Teachers love Thursdays at Cafe d'Eisenhower

Sonia Rincon, working as a server at student-run Cafe d'Eisenhower, gives a slice of cheesecake to Eisenhower High School Assistant Principal Joe Dumond. Although Cafe d'Eisenhower is a tiny restaurant in Eisenhower High's culinary arts classroom, students create and serve meals the caliber of which can be found in a reservations-required commercial restaurant.



(RIALTO, Calif.) Most days, the teachers, administrators, counselors and support staff at Eisenhower High School in Rialto are so busy, they forget all about lunch. But not on Thursdays.

On Thursdays, a small group of students tempts their taste buds with dishes like Chicken Parmesan, Cesar salad and a macaroon desert. These students, members of the advanced culinary arts class double as the staff of Café d’Eisenhower, an on-campus restaurant catering almost exclusively to the school’s employees.

“I try to eat here every Thursday,” said Yvonne Jenkins, the school’s receptionist. “I’m mostly doing it to support them, but everything they prepare is very good.”

Jenkins has worked at the school for five years, but previously was an Eisenhower mom. Her four children all graduated from the school, and she knew about Café d’Eisenhower in those days too.

Some of her co-workers have been eating at Café d’Eisenhower since before the current student workers were born. No one who works at Eisenhower these days is sure when the restaurant first opened, but some have been enjoying the gourmet meals there since the mid-1980s.

“It’s so good, sometimes the retired staff comes back for lunch,” said Mary Saxon Hobbs, a retired school counselor who had, in fact, come back to her former workplace just to take in a Café’ d’Eisenhower meal.

“It’s the highlight of my week,” said Assistant Principal Joe Dumond, who adds that on the other four days, he’s so busy he doesn’t normally have time to even think about lunch.

Café’d’Eisenhower serves the quality of food where reservations are strongly encouraged. The other reason for reservations is because it only seats 30, and because most of the diners must take their lunch at a specific time (A Lunch or B Lunch), it fills up rapidly. That’s especially true during the first seating, a.k.a. A Lunch, where 28 of the 30 seats were filled during one recent meal.

The students are well prepared for their guests.

It’s all planned way in advance, and most of it is prepared beforehand. Preparations include not just cooking the meals, but also sending out invitations to Eisenhower and selected other Rialto Unified employees and making special accommodations for anyone who RSVP’s but has special dietary needs, or a preference for a vegetarian diet.

Wednesdays, students stay after school to and into the evening to make sure everything is as ready as it can be.

When class starts on Thursday, the tables, which are used as desks by instructor Carol Bertottto’s other students throughout the day, are transformed into six elegant seating areas with green tablecloths, white paper napkins and an array of silverware. Salads are assembled and lightly dressed, entrees are heated up and finishing touches like whipped cream flowerets are added to deserts.

And occasionally, entire meals are prepared. Since reservations aren’t mandatory, there might be far more visitors than the class had planned for. Once, early in the year no less, the students had prepared food for 30 guests, only to have about 60 show up.

“That was hard,” said Georgiana Witrago, a 12th-grader with aspirations to own her own bakery some day. “Everyone was in the kitchen helping out, and it all worked out.”

Normally, about half the students are in the kitchen working with food during Café’ d’Eisenhower’s open hours. The other half are working as a host or hostess and servers.

The first person to greet a visitor to Café d’Eisenhower is usually the day’s host or hostess. He or she checks the reservation list, collects the $7 charged per meal and invites the visitor to take any available seat at the five tables seating six people each.

Almost immediately, a student server appears, bearing a salad on a china plate and asking what you’d like to drink. Water, tea and lemonade are available, all served in glasses with lots of ice. Coffee is available too.

As soon as you finish the salad, your server returns with the main dish. Likewise, as soon as you’re done with this entrée, the server returns with desert.

Discreetly, the server is also taking away dirty dishes as they are used. This sever isn’t going very far with them, as this tiny restaurant’s kitchen is merely a divider away from the “dining room.”

Behind the divider, Bertotto and the students on kitchen duty are hard at work. Some are chefs, others clean things.

A number of students, these actually in the intermediate culinary class, are packaging food into “to go boxes” and carrying them out of the restaurant for hand-delivery to teachers and administrators who couldn’t break away from their desks.

Other than the intermediate students on the to-go crew, the job students do varies each week, so that everyone will have equal experience hosting, serving, cooking and cleaning.

“They have their hand in everything here,” said Counselor Wendy Better. “They plan the meals, they cook, they serve. They do it all very well.”

The quick but discreet service offered at Café d’Eisenhower and many other fine restaurants requires some learning, according to several students. It’s especially difficult at a school restaurant, where the diners usually only have 35 minutes for lunch. If any A Lunch guests tarry, the students will be bussing tables when B Lunch visitors come expecting the usual quick service. If any B Lunch visitors run late, the students may end up tardy to their fifth period class.

“It helps us to learn time management,” Witrago said. “We can’t be slow, but we can’t rush them either.”

Why do these students work after school two days a week and give up their entire lunch on Thursdays?

“I’m in this class because I love to cook,” said Sonia Rincon, a sentiment her classmates agreed with. “And it will look good on my transcript.”

If they’re not going to work in a restaurant or bakery, most of the students in Advanced Culinary Arts have plans that entail college. Rincon, for instance, hopes to become a lawyer.

The most important thing students learn in Advanced Culinary Arts is not how to sautee, flambé or grill. It’s teamwork.

“We’re like a body,” Rincon said. “If one person doesn’t come, we are missing a piece. And without teamwork, you can’t run a restaurant.”

The program now known as HECT has undergone a transformation over the last 30 years. Prior to the 1960s, the program focused on training women in skills they would need as wives and mothers. But, as more women began working outside the home, California changed its home economics curriculum to reflect this, and added the Home Economics Related Occupations component.

As all professions, including those in home economics related industries became more dependent on technology, so did the courses offered in secondary schools. To reflect this change, California renamed its home economics program Home Economics Careers and Technology in the 1990s.


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Inland Empire's Needy Families Come Together To Give Thanks

Up to 900 people will enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at The Salvation Army Corps in San Bernardino.
Volunteers serve Thanksgiving dinner at The Salvation Army Corps in San Bernardino.
A man enjoys Thanksgiving Dinner at The Salvation Army Corps in San Bernardino.



(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) This holiday season your local Salvation Army Corps will hold their annual Thanksgiving dinner to help the needy families of the Inland Empire. The dinners start Nov. 26 or Nov. 27 depending on the Corps.

The San Bernardino Corps will serve dinner from 11 am to 2 pm on Nov. 27.

The annual event brings in hundreds of families and individuals who do not have the means to provide themselves a Thanksgiving dinner. People come from all parts of the Inland Empire for this festive event. “We’ll serve between 700 and 900 people,” says Salvation Army Captain Stephen Ball.

“This year we were fortunate enough to receive donations of 20 hams from The United Way, city and county officials and school districts” said Salvation Army Shelter Director Roosevelt Carroll. “Also the Inland Empire Job Corps will provide 100 pumpkin pies, a Thanksgiving staple.”

The Salvation Army pulls out all the stops by providing families with an array of side dishes such as mashed potatoes, green beans, corn and biscuits. It’s still searching for donors who could provide about 20 roasted turkeys.

Every year The Salvation Army receives hundreds of requests to become volunteers for the day by helping serve food to the families. An estimated 125 volunteers helped the San Bernardino Corps, from the preparation of food to serving the hundreds of people that walk into their doors. “This year we expect the same turnout in volunteers as last year,” says Carroll.

“Thanksgiving should be a special day for everyone not just for those who can afford it,” says Captain Stephen Ball.

To receive information about the dates and times for the dinners at other corps besides San Bernardino, or to volunteer, give them a call at 1800-SAL-ARMY or 1-800-725-2769.


About The Salvation Army
About the Salvations Army San Bernardino Corps
The Salvation Army may be able to provide emergency services including food; lodging for homeless or displaced families; clothing and furniture; assistance with rent or mortgage and transportation when funds are available. The Salvation Army Team Radio Network assists rescue workers and evacuees in such disasters as fires.

The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian church and also offers evangelical programs for boys, girls and adults. One of the largest charitable and international service organizations in the world, The Salvation Army has been in existence since 1865 and in San Bernardino since 1887, supporting those in need without discrimination. Donations may always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY.

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Caterers and Chefs get start in HECT

Georgiana Witrago prepares a plate to serve a guest of Cafe d'Eisenhower, the restaurant run by her advanced culinary arts class at Eisenhower High School in Rialto. Photo by Chris Sloan

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – Some high schools have their very own student-run restaurants. Many others have a crew of caterers, preparing on short notice cookies, sandwiches and maybe even gourmet dinners for on-campus activities.

The students who work for these restaurants and caterers are enrolled in Home Economics Careers and Technology courses at the schools. HECT, as its known to those enrolled in the program puts emphasis on preparing students for careers.

These young chefs can knock out killer pastas, decadent tortes, and much more. They graduate from high school with enough experience to work as line chefs, hosts and servers at four and five-star restaurants, and an excellent preparation for college-level culinary programs.

“These are jobs that could give young graduates a great income as they work their way through college,” said Carol Bertotto, Culinary Arts teacher at Eisenhower High School in Rialto. “And if a person has a passion to work in this industry and learns their job well, there is room for advancement into well-paid careers.”

Training starts with the basics. An introductory Home Economics Careers and Technology elective starts with a heavy dose of consumer education. In the beginning of the year, students learn decision-making skills, financial planning and consumers’ rights and responsibilities.

That’s an important foundation for a unit the students complete later in the year on foods and nutrition. At that point, already knowing how to shop for good deals at the grocery store, they’ll learn about healthy eating and meal planning. They’ll even do a little cooking at the end of this unit.

“This class is the base for students living and earning a living in the 21st Century. They learn critical skills and knowledge about food and nutrition, family living and parenting, child development, fashion, and managing personal finances,” said Erevetta Marzette, who teaches this course and others in the culinary arts program at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles.

Consumer and Family Studies, as this course is known at many high schools or Life Management as other schools call it, is all some students take. For others, it’s the foundation of a curriculum that highly focuses on culinary arts or another home economics-related industry.

In the first one or two years, that curriculum is still largely academic. In beginning culinary arts courses, which at many schools are titled “Foods and Nutrition,” students spend some days in “cooking labs,” where they engage in actual cooking activities in their classroom’s multiple kitchens. In these courses students also learn about nutrition, meal planning, food safety and basic cooking techniques .

They’ll likely spend more time in an academic learning environment, listening to lectures and participating in pencil and paper learning activities than they do cooking. This instruction most likely takes place around tables in the same room as the kitchens, but could also be in a separate classroom equipped with desks.

For instance, in mid-October, Culinary Arts 1 students were learning how to add mixed fractions. Why is this important?

“If they’re doubling a recipe and it calls for 1 2/3 cups of flour, what do they do?” asked Bertotto. “Adding fractions is something they must know to cook successfully, but not all have grasped when they start high school.”

About the same time at Dorsey High School, which started its new school year almost a month later than Eisenhower, beginning culinary students were learning the basics of food safety and sanitation and how to store and prepare food properly, so as to prevent the growth of bacteria and food poisoning.

This part of the training is so important, Marzette would not allow students to participate in cooking labs until they passed a food safety test. She was also re-testing advanced culinary students on food safety and sanitation before allowing them to begin the actual cooking activities that are part of their curriculum.

The cooking labs in a beginning culinary class often focuses primarily on baking. “Baking is where you learn proper technique,” Bertotto explained. “Anything else might not taste as good, but it’s still going to come out if you make a mistake. But you can’t bake incorrectly.”

Intermediate culinary courses are also academic-focused, but in these students learn a variety of cooking techniques. They also learn to plan entire menus, which they then cook. And they help the advanced students with some of their projects.

“By helping they learn more,” said Sonia Rincon, an 11th-grader in the Advanced Culinary Arts course at Eisenhower High School. “If they get to our level, they’ll know what to do.”

At Eisenhower High School, the advanced culinary course largely focuses on Café d’ Eisenhower. On Thursdays during fourth period and the two lunch periods, Bertotto’s classroom is transformed into a school restaurant with seating for 30 teachers, counselors, administrators, support staff and other invited guests.

Students spend Mondays and Tuesdays planning meals, Wednesdays and Thursdays cooking meals and cleaning up (staying after school both days) and Fridays tying up loose ends before starting the cycle over again.

At Eisenhower and many other high schools, students also cook for on-campus events, such as awards dinners. Sometimes they go off campus as well.

For instance, before the 2008 election, Dorsey High School’s advanced culinary students catered lunches daily to a Barak Obama campaign office in downtown Los Angeles. On election night, they catered to the Democratic Party’s headquarters in Culver City

Advanced culinary courses also include developing food products and marketing them. Students also work in internships at nearby hotels, such as Marriott or Hyatt.

While some schools’ advanced hospitality-related programs focus entirely on training future chefs, bakers and caterers, others expand the curriculum to embrace other aspects of the hospitality industry, such as lodging, travel and tourism. event planning; theme parks, attractions, and exhibitions and recreation. Study within a course focusing on these aspects of hospitality would include organizational management; customer service; sales and marketing; facilities management; lodging; travel destinations; and reservations, ticketing, and itineraries.

Additionally, some high schools offer advanced Home Economics Careers and Technology courses focusing on food science, dietetics and nutrition. These would prepare students for careers as dieticians and nutritionists and they could work in such places as hospitals, skilled nursing care facilities, government health departments and universities.

At many high schools, graduating seniors who have completed all of the tightly focused courses within a concentration (Food Service & Hospitality, Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation or Food Science, Dietetics & Nutrition) receive certificates with their diploma, recognizing the vocational skills for which they are qualified. Many other high schools are in the process of developing new courses to begin offering the certificates to graduates in 2010, 2011 or 2012.

The program now known as HECT has undergone a transformation over the last 40 years. Prior to the 1960s, the program focused on training women in skills they would need as wives and mothers. But, as more women began working outside the home, California changed its home economics curriculum to reflect this, and added the Home Economics Related Occupations component.

As all professions, including those in home economics related industries became more dependent on technology, so did the courses offered in secondary schools. To reflect this change, California renamed its home economics program Home Economics Careers and Technology in the 1990s.

There are more than 750 schools offering Home Economics Careers and Technology courses. More than 300,000 students are enrolled in these classes throughout the state.

For more information, call Janice DeBenedetti at (916) 323-5025.

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High School Students Earn Passport to a Tasty Future

Students at The International Culinary School at the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire learn to make a variety of cuisine. Now, high school seniors have an opportunity to learn some of these techniques and recipes through the Passport to A Tasty Future program.


(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire is doubling its efforts with the popular “Passport to a Tasty Future” program for teens it began last year.

“This program is for high school seniors only. It lets them find out if a career in the culinary arts is right for them,” said Chef Eyad Joseph, academic director of the International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. “It’s a way for them to see how culinary classes are conducted as well as our commitment to their education. These classes will help them secure a better understanding of the type of cuisines we teach as well as our curriculum.”

One group of high school seniors began instruction Oct. 25. Another group, to which The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire can accept a few more students, begins instruction Jan. 24, 2009.

The program starts with Basic Knife Skills and Cooking Methods. Students learn techniques from Julienne to Tourne cuts while focusing on repetition and consistency. They’ll explore methods of chopping, mincing and cutting of vegetables and proteins.

Also attendees to the first class study proper food amounts for ideal plate presentations, along with menu development. And they will learn a variety of important cooking methods such as sautéing, grilling, frying, braising and poaching, along with the importance of timing and heat distribution.

The first group of students took this course on Oct. 25. The second group will do so on Jan. 24, 2009.

From there, the students will learn a variety of types of cooking, starting with Latin regional dishes. Group 1 studies these Nov. 15, Group 2 does so Feb. 21, 2009.

As the two groups move into a holiday season, Christmas for Group 1 and Easter for Group 2, the focus changes to baking and pastries. Group 1 students will study this type of cooking Dec. 6, Group 2 on March 7, 2009.

The first group is in for a “Chef’s surprise,” on its last session, which takes place Dec. 13. “It’s up to the chef who teaches that class,” said Director of Admissions Monica Jeffs. “But it will have something to do with Christmas.”

It’s no secret what the second group will do on its final class meeting, taking place March 28, 2009. They’ll be making Easter brunch.

“Our Culinary program was renamed earlier this year as the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of California – Inland Empire,” Chef Joseph said. “In keeping with our new name, the Passport to a Tasty Future courses will expose high school seniors to the Culinary Arts program we offer, and give them a chance to understand world cuisine, which focuses on much more than the Classical French meals they may be familiar with.”

Each student will receive a uniform, ID badge, and knives to work with. The students will be asked to wear black clothes, non-skid shoes and to bring two small towels to each course.

“We want to provide them with everything they will need to successfully plan their future in the Culinary Arts field,” Chef Joseph said. “This program will help prepare them for a career in the hospitality field as well as culinary arts. “

The class is limited to just 24 students There is a waiting list, in case some students can’t commit to the six-month program.

This is the second year the International Culinary School has offered the Passport to a Tasty Future program. In the 2007-2008 school year, there were 15 students on the reserve list, as well as 24 in the original group, most of whom completed the courses.

During the International Culinary School’s summer quarter, 18 of those original 24 students in the first Passport to a Tasty Future decided to pursuer a career in culinary arts and enrolled as first-year students.

“Instructors teaching our new students have said that they see a huge difference between the students coming in with no prior experience and the students who have taken the Passport program before,” Chef Joseph said.

The check-in for each session is at 9:30 a.m. with programs starting at 10 and ending at 1 p.m.

For information on openings for the Passport To A Tasty Future workshops call Mario Alcazar, at (800) 353-0812 ext. 2165. Interested parties may also e-mail him at malcazar@aii.edu.

It’s not too late to start classes at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. Courses begin Nov. 13 and classes are offered in the day, evening and on weekends for new and reentry students.

For a free tour of The International Culinary School or for more information call (909) 915-2100 or go on line to www.ArtInstitutes.edu/InlandEmpire.

The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire offers Bachelor of Science degrees in Game Art & Design, Culinary Management, Graphic Design, Web Design & Interactive Media, Interior Design, Fashion Design and Retail Management, and Media Arts & Animation. There are also Associate of Science degrees in Graphic Design and Culinary Arts. Each program is offered on a year-round basis, allowing students to work uninterrupted toward their degrees.

The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire is one of the Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu), a system of more than 40 locations throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts professionals.

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The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire Named School of Distinction

Art Institute of California-Inland Empire President Emam El-Hout receives a "School of Distinction" award from Elise Scanlon, executive director of the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology in a recent ceremony.

(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology has named The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire a School of Distinction for 2007-2008.

“We are honored to receive the School of Distinction Award from ACCSCT,” said Emam El-Hout, president of The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. “Here at The Art Institute, we believe that our success is measured by the quality educational experience that we provide for our students. Our faculty and staff are committed to a high level of achievement and we are proud of our growing reputation as a superior institution of higher learning here in the Inland Empire.”

California State Assembly Member Wilmer Amina Carter, whose district includes The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire, is also pleased to see it obtain this recognition.

“Congratulations to the staff, faculty, students and graduates of The Art Institute of California - Inland Empire on your dedication and professionalism in pursuing and earning a five-year accreditation from the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology and being named an ACCSCT School of Distinction,” Assembly Member Carter said. “This significant achievement demonstrates the Art Institute's ongoing commitment to providing the very best career education in design, fashion, media arts and culinary programs for students in the Inland Empire.”

The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire received this distinction in late August. This comes on the heels of a five-year accreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges of Technology, which the Art Institute received in November 2007.

It received the “School of Distinction” designation because it operates its programs to the complete satisfaction of the accrediting team, thus no aspect needs to be examined later. In contrast, many schools are accredited with a condition that some aspect of their program be re-evaluated for improvement during the accreditation term, according to a representative of the commission.

"Of the 173 institutions considered by ACCSCT for initial or renewal of accreditation during the time period August 2007 through May 2008, only 45 institutions qualified for the School of Distinction Award," said Michale McComis, incoming executive director of the organization. "I hope everyone at the Art Institute – Inland Empire has an opportunity to celebrate this significant achievement.

Any school given a full accreditation during the previous year is eligible for the School of Distinction award.

“A five-year approval is unusual for a new school,” said Jerry Foust, dean of Academic Affairs for The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire. “We are very proud to have achieved this in such a short amount of time.”

The ACCSCT School of Distinction Award recognizes member schools that have demonstrated a commitment to its expectations, as well as a commitment to delivering quality educational programs to the students, graduates and employers.

The accreditation process is a comprehensive review of all academic and ancillary activities and resources that support an institution’s educational objectives and the programs it offers. The accreditation process takes 1 ½ to 2 years, and studies the delivery of programs and educational outcomes. Outcomes demonstrate the effectiveness of educational programs including favorable completion and job placement rates, state licensing examinations and success with employer and student satisfaction.

To be eligible for the 2007 - 2008 School of Distinction Award, a school must successfully complete the accreditation process and be reviewed by the Commission from May 2007 through May 2008. This took place at the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire in November 2007.

ACCSCT is comprised of more than 800 private, postsecondary career schools and colleges. The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire was one of twenty-three schools to receive this award nationwide, and one of two campuses of the Art Institutes, along with The Art Institute of Indianapolis.

The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire opened its doors less than three years ago with only 40 students. As of August 2008, the school boasts more than 800 students.

When the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire first opened in January 2006, it only offered the Graphic Arts, Web Design & Interactive Media and Interior Design programs. It began offering Media Arts & Animation and Game Art & Design in its second quarter.

It added programs in Culinary Arts and Culinary Management in January 2007.

By the time the team from The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology came to visit, all of these programs were fully operational, and the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire also had its Fashion & Retail Management and Fashion Design programs in the works, Foust said. So, the commission approved all of these programs, but will need to return to examine the fashion programs, which began instruction earlier this year.

The Art Institute of California - Inland Empire is one of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu), a system of more than 40 education institutions located throughout North America.

It’s not too late to enroll at The Art Institutes of California - Inland Empire. The Fall midterm enrollment begins Nov. 13 For more information, call The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire at 1-800-353-0812 or (909) 915-2100, or visit www.artinstitutes.edu/inlandempire.

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Community Program Lifting Spirits Up One Family At A Time

People benefiting from The Salvation Army's Adopt-A-Family program in 2007 wait in line to receive presents at the San Bernardino Corps.

(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) The Salvation Army is now accepting applications to Adopt-A-Family this holiday season. This program provides a way to lift the spirits of needy families by giving them a Christmas they will never forget.

Each year hundreds of Inland Empire families come to the Salvation Army for help in hopes to be considered as a family “in need”. “We list them among our families to be ‘adopted,” says San Bernardino Salvation Army Captain Stephen Ball.

“The breadwinner may have lost a job; the family may have been forced out of their homes due to foreclosure, someone may have been seriously, and expensively ill; or perhaps the family has faced a debilitating death of one of the parents. No matter the problem that causes the disruption or the ceasing of Christmas plans, the Adopt-A-Family program is here to help,” said Ball.

The process starts with families who sign up at their nearest Salvation Army branch, asking to be included in the Adopt-A-Family program, and note their gift wishes or family needs. Other families, businesses or groups then choose to “adopt” a family. Once the other family or business receives a match they will provide the adopted family with gifts and necessary items making their holiday bright.

Groups and businesses who adopt will invest thousands or more in a family. Families accepted into the program in the past have received gifts from new clothes for the whole family to much needed home repairs.

The success of the program comes from the many generous families and businesses who pitch in to assist, not overwhelm each needy family. “It’s a matter of “whatever it takes” to aid their selected family to get past the stress of the holidays”.

“The more families we can have adopted, the more we will be able to help,” said Envoy Naomi Tamez, co-commander of the Ontario Corps of The Salvation Army with her husband Abel. “If the community could adopt 100 families, it would help tremendously.”

“Adopting’ a family does not mean to take on the responsibility or shouldering a burden,” Capt. Ball explains. “It’s truly sharing the Christmas spirit with others who may not be as fortunate as you. It’s helping families to enjoy the holidays just as most of the rest of us do.”

Willing to adopt a family? Know of a family in need? Now more than ever the Salvation Army is asking the public’s help to provide the needy families of the Inland Empire a holiday without stress.

To adopt a family in San Bernardino, Colton, Rialto, Grand Terrace or Highland, call (909) 888-1336. The San Bernardino office is setting up a volunteer schedule to which Capt. Ball and his staff are eager to assist local residents in adding their names

To adopt a family in Redlands and other East San Bernardino Valley communities call (909) 792-6868. Volunteer Services Coordinator Mike Delgado will provide an application and on approval by Capt. Jonathan Apaun, assign volunteers to bell-ringing duties.

To adopt a family in San Bernardino County’s High Desert, call (760) 245-5745 and ask for Margot Barhas.

To adopt a family in Ontario and other West San Bernardino Valley communities, call Envoy Abel Tamez at (909) 509-2503 or Envoy Naomi Tamez at (909) 509-2741.

To adopt a family in the Desert Hot Springs/Coachella Valley areas, contact the Cathedral City Corps at (760) 324-2275.

To adopt a family in Hemet, San Jacinto, Idyllwild and surrounding areas contact the Hemet Corps at (951) 925-7176.

To adopt a family in Moreno Valley, Perris and surrounding areas, call the Moreno Valley Corps at (951) 653-9131.

To adopt a family in Murrieta, Temecula, Canyon Lake, Menifee and surrounding areas, call the Murrieta Corps at (951) 677-1324.

To adopt a family in Riverside, Corona, Norco and surrounding areas, call the Riverside Corps at (951) 784-4490.


About the Salvations Army San Bernardino Corps
The Salvation Army may be able to provide emergency services including food; lodging for homeless or displaced families; clothing and furniture; assistance with rent or mortgage and transportation when funds are available. The Salvation Army Team Radio Network assists rescue workers and evacuees in such disasters as fires.

The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian church and also offers evangelical programs for boys, girls and adults. One of the largest charitable and international service organizations in the world, The Salvation Army has been in existence since 1865 and in San Bernardino since 1887, supporting those in need without discrimination. Donations may always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY.




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