13 column “Expanding their REACH” (which highlighted the nonprofit’s accomplishments in 2023) is what put REACH on the award committee’s radar.
“The entire REACH organization is so deserving of this recognition,” I told the audience of local dignitaries in the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel ballroom for the morning presentation on Jan. 22.
“Their founders, leaders and volunteers have identified a societal shortcoming and have galvanized collective energy to spur positive change to help those affected. I can think of no better way to represent the ideals embraced by Dr. King, this Legacy Award and the Pleasanton Community of Character Collaborative.”
My words could easily apply to all three of the award winners.
For the past 33 years, Tri-Valley REACH has been uniquely focused on supporting one of the most under-served groups in our community. The nonprofit buys homes within existing neighborhoods to lease at affordable rental rates to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities – with a current count of 42 residents in 12 homes across Pleasanton and Livermore.
And the number is going up after REACH last year purchased and upgraded a townhouse in Livermore and received approvals and funding to construct accessory dwelling units at two of its existing properties in Pleasanton.
“The common thread is inclusive independence. Residents are able to live and thrive on their own, together,” I told the audience before handing the award to REACH board chair Kay King and vice chair Sharon Almeida.
The second MLK Legacy Award recipient was local Dress A Girl Around the World coordinator Suzanne Beck. The organization, with chapters across the U.S. and abroad, prepares and sends new dresses to girls in impoverished areas worldwide.
With Beck at the helm as ambassador, the Bay Area chapter has grown from six people in 2011 to nearly 400 volunteers today – sewing and distributing more than 65,000 dresses in that time, including a whopping 7,200 last year.
“When I first started … you don’t realize when you do things, the ripples that happen. And the stories that we’ve heard about our girls who get dresses,” Beck said, her voice catching.
“And we all know how good it makes us feel when we get a new outfit. And to think about these little girls in poverty-stricken areas and third world countries who don’t have … I mean, they’re just in rags. And we give them a dress to show their dignity, that God loves them, that they have worth,” added Beck, who thanked all of her volunteers including her 83-year-old mother “who rolled and packed every single one of the 65,000 dresses.”
The final recipient was Catherine Brown, a teacher at Frederiksen Elementary School in Dublin who was recognized for her long devotion to the Girl Scouts, for creating an annual Veterans’ Day ceremony for her school, and for initiating Dublin’s annual “One City, One Book” program.
“I’ve consistently prioritized education and community involvement. However, reaching this point would never have been possible without the unwavering support from incredible individuals and organizations who believed in me and supported me and my ideas, even when they might have sounded a bit crazy at first,” Brown said in her acceptance speech.
She also credited the “community-minded changemakers” who have helped drive her initiatives to great success. “I believe that together we have all truly made a positive difference in our community,” Brown said.
The fellowship breakfast, emceed by former Dublin mayor Tim Sbranti, also included a special performance by Pleasanton Unified School District’s burgeoning Step program, the Full Force Steppers.
And the keynote address was delivered by Jacqueline D. Brown, senior principal of executive leadership enablement and coaching at Workday and co-founder of her own small business in Pleasanton, Brown Developments Inc.
“They exemplify Dr. King’s message that life’s most persistent question is, what are you doing for others?” Brown said of the Legacy Award recipients.
She added, “The dream of unity that Dr. King spoke of is a work in progress, a baton passed on from one generation to the next. It is up to us to carry it forward with the same courage and conviction and resolve that he did. It is up to us to build bridges where walls once stood, to light torches of knowledge where ignorance prevails and to sow seeds of love where hatred takes root.”
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly.
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