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CityServe volunteer serves soup to clients in the Tri-Valley. (Photo courtesy CityServe) 
Axis Community Health is the only community health center in the Tri-Valley. (Photo courtesy Axis) 
Friday volunteers admiring their work at Sunflower Hill Garden at Hagemann Ranch in Livermore. (Photo by Crystal Flores / Sunflower Hill) 
Charlie the kitten finds a forever home after a stay at the Valley Humane Society shelter. (Photo courtesy VHS) 
Free quarterly haircuts, courtesy of Zack Bias (barber) and Erica Santos (stylist at Revival Hair Studios), are provided quarterly to help Goodness Village neighbors look and feel their best. (Photo courtesy Goodness Villiage) 
Open Heart Kitchen’s Community Meal service provides hot, well-balanced meals every weekday. (Photo by Brandon P. Davis / OHK) 
PPIE contributed to the launch of the Wellness Center at Harvest Park Middle School, creating a safe space for students to thrive. (Photo courtesy PPIE) 
Tri-Valley Haven’s holiday programming includes soliciting toy and gift donations to benefit families in need. (Photo courtesy Tri-Valley Haven) 
T-RADD celebration event organized by Tri-Valley REACH. (Photo courtesy Tri-Valley REACH) 
Volunteers pack nutritious, organic meals for Culinary Angels clients. (Photo courtesy Culinary Angels)
The Pleasanton Weekly, and its sister publications Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon, are welcoming the return of the annual Holiday Fund, a time when our news family focuses our attention on those in need in the Tri-Valley to raise money and awareness for safety-net nonprofits in your community.
The 2024-25 giving campaign will benefit 10 organizations: Axis Community Health, CityServe of the Tri-Valley, Culinary Angels, Goodness Village, Open Heart Kitchen, Pleasanton Partnerships in Education (PPIE), Sunflower Hill, Tri-Valley Haven, Tri-Valley REACH and Valley Humane Society.
“Health, housing, food, education — our 10 beneficiaries serve the Tri-Valley and its residents in such critical areas,” said Gina Channell Wilcox, publisher of the Pleasanton Weekly and president of Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division.
“As a nonprofit ourselves, we are particularly sensitive to the needs of these organizations — and to the significance that the financial donations and public awareness represent for their causes,” Wilcox added. “We humbly ask residents, businesses and other community partners to consider contributing to all of these impactful charities through our 2024-25 Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund.”
Now is as good a time as any to donate, with Giving Tuesday arriving next week and the end of the tax year barely a month away.
Contributions to our fundraising drive will support crucial programs like the Axis Bridge crisis intervention initiative, the Caring Hotel Network project spearheaded by CityServe, the tiny home community of Goodness Village, the new Open Heart Food Bank and the ongoing services for domestic abuse survivors, low-income residents and homeless families provided by Tri-Valley Haven, a new recipient for our 2024-25 campaign.
Every single dollar raised during the Holiday Fund will be given away as grants split evenly among the beneficiaries.
The program is being managed by Embarcadero Media Foundation, which means that 100% of the money raised will go directly to the 10 designated nonprofits with all donations fully tax deductible as well as eligible for corporate matching where applicable thanks to our foundation’s own charity status. We cover all administration and other expenses at no cost to the Holiday Fund.
Visit PleasantonWeekly.com/holiday_fund to help spread some cheer this holiday season.
Axis Community Health
As the only community health center in the area, Axis Community Health devotes its time and energy to “improving the health and well-being of vulnerable, low-income, and historically underserved individuals in the Tri-Valley area … to ensure that everyone has access to high-quality healthcare, regardless of their ability to pay.”
The need is imperative this time of year when families can face heightened financial pressures, according to Axis CEO Liz Perez-Howe.
“We are honored to be selected by the Pleasanton Holiday Fund. At Axis Community Health, we believe that access to healthcare is a fundamental right, not a privilege,” Perez-Howe told the Weekly.
“This recognition supports our work to serve as a lifeline for the most vulnerable members of our community, ensuring they have the care they need to thrive, especially during the holiday season when challenges can feel overwhelming,” she added.
Money raised through the Holiday Fund will go toward the nonprofit’s Axis Bridge crisis intervention services, which support urgent mental health care needs for publicly and privately insured individuals in the region.
“With suicide and 5150 psychiatric holds at some of the highest rates in Alameda County, the need for timely, accessible mental health services is critical,” Axis officials said. “The funds will help Axis Community Health continue to offer rapid, effective interventions that support individuals and their families through moments of crisis, ensuring they receive compassionate, stabilizing care when they need it most.”
CityServe of the Tri-Valley
“At CityServe, we work with over 6,000 people a year, providing the care coordination-support and resources they need to transition from instability to independence,” officials with the nonprofit told the Weekly. “CityServe focuses on solutions that are not just temporary fixes but lasting, transformative changes.”
Focusing on coordinating services for people experiencing homelessness – or on the brink of it – as well as seniors programming and residents facing other needs in the Tri-Valley, CityServe will put all of its Holiday Fund contributions toward a new partnership initiative: Caring Hotel Network.
Working with Visit Tri-Valley and nine local hotels, the CityServe program places individuals and families in temporary hotel accommodations, particularly during winter weather, to provide stability as the nonprofit’s care coordinators then come in to help craft a personalized plan for obtaining permanent housing and other critical services.
“Imagine this: your investment in CityServe isn’t just a donation; it’s a powerful, strategic move to create sustainable, positive change in our own neighborhoods,” CEO Christine Beitsch-Bahmani said.
Culinary Angels
The nonprofit Culinary Angels offers food support for patients and caregivers at a juncture when nutrition is at its utmost significance: cancer treatment.
Preparing nutritious, delicious, organic meals “crafted with quality ingredients to provide nourishment, comfort and hope during difficult times”, Culinary Angels sees its mission as “rooted in care and compassion” in a time of need.
“Contributions to the Holiday Fund will directly help us prepare and deliver these free healing meals, ensuring no one feels forgotten during this season of giving,” Culinary Angels officials added.
“Our inclusion in the Holiday Fund is a testament to the incredible support from our community,” first-year Executive Director Mansoor Sakhiy said. “It reflects the heart of what we do: serving with love, compassion, and a commitment to making a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their caregivers.”
Goodness Village
Goodness Village operates the affordable community of tiny homes near CrossWinds Church in Livermore to help formerly unhoused neighbors in the Tri-Valley regain their footing in a safe and supportive environment where they can “live independently, heal and thrive”.
The organization is also working to build out its programming and services for residents in its community.
“The holidays are a time for connection, and at Goodness Village, we see firsthand how simple acts of kindness — whether it’s sharing a meal, offering a gift card, or helping with supplies — can make a profound difference in our neighbors’ lives,” Executive Director Kim Curtis said.
“These contributions don’t just meet practical needs; they remind our residents that they are valued and supported by the community. Together, we can create a season of joy, dignity, and hope for everyone,” Curtis added.
Open Heart Kitchen
2024 was a big year for Open Heart Kitchen, which helps in the fight against food insecurity by providing prepared meals, groceries and shelter to people in need in the Tri-Valley: The nonprofit opened its Vineyard Resource Center at the beginning of the year and is welcoming its Open Heart Food Bank at the end of the year.
“Open Heart Kitchen is honored to be a beneficiary of the 2024-25 Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund. Our selection is an affirmation of our work and the benefit it brings to thousands of individuals and families in the Tri-Valley who struggle to make ends meet,” Executive Director John Bost told the Weekly.
“While the holiday season can be a time of joy for many, it is also a time that amplifies and highlights the pain and suffering of others,” Bost said. “As more and more is being asked of Open Heart Kitchen, we continue to listen, grow, and rise to meet the call of compassionate service to our most vulnerable neighbors. Opening the Vineyard Resource Center in January and now Open Heart Food Bank at the end of 2024 are just two of the ways we are elevating our mission to meet the dual crises of hunger and shelter head on.
“Thank you, Pleasanton Weekly readers and supporters, for putting your confidence in our movement to help individuals and families build better and brighter futures,” he added.
PPIE
The Pleasanton Partnerships in Education Foundation, better known as PPIE, supports student learning opportunities by enhancing Pleasanton Unified School District offerings, with assistance from residents, businesses, educators and the community at-large.
“We look to support all Pleasanton students by helping bridge funding gaps not met by the state and giving everyone an enhanced educational experience,” PPIE officials said. “We continue to see a need for increased mental health support for our students and look to be able to continue to help in this area, among others.”
Executive Director Andrea Wilson added, “PPIE is thrilled to be once again included in the Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund. This dedication by the Weekly to continue to support the amazing charities in our area is what sets them apart. We are proud to be a part of such a generous community.”
Sunflower Hill
With a direct and galvanizing mission, “Sunflower Hill creates places and spaces where adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) live, work, learn and thrive as part of the greater community.”
A longtime beneficiary of the Holiday Fund, money raised in this year’s campaign will go toward the operations and programming at the Sunflower Hill Garden at Hagemann Ranch in Livermore and the Sunflower Hill at Irby Ranch housing community in Pleasanton.
The 1-acre garden in Livermore offers educational, vocational and life-skills training for adults with autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other chromosomal abnormalities. Some 90% of the fresh, organic, culturally relevant produce is donated to other local nonprofits to help address food insecurity, according to Sunflower Hill.
Its Irby Ranch affordable apartment complex for I/DD residents continues to be a benchmark in the Bay Area – and Sunflower Hill has its sights set on two other similar communities in Dublin in the near future.
“We are so grateful and excited to be selected as a beneficiary of the Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund,” said Jennifer Oxe, operations director at Sunflower Hill. “The Pleasanton Weekly has been an incredible supporter of Sunflower Hill for many years, and the community’s generosity during the holiday season is truly inspiring.”
“Sunflower Hill depends almost solely on donations, and they are vital to sustaining the impactful programs we offer for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” Oxe said. “Support from the Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund helps us continue to provide our Hands-On Garden Programs and enrichment activities at Irby Ranch, creating opportunities for residents and participants to build life skills, develop friendships, and feel a true sense of belonging — often for the first time.”
Tri-Valley Haven
Tri-Valley Haven supports survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as well as residents and families who are low-income or homeless, through its shelter, counseling and other services.
The need is paramount, even in a seemingly affluent area like the Tri-Valley, year-round but especially during the holiday season and winter months.
“At Tri-Valley Haven, we work to bring hope and support to our community, especially during the holiday season,” officials with the nonprofit said. “This year, we are providing holiday meals for Thanksgiving and beyond, ensuring families in need can gather and celebrate. Additionally, we are helping spread joy by gifting toys, clothing, and essential items to families facing hardships.”
Executive Director Christine Dillman told the Weekly, “Being selected for the Holiday Fund is both an honor and a tremendous opportunity to extend hope and resources to the most vulnerable in our community during this special season.”
Tri-Valley REACH
“It’s with great honor that we have been selected as a Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund beneficiary again” said Kay King, Tri-Valley REACH board chair. “Our hearts are full, your generosity enables us to provide safe and affordable housing that paves the way to independence for adults with I/DD. We are proud to be the only nonprofit in the Tri-Valley providing these transformational housing opportunities. Thank you for helping us make a lasting impact.”
For more than 30 years, Tri-Valley REACH leaders and volunteers have worked together to build inclusive, affordable housing opportunities for adults with I/DD to live independently in local neighborhoods.
The nonprofit acquires existing homes — and recently has pursued new accessory dwelling units (ADUs) too — and then rents them to qualifying individuals in the low- or very-low income brackets.
“REACH’s shared homes promote inclusivity by fostering connections between residents and their neighbors, while residents learn to do day-to-day necessities of living independently, such as cooking dinner and setting out their recycling,” officials said. “This year’s Holiday Fund will play a crucial role in expanding REACH’s capacity to serve more community members by adding another ADU to an existing Tri-Valley property.”
“Beyond housing, REACH also supports T-RADD athletics by sponsoring scholarships for sports participation and hosting community-building events like end-of-season gatherings. Every REACH activity is designed to promote inclusion both inside and outside the home,” they added.
Valley Humane Society
Supporting those who support their humans, Valley Humane Society “creates a brighter future for cats and dogs by encouraging and strengthening the bond between people and pets.”
Valley Humane Society operates its shelter, veterinary services, animal therapy, pet food and other programs reliant on local grants and community contributions, which makes efforts like the Holiday Fund so vital to the Pleasanton-based nonprofit.
President Melanie Sadek said, “Valley Humane is honored to be selected this year. As an animal welfare organization, we don’t receive federal or state funding; community support keeps our programs running. Thank you for recognizing the need to care for companion animals and promoting the incredible benefits they give to us humans.”
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