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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Bank Employees Called Up to Help the Troops

Feeling grateful? The Los Angeles office of Wells Fargo & Co. is. The bank showed its appreciation for U.S. troops by donating 15 pallets of goods to Operation Gratitude, a Van Nuys program that ships packages and personal letters to military personnel on active duty. The office spearheaded the fundraiser with the help of hundreds of Wells Fargo employees from Oregon, Washington and Alaska who prepared more than 10,000 toiletry kits, which were donated on Sept. 16. “We have on-going projects across the company to help meet the evolving needs of our active duty and veteran communities,” said Patrick Nygren, senior vice president of the bank in Los Angeles. Wells Fargo volunteers held nearly a dozen “assembling events.” Every kit included a reusable tote bag, lip balm, comb, razor, toothbrush, a Wells Fargo stress ball and moist towelettes. Dana Chotiner, director of corporate relations and events at Operation Gratitude, said toiletry and hygiene products are in high demand by troops in the field. “When deployed, sometimes they can go days without showers or getting cleaned and the moist towelettes are their only form of shower,” Chotiner said. The bank volunteers also wrote more than 10,000 letters to the troops thanking them for their service, and the bank gave the organization $20,000 to assist with shipping fees. Operation Gratitude receives donations of goods, letters and cash gifts from supporters throughout the country and assembles about 150,000 packages annually. Each package contains $75 to $100 worth of donated goods and costs about $15 to assemble and ship. Since it started in 2003, the organization has been able to send more than 1 million care packages to troops overseas. Love to Read Martin Cooper is at it again. The longtime Valley public relations guru, president of Cooper Communications, is holding his Eighth Annual Cooper Reading Challenge to reignite kids’ passion for reading in a digital age. This challenge was created to help instill the love of reading in the children of the Boys & Girls Club of West Valley by requesting business and community leaders in the Valley to contribute to the cost of books for the children. Last year, 230 children from the Canoga Park club were each given $25 to purchase one or more books from a local book store thanks to donations from the community. “This program isn’t about fundraising, it’s about teaching children to love and value books and reading,” said Cooper. “We invite the program’s underwriters to attend at least one book-shopping excursion to help the children select their books.” The challenge will last until Dec. 1. Honorable Service California Lutheran University honored longtime supporter Jack Wise at its Founders Day Convocation on Oct. 17. Wise, 73, who founded Oakmont Mortgage in Woodland Hills before selling it last decade, has been a benefactor for more than 40 years. Wise’s affiliation with the school began in the late 1970s when he served as a liaison between the university and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He also served on the university’s board for 15 years. “Jack is a wonderful asset to Cal Lutheran,” said Cal Lutheran President Chris Kimball. “Jack’s incredible passion for both the university and the church are clear to anyone who meets him and this is why we chose to honor him.” Wise, a Thousand Oaks resident, received the Christus award, which is presented to those who have made strong contributions to the university and helped bridge the gap between Cal Lutheran and the church. “I am honored to receive the award and I’m appreciative that the university recognized my work over the last 40 years,” Wise said. “It’s been a good journey and one that has been good for me. I’m glad that it worked out for the university.” Golfing Strong More than 130 community and local business leaders teed up for a full day on the links in support of the Valley Presbyterian Hospital’s fourth Annual Golf Classic. The Sept. 29 event at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village raised $170,000 for the Van Nuys hospital’s emergency department, which served more than 60,000 patients last year. Donations were up about 25 percent over last year and will help fund a renovation of the department. After a day of golf, the event featured cocktails, dinner and an awards reception. Among the sponsors were Aon, Shangri-La Construction, Mutual of America Life Insurance Co. and Preferred Partners Insurance Agency. Staff Reporter Champaign Williams can be reached at (818) 316-3121 or [email protected].

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