According to Steven’s Hope President, Tony Cappelli, “The purpose of “Drives To Save Lives” is to mobilize as many people as we can in the southern California are to take action to help the families we serve at Steven’s Hope.  We want to be able to help more families at more hospitals and we need the support of many communities to make that happen.”

Activities for Drives To Save Lives include drives for items for children (toys, games, clothing), helping with Steven’s Hope projects such as Project: LoveBox and the Klothing Kids Project, awareness campaigns by using social media, and volunteering.

Over two dozen companies have committed to sponsoring the event that will benefit Steven’s Hope for Children.  Finn Industries, a St. Patrick’s Day Sponsorship veteran leads the group of businesses with two sponsorships. Harbor Distributing has also doubled their sponsorship.

 “A lot of our support comes from businesses that come back year after year, so
it’s like a family reunion” said Fire Fighter Victor Lopez.  Lopez is the heir apparent to take over this fundraiser from Capt. Perez.  “This is a fun event. It’s a great time for owners and managers to bond with their employees and show their appreciation. We appreciate them doing that here and helping Steven’s Hope.”

For over a decade, the Ontario Fire Fighter Local 1430 has hosted dozens of
fundraisers for numerous causes.  Collectively, the fire fighters do this out of passion and a commitment to children in the community that has never waned.  That strong tradition of giving back continues with the latest fundraising event on St. Patrick’s Day known as the Tip The Fire Fighter Fundraiser.

Perez and his team never have a lack of energy for putting on events and their
efforts are now focused on the March 17 event to support Steven’s Hope for
Children, an Upland based charity supporting seriously I’ll or injured children.

“It’s all about the kids,” says Capt. Perez. “We love the kids and the future they have. That’s why we do events like the Tip The Fire Fighter fundraiser; to give them a hope for their own future.”

“Steven’s Hope does amazing work for kids going through transplant surgery or dealing with illness like cancer.”  Perez said this is the eighth year they have worked to support the nonprofit. “They provide housing, clothing, food, transportation and lots of love to so many families throughout the Inland Empire. We are all fighting for the same result- healthy kids.”

El Torito Restaurant will be the location of the event that will feature live
music, a karaoke contest, lots of green stuff, green beer, lots of prizes, and
of course, corned beef and cabbage. The restaurant will be open at 9AM to serve
a special brunch buffet that will continue until 3PM when the nighttime buffet
will begin.

The traditional Mexican restaurant has been specially decorated for the occasion.  With a large turnout expected, reservations for seating are strongly recommended.

“This is the best place to be on March 17th,” according to Steven’s Hope for
Children co-founder and President, Tony Cappelli. “Where else should a person go on an Irish holiday other than a Mexican restaurant for a corned beef taco?”

Aside from a seemingly endless supply of Irish and Mexican fare, the Fire Fighters
will be greeting customers throughout the day and will be available for photographs.

This year, more businesses have signed up for the event than ever before.  The sponsorships range is a “Bagpipe” sponsorship for $400, a “Shamrock” for $600, a “Leprechaun” for $800 and a “Pot O’Gold” for $1000.  Each sponsor level
gets more and more stuff to celebrate the day.

The  “Pot of Gold” sponsor of $1,000 includes CNC Motors, Draper Mortuary, Finn Industries, Harbor Distributing, Juanita’s #3, KIK Corporation, NAFTA, Ontario Airport Hilton, Ontario Local 1430, Ontario Police Officers Association, Source Interlink, Summit Machine.

Leprechaun Sponsors of $800 are Main Street Fibers, Trek Bikes and West Coast Ultrasound Institute.

$600 “Shamrock” sponsors are the Baird Family RV, Hino Motors, Mark
Christopher Auto Center, Ontario Airport, Ontario Double Tree Hotel, Quality Coach Works, Technicolor Entertainment and Vistar-Performance Food Group.

“Bagpipe” sponsors include Dietz Towing, ICL Performance Products, Lines &
Stooksbury, Majestic Trophy, McKesson, Mike Poe, Ontario Airport Police
Association, Professional Electric and Toyota.

###

About Steven’s Hope for Children

Steven’s Hope for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Upland,  CA. It was started by Tony and Sandy Cappelli after their son, Steven, died from heart complications only 32 hours after birth.  Through their loss, Tony and Sandy felt compelled to help families with seriously ill or injured children. Each year they help hundreds of families through their programs by providing temporary housing, food, emotional support, clothing and other necessities to needy families.

For more information about Steven’s Hope for Children, call 866-3-STEVEN or visit the website at www.stevenshope.org.

Steven’s Hope for Children is located at 1014  W. Foothill Blvd., Suite B,Upland,CA

Press Release Contacts:

Tony Cappelli, Executive Director Steven’s Hope for Children,(909) 373-0678

Capt. Martin Perez, Ontario Fire Department, (760) 285-5441

END

Local Hair Care Provider Raises Over $2,500 During Grand Opening Weekend for Upland-based Charity

UPLAND, Calif. (March 7, 2012) – Steven’s Hope for Children, an Upland-based charity that supports families of seriously ill or injured children, will receive more than $2,500 from Sport Clips Haircuts in Upland. The salon, which specializes in hair care services for men and boys, raised funds during its grand opening weekend on March 3 and 4 by giving free haircuts in exchange for a donation of $5 or more to Steven’s Hope for Children.

“We are proud to partner with Tony Cappelli and his organization, Steven’s Hope for Children. Our donation will go toward providing housing and other needs to families while their children are receiving treatment in a hospital,” said Arif Taj, owner of the new Sport Clips and locations in Ontario and Glendora. “Sport Clips wants to be a business that supports its local community. I believe we can all be teammates in supporting worthy causes.”

Sport Clips surrounds its clients with televisions tuned to sports and sports-themed décor, and serves its clients on a walk-in basis. It is known for the MVP Treatment that includes a precision haircut, hot-steamed towel treatment, massaging shampoo, and a neck and shoulder massage.

To learn more about Sport Clips in Upland, visit http://haircutmenuplandca.com/ and for more information on Steven’s Hope for Children, visit http://stevenshope.org/.

Photo provided by: Arif Taj

###

About Sport Clips

Sport Clips is headquartered in Georgetown, Texas and was established in 1995 by founder and CEO Gordon Logan. The franchise ranks in Entrepreneur Magazine’s top 20 “fastest growing franchises” and in the top 100 in the “Franchise 500”, in the top 10 in Forbes’ “Top 20 Franchises To Start”, and in the top 50 in Dun & Bradstreet’s AllBusiness.com “2012 AllBusiness AllStars”. Sport Clips is the “Official Haircutter” of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and offers veterans preferential pricing on haircuts and franchises. Our “Help a Hero” program has donated more than one million dollars to help soldiers overseas and in hospitals call home through the VFW’s Operation Uplink. Sport Clips is a proud sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR drivers, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, and holds partnerships with several NCAA programs, and teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and National Hockey League (NHL). To learn about franchise opportunities click here, and for locations throughout the United States, visit SportClips.com.  For media resources and additional information on Sport Clips, visit SportClipsMedia.com.

About Steven’s Hope for Children

Steven’s Hope for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Upland, CA. It was started by Tony and Sandy Cappelli after their son, Steven, died from heart complications only 32 hours after birth.  Through their loss, Tony and Sandy felt compelled to help families with seriously ill or injured children. Each year they help hundreds of families with seriously ill or injured children through their programs by providing temporary housing, emotional support, food, clothing and other necessities.

For more information about Steven’s Hope for Children, call 866-3-STEVEN or visit the website at www.stevenshope.org.

To learn about the progress, you can view these short clips.  (Here’s a hint: Tony is in clip #3 and Tony & his son, Nick, are at the end of clip #6.)

Clip 1      Clip 2

Clip 3      Clip 4

Clip 5      Clip 6

Clip 7

“Tommy helps to bring a new level of quality to the tenth annual event for Steven’s Hope” says Tournament Co-Chair Cathy Allan. Lasorda will be the featured speaker at banquet and auction for The Drives To Save Lives Golf Classic benefitting Steven’s Hope for Children. The one day event will be at Sierra La Verne Country Club on Monday, May 14.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Tommy Lasorda became an icon of Los Angeles Dodger Baseball and one of the most successful managers in baseball history. The enthusiastic manager who “bleeds Dodger blue” guided his team to seven division titles and two World Championships in 21 seasons as manager. After his retirement from the field, he became a Dodgers executive, and his association with the club has spanned seven decades. He has won numerous “Manager of the Year” awards and let the United States to its first-ever gold medal in baseball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was elected to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1997.

Eric Dickerson played for four NFL teams (Los Angeles Rams ‘83-‘87, Indianapolis Colts ‘87-‘92, Los Angeles Raiders ‘92-‘93 and Atlanta Falcons ’93) gaining a total of 13,259 yards rushing rank him seventh on the all-time rushing list and 13th on the all-time touchdown list with 96. He appeared in six Pro Bowls and was inducted in to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1999.

Marshall Faulk is a 7-time Pro Bowler & 3-time First-Team All-Pro who played for Indianapolis Colts ’94-’98 and the St. Louis Rams from ‘98 to 2005. His 100 Rushing Touchdowns puts him 7th all time, and he ranks 10th all time in Rushing Yards with 12,279. He was inducted into the NFL Hall Of Fame in 2011.

Christian Okoye played with the Kansas City Chiefs as a fullback from 1987 to 1992. He gained 4,987 yards in 6 seasons and was a 2-time Pro Bowler & 1-time First-Team All-Pro.

Proceeds of the event are going to help fund the apartments Steven’s Hope for Children uses to house families of children needing transplant surgeries or treatments for cancers or tumors.

“These athletes have big hearts for kids. Once the word got out about what we were trying to do they wanted to help,” says Allen. She knows a thing or to about putting on these types of tournaments from her experience as Tournament Chair for the Eric Dickerson Challenge and the Mark Christopher Charity Golf Classic.

“Event sponsors will have the opportunity to have one of the stars join their foursome and make it a five some,” according to Tournament Co-Chair Cathy Allen. “It’s a great way to spend four or five hours with one of these stars.”

“Families from around the country get referred to us by case workers at treatment centers like Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital,” says Steven’s Hope for Children Co-founder and President Tony Cappelli. “These families need to have a temporary home away for home where they can be a family while their child gets help. A successful event will help us to keep our apartments open. That means we save lives.”

Steven’s Hope for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Upland, CA. The organization was started by Tony & Sandy Cappelli in 2002 after their son Steven had died 32 hours after his birth due to a heart condition. Since then, Steven’s Hope has helped hundreds of families and thousands of kids by providing temporary housing, clothing, food and transportation expenses and much more.

Sponsorships are now being accepted for the event ranging from the Title Sponsor which includes two foursomes with dinners with Lasorda at the banquet for $10,000 to Hole Sponsors with a four golfers and dinners for $1,100 to Prize Sponsors for $100 and above.

###

About Steven’s Hope for Children

Steven’s Hope for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Upland, CA. It was started by Tony and Sandy Cappelli after their son, Steven, died from heart complications only 32 hours after birth. Through their loss, Tony and Sandy felt compelled to help families with seriously ill or injured children. Each year they help hundreds of families through their programs by providing temporary housing, food, emotional support, clothing and other necessities to needy families.

For more information about Steven’s Hope for Children, call 866-3-STEVEN or visit the website at www.stevenshope.org.

Steven’s Hope for Children is located at 1014 W. Foothill Blvd., Suite B, Upland, CA

Press Release Contacts:

Tony Cappelli, Executive Director Steven’s Hope for Children,(909) 373-0678

Cathy Allan, Drive to Save Lives Tournament Co-Chair, (909) 641-1349

END

But it’s more than just another hockey game.

Families assisted by Steven’s Hope for Children have received treatment at Loma Linda University Medical Center and other area facilities for treatment of cancer, organ transplant and other serious illness. The financial pressures often eliminate any chance of entertainment.  Now, supporters of Steven’s Hope have an opportunity to change that, if only for one night.

Sponsorships to send these families to see the Ontario Reign play are available.  Ticket prices are $12 each and a family of four would be a $48 sponsorship. Individuals, companies and groups can sponsor more than one family.  Naturally, sponsors are encouraged to purchase additional tickets for themselves to attend the game.

According to Susie Rowan from Steven’s Hope, “It may only be minor league hockey, but it’s a major deal for them.  For one night, they would get to be a normal family enjoying a night out.  It seems so insignificant, but it can create a happy memory for that family that can last a lifetime

“We have a lot of exciting things happening for this year’s tournament and the committee felt it was time to give ourselves a bit of a facelift” said Tony Cappelli.

The new name of the event will be the “Drives to Save Lives Golf Classic”

Cappelli added that there are several annoncements coming shortly to explain the additional enhancements to the event which will take place on Monday, May 14 at Sierra La Verne Country Club.

In February, there will be two chances to learn abot Steven’s Hope for Children:  how it started, where it has been, where it is going. Attendees will be able to hear the stories and see faces of some of the hundreds of children helped.  Simply put, it is a one hour introduction to all that is Steven’s Hope for Children.

There is never any pressure for money or a commitment to do anything other than spend an hour your tour hosts and think of who may be interested, like you, to learn about the great work we do here at Steven’s Hope.

The first meeting is on Wednesday, February 1st at 6:30PM. The second is on Friday, February 17 at 10:30AM. The meetings are held at the Steven’s Hope offices at 1014 W. Foothill Blvd., Suite B, Upland, CA 91786 and start promptly, so give yourslef a few minutes to arrive and meet the staff.

To RSVP for the tour, please call 909-373-0678. Open to the public