Community

Volunteers bustled about in the Community Solutions warehouse in Gilroy on a recent morning, working behind the scenes to make the holidays memorable for South County families with children who have the least.

As the fog cleared on a recent Saturday morning, residents gathered at cemeteries in Gilroy and Morgan Hill to pay a tribute to—and to reflect on the loss of—every veteran buried in South County. More than 250 volunteers at ceremonies in both cities laid pine wreaths near the headstones of approximately 1,000 local veterans as part of Wreaths Across America after raising $16,000 to pay for materials.

When Morgan Hill resident Ari Jarson, 6, heard about last week’s severe storm warning and the city’s call to be a “leaf lifter” to prepare for the coming rain, the kindergartener wanted to help out.The city’s storm warning inspired Jarson, who enjoys raking leaves, to rake up his entire cul-de-sac, according to his mother Maria Elena Jarson.“It is important to rake up leaves before a big storm,” Ari said. “When the rain comes, water will fill the gutters and there will be a big problem. If the leaves clog the gutters, then the city pumper trucks have to flush all the leaves out of the sewer or the roads will flood. The storm will get worse and overflow the town if you don’t pick up the leaves.”

The rain will not be going away anytime soon in South County, as a series of storms are forecast for the area through Friday, according to National Weather Service forecaster Logan Johnson.Following up last week’s stormy weather—which brought between 3 to 3.5 inches to the area—today’s heavy rains have dropped an inch already (as of 3 p.m.) and are expected to add another inch before lightening up a bit.“We’ll have scattered showers the rest of the evening and then we’ll get a little bit of a break,” Johnson said. “The break is not going to be all that long, so things won’t get a chance to dry out.”Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 50s and down to the mid 40s throughout the wet week, according to Johnson.“There are a series of storms lined up across the Pacific (Ocean) set to come this way,” said Johnson, noting they are moving at a fairly good pace as well.After a reprieve later tonight and early Tuesday, the next storm will touch down late afternoon Tuesday and last into the night. The rains will soften up Wednesday. Thursday “is the best shot at a dry day,” Johnson said. “Friday another (storm system) is coming our way.”The City of Morgan Hill and the Santa Clara Valley Water District continue to supply sandbag stations at three locations in the city limits: the City Corp Yard, 100 Edes Court; El Toro Fire Station, 18300 Old Monterey Road; and Depot Street near Fourth Street, in the parking lot adjacent to the railroad tracks in downtown Morgan Hill.

Global Literacy Outreach Ministries’ Gift and Thrift store—located at 16965 Monterey Road, Suite 114, in the Morgan Hill Plaza—will host its annual Christmas Community Outreach event on Sunday, Dec. 21.At the free event, there will be opportunities for pictures with Santa and Christmas gifts for children 13 and under as well as food and beverages for all who join founder Ralph Goduco and his staff.For more information on Global Literacy Outreach Ministries, visit globalliteracyoutreach.com or call (408) 763-1493.

Like many of their classmates at Central High School, seniors Francisco Ruiz and Eric Velasco—two of more than 120 students who participated in Tuesday’s fourth annual “Rock the Mock” career readiness event—are already out job hunting.So when two dozen local business leaders came out to their campus to offer support and tips for securing employment, they soaked in as much as they could to take into their next job interview.“The (mock) interview helped me a lot,” said Ruiz, 18, who sat with Velasco and answered a slew of questions during their 14-minute interview time slot. “I’ve gotten to know what questions to work on.”Fellow seniors Gina Salazar and Alexa Mateo, both 17, felt the same way as they jointly fielded questions from Heritage Bank representatives Katie Garcia, an assistant vice president, and Alyssa Garcia, a credit analyst.“Confidence is key,” Mateo said.Students at Central were broken into groups of 30 or so and shuttled between different rooms on campus where local business leaders led workshop sessions in interviewing, interview preparation, business dress and the handshake challenge.The event was started by Chamber of Commerce President John Horner in an effort to connect business leaders with local youth and help pass along some of the skills that have made them successful adults.“When I joined the Chamber four years ago, I came in wanting to get our business leaders more proactive with the education community,” said Horner of his brainchild, which has employers heading to all three Morgan Hill Unified School District high schools over the next two months. “This year we’re bringing people to the schools so we can reach more students.”The first few years a select number of students went to the headquarters of Morgan Hill-based Specialized Bicycle Components—which co-sponsors the event along with BookSmart—to take part and reap the benefits. The group will head to Ann Sobrato High School on Jan. 14 and then end their tour Feb. 10 at Live Oak High School.“We want them to know that they all have something to offer and that there are businesses and people out there that want them as part of their team,” Horner said. “We want them to know that adults in this community are interested and care about them. These are successful people with good-paying jobs who are out here today.”Velasco, 18, retained valuable input from his second of four workshop sessions—this one titled “Dress to Impress” and led by Cherisse’s Hair Salon owner Cherisse White—where he learned about the appropriate attire to wear for an interview.“You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression,” said White, who has more than 30 years of career experience, including the last 12 running her own business. “It takes 17 (subsequent encounters) to change your first-impression opinion” of an individual, she added.Before rotating through the workshops, students were treated to the success story of Edith Ramirez, the Principal Planner for Economic Development for the City of Morgan Hill.“This is a very special day,” said Ramirez, addressing the Central student body inside the school’s multipurpose room. “(The people here today) care about you and they care about your future.”At the age of 14, Ramirez immigrated with her family from Mexico City into the United States, where she lived in a garage, didn’t know how to speak English and worked in the fields. Her first job was picking cherries and then cutting apricots.“I knew that I didn’t want that job,” said Ramirez, who dreamed of attending a university once she completed high school. Through hard work and determination, she learned English, graduated high school and proved her doubters wrong by earning a full academic scholarship to San Jose State University. In college, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.“Do not let anybody tell you that you can’t do it,” she said. “But it’s up to you to achieve what you want. It just doesn’t come to you. You have to work hard. It’s up to you to get it.”Central students got a crash course in how to prepare for a job interview from human resource specialist Brenda Glimpse as well as how to give a proper handshake when introducing oneself at a job interview.“We want to make sure that each student properly knows how to handshake and greet,” explained Chamber Board Chairman Rich Firato, who has run Firato Janitorial for the last 32 years. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t know.”As part of his presentation, Firato also showed each group of students a “Six Steps of Success” video hosted by former California Governor and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.“The skills that the business people bring here today are essential to (these students’) success,” said MHUSD Superintendent Steve Betando, who was on hand for the event along with new MHUSD Board President Bob Benevento. “lt’s not only giving them the skills to get the jobs, but also to keep the jobs as well.”Central Principal AnnMarie Cobarrubias, in her first year at the helm of MHUSD’s continuation school, was especially impressed with the presenters and how receptive her students were to their pointers.“I think it’s imperative for them to see the support from the community. It’s vital to their future success,” Cobarrubias said. “They’re definitely getting a lot of skills and information with each session. The people here may be on the opposite end of the desk (during a job interview) one day.”

For over 15 years, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has partnered with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserved and the Santa Clara Toys for Tots organization for a holiday toy drive. The goal is to “Stuff the Bus” with new, unwrapped toys for Santa Clara County’s less fortunate children, according to a press release from VTA.Each year, the “Stuff the Bus” campaign relies on the community’s generosity and support, according to VTA staff. In each of the last two years, VTA and the Marines have collected an average of 5,000 toys and $600 in cash.  To participate in the toy drive, bring a new, unwrapped toy or a monetary donation to the specially-wrapped VTA bus parked on Market Street in downtown San Jose (near the Fairmont Hotel and Christmas in the Park) on Saturday, Dec. 13 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.For more information, contact VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300, TTY (408) 321-2330. You can also visit www.vta.org and sign up for VTA email updates. Follow VTA on Twitter, @VTA and “Like” VTA on facebook.com/scvta.