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The contributions of each of these individuals are tremendous. Their combined efforts are vital to our programs and their constant enthusiasm helps brighten the holidays of thousands of children every year. On behalf of the children, thank you for your dedication! |
Elf of the Year 2009!
Jessica Hill first started volunteering with the Family Giving Tree in 2004 as a teambuilidng event when she worked for Intel Corporation. She liked it so much that she volunteered each year with Intel, and after she left Intel to pursue a consulting career, she kept coming back on her own and bringing her friends and family with her. Jessica is also a member of Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business organization, where she currently serves as the Chapter Advisor to Santa Clara University and is the Vice President of the Bay Area Alumni Chapter. She loves to travel internationally and is an avid scrapbooker (putting together pictures from all those trips!) and has even ran into the Queen Elf a time or two at a few scrapbooking retreats! She also enjoys cycling and has recently ventured into the world of triathlons.
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 Cristina Piasecki was a Family Giving Tree volunteer for three years before joining the Board of Directors in 2004 and has served as FGT Board Chair for three years. A self employed HR consultant, she takes time out of her very busy schedule to plan, facilitate and host board meetings, attend FGT events, help us find hosts, pick up gifts, work at our warehouse, sign awards for hundreds of our donors and acts as our Human Resources advisor. Cris is an exemplary board member and we are proud to have her on our team!
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 Aura Vega, affectionately known to the Elves as 'Nana', has worked at our holiday warehouse since 1996. She drives from Turlock every year to volunteer from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday-Sunday for two weeks in our warehouse 'store', organizing thousands of donations that we give children and families whose specific gifts haven't come to the warehouse in time. In the spring she also coordinates with her church to donate hundreds of items to local families. Jessica Hill, another of our star volunteers, shares her store experience with Nana: “When we attended the orientation and had to sign up for the areas we preferred the most, I had all intentions of avoiding the store. With a group of volunteers trying to put toys away, while a group of Girl Scouts is running around trying to find gifts, the store seemed too chaotic! But, then I met Nana. Every day Nana would greet me with a huge smile! If Jenn is the Queen Elf, then Nana is the Princess. Nana has a great pulse on the store and always knows what areas are running low, which gifts need to be processed first, and is always available to help any one with a question.” Nana has a tireless spirit when helping FGT. Her insatiable attitude comes from wanting to help in the community and knowing that the gifts will be given to children who will love them. Though small in size her huge heart helped thousands more children this holiday!
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 Diane Trevino has volunteered with FGT since it’s inception, a full 19 years! She spends endless hours at our warehouses for the Back-to-School Drive and Holiday Wish Drive, doing everything from training fellow volunteers to personally making sure every bag is perfectly packed. Her other commitments include serving as lead volunteer with Sacred Heart Community Services and heading National Semiconductor's Holiday Workshop Project that provided 800 gift bags for seniors, low-income families, homeless adults and adults with disabilities. Not only does Diane coordinate the hundreds of volunteers that assemble the gift bags, she and her husband Rey shop for each of the items (over 10,400 toiletries, books, etc.) that go into the bags. Diane participates in all of the volunteer projects coordinated by National Semiconductor including bagging groceries for seniors at the Sunnyvale Community Services, beautifying an InnVision shelter for women and children, and pulling invasive weeds with Save the Bay. She also serves on National Semiconductor's Wellness Team, Recycling Team and is a Building Emergency Manager for their headquarters building. She is an inspiration to all of us! |
 Julie Neff has volunteered at the Family Giving Tree for 15 years for both the Back-to-School Drive and Holiday Wish Drive. Julie and her husband, Randy help us plan the layout of our warehouse every year so that we can distribute gifts and backpacks more efficiently. They spend every day setting up the space for volunteers and provide documentation after each drive to give us suggestions for next year. We are thrilled to have her help and every year we are amazed at her level of organization! |
 Joan Scott has worked with FGT for 18 years and has coordinated numerous shopping sprees for National Semiconductor. These shopping sprees have encouraged increased participation by National Semiconductor employees, thereby helping more children during the holidays; 2,373 children benefited from these shopping sprees in 2008 alone! In addition, Joan not only facilitated a corporate donation to FGT of $25,000 from National Semiconductor, but also coordinates the free use of National Semiconductor facilities and catering for our annual Holiday Celebration Luncheons. She played an essential role in planning the Target/CEO Shopping Challenges for three years and the many hours she's spent have directly helped, by our estimate, almost 25,000 children! |
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