California Bowling Writers (CBW)

Reminder!! Monday, November 30th, is donation deadline if you want to be entered in the drawing to win a CBW/OFP gift package valued at $250 and will include an OFP t-shirt or sweatshirt (your choice and size), an OFP hat or visor (again your choice), a 2021 OFP calendar, a bottle of red or white wine (your choice) and a $50 gift certificate for a restaurant of your choice as well as another surprise item! Get your donation in today....minimum $20....to get your name included in this drawing!!! What are you waiting for? And thank YOU from all of us at CBW for your donations to our annual charity!!

Mentoring Monday: Today is a big birthday for OFP; on this date in 2011, founder Mary Cortani received the letter confirming that Operation Freedom Paws was an ...official nonprofit. Tomorrow we begin our 10th (official) year of matching rescued dogs with disabled veterans and other individuals, and teaching them how to use those dogs to assist them with their specific medical challenges. From PTSD to diabetes, brain injuries to autism, allergen alerts to chronic pain and illness, we’re proud to hear from clients that their lives are changed for the better. We’ve helped; the dogs have helped; our therapists have helped; but most of all the clients have done the work to help change themselves. This year, with the backdrop of COVID, OFP’s work has been especially complicated. Our boarding and daycare kennel operation, which has evened out seasonal ups and downs in donor support, had no income for months, but we still had the program’s rescued dogs to care for. COVID has forced OFP graduates back into isolation, bringing past traumas back to the surface. Donors’ incomes have been negatively impacted, along with foundations from whom we’ve received grants in the past. The annual OFP fundraisers that have contributed significantly to our program had to be cancelled, and we’ve cautiously entered the world of virtual events. However, thanks to responsible fiscal management by our Board and continuing support from regular donors, we have been able to continue serving graduates and existing clients, and add 23 applicants from our waiting list. That list continues to grow. We’ve learned a lot in the past 39,420 days. The two most important lessons that come to mind are staying absolutely true to our mission, and being as flexible as possible in finding ways to do that. If you’re reading this post you’re on this roller-coaster ride with us, and we are incredibly grateful for your support. On behalf of our clients and their dogs, THANK YOU! Please donate if you can, board and/or train with us if you have a dog, make us your chosen charity on Amazon Smile, send a team a bag of treats from our Amazon Wish List, donate a car through Able Auto Charity, share our posts, and stick around for the next ten years----it’ll be an adventure! See more

CBW’s 17th Operation Freedom Paws Charity Drive is now in full swing! Please consider a donation, any amount, to help our CA Veterans get matched up with service dogs. If any year, this year, they need our donations with the pandemic not allowing them to have fundraisers and we had to cancel our 3rd Operation Freedom Paws Bowling Tournament that was scheduled the end of September at 4th Street Bowl in San Jose. Please consider making a donation today. Deadline for donations is Dec. 31, 2020. Thank you!!

How many lines can you hit in Bowling BINGO!? Tag your friends and see who gets the most!

Deadline to enter the 2020 CBW Marijane Viat writing contest is Thurs., April 2nd. Go to our website www.calbowlingwriters.org and check out the qualifications to enter and consider sending an entry in!

California Bowling Writers

How many lines can you hit in Bowling BINGO!? Tag your friends and see who gets the most!

Deadline to enter the 2020 CBW Marijane Viat writing contest is Thurs., April 2nd. Go to our website www.calbowlingwriters.org and check out the qualifications to enter and consider sending an entry in!

Donna Morales (right) presents OFP’s Mary Cortani the remaining funds collected since the Operation Freedom Paws Bowling Tournament in late September to bring our 2019 fundraising total to $9,680!! Thank you to all that donated and helped our CA Veterans find therapy dogs to change their lives thanks to Mary and OFP! This check was presented this past Wed., Jan. 22, 2020 in Gilroy.

Deadline is approaching for donations for the 2019 CBW Charity Drive which goes straight to Operation Freedom Paws. Any amount is appreciated. Just go to our website calbowlingwriters.org and download the donation form and send in your donation before Tues., Dec. 31st. Your CBW Board was fortunate enough to get to visit Operation Freedom Paws in Gilroy this past September and see a training session as well as see how the dogs and their owners interact and all of us were just amazed at fortunate we are to have a place like this for Veterans to find a companion for life. It truly is a heartwarming experience and if you are ever in the area, please stop by and take it in for yourself.

Tuesday, Dec. 3rd, is National Giving Tuesday. Dec. 31st is our deadline for donations to the 2019 CBW Charity Drive for Operation Freedom Paws. If you haven’t already donated, please consider donating. Any amount is appreciated. Go to our website www.calbowlingwriters.org for a donation form. Thank you!

Operation Freedom Paws tour this morning and this place is amazing!! Reminder....tomorrow (Sun., Sept. 29) is our 2nd Operation Freedom Paws fundraiser bowling tournament at 4th Street Bowl in San Jose. Squads at 10am and 2pm. Come be part of this great cause!

CBW will visit OFP next Saturday to see Mary and staff training our Veterans with their dog. We will host a fundraising bowling tournament at 4th Street Bowl on Sunday.

California Bowling Writers invites you to attend the upcoming 2nd annual Operation Freedom Paws Bowling Tournament coming up on Sunday, September 29, at 4th Street Bowl in San Jose. There are two squads10am and 2pm. Open to adults and youth. Come join the fun and help us support Operation Freedom Paws and meet some of the OFP staff, clients and their dogs!

Starting tomorrow (Sept. 11) thru Sept. 17, catch Fred Eisenhammer as Len Nicholson’s guest on Phantom Radio. Fred is the 2019 CBW MJ Viat writing award winner. Phantom Radio is www.kegel.net/Phantom.

Your CBW Board met Friday, June 7, 2019, at Ontario Gateway Hotel to hold our Board and Annual meeting in conjunction with CUSBC State Convention.