Opportunities abound to help a good cause, make new friends
Recent weekends show what a giving community Morgan Hill really is. They featured the South Valley Wine Auction, Public Safety Day, the Earth Day Art and Science Fair, an eco-friendly fundraiser for Congressman Jerry McNerney, the Tierra Bella Bicycle Tour and the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Health and Wellness Fair.

The events propitiously coincided with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclamation of April 15-21 as Volunteer Week. Those events – and this Sunday’s unveiling of the “Waiting for the Train” bronze sculpture at the Depot Street Caltrain Station – indicate that Morgan Hill is a close-knit community that truly cares about making sure the community thrives.

The non-profit Morgan Hill Community Foundation and the Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency sponsored artist Marlene Amerian’s $100,000 sculpture to promote civic pride, public art and history. Amerian donated her time to sculpt the piece which depicts our town’s founding family – Hiram Morgan Hill, his wife Diana and their daughter Diane – waiting for the train around 1896.

The South Valley Wine Auction, sponsored by the South Valley Athletic Foundation, collected more than $35,000 for Morgan Hill Unified School District cross-country and track-and-field programs.

Public Safety Day was sponsored by the Morgan Hill Community Law Enforcement Foundation. We’re thrilled to see the foundation working again to support training and programs for our local police officers. We hope their goal of purchasing a police dog and other police equipment becomes a reality.

Meanwhile, at the Shadow Hills home of Anaerobe Systems CEO Mike Cox, many community leaders, including Congressman Jerry McNerney, participated in fundraiser for his 2008 re-election bid. McNerney raised $10,000 in contributions. What was truly unique at this event is that it brought Republicans and Democrats alike to discuss renewable energy strategies and the hot subject of climate change.

The city hosted the Earth Day Art and Science Fair, in which Morgan Hill students in grades K-12 submitted projects promoting recycling beverage containers or preventing storm water runoff pollution. The winners will receive more than $1,200 in cash prices for their efforts. The fair was funded by the California Department of Conservation.

The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s Health and Wellness Fair offered everyone a chance to learn more about eating right, exercising and leading a healthy lifestyle. In conjunction with the YMCA it observed National Healthy Kids Day and offered resources for the Sandwich Generation which faces the challenge of caring for aging parents and children at home.

The Almaden Cycle Touring Club organized the 2007 Tierra Bella Bicycle Tour, which celebrated its 30th anniversary. The non-competitive event began at Gavilan College and was made possible thanks to the wonderful contributions of club enthusiasts from South County, including Morgan Hill’s Bob and Kris Thompson.

Kudos to the Morgan Hill residents who planned, donated and participated in these many worthwhile community-building events.

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