News & Events
News and Events
The latest news and information about Our Promise. View upcoming events, sign up for the quarterly newsletter or submit an event for our calendar.
Our Promise Kick Off at the State Capitol
Join us Wednesday, Aug. 30 on the North Steps of the State Capitol
Brightening the day one petal at a time
The Petal Connection
Our Promise Loaned Executive and long time supporter of the campaign, Danielle Gist, was recently reminded of the good in our community.
Secretary Marybel Batjer receives the Augustus Freeman Hawkins Award
Secretary Marybel Batjer, Government Operations Agency, was awarded the Augustus Freeman Hawkins Award of Distinguished Merit in Community Service at the Our Promise Thank You Breakfast event on March 1, 2017.
The award was presented by Tabitha Angel, Director of Our Promise. The award celebrates the vision of the man who created Our Promise, Augustus Freeman Hawkins.
Our Promise Thank You Breakfast & Awards 2016
Thank you for attending the 2016 Our Promise Thank You Breakfast! We appreciate everything you do to make the Our Promise campaign a huge success.
The event honored our committed and hard-working department and agency Chairs, Vice Chairs and other campaign volunteers, who worked to spread the word about the opportunity to give back, and the 32,000 state employees who contributed to Our Promise: California State Employees Giving at Work.
2016 Campaign Results
Here you will find information for 2016 that includes the total number of employees, how many of those participated in the campaign, and how much money those employees raised.
Making Strides and Warming Lives
Bari and Service Dog Axel III
Bari Schlesinger was once unable to pick up items that she dropped on the floor. She once relied on others to open doors. She once feared going places alone.
Thanks to the help of Canine Companions for Independence, Bari no longer strains herself to retrieve dropped items, she doesn’t need to wait for strangers to come along and open doors, and gone are the days of anxiety and doubt. Bari is now a self-assured and independent individual with her wonderful Canine Companions assistance dog, Axel III, provided to her free of charge.
Handing Out Hope
Steve Abrams, Office of Legislative Counsel
Growing up without many basic resources can be a burden to children who come from impoverished families. This struggle has always been close to my heart since I myself grew up in a single parent household where we struggled to get by on just the basic necessities. When I became an adult I realized that I had the power to do something good that could help make a child’s life a little easier. As an 18 year youth sports coach I realized that I had collected so much baseball gear, and I knew that I could put it to good use.
Senior Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Shares The Gift Of A Guide Dog
When John Albarran lost his sight to glaucoma, he quickly figured out how to move forward in his life. By the age of 17, before he had graduated from high school, Albarran was a Guide Dogs of America graduate. He is currently partnered with his fourth dog from the school, a female yellow Labrador Retriever named Julep.
Giving to Nonprofits Makes Me Feel Good
We all like to think that we are safe and secure, but one incident or accident can surprise and shock us. In 1980, my father had a massive stroke, and my mother was instantly transformed into a 24-hour caregiver for a person who had severe speech and mobility issues.
Beating the Odds
Our Promise: California State Employees Giving at Work is a campaign that allows employees to give to a variety of charitable organizations that are vitally important to the community. I am a member and in great support of Our Promise because I have had five kidney transplants.
Survivors of Torture, International
I have worked as an attorney for the State of California my entire professional career, beginning at the Department of Justice, then at the Office of the Inspector General, and currently at the Board of Parole Hearings. But long before that, I spent a year as an exchange student in Argentina at a time when the country was still ruled by a military junta.
Autism Speaks
And Can Sign Too
I am Ken Roberts Sr., a Lieutenant with the California Highway Patrol Commercial Vehicle Section; I have been with the Department for over 17 years. When he was 2 months old, my son Ken Roberts Jr. had emergency surgery for pyloric stenosis.
A Father’s Love
My name is Armando and I am a Hearing Officer at the San Bernardino Driver Safety office. I have been a Hearing Officer for over 2 years, and have been a state employee for close to 10 years.
Submit an Event
Are you coordinating a special Our Promise event for your department that you would like to add to our calendar? Submit the information below, and we will post to our event calendar.