Matt Garcia Foundation Schedules Fundraiser

Teresa Courtemanche speaks to a room of inmates graduating from a victim impact program, at California State Prison-Solano, in Vacaville, Friday. Courtemanche spoke about her son Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia, who was killed in 2008. (Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic)

By Amy Maginnis-Honey

FAIRFIELD — The Matt Garcia Foundation will host its first STAND with Fairfield’s Finest on Thursday in downtown Fairfield.

The event is a fundraiser and a friend-raiser.

“So many people are confused about the foundation,” said Teresa Courtemanche, the mother of slain Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia.

The foundation was formed to carry on his dream of involving young people in their community with the goal of reducing crime. STAND is an acronym for support, teach, advocate, nurture and dream.

Thursday’s schedule includes radio interviews and online media campaign from 9 a.m. to noon. Local restaurants are partnering with the foundation from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The list can be found at www.themattgarciafoundation.org. Events and activities are scheduled between 3 and 7 p.m. near the farmers market at Texas and Jefferson streets in Fairfield.

The foundation has raised nearly $500,000 since it began in 2009.

“We get the money and we give it out to different groups,” Courtemanche said.

A list of the recipients can be found on the website.

“We want to move forward and upward to help more people,” Courtemanche said. “The goal of the foundation is to support youth and help stop crime.”

Article Source: Daily Republic 

The Man Behind The Dream

Matt Garcia was a young man with a vision for the great City of Fairfield. He was the youngest city councilman elected in the State of California in November, 2007. Matt was a great young leader and an inspiration to all who knew him.

Tragically, we lost Matt when he was only 22 years old to gun violence. A man, high on drugs, pointed a gun in the direction that Matt was standing, and on September 1, 2008, Matt's life was cut short; however, his LEGACY, LEADERSHIP, and SPIRIT live on.

Matt's "Dream" involved supporting the youth of our community by creating places for them to go and things for them to do. He believed the way to change a culture of violence and crime is directly related to youth involvement. He also believed that by uniting a community together, all people would have a sense of responsibility to the great City of Fairfield. 

The message: "Keep the Dream Alive"

Alice Goffman: How We're Priming Some Kids for College — and Others for Prison

In the United States, two institutions guide teenagers on the journey to adulthood: college and prison. Sociologist Alice Goffman spent six years in a troubled Philadelphia neighborhood and saw first-hand how teenagers of African-American and Latino backgrounds are funneled down the path to prison — sometimes starting with relatively minor infractions. In an impassioned talk she asks, “Why are we offering only handcuffs and jail time?”

Community Investment Day - S.T.A.N.D. on May 14th!

The Matt Garcia Foundation invites you to STAND with us this day to Support, Teach, Advocate, Nurture, and Dream with the youth, businesses, and residents of our community. Help us continue our efforts to support the many neeeds of our neighbors and partners by pledging to STAND with FFINEST.

Sophie Scott: Why We Laugh

Did you know that you're 13 times more likely to laugh if you're with somebody else than if you're alone? Cognitive neuroscientist Sophie Scott shares this and other surprising facts about laughter in this fast-paced, action-packed and, yes, hilarious dash through the science of the topic.

Support The Matt Garcia Foundation Through AmazonSmile!

You can help support The Matt Garcia Foundation by shopping through AmazonSmile.

• Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to The Matt Garcia Foundation whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.
• AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same Amazon Prime benefits.
• Support your charitable organization by starting your shopping at smile.amazon.com.

 

Click the logo above to start shopping!

Gary Haugen: The Hidden Reason for Poverty the World Needs to Address Now

Collective compassion has meant an overall decrease in global poverty since the 1980s, says civil rights lawyer Gary Haugen. Yet for all the world's aid money, there's a pervasive hidden problem keeping poverty alive. Haugen reveals the dark underlying cause we must recognize and act on now.