“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members,” says Coretta Scott King. And, based on her quote, Bakersfield is GREAT! I saw in action how local individuals came together to raise more than $500,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). When my good friend Kim Fox asked me to be on her team, Fighting Foxes, for the LLS’ Visionaries and Student Visionaries of the Year, I didn’t really understand the magnitude of this event. Over the years, I had seen people promoting their mission to help raise money to help find a cure for blood cancer and improve the quality of life for those affected. But, now this year, I had a vested interest, and I was all-in.

Fighting in honor of her late father, Kim used her resources, raffles, a super fun Bingo night, silent auction items, and social media, to raise almost $40,000 for the campaign. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and she had her friends, family, and children cheering her on with every post or fundraising goal. It paid off too, because the night of the event, she won the mission award for Patient Education and Support and was named runner up for Visionary of the Year. During the event, with the Old Hollywood theme, I was so impressed with all the student visionaries: the teens who worked so passionately for this cause. LLS’ Grand Finale Celebration was a culmination of many people spending their precious time to help others and make our community better. I left that night feeling so inspired to see how together we can make a difference.

You can read about another mama who continues to do a lot for our community in Callie Collins’ article, “Hello, Happy (TRAILBLAZING) Mama: Nila Hogan,” on page 12. Nila wears many hats as a wife, mother, adoptive mother, grandmother, nonprofit founder, and pageant winner. With her husband, Robbie, they have five children and one grandchild. In 2011, she founded Bakersfield’s first on-site supervised visitation center, Y-Empowerment, which also provides many resources from parenting classes to mentorship.

In this month’s Readers Respond, “Comfort Food Unwrapped: What Readers Crave Most,” by Lisa Keosouphanh, on page 10, KCFM asked, “What is your go-to comfort food that you binge on and maybe regret in the morning?” Some of the answers ranged from all types of junk food and fast food. For this one, I know my answer. My go-to, most regrettable comfort food is ice cream -any kind of ice cream!

Julie Willis’s Humor at Home article, “Shopping Cart Chaos: Toddler Trials in Aisle 1,” on page 21, was one that I particularly resonated with this month. I have so many “Tales from the Target Aisle” from when my kids were little. She writes about how her toddler, during one eventful outing, created quite the rumpus that ended in complete pandemonium!

During May, as the school year’s festivities ramp up and life gets busier than usual, it’s good to remember that we do have this amazing community. And together we can accomplish miracles and lean on each other for support!

Happy May!