On Sunday, February 19, Milagro Senior Pet Refuge, Inc. will be participating in the 3^rdannual PetSmart Charities PetWalk.  The PetWalk will be held at Tempe Town Lake:

Activities Begin at 9:00 a.m.
5K Walk Begins at 10:00 a.m.
1-Mile Walk Begins at 10:15 a.m.

The event will include 5K and 1-mile walks (for humans and their four-legged companions) as well as fun activities for children, adults and pets. There are volunteer opportunities as well for those not wanting to participate in the walks. 

Milagro Senior Pet Refuge, Incis just one of the more than 25 animal-welfare organizations that have already signed up to take part in the event this year.  Milagro’s mission is to rescue abandoned senior pets in poor health, bringing them into our program, providing them with veterinary care and placing them in loving home environments for the remainder of their twilight years. 

The Foundation is sponsoring the Milagro Senior Pet Refuge covering the cost of registration for any employee who wishes to participate as well as family and friends.

“It was a dark and stormy night.....” but luckily cleared up for the MS Walk on the Wild Side held November 5. A hearty group of FC employees and their family members/friends braved the uncertain weather and early start time of 7:00 a.m.  The five-mile walk started at the SRP parking lot and wound through the Phoenix Zoo and Desert Botanical Garden.  The zoo animals were frisky that early, cool morning--the African Wild Dogs gave quite a performance.  Thank you to the FC Foundation for once again sponsoring a team and to all who participated to reach the goal of a world free of multiple sclerosis.

AIDS Walk Phoenix & 5K Run 2011 is Sunday October 2nd in Downtown Phoenix. This fun fundraising event benefits 19 HIV and AIDS service organizations in the Phoenix metro area through the event's organizer, Aunt Rita's Foundation. Aunt Rita's Foundation is looking to raise more than $500,000 for its organizations this year. The Fennemore Craig Foundation is looking for walkers and runners for the event. The Walk begins at 9am on October 2nd near City Hall on Washington in Downtown Phoenix. More information on the walk and Aunt Rita's at www.aidswalkphoenix.org

The 5th Annual Cooks & Chords hosted by the National MS Society, Arizona Chapter took place on Saturday, September 10th. Over 200 guests enjoyed an inspirational program that included an update on MS research by Dr. Jonathan Carter and 2 mission speakers, John Austin a Wimbledon Tennis Champion and Monica Urena, Miss Teen Arizona. To date the event has raised over $23,000 and donations are still coming in! Phyllis Warren, a Fennemore Craig Foundation Volunteer said: "I would tell anyone interested in volunteering for this event that it was very fun and I definitely would recommend it. Brandee Wessell, Director of Development for the National MS Society, Arizona Chapter said: "A HUGE thank you to Fennemore Craig for all of their support, we could not have done it without you!"

The “Pins for Paws” bowl-a-thon fundraiser benefitting the Foothills Animal Rescue was held on Saturday, July 23 at Brunswick Via Linda Lanes in Scottsdale. A good time was had by all, and Fennemore Craig was very well represented with ten bowlers and two volunteers manning the registration table.  F.A.R. had ten lanes reserved, and we were able to play two games.  All in all, it was a great success and we had lots of fun.

Arizonans for Children, with the assistance of the Fennemore Craig Foundation, conducted a luggage drive to raise funds and to collect new and gently used duffle bags, backpacks and rolling suitcases for the children in Maricopa County's foster care system.  With donations of cash and luggage from the FC Foundation and our awesome Fennemoids, Arizonans for Children raised $900 and 18 pieces of much needed luggage. 

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to donate blood on May 19.  We had 25 successful donations out of 29 donors that signed up.  Our numbers have gone up slightly from previous drives, so let’s keep trying to raise that bar!  Our goal is to get at least 30 successful donations. 

The 18th Annual Hands On Greater Phoenix Serve-A-Thon for Schools brought together 2,000 corporate, civic, and individual volunteers to give local children safer, brighter learning spaces.  More than 50 under-resourced schools benefited from fresh coats of paint, refurbished libraries, landscaped green spaces, resorted playgrounds, and much, much more!  The effort provided some 15,000 hours of volunteer service to schools in need.

Once again, Fennemore Craig employees were there to help however we could.  Our project was originally scheduled for April 9, 2011, but we were rained out, so it was rescheduled to April 30.  We assisted the students of South Pointe High School in painting picnic tables and building a school garden.   This is a great organization, and it was a great volunteer opportunity!  Thanks to all who signed up!

What a successful year!  We surpassed last year’s collection of 70 filled purses by 11.  In addition, about 20 empty small purses went to Shoebox Ministries to be filled by them as we ran out of supplies.  These small purses went to the young girls at the Florence Crittenton shelter. 

Contributors this year also included our Denver and Las Vegas offices.  All offices will be involved next year, as I received interest for their participation as well.  Thank you! 

A thank you note from Shoebox Ministries was included in their newsletter:  “ … the women from Along Side Ministries were thrilled with all the great items they found in their Mother’s Day Purses. Thank you all very much for your support of this event. You truly made it a very special day for many deserving moms in our Valley’s homeless shelters.”

The SAVORlife Pot Luck lunch was held in the Phoenix office on Tuesday, March 29.  The event raised nearly $900, and twenty people brought dishes to the potluck.  A great time was had by all. The funds were raised for Aunt Rita’s Foundation, a Phoenix fundraising organization that distributes its dollars to nineteen local HIV/AIDS organizations.  Thank you to all who participated!

On Saturday, March 19, Stephanie Fulk-Higgs, David Haga, Tina Stevens, Meredith Whiteman and Jay Kramer and their friends and family members volunteered as ushers, ticket takers and customer service representatives at a Diamondbacks Spring Training game at Salt River Fields to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale.  We arrived at 10:00 a.m. for our team meeting and to don our black shirts and straw hats (actually, they were out of straw hats, so we wore baseball caps instead), and then it was out to our stations.  The gates opened at 10:30, and there was a trickle of people until the hour before game time.  We helped people find their seats, provided information on the nearest restrooms and ATM machines, handed out wristbands for the party areas, and were generally ambassadors for the Diamondbacks.  The game started at 1:00 and did not end until after 4:00.  Although we were not supposed to be watching the game, the Diamondbacks fell behind the Cincinnati Redstockings 10-0 after four innings, but stormed back to win the game 13-10 with eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.  It was a long and fun day, and many of us ended up with sunburns.

The Las Vegas office signed up to take part in a program called Gowntown 2011, a Las Vegas event sponsored by a local radio station, 98.5 KLUC, and Al Phillips the Dry Cleaners to benefit underprivileged teens through an organization called HELP of Southern Nevada.  Gently used or new gowns were donated & collected by Trista Day for the Las Vegas office, Nora Tartaro for the Phoenix, Nogales and Tucson offices and Tami Lawley for the Denver office.  Gowntown 2011 took place Saturday, March 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Dallas Events Center at the Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel.  The donations in total were massive and gave valley teens and women the opportunity to purchase the dresses for only $20 each!  Thanks to all who donated the beautiful gowns.  We were able to collect a total of 75 dresses, which really helped out our local underprivileged teens!

The MS Walk in Tucson is always lots of fun, starting with socializing and snacks and followed by a bit of good exercise for a great cause.  On Saturday, March 12, the event started after the morning chill had passed, the sun was shining, and Reid Park was nice and warm.  Sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the local walk is open to all ages and abilities, and promotes awareness of multiple sclerosis while raising funds for patient assistance, treatment and research.

This year Larry and Mary Reddell; Laura Nance and her whole family – Brenton, Ruby, Reagan and Nicholas; Amber Pherigo with daughter Rosalia; and Susanne García were the Fennemore Tucson team.  Once we collected ourselves and all got signed in, we headed out with about 700 other walkers and helped raise $60,000 toward programs to help those with MS.

On Saturday, March 5, we enjoyed a beautiful day at Sahuaro Ranch Park in Glendale.  While we were expecting about 175 people, perhaps 100 attended.  No matter--Team FC performed flawlessly and a great time was had by all who attended.  There was a clown doing face-painting for the kids (and the young-at-heart), and there were organized games for the children.  “Bingo Bill” Kurtz called the Bingo game for the grandparents and gave all a healthy dose of that special Kurtz humor.  Plus, those who stayed to the end got to take home large quantities of leftover food.

Thanks to the following who helped with planning the picnic or who worked at the event (or both):  Nora Tartaro and husband John, Therese Wilhelm and Tim, Bill Kurtz and Diane, Sarah McDonald, Vicki Cobb, Marie DeSanto, Ruth Murphy, Laura Sutton, Jay Kramer, and Jessica Vieweg.  Special thanks to Nora, who took on a large measure of responsibility and did so much to make things run smoothly.

On Saturday, February 26, the annual Climb to Conquer Cancer was held at Phoenix South Mountain Park, benefiting the American Cancer Society.  It turned out to be a perfect morning for the walk.   We had 36 participants this year who all enjoyed the walk among thousands of others in support of a wonderful cause.

On February 20, the Foundation sponsored 44 walkers and volunteers for the 2011 PetsMart PetWalk and Adoption event benefiting the Milagro Senior Pet Refuge, Inc., held at Tempe Town Lake.  Even though the forecast called for rain, we had a wonderful turnout of both two- and four-legged walkers who braved the elements for the five-mile or one-mile walk. 

Milagro was just one of the many animal-welfare organizations that participated in the event.  Milagro’s mission is to rescue abandoned senior pets in poor health, bringing them into our program, providing them with veterinary care and placing them in loving home environments for the remainder of their twilight years.

Colleen, Ed and “Digger” Loos came to the event as a family of three, but left as a family of four when a Chihuahua by the name of Dolly stole their hearts.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to donate blood on January 20, 2011.  We had  22 successful donations out of 25.  Those donations saved 66 lives!

The FC Foundation sponsored a Christmas Tree at the Opportunity Village Magical Forest in Las Vegas, Nevada.   Opportunity Village is a not-for-profit organization that serves people in our community with intellectual disabilities, to enhance their lives and the lives of the families who love them. Some Fennemoids from the Las Vegas office donated their time to decorate the firm tree. 

A special thanks goes out to Alexis Brown, Trista Day, Nicole Garcia, Adrina Harris, Mia Hurtado, Cheryl Landis, Ruth Lynch, and Virginia Tomova for assisting in decorating our tree. Our tree went through some rough weather from the time we picked her out to when we went to the Magical Forest to decorate her.  At first glance, she reminded us of Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree.  But with all the cute green, red and white Christmas ornaments and ribbon, our tree came to life! 

The Walk to Cure Diabetes is the largest family friendly event around the world.  This year, the walk was held on October 30, 2010 at Tempe Town Lake and also, for the first time, at the ASU West Campus in Glendale.   The FC Foundation had teams at both locations. It is estimated that 20,000 people walked in Tempe, and of that, 22 were Fennemore Craig employees.  5,000 people walked in Glendale, and of that, nine were Fennemore Craig employees. JDRF’s mission is to find a cure for juvenile diabetes and its complications through research.  Hopefully, this year’s walk brought JDRF closer to its goal.

Once again, Fennemoids paid it forward! On October 15, a home-cooked meal was prepared by Phoenix volunteers and family members for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House near the Phoenix Children’s Hospital.  This year, an Italian feast was served.  On the menu:  an antipasto tray, spring mix salad, baked ziti, chicken and vegetable pasta dish, garlic bread and dessert. Volunteers had to plan the meal, purchase the food, prepare and serve the meal, and clean up the kitchen. As an added touch, volunteers decorated the tables with carnations.  The group was able to visit with some of the families who had children in the hospital and the dinner was received with gratitude and lots of yummy sounds.  Thanks again to all our volunteers!!  A special thank you goes out to Patsy Regalado, who went the extra mile and made individual goodie bags for the children.

We had a great turnout from Fennemore Craig at the 2010 Phoenix AIDS Walk on October 3rd and it was a fun morning for everyone.  Nearly 30 people came out to walk in support of finding a cure for HIV and AIDS.  FC Foundation contributions and additional donations totaled nearly $1,000 for the cause.  As this was the first year that the firm participated in the AIDS Walk, I was very impressed with the turnout and the amount that we raised.  I believe that we will continue our involvement in years to come and increase our fundraising.  Thank you to everyone who donated and who came out and walked!

On Saturday, September 11, all of us, through the Fennemore Craig Foundation, joined forces with a group of Tucson businesses and volunteers at Habitat for Humanity Tucson's 2010 Building Freedom Day, and raised the walls on seven new homes at the Corazon del Pueblo neighborhood.  This annual event takes lots of planning and preparation, and the work begins early and goes on all day long. The FC Foundation sponsored construction of a home funded by a coalition of local businesses.  A total of 393 volunteers shared the work in the neighborhood that day, including Trish Haines (who started out distributing water and sunscreen, got reassigned to greet volunteers arriving at the parking lot, and ended her shift helping out at the tool shed) and Susanne García (who worked her shift at the tool shed, and learned a whole bunch of stuff about tools and hardware and the best places to hunt for them). The work on these homes will continue through the next eight months, including a Fennemore Craig work day in February or March.  The neighborhood is blossoming, and families are thriving in decent, affordable housing that you helped build.  Thanks for your contributions! Corazon del Pueblo is a development of approximately 70 acres, which will eventually feature 393 two- to four-bedroom homes, ranging from 1,100 to 1,600 square feet.  Habitat Tucson will build approximately 40 homes, intermingled side-by-side throughout the development with homes built by partner builders AmericaBuilt Communities, Doucette Communities and TJ Bednar Homes.

Wow!  Our Pack-A-Sack for Kids event was a success!  Thank you to the Foundation for their donation to purchase the first 40 bags of food.  This provided us with a project for the children on Bring Your Kid to Work Day.  The kids learned about The Phoenix Rescue Mission and the statistics on homelessness in our community, and they each were able to fill up a canvas grocery bag full of food for homeless kids’ lunches.  It was a great event!  I also wanted to thank the others who were able to fill up their own bag and bring it in for the kids.  I know things are tough again this year, but I am so appreciative of the people who take that leap of faith and help others during such tough times.  Many blessings to each and every one of you and your families.  All together, we collected 65 canvas grocery bags packed full of food, and when Julie Bills and I delivered it to the Phoenix Rescue Mission, they weighed it and we found out we had donated 823 pounds of food!  Woohoo!  Great job, everyone! A special thank you to Joy Frerking for being the best co-project manager and teaming up with me to do all that shopping ... boy, that was so much fun!   And a very big thanks to Ricky Villela, who made this project go so smoothly!

On July 31, Jessica Catlett, Joan Davis, Kevin Green, Kathy McCasland, Karin Murphy, Mia Salam, and their families volunteered at a Luau sponsored by Recreation and Athletics for the Disabled ("RAD"), a small non-profit organization that raises money to support recreational activities for people with disabilities.   Over 200 people attended the Luau, which included dinner, swimming, and music.  Fennemore Craig volunteers helped greet guests, serve food, and play games in the pool.  The event was a huge success.  RAD thanks the FC Foundation for its donation of time and money, without which the Luau would not have been possible.

On July 31, a team from the Fennemore Craig Foundation spent the morning providing assistance to the Neighborhood Ministries charity organization in the Capitol Mall area of Phoenix.  Neighborhood Ministries provides outreach and empowerment services to the needy, such as food and clothing assistance, medical and dental assistance, after school and summer camp programs, transitional housing for at-risk women, programs to assist and encourage youth to obtain high school degrees, vocational programs, enterprise programs, etc. Among the many services that Neighborhood Ministries provides to the community is a thrift store where community members can buy items using credits obtained by working for the organization. For example, a woman cooks for a gathering of low- or no-income families, and in return receives credits, which she then can use to purchase clothes, furniture, household items, toys, etc. for her family.  The organization had recently suffered a fire in its warehouse, causing the destruction of most of the items that are offered in its thrift store.  The Fennemore Craig Foundation stepped in, providing a monetary donation of $1,000 and lots of muscles and hands on the morning of July 31st.  In the absence of air conditioning, the team sorted, organized, moved and cleaned newly donated items, cleaned display cases in the store, folded boxes, etc. Members of the team were: Nora Tartaro; Cindy Schertzer, her husband Terry and kids Morgan and Jon; Phil Fargotstein; and Susan Rosenfield.  In addition, Jacquie Burnstad, while unable to attend herself, sent in her stead her hard-working sons, Bryant and Gary, Jr.

A big thank you to all the folks in the Phoenix office who contributed funds, supplies, packaged foods, games, books, CDs, DVDs, and many other items for the Foundation’s Christmas in July drive for the troops overseas.  We were also able to purchase 25 pre-paid phone cards, a valuable commodity for those lonesome to speak to their families.   These donations will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks to all who took time to volunteer to serve at St. Vincent de Paul's dining hall on May 13.  Our team helped out at the family dining room, which was full that evening with appreciative families.  St. Vincent operates dining rooms for the homeless throughout the Phoenix area.  Programs include services for the homeless, medical and dental care for the working poor, charity dining rooms, thrift stores, a transitional housing shelter and general assistance for individuals in need.  Thanks again to David Vieweg, Sharon Oscar, Rebecca Camelio, Heather and David Nash, Jose Sosa, and Ina Neal and her sons, Mecca and Eric.

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, our office participated in the 15th Annual Komen Southern Nevada Race for the Cure, a 5k walk/race in historic downtown Las Vegas.  There were approximately 20,000 participants and we were blessed with perfect weather.  Many honored a loved one who either beat breast cancer, or who had unfortunately lost their battle with it, by wearing pink and the name of their loved one. Our team, Fennemore Craig 2010, raised $2,500 in donations and registration fees.  We also received the award for Largest Corporate Team (for companies with 250-499 employees).  The award was handed out by the local Chippendale's to Mia Hurtado, who served as Team Captain.  Our team consisted of Tony Ager, Alexis Brown and her mother, Chris Byrd and his wife, David Dachelet, Trista Day and her family, Craig Dunlap, Nicole Garcia and her family, Mia Hurtado and her family, Cheryl Landis and her family, Daniel Maul and his brother, Nancy Jo Merritt, Adam Miller, and Virginia Tomova.  I also want to give a special thank you to the following for their donations:  Alexis Brown, Chris Byrd, Laurel Davis, Ruth Lynch, Shirley Martir-Ligot, and Daniel Maul.

Relay for Life was an incredible event.  The Fennemore Craig team members walked all night, from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am, to raise money for cancer research and prevention.  Our team raised nearly $4,000, including the Foundation's donation, and we were one of the top fundraising teams at the event.  Many of our team members have had friends or family battle this disease.  Our team's fundraising efforts will help lead to new treatments for this disease and will allow families to celebrate more birthdays.

Thank you, thank you from Shoebox Ministry, who joyfully received 70+ filled purses from Fennemore Craig's employees.  See the smiling faces?  Per Laura Borgeson's (Program Director of Shoebox Ministry) email:  “I thought you and the other generous donors might like to see how happy these gift filled purses made the women.”  You made a huge difference in these ladies’ lives on Mother's Day.  When I delivered our bounty to Laura Borgeson, she said that they had 1,963 filled purses for the drive and ours put them over the 2,000 goal.  Out of all those purses collected, 200 small purses went to Florence Crittendon. 

On Saturday, April 17, several Fennemoids teamed up with Ellie’s Angels to walk in the 5th annual Walk Like MADD 5K. MADD’s mission is to help promote a world without drunk driving, remember and honor the victims/survivors of drunk driving crashes, and raise much needed funds to continue working on MADD's lifesaving mission:  to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking.

The Savor Life Soiree was a wonderful, fun event that was very well attended.  The Soiree was the conclusion of the Savor Life Month of March events where people were encouraged to host dinners to raise funds for the HIV agencies that benefit from Aunt Rita's Foundation, the organizer of Savor Life.  47 dinners comprising 800 hosts and guests were held.  Joe Dugandzic from Fennemore Craig hosted a dinner that raised several hundred dollars for Savor Life.  Melodi Lamé and her sister volunteered at the Soiree held at the Phoenix Art Museum on April 9, and several other Fennemore Craig staff members were in attendance at the event as well. Fennemore Craig will be sponsoring walkers to participate in AIDS Walk Phoenix in early October, which is another fundraiser for Aunt Rita's Foundation.  This year's Savor Life event raised $50,000.

The fourth annual Duet “Grandparents Raising Grandchildren” Picnic was held on Saturday, March 27, 2010, at Western Area Regional Park in Glendale.  After being rained out in February, we were fortunate to have beautiful weather.  Again, it was a huge success with over 150 grandparents, grandchildren, caregivers and friends attending, along with our wonderful Foundation volunteers.  The food was delicious and a good time was had by all.  Many of the guests expressed how special the annual picnic is and how much they look forward to it. Gift packets of school supplies were given to all of the children.  After eating, the kids enjoyed games with our volunteers and the adults played bingo.  Naturally, prizes were awarded to the Bingo winners. The prizes included movie tickets and Target, McDonalds, QuikTrip and Wal-Mart gift cards.

Fellow Fennemoids, family and friends joined fifteen thousand other walkers at Tempe Beach Park to raise $630,000 for the American Heart Association and its mission to build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke.  Although the weather threatened rain, we were lucky to enjoy the walk in sunshine!   A fun time was had by kids, adults and more dogs than could be counted.  Join us next year!

On Saturday, February 27, the annual Climb to Conquer Cancer was held at Phoenix South Mountain Park, benefiting the American Cancer Society.  It was cloudy and breezy, but not too chilly and that made for a very pleasant walk up the mountain.   Our team of participants this year numbered around 30, and all enjoyed the walk among thousands of others in support of a wonderful cause.  Thanks to everyone who climbed!

A big thank you to everyone who donated a "little something" for The Family School's Annual Silent Auction.  The event was a big success despite the rain.  We came very close to matching the highest amount we've ever made and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun.  A special thanks to Sarah Strunk, Margaret Spigelmire, Julie Tolby, Joe Chandler, Renee Cain, and Brenda Grote, who all donated their time and shared their special gifts for the benefit of this wonderful school.  Thanks for all of your help!

What a great day and we did not get rained on! On Sunday, February 21st, the Foundation sponsored walkers for the second annual PetSmart Charities PetWalk that benefited Milagro Senior Pet Refuge held at Tempe Town Lake.  The event included 5K and 1-mile walks (for humans and their four-legged companions) as well as fun activities for children, adults and pets.  Milagro Senior Pet Refuge, Inc. is just one of the more than 25 animal-welfare organizations that had already signed up to take part in the event this year.  Milagro’s mission is to rescue abandoned senior pets in poor health, bringing them into our program, providing them with veterinary care and placing them in loving home environments for the remainder of their twilight years.

Thanks to everyone who signed up for and participated in the Marathon on February 14 in Prospector Park.  The funds raised will help fund a variety of projects at the Lost Boys Center, such as mentorship, tutoring, and providing services to individuals who need assistance finding employment. John Ruot included this in a thank you note to the Phoenix office:  “Your generosity makes a huge difference in the lives of many clients at the Lost Boys Center. The Lost Boys Center could not be effective without the help of selfless volunteers just like you. I want to make sure you know just how much your past efforts have been appreciated, as well as how much your continued willingness to volunteer with The Arizona Lost Boys Center is valued.”