WEST COAST BOAT SHOWS
January
was off to a busy start with Heart of Sailing’s participation at boat shows all
along the west coast from San Diego, California to Seattle,
Washington.
The San
Diego Boat Show was held at the Convention Center & Marriott Marina from
January 3-6, 2008. The in-water show
featured power and sailboats and numerous vendors. It was an excellent opportunity for Captain
George to make new contacts and spread awareness about HoS in the San Diego area.
Next
stop was the Portland Boat Show, where HoS was hosted by one of our sponsors,
Island Sailing Club and owner and frequent HoS volunteer, De Henderson. The Portland
appearance was notable for the extensive media coverage HoS received, with a
featured article by Boaz Herzog in the January 6, 2009 edition of the
Oregonian, as well as an interview with the ABC affiliate, KATU. The spot aired January 4, 2008 on AM
Northwest, and featured interviews with De Henderson and 2006 Ms. Oregon, Donilee McGinnis,
accompanying her brother, David who has participated in the Daysail Program.
The
Seattle Boat Show from January 24 – February 2 wrapped up the whirlwind tour
from. HoS was once again sponsored by Island Sailing Club. The Seattle Boat Show is the largest of its
kind on the West Coast with over 1,000 recreational
watercraft in two locations (indoors and afloat).
Visit the Latest News
on our website at www.heartofsailing.org
for media links.
DAYSAILS & APPEARANCES
Participants in the first Mom’s
Daysail
Captain George kicked off the
2008 season with Daysails in San Diego. On February 8, 2008, HoS hosted a special
Daysail for Moms only. The special event
gave mothers of children with special needs a chance to enjoy an opportunity to
relax and bond while learning about sailing and its therapeutic benefits for
their children. Traditional Daysails
continued on February 9 & 10, with beautiful sailing weather and many happy
participants. Captain George has also
recently become a member of the Chula Vista Yacht Club in San Diego, so that he can continue growing
that region!
Captain George took a side trip
to Canada to visit our Vancouver location and
continue development in that area.
During that trip he was interviewed (in his native French) for Radio Premiere Chaine,
a feature of Radio-Canada. George had
the opportunity to talk about our Canadian chapters, Au Coeur De La Voile.
SAIL-A-THON 2008
Heart of Sailing is currently organizing its second annual Sail-a-thon to be held on June 21 & 22, 2008 (in most locations). The Sail-a-thon is an international event
celebrating the Summer Solstice with participants sailing in multiple regions
across the U.S., Canada and Europe. The fundraising events encourage
participation in sailing as a recreational activity and will benefit Heart of
Sailing’s Daysail program. HoS is
seeking volunteers and sponsors to coordinate the events. Participants can participate in several
different ways and register at different levels:
$0.00 Crewmember-Heart of Sailing Button
$25.00 Deckhand-Commemorative Button
$50.00 Swashbuckler –
Event T-shirt
$100.00 Old Salt –T-shirt
& Hat
$200.00 Scurvy Dog -
T-shirt, Hat & Burgee
www.summersailstice.com
For additional details and registration information, please check
our website or contact us at (812) 935-7245
or sailathon2008@heartofsailing.org
WELCOME ABOARD
Miss
Oregon 2006, Donilee McGinnis
HOS
ANNOUNCES OUR NEW DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, DONILEE MCGINNIS
Heart of Sailing is pleased to
announce our newest volunteer, Ms. Donilee McGinnis, Miss Oregon 2006, who will
serve as our Director of Public Relations.
Donilee was born in Portland, Oregon and currently lives in Scappoose, Oregon. She grew up with an avid interest in theater,
dance & photography, graduating from The Beaverton Arts &
Communications High School. Her brother,
David, 19, is on the autism spectrum.
Donilee has been a lifelong advocate for David and she volunteers with
several autism organizations in Portland. Last year, Donilee was Miss Oregon
and competed at Miss America. The Miss Oregon Scholarship Program gave her
a great opportunity to promote her platform of “Autism Advocacy &
Awareness.”
As a former Miss America
contestant, Donilee is connecting with other state titleholders who are also
interested in advocating for autism and children’s causes.
Donilee and her brother, David,
have participated in Heart of Sailing’s Daysail Program and were featured in
the television interview on Portland’s
ABC affiliate station at the Portland Boat Show in January.
Donilee is honored to be part of
Heart of Sailing and looks forward to her new role as Director of Public
Relations. HoS is excited about
Donilee’s contribution to our organization and working with her to achieve our
mission. Please contact Donilee at: dmcginnis@heartofsailing.org
Welcome also to Brad Scott,
of Island Sailing Club, our new Communications
Coordinator. Brad will be featured in an upcoming issue!
HOS LAUNCHES MYSPACE PAGE
HOS has joined the online social networking community
by launching its MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/heartofsailing.
The page is a forum for parents, participants, and
interested parties to exchange information, leave comments and feedback, submit
photos and suggestions and connect with each other, make new friends and find
additional resources and organizations.
Visit our page today, and send us a friend request!
SPONSORS
There
are many benefits to sponsoring Heart of Sailing, and several different levels
and types of sponsorship. We need
your help to make Heart of Sailing a success. Sponsorship and donations are our
primary source of funds, which allow us to provide our services at no cost to our
participants. While there are many
worthy organizations who rely upon donors like you, Heart of Sailing remains a
unique organization, offering services to a specific and deserving segment of our
youth, providing them with a therapeutic and educational form of recreation,
which encourages family participation and becomes a life-enhancing experience.
You
can find information on our new Sponsor
Kit by checking our website sponsors pages or by contacting Executive
Director George Saidah at: gsaidah@heartofsailing.org or Jim Gilster at: jgilster@heartofsailing.org
NEW LOCATIONS
One of our new features on the Heart of Sailing MySpace Page will be our version of “Where in the World is
Captain George?” With his duties as
Founder & Executive Director, George wears many hats – Ambassador, Captain,
Seminar Presenter, Quality Control Manager, etc. His responsibilities require frequent travel
and he is logging thousands of miles. In
March, George will depart California headed to
Texas for a
visit with our Houston-Galveston Chapter and Chapter Director Dave McCabe, who
has been doing a terrific job with the program there.
George is then off to Georgia and Florida, where he will
be working to host Daysails in the Savannah area and Jacksonville, Fl, with pitstops in New Orleans, Panama City, Fort Myers, Atlanta,
Indianapolis, and Bloomington, before going back to California. Please stay tuned to our schedule of events
for further information about Daysails in your area.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Daysails:
March 2008
Maiden
Voyage in Jacksonville, FL
Maiden
Voyage in Savannah, GA
All in the
“Autism”
Family
Conference
Long Beach, CA April 10-13
San Diego, Dana Point & Ventura, CA
(Register
for Daysails and Evening sails for families and special “parents only” sails on
our website)
little heart newsletter is a publication of
Heart of Sailing, a non-profit foundation dedicated to sharing the joy and
therapeutic benefits of sailing with cognitively impaired children. Contents herein are for information purposes
and are the property of HoS unless otherwise identified. For questions, comments, advertising
opportunities or other information contact us at news@heartofsailing.org.
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on our website at www.heartofsailing.org
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