Press Release~

December Book Gifting Event at The Virgin of Guadalupe Celebration. St. Francis Church, Sonoma, CA – On December 12th, 2010, Nuestra Voz, Christopher Oscar of Century 21 Wine Country and The I AM Foundation teamed up to reach across cultures to build literacy and self-esteem in children.  They come together to gift 400 children and families with the bi-lingual I AM! Affirmation Book: Discovering The Value of Who You Are in English and Spanish. This Book Gifting Event took place at The Virgin of Guadalupe Celebration, St. Francis Church, Sonoma, CA.

The hosts, Gabriel Sánchez Navarro, Associate Director and Alejandra Cervantes Executive Director of Nuestra Voz of Sonoma, in collaboration with Father Adam Kotas and Lolita Barba from the St. Francis Solano Church warmed up the crowd with festivities, food and fun.

In the midst of many cultural dancers and presenters, the children and parents of the Nuestra Voz community heard from friendly voices who came bearing gifts in time for the Christmas Holiday.  Co-Founders Steve Viglione and Dr. Marilyn Powers of The I AM Foundation and Event Sponsor Chris Oscar all addressed the audience. First, Mr. Oscar told the community how important it was to for children to have safety in the home, to read with children and to build a positive self-esteem in them. Then, Author Steve Viglione shared how he suffered with self-esteem issues as a child which has inspired him to help children around the world through books. Next, Dr. Marilyn Powers had the children and adults say the affirmations from the book out loud in English while Zuli Baron from St. Joseph Health System, translated in Spanish.

Dr. Marilyn Powers Gives Little Girl a Book

Afterwards, every child present received a copy of The I AM! Affirmation Book: Discovering The Value of Who You Are. The books were sponsored by Chris Oscar who makes a donation from every real estate sale he makes as a Cause Marketing Partner of The I AM Foundation. Many in the community were asking for several copies to take to friends and family.  Some asked for copies to bring to Bakersfield, CA and parts of Mexico while others wanted them for family right here in Sonoma.

Another positive note from the event is that Steve, Marilyn and Chris met Patrick Garcia. The four have met post event and are all working together to seek ways to build bridges between cultures and communities. Patrick will also be taking I AM! Affirmation Books to Baja California, Central Mexico, Oaxaca and Chiapas in January.

To get involved in “Building Bridges in Our Communities” please contact Patrick Garcia, Director of Sonoma/Petaluma State Parks Association at 707.935.7832 or email pgarcia@vom.com.

To contact NuestraVoz visit their website at www.nuestravozsonoma.org, to visit Chris Oscar at Century 21 Wine Country visit www.yoursonoma.com and to visit The I AM Foundation go to www.iamfoundation.org