Campus changes 33rd annual homecoming focus

The theme for FC’s 33rd homecoming is Homecoming for Humanity. Every class has chosen a non-profit organization to represent; the freshmen as Miss Winkles Pet Adoption Center, sophomores as Lanna Coffe Co., juniors as Hume Lake and seniors as Red Cross.

Miss Winkles

The freshman chose Miss Winkles as their organization to support because they wanted to support a local shelter, instead of a large chain like the SPCA. The adoption center is coming on Thursday to showcase their volunteer work and provide information on how to adopt them.

Animal control officer for Miss Winkles, Christina Stainbrook handles animal care and medical concerns at the adoption center. Stainbrook believes that high schoolers who are involved in their community will benefit those around them.

“We are focused on finding new and hopefully forever homes for the cats and dogs in our care,” Stainbrook said. “Sometimes this includes helping the animal to physically become ready for adoption with medical help, or mentally with behavior modification. Being involved in improving how your community treats and supports its animals is going to be a big factor in making our future community a better place for people and pets alike. We can’t improve how animals are treated without the support of the people who care for them.”

The following information was gleaned from the Miss Winkles website:

“David McDonald adopted Miss Winkles and her brother, Rocky, in October of 2005 when they were ten weeks old. They both loved to run and play in David’s spacious, fenced yard. Miss Winkles was faster than Rocky and enjoyed chasing him and tackling him from behind as they both would tumble across the grass.

“Miss Winkles and Rocky would occasionally go to work with David at Pelco, where she was spoiled rotten by her huge fan club. She was a good traveler and went with David on one long trip to Cabo, Mexico. One night, she escaped from their hotel room and ran full speed across a big lawn towards the beach.

“After becoming a bit frightened,” the website continued, “she ran full speed back….but skillfully attempted to avoid David and his inevitable scolding. Miss Winkles zoomed past him, sped back into the hotel room, and went straight under the exact center of the bed where she was safely out of reach. On this trip, she and Rocky had their own stools at the pool bar where they were served lean chicken breast pieces, much to the amusement of staff and guests.”

Lanna Coffee

The sophomore class decided to choose Lanna Coffee Co. as their non-profit organization as some members were already familiar with the group due to previous volunteer experience. The coffee company sent a representative to talk about their work, Oct. 3.

This information was taken from Lanna Coffee’s website:

“Our story can be traced back over 55 years to Richard and Marlene Mann. Considered Thailand’s coffee pioneers, Richard and Marlene ventured to Thailand in 1959 with the goal that one day the Thai Highland villages would become self-sustainable and free from the oppression of drug cartels and human traffickers that inhabited the area. The solution came in the form of a coffee plant.

“With the help of their son Mike, the Mann’s founded The Integrated Tribal Development Program (ITDP),” the Lanna site continued, “the organization is committed to improving the lives of those in northern Thailand. ITDP slowly began partnering with one village at a time, continuing to expand their reach and impact in Thailand.  Today ITDP partners with over 40 villages to grow coffee beans, with 100% of the crops owned by the villagers.”

“Since 2010, Lanna Coffee Co. has worked alongside ITDP and the villagers to purchase that coffee, often paying beyond the Fair Trade value. Doing so allows the Thai villagers to be self-sustainable, while Lanna Coffee Co. works to further support the cause by offering this specialty coffee to the U.S. market.”

Hume Lake Christian Camps

Hume Lake is a local Christian camp for people of all ages. The junior class is representing them and funding Hume’s Send A Kid To Camp program. The program grants financial aid to campers who are not able to pay the full price of camp.

The mission statement was pulled from Hume’s website:

“To respond to the great commission and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ globally through camping ministry. We desire that everyone who comes into contact with Hume International will accept Jesus as their personal savior, grow in their faith and Christian character development, and devote their lives to service to our Lord Jesus at home and abroad.”

John Tounger works for Hume at Hume San Diego and in church relations. Tounger explains Hume’s work in the community. 

“Hume Lake focuses on clearly and creatively presenting the gospel,” Tounger said. “Hume exists to partner with the local church and our desire is to create programs that facilitate and create space for youth pastors and counselors to develop deeper relationships with their students. Hume has a legacy of over 70 years of ministry serving the Central Valley.

“We focus on creatively and clearly preaching the gospel no matter what through our unique films, stage program, and recreation,” Tounger continued. “Hume gives high schoolers the opportunity to get away from the distractions of every day life and grow in their relationship with the God of the universe and with their church community.”

The Red Cross

The seniors are representing The Red Cross. Red Cross Volunteer Services Specialist Gordon Starr discussed the organization does in the Fresno chapter. He also spoke about the five lines of service and which impact Fresno the most.

“The main focus I would say would be our disaster cycle services; this is one of our 5 lines of service,” Starr said. “What we’re trying to do is three things, we want to prepare our community for disaster, we want to respond to our communities disaster needs. On average Fresno County has one fire a day, our volunteers who are apart of the disaster action team will respond to that disaster and provide comfort and assistance financially and informationally.

“We can also offer referrals to salvation army to replace people’s clothing and furniture, to help people get back on their feet,” Starr continued. “That’s a small scale emergency, but we also respond to large-scale accidents like wildfires and bus crashes and flooding. We help people who are being forced from their homes. The other four lines of service are service to the arms forces, preparedness health and training, international services, and biomedical services. The red cross collects 48% of the nation’s blood.”

On homecoming night, buckets will be available at each float for donations to the represented organizations.

For more ways to donate, visit each classes’ GoFundMe account: Miss Winkles, Lanna Coffee, Hume Lake, and Red Cross. 

For more homecoming related articles, read Homecoming for Humanity: Topper Tuesday. For a News Engagement Day article, read News Engagement Day emphasizes student involvement.

This author can be reached via email: Reese Brown and via Twitter @Reese_Brownie.