The fourth annual A Toast to Music food and wine benefit helped raise money for the Camellia Symphony Orchestra at the Old Sugar Mill Saturday night. The event was sponsored by Carvalho Family Winery. Camellia Symphony Orchestra executive director Roberta McClellan said the money raised at the event will help fund the orchestra’s 2011-2012 season, although they won’t know the total amount raised at the event until Thursday or Friday. “(It will help pay for) brochures, production, purchasing music, rental space and concerts over the summer,” McClellan said. The orchestra provides free family concerts over the summer, and McClellan said the money will also help pay for all of the expenses

What do Joe’s Crab Shack and Cinco de Mayo have in common? Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services' fundraiser night, of course! Please come out and join the fun on Thursday, May 5 between 5:00pm and 11:00pm. You can enjoy a delicious meal while helping raise funds for a worthy cause. Simply bring THIS FLIER with you to dinner and present it to your server. It is that easy. At the end of the night, 10% of your evening’s total will be donated to Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. We included three coupons on this flier so you can post a few at work, give one to a friend or share with a fellow diner. Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services has been making a difference in our community si

The third annual Race for the Ring is coming to Sacramento on May 21, 2011. This text messaged based treasure hunt on bike through downtown Sacramento is sponsored by Rogers Jewelry Company and directly benefits programs at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Teams of two will pedal, scoot and wheel their way through downtown Sacramento guided by text message clues in search of over $35,000 in prizes. Each week leading up to the event, we will interview someone who is involved in the race to find out why they are racing for a reason. Today's interview is with Pat McManus, a volunteer from last year’s event. Pat was born in the Midwest, but moved to Sacramento in 1987. She and her husb

Walk down busy J Street, pull open a heavy door of an appealing brick building and enter a showcase of photographic art – digital media, black and white, and historic processes, each image matted in the traditional austere fashion and hanging side by side on spot-lighted walls. Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization, provides a community for photographers and photography events, exhibits and education for the community. The center is holding its annual fine print auction and fundraiser until May 7. “We currently have 160-plus items that have been donated by photographers from around the world,” said Michael Corlew, chairman for the auction committee.

Looking for something to do this Friday night? Put on your dancing shoes, head over to the Blue Lamp, and support a good cause! Japan XOXO is a benefit dance party, with all profits from the door going to the American Red Cross. Join local DJs Shaun Slaughter, Adam J, Sam I Jam, and Taylor Cho as they do what they love to support an amazing cause. Feel like you could do more about Japan's dire situation? Feel helpless? Japan XOXO offers a very easy solution: COME DANCE. Expect an evening of fun house, bouncy house, hip house, topsy turvy techno, treacherous techno, and some fun indie stuff mixed in the middle keeping the party going all damn night. Plus, enjoy drink specials all night--

The third annual Race for the Ring is coming to Sacramento on May 21, 2011. This text messaged based treasure hunt on bike through downtown Sacramento is sponsored by Rogers Jewelry Company and directly benefits programs at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Teams of two will pedal, scoot and wheel their way through downtown Sacramento guided by text message clues in search of over $35,000 in prizes. Each week leading up to the event, we will interview someone who is involved in the race to find out why they are racing for a reason. Interview with Chris Wallis, a  participant in last year's event and a member of the 2nd place finishing team in the 2009 event. Chris is a researcher an

On Saturday, April 30th, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Woman of the Year candidate Vickie Lee from Sacramento launhes the first event of her campaign to raise awareness and raise funds for cancer research.  The funds raised from this event will offer hope and support for those impacted by blood cancers such as for the local children honorees Kylie(9) from Roseville and Jackson(5) from Folsom.  Both children are going through treatment for Leukemia. With 2 young children, a full time job as an insurance and financial professional, along with the familial duty of  taking her parents to doctors' appointments, many would ask why Vickie is willing to subject herself and her family to the 1

The third annual Race for the Ring is coming to Sacramento on May 21, 2011. This text messaged based treasure hunt on bike through downtown Sacramento is sponsored by Rogers Jewelry Company and directly benefits programs at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Teams of two will pedal, scoot and wheel their way through downtown Sacramento guided by text message clues in search of over $35,000 in prizes. Each week leading up to the event, we will interview someone who is involved in the race to find out why they are racing for a reason. This week’s interview is with Lily Calderon-Huezo, a full time student at the Art Institute of California, Sacramento majoring in Game Art and Design. Li

The Humor Times (20 Years) and Access Sacramento (25 Years) Celebrate Anniversaries Together with a Comedy and Variety Show Featuring Comedian Will Durst and many other performers including the 40’s vocal harmonies of “Sister Swing”, a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, a magician and local improvisational comedy troupe The Anti-Cooperation League. Joint Anniversary Celebrations -- As print publications nationwide continue to fall by the wayside, the Humor Times is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary. And as corporate media continues to consolidate, Access Sacramento celebrates its 25th anniversary as the area’s local, community-operated TV, radio, and Internet production resource. The publi

The third annual Race for the Ring is coming to Sacramento on May 21, 2011. This text messaged based treasure hunt on bike through downtown Sacramento is sponsored by Rogers Jewelry Company and directly benefits programs at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Teams of two will pedal, scoot and wheel their way through downtown Sacramento guided by text message clues in search of over $35,000 in prizes. Each week leading up to the event, we will interview someone who is involved in the race to find out why they are racing for a reason. Interview with Jason Hone, who placed in last year's event with his wife Stephanie. Both Jason and Stephanie hail from Southern California’s Inland Empir

Attention all KISS Army. Yes, that means you. Dust off those platform shoes, dig in the closet for your skin-tight pleather and cover your face in your kid’s Halloween make up because your favorite rock band is coming to town – KISS. One of America’s most influential rock and roll bands is coming to Sacramento during Memorial Day Weekend. The legendary rock stars that have performed at the Super Bowl, Olympics and “American Idol” – Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer - will be at Raley Field on Sunday, May 29 as the headliner for Hope Production Foundation’s Walk ‘N Rock for Kids 2011. All proceeds benefit Sacramento region charities. Tickets are on sale through Tick

Walk ‘N Rock for Kids will be returning to West Sacramento’s Raley Field on Sunday, May 29 for its third year featuring a fundraising walk in the morning and concert in the evening headlining the rock band KISS. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster.com. Hope Productions Foundation, a nonprofit that provides support and training at no cost for local charities serving children and youth, created this annual charity event. Through Walk ‘N Rock for Kids and similar fundraising events, Hope Productions Foundation has raised over $1.5 million and supported 22 local charities making a difference in the lives of 51,00 local youth.  There are five easy ways to support or participate in Wa

After Full Circle Treatment Center became a Nonprofit Affiliate of Hope Productions Foundation in the fall of 2009, executive director Erin Johansen learned some encouraging tips to increase community support for her organization. First, Johansen raised the bar on her team’s fundraising goals for this year’s Walk ‘N Rock for Kids event.  Last year the team raised $11,000, providing partial funding for more than 30 family scholarships at the Placer County adolescent drug and alcohol treatment center. As impressive as those numbers are, this year Johansen set her sights on raising $25,000, enough to assist 60 percent of the clients at Full Circle. “Our board members and team captain are f

At the ripe age of six and a half, Juliette Geney can make a powerful claim like no other little girl her age. Last year, her Team Warrior Princess raised more than $23,000 during Walk ‘N Rock for Kids, sending 23 children with cancer to Camp Okizu in the Sierra foothills. Okizu provides peer support, respite, mentoring and recreational programs to meet the needs of all members of families affected by childhood cancer.  Juliette’s goal was to send 21 kids to Camp Okizu. Thanks to supporters of her Walk ‘N Rock for Kids team and a surprise call from an anonymous donor, Team Warrior Princess was able to surpass that goal. Warrior Princess — the name Juliette assumed during her own cancer

The third annual Race for the Ring is coming to Sacramento on May 21, 2011. This text messaged based treasure hunt on bike through downtown Sacramento is sponsored by Rogers Jewelry Company and directly benefits programs at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Teams of two will pedal, scoot and wheel their way through downtown Sacramento guided by text message clues in search of over $35,000 in prizes. Each week leading up to the event, we will interview someone who is involved in the race to find out why they are racing for a reason. Interview with Tom and Jessica Pearson, finishers in last year's event. Tom hails from eastern Washington and fancies himself a bit of a mountain man. Je

Throughout my 'radio' years here in Sacramento, people have asked me about my involvement with FEAT--a non-profit organization of parents, family members, and treatment professionals dedicated to providing best outcome Education, Advocacy and Support for the Northern California Autism Community. FEAT stands for Families for Early Autism Treatment. My answer is simple. Someone in the media needed to help. When I first started to help FEAT the term autism was still relatively unknown to the mass audience. Back then, when one would say, autistic--people thought we were saying, artistic. I knew I needed to help with the enlightenment of autism. I realized then, these parents needed more than a

Saturday, Cafe Au Lait will host Sacramento’s Bake Sale for Japan to raise money for victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami devastation in Japan. The Bake Sale for Japan is a national bake sale held on April 2 at bakeries, restaurants and other places featuring baked goods. Milena Pointer, who works as a nanny, and is one of the also an organizers for the Sacramento bake sale. Pointer viewed videos of the destruction in Japan and said she wanted to find a way to help. “If it happened to us, if it happened to America, we would need help,” Pointer said. “Any person with a heart would feel like they like they need to do something. The difference is some people act on that feeling, an

Fans of TV’s globetrotting race game can now test their game play right here in Sacramento! Rogers Jewelry Company is preparing to host the 3rd annual Race for the Ring on May 21, 2011 to benefit Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS). 2,000 Sacramento area residents are expected to turn out for this exciting, location-based game where clues and answers are sent via text messages. Participants race from location to location in Downtown and Mid-town on foot and bike solving riddles and challenges while earning points. The team with the most points at the end wins! Prizes include over $30,000 worth of jewelry from Rogers Jewelry Company. The $40 registration fee for any team include

Father Dan Madigan founded Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS) in the basement of his Oak Park church in 1976. Pained by watching so many people go hungry on the streets of Sacramento, he called together a small cadre of compassionate volunteers to tackle the problem. Over time, the number of facilities, staff and volunteers grew to meet the ever increasing need in Sacramento. His passion for helping individuals and families in need is still alive and well in the wide array of programs and services offered by SFBFS. SFBFS currently operates two large facilities, in Oak Park and in North Sacramento, serving neighborhoods with families experiencing some of the highest rates of po

The third annual Race for the Ring is coming to Sacramento on May 21, 2011. This text messaged based treasure hunt on bike through downtown Sacramento is sponsored by Rogers Jewelry Company and directly benefits programs at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Teams of two will pedal, scoot and wheel their way through downtown Sacramento guided by text message clues in search of over $35,000 in prizes. Each week leading up to the event, we will interview someone who is involved in the race to find out why they are racing for a reason. Interview with Peter Skipper, a finisher in last year's event. Peter teaches 5th grade math in Brooklyn, New York. In his free time, Peter writes screenp