Thank you, Rotary Club of Cordelia

On April 12th, I had the privilege and honor to attend a meeting for the Rotary Club of Cordelia, at the Courtyard by Marriott in Fairfield. There they presented The Matt Garcia Foundation, with a very generous check in the amount of one thousand dollars! We are extremely grateful for this amazing donation. We will continue to live out Matt's dream, as we have, for the last 14 years. We get to do this because of amazing donors like you.

The Rotary Club of Cordelia, was founded in 1988. It is an association of business and community leaders serving the Fairfield Suisun area and enriching the professional and personal lives of its members. 

We want to Thank The Rotary of Cordelia for all that you do for so many!

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

Why the pencil is perfect | Small Thing Big Idea, a TED series

Why are pencils shaped like hexagons, and how did they get their iconic yellow color? Pencil shop owner Caroline Weaver takes us inside the fascinating history of the pencil.

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

Community Clean Up - THIS Saturday May 27th

 

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

Assist-A-Grad Scholarship

We had many applications to review this year for our annual Assist-A-Grad Scholarship selections. Our annual 10 to award but an additional, larger scholarship in memory of our dear friend and member of The Matt Garcia Foundation, Lesley Snedeker DePorto.

In the group of our annual 10, we also denoted one of these to be in memory of our beloved late board member, Dwight Lundy Jr. He was a mentor and active leader on our board as well as in this community.

This year's applicants were all from Armijo, Public Safety Academy, Rodriguez, Travis Education, and Vanden high schools. All the applicants were very qualified candidates and narrowing down the selection was so tough. Each of the students were articulate and open about what they hope to accomplish in their next phase of academia. But they were also very inspiring, talking about what the future has in store for them and what they can do in their future careers. Some also shared their excitement for the "unknown" as well; not really knowing what their major would result in nor in which career. All the passion that each of them shared, brought such hope and excitement to our interviewers.

This brings me to a BIG thank you to this year's foundation interviewers; Jay DePorto, Dana Lee-Bise, Shirley Villanueva, Andy Ramirez, Teresa Courtemanche, Usha Mantena, and Susie Young. Thank you so much for the hours of interviews spent by each of you and for even sharing some of your experience and wisdom when asked by the interviewees! Your time has been and continues to be invaluable for the growth of our foundation!

We wish all of the 2023 Graduates much success and hope for their next journey in life! Remember also...there are many resources on the college campuses and in each of those communities that are ready to help you! Use these resources and always be open to an extended helping hand. 

Congratulations Class of 2023!!!

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

What's normal anxiety -- and what's an anxiety disorder? | Body Stuff wi...

Everyone gets anxious at times, but how can you tell when it crosses the line and needs attention? Dr. Jen Gunter shares the science behind your brain's threat-detection system, what makes it malfunction and the most effective ways of treating it.

Think you know how your body works? Think again! Dr. Jen Gunter is here to shake up everything you thought you knew -- from how much water you need to drink to how often you need to poop and everything in between. This TED original series will tell you the truth about what's really going on inside you.

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

Downtown Fairfield May Events

Farmer’s Market

*Thursdays - 4, 11, 18, 25: From 3:00pm-7:00pm

Summers Concert Series

Friday 12: From 6:00pm-9:00pm 

The Time Bandits*

MAYkers Market

~Saturday 20: From 12:00pm-5:00pm

* Event on County Lawn

~ Event has street closures

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

How Depression Affects The Brain - Yale Medicine Explains

For many people, depression turns out to be one of the most disabling illnesses that we have in society. Despite the treatments that we have available, many people are not responding that well. It's a disorder that can be very disabling in society. It's also a disorder that has medical consequences. By understand the neurobiology of depression we hope to be able more to find the right treatment for the patient suffering from this disease.  The current standard of care for the treatment of depression is based on what we call the monoamine deficiency hypothesis. Essentially, presuming that one of three neurotransmitters in the brain is deficient or underactive. But the reality is, there are more than 100 neurotransmitters in the brain. And billions of connections between neurons. So we know that that's a limited hypothesis. Neurotransmitters can be thought of as the chemical messengers within the brain, it's what helps one cell in the brain communicate with another, to pass that message along from one brain region to another. For decades, we thought that the primary pathology, the primary cause of depression was some abnormality in these neurotransmitters, specifically serotonin or norepinephrine. However, norepinephrine and serotonin did not seem to be able to account for this cause, or to cause the symptoms of depression in people who had major depression. Instead, the chemical messengers between the nerve cells in the higher centers of the brain, which include glutamate and GABA, were possibilities as alternative causes for the symptoms of depression. When you're exposed to severe and chronic stress like people experience when they have depression, you lose some of the connections between the nerve cells. The communication in these circuits becomes inefficient and noisy, we think that the loss of these synaptic connections contributes to the biology of depression. There are clear differences between a healthy brain and a depressed brain. And the exciting thing is, when you treat that depression effectively, the brain goes back to looking like a healthy brain, both at the cellular level and at a global scale. It's critical to understand the neurobiology of depression and how the brain plays a role in that for two main reasons. One, it helps us understand how the disease develops and progresses, and we can start to target treatments based on that. We are in a new era of psychiatry. This is a paradigm shift, away from a model of monoaminergic deficiency to a fuller understanding of the brain as a complex neurochemical organ. All of the research is driven by the imperative to alleviate human suffering. Depression is one of the most substantial contributors to human suffering. The opportunity to make even a tiny dent in that is an incredible opportunity.

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

Survivors Support Group, Second Tuesday of Every Month

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website

Inspiring Words

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.” 

~ Jane Goodall

Direct: 707.372.4160
Email: info@ffinest.org
Website