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July News

What ever you do, work at it with ALL your heart as working for the Lord, not for man. (1)

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I have been leading this chapter for this past three years with my amazing friend, and coleader Joann Van Ort. It has been such a journey living out these events with the kids at Casa and the lovely women who have chosen to partake in our mission of making the next generation a better one. Over this time we have documented the creativity, fun and passion of these events and created the invites and positive words of encouragement to keep us going. With that said I have some exciting news of a new coleader! Melissa Horning is joining our leadership for San Diego’s Chapter. We are so excited to have her on board. From now on she will be creating the beauty you see on our chapter’s page. I just wanted to leave you with a few last thoughts about Chicktime; what it means to me and how it has brought so much light into my life.

What Chicktime has taught me about leadership is that we are all in this together. Every opinion matters and it takes an entire village to make a difference. To be able to bring women together for the purpose of making the next generation better, facilitated by Chicktime, has given me peace and fulfillment in my life like nothing ever has before. I have made the most significant friendships and deepest connections with women who aspire to lift themselves up through sharing their passions, talents, wisdom, and love with these kidos. Through leading this chapter I found there is nothing more important than to give of yourself in order to make a difference in our communities. Whether it’s through a job, vocation, family, or church; your soul matters and exists to perpetuate love, kindness and worth to those around you.

As for the kids. There is nothing like an event that will shed perspective on your yearning to help and the reason why you are there to begin with. Sometimes a Chicktime Saturday came along, and I felt the pressures of life and its problems weighing me down to the point of not wanting to get out of bed. Magically, my commitment of making the kids at Casa a priority, for just three hours, once a month brought me out of my self and allowed me to understand that my issues were myopic compared to the pain and hurt out there. My commitment to inspire the women to give these kids all our love and attention conquers the trials of life that intimidate me to hide in my own pain and misery. It has given me the freedom to step out of that pain and share the beauty and passion emanating from my energy and presence in hope to see a smile of hope and laughter from our Casa kids. You couldn’t ask for anything else more rewarding to know that you are making a huge impact in their lives just by showing up.

From this point forward, I am reaffirming my commitment to lead with presence, value, warmth, and kindness.  With Joann and Melissa, we will propel the women in our chapter to fuse together, persevering any challenge that blocks our mission of changing the lives of the kids at Casa de Amparo one event at a time. These events would not be possible without you and we welcome you with open arms to be a part of the San Diego Chicktime community.

With Much Love,

Phoenix Valdez