Author: DavidH

Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian Church

Las Trampas is so appreciative of the Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian Church and the wonderful volunteer work they do for so many Contra Costa nonprofits. This is the third year in a row that they have chosen to help us with volunteer work. A large group worked on campus to help organize the Development Department’s storage areas, while others headed to Maureen House to clean out the garage and start the process of creating a game room! LOPC has been helping Las Trampas in so many ways over the years and we are so grateful for everything they do!

Leslie’s Story

Leslie is a huge Warriors fan, which he demonstrates almost daily. He can draw from a closet full of the team’s logo clothing. In cold weather, it’s the blue and gold knit cap, in summer a t-shirt, among other items. Of course, as an avid sports fan, he must alternate with his 49er jacket and hat!

Leslie joined Las Trampas in 2013.  He’s part of a team that manages the Recycle, Reuse, Repeat program that collects used and unused toiletries from local hotels, cleans and refills the bottles, and delivers them to homeless shelters and Children’s Hospital Family Resource Center. Leslie greets everyone who comes to our campus with a warm smile and welcome.

Patty’s Story

Patty came to Las Trampas in 1975 and has been a source of sunshine ever since.  Patty is always smiling.  “I hear birds!” exclaimed Patty, as she tested her long-awaited hearing aids. Patty is very social, loves connecting with people, chatting and sharing stories.  Now she can do this again! The ability to return significantly to the hearing world is what puts that smile on her lips today.

Wells Fargo

A fantastic team of Wells Fargo volunteers swooped into Stinson House, one of our 5 residential homes, on September 17th, to create a whole new look for the interior. Grabbing brushes and rollers, they painted the public rooms a stunning combination of cocoa brown and taupe. Instant facelift!

Our group homes provide round-the-clock services and support to individuals with significant developmental disabilities. Many of these individuals no longer have family nearby who might provide fulltime care, so beautification projects like this help sustain a true sense of home. When the six residents and their staff returned to Stinson after attending our Day Program on the main campus in Lafayette, they were so excited to see the transformation. Next they hope another team will give a fresh coat of paint to the bedrooms!

Community Connection – Planting Seeds

Planting the Seeds of Community Partnerships. Las Trampas is growing…vegetables that is.

Over 20 individuals from Deloitte gathered at Las Trampas for their annual community work day. After a breakfast picnic in the park across the street, they gathered on our lawn to mingle with Day Program folks. They then broke up into teams to do a major landscaping cleanup…grabbing shovels, rakes, weed whackers, and garbage bags to eliminate the weeds flourishing around campus. Another team added a fresh layer of crushed granite to the vegetable garden path so this summer, those in wheelchairs can help with the harvest.

Daniel’s Story

The young man in the photo is Daniel. Daniel is in our Adult Vocational Program (AVP) and has successfully participated in the Northern California Special Olympics. He participates in our community service project Recycle, Reuse, Repeat through which his AVP team takes hotel toiletry bottles, sterilizes them and refills them, then donates them to local homeless and women’s shelters. Daniel always has a beaming smile as he works at the computer, helps on campus or greets visitors when he encounters them.

Hats Off to a Great Event!

The suspense is over, the numbers are in, and thanks to so many of you who supported by gift or attendance our 27th Annual What’s in Our Hat! It looks like we exceeded $120,000, but numbers are still coming in, so stay tuned!

We’ve waited to send a special Thank You so that we could share this great news. As you know, these dollars are a vital link in filling the gap between operational costs and government reimbursement for services.

To the generosity of our Sponsors and Ambassadors, Hat drawing underwriter Eric Rudney, auction donors and participants, business and in-kind partners, community and staff volunteers and beloved Clipped Wings, the Hat Committee (with a special bow to the extraordinary decorations designer Pat Todd and her sidekick Dana Longyear), photographer Ian Craig,

To our entertainers Mark Shaw (Sinatra), Matt Helm (Dean Martin) and magician Alan Leeds, and the always generous-in-time-and-talent Generations in Jazz (High Five Cayford and Bob Athayde),

To Terry Haws who proposed the theme, to the gifted program creator Pamela Berding and graphic designer John Otto.

And to our dedicated Board of Directors and each and every one of you who provide support and encouragement as Las Trampas works to deliver the highest quality programs and services.

Thank You!!

Click here to view our Hats Off album photos.