Sunday, August 16, 2015 The Bakersfield Voice
w w w. b a ke r s f i e l d vo i c e .c o m
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Sheryl Chalupa
THE CALIFORNIAN
Olivia Garcia
Girl Scouts honor three inspiring local women BY JORDAN KING Community contributor
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irl Scouts of Central California South is proud to announce the three Kern County Women Inspiring Girls Honorees for 2015: °Sheryl Chalupa, CEO of Goodwill Industries of South Central California °Olivia Garcia, Editor-in-chief of Bakersfield Life/columnist at The Bakersfield Californian °Caren Hill Floyd, Retired educator and youth advocate/mentor The Women Inspiring Girls Luncheon’s seventh annual awards luncheon recognizes dynamic women who have made a positive impact in their community. The Women Inspiring Girls Luncheon will be held at Valley Baptist Church on Friday, Oct. 16, at 11:30 a.m. Before she was CEO of Goodwill Industries of South Central California, Chalupa was the executive director of Girl Scouts – Joshua Tree Council. She’s an active leader and volunteer in her community. She serves on the board of the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce and is a current member of the foundation board of directors at California State University, Bakersfield. In 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Chalupa as chair of the State Fund Board. Olivia Garcia started at The Bakersfield Californian in 1998 and currently is the editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Bakersfield Life and the bimonthly Kern Business Journal. She is also a regular columnist for The Bakersfield Californian. In 2014 and 2015, she received the PR/Marketing Award from Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and was recognized as Business Woman of the Year by the Hispanic Chamber in 2009. She volunteers and serves on several boards including Bakersfield College Foundation, Kern County Law Enforcement Foundation and the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Caren Hill Floyd spent many years as a teacher, teaching fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth grades and then became a resource specialist for the Bakersfield City School District’s Special Education Department. Floyd then moved into school administration where she served as vice principal at Noble Elementary,
Sat. AUG 22 10am-5pm
Sun. AUG 23 12pm-5pm
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Caren Hill Floyd
McKinley and Compton Middle School, and as principal at Wayside Elementary School. Today, Caren is a member of the Educational Council, a Bible school teacher, and an Alzheimer’s and mental health advocate. She is also president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Kappa Omega Omega Chapter. She is chairman of Emerging Young Leaders, the education co-chair for the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a language trainer for Cartus. Along with honoring these trailblazing women, the Women Inspiring Girls Awards Luncheon will explore the vital role that mentors and volunteers play in helping girls in our community develop courage, confidence and character in order to “find their own voices.” For more information, to sponsor this event or to purchase tickets, visit our website at girlscoutsccs.org/women-inspiringgirls.
YOUR HEALTH
Get in step to help fight ALS BY LORNA MCWILLIAMS Community contributor
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he 12th annual Walk to Defeat ALS will be held Saturday, Oct. 3, at The Park at River Walk in Bakersfield. The walk will help raise money for local patient services and increase awareness of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in Kern County. If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with ALS, then this event will allow you to get more information and meet others with this progressive disease. Over the past 10 years, the Bakersfield community has contributed over
$1 million, making the Bakersfield walk one of the most successful events for the Golden West Chapter of the ALS Association. This success is the result of countless people in our community working hard to improve the lives of those afflicted with ALS. The biggest thrill is seeing all those people, friends and strangers alike, parading around the park in support of our cause. Once again, we call upon the can-do spirit of our community to help those in need. The ALS Association has been there to help Kern County ALS patients and their families through their most diffiPlease turn to WALK / 2
Walter will be in Bakersfield on Sat. & Sun. August 22 & 23, 2015 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 3625 Marriott Drive. Event Hours: Saturday 10am - 5pm, Sunday: 12pm-5pm. No appointments are needed. To schedule private appointments for large collections, please call 1-866-921-7826.