Tentative Date

Heath Rocha is our current Assistant Superintendent of the Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District, he was previously the Chief Student Support Services.  He has worked in our district since 2016 and has previous experience at the University of Vermont, the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District and the Carmel Unified School District. 

Heath has a BS in Psychology from St Mary’s College and a MS in Counseling with a specialization in School Psychology from the University of Vermont. 

Heath will be addressing the results of the recent California Healthy Kids Survey for our high school district. 

Tiger Teerlink joined the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce over 10 years ago and is currently its President with an office on Big Basin Way in the Saratoga Village.  He is the founder and the chairperson of the Annual Saratoga Classic and Cool Car Show that has grown into one of the most popular events in the South Bay Area.  

His efforts at the Chamber have most recently been recognized by Senator Dave Cortese who presented  him with a Certificate Of Recognition from The California State Senate as a BEST OF THE BAY Honoree for his tireless dedication and commitment to his fellow community members."

Robert Freeman, The founder of the Global Uplift Project became homeless in high school, so joined the U.S. Merchant Marines, where he sailed for 6 years. He then came to bay area and at the age of 28, earned a B.S. at Santa Clara University.  At 35—as the old man in his class—he earned an MBA from Stanford. Robert joined the computer industry and rose to become Vice President at Sybase, one of the largest software companies in the world.  

Then, in 2000, at the age of 47, he left software industry to become a high school teacher.  He taught for 16 years at Los Altos High School.  In 2012, he was named Bay Area Teacher of the Year by the San Francisco 49ers organization.  

In 2007, while at Los Altos High School, Robert founded One Dollar For Life, or ODFL.  ODFL invited high school students to donate one dollar, and used those funds to build classrooms and medical clinics in the developing world. 

In 2020, in order to accommodate adults, ODFL changed its name to The Global Uplift Project, or Tea-Gup (TGUP).  The work remains the same, but now adults are able to participate.  

Since its founding in 2007, ODFL/TGUP has built more than 300 low-cost, small-scale, high impact infrastructure projects in 22 of the poorest countries in the world.  Over their full lives, those projects will help almost 2 million of the poorest people in the world have just a slightly better chance in life.  

From 1993 to 2014, Rod Diridon, Sr., was executive director of

the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), a transportation policy

research center created in 1991 by Congress. He is known

as the father of modern transit service in Silicon Valley and has

chaired more than 100 international, national, state, and local

programs, most related to transit and the environment. He frequently

provides legislative testimony on sustainability.

Please join us for our program with returning author, Robin Chapman. Her newest book,
The Valley of Heart’s Delight: True Tales from Around the Bay was published in July
2022 and completes her trilogy of books about the region. Her first book, California
Apricots: The Lost Orchards of Silicon Valley, remains a perennial best seller for The
History Press. Her second book Historic Bay Area Visionaries featured the diversity of
our state and its history. Her third and latest is a collection of true stories you will not
have heard of anywhere else!
In her upcoming talk Chapman will share glimpses of these intriguing tales she has
uncovered since she returned to California. Did you know director Alfred Hitchcock once
had an estate here, a residence that impacted the script for his classic film “The Birds”?
That crooner Bing Crosby helped fund a local youth center? That the Santa Clara Valley
was once home to an extensive electric interurban rail system used by early 20th
century commuters? These are some of the tantalizing stories she will share in her
upcoming talk. We know you will not want to miss it.

Bill and Doris Cooper have been part of Cooper-Garrod Vineyards at Garrod Farms for several decades and are active in the California wine scene from the state level with Wine Institute, the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, and California Association of Winegrape Growers to our local wine country in Santa Clara Valley and the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA.  Come discover things you might not have known about enjoying your local wine country instead of sitting in a car all the way to Sonoma or St. Helena – this is going to be fun!  www.garrodfarms.com

As a founding member and President of the board, Nathan leads the organization in spirit with the goal of putting others’ interests before his own and lives by Community Seva’s mission: “Feed the Hungry & Serve the Homeless”. Nathan continually strives to expand the organization’s initiatives and his ultimate dream is to have a stand-alone Community Seva run shelter where the organization not only feeds the homeless but also provides a place to sleep for those less fortunate. His wife and two sons also devote their time to the organization by tirelessly engaging with the community and participating in many events.Nathan’s dedication to community service has earned him numerous state and national awards, as well as local recognitions.

Pizza Oven TGIF at Lucy McGuire & Dave Eshleman's house

ChiLing Wu, a 28-year-old autistic musician. Music plays a large part in his life. He plays piano, cello, Chinese dulcimer, drum set, keyboard, bass, saxophone, and recently started taking lessons to accordion, and violin. ChiLing won a silver medal in "International piano  festival by People with disabilities" which was held in Vienna in2013. He also won 3 gold medals from Youth Focus on piano, cello, and dulcimer for continuous 3 years. In  addition, he also won gold award  by playing dulcimer from "Huain Cup", an international Chinese Music competition in 2012 and 2013. ChiLing is now volunteering at both Santa Teresa and Santa Clara Kaiser Permanenty Hospital as a lobby musician. He also plays music for many senior homes. To comfort people with music is the main goal in life to ChiLing. ChiLing wishes to heal the world with music.

These are some examples of his music performance:

1. Piano - Bumble Boogie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4z8s-yBYj0

2. Dulcimer- Dragon Boat, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbclmox0hDY

3. Cello duet https://youtu.be/lNUGPxaahNs

4. Saxophone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmB69sCZJDk

5. Keyboard- Hotel California https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg-11WtwVx4

Dr. Mo Budak was born and raised in San Francisco.  He received his undergraduate degree at Cal and went on to the UCLA School of Dentistry.  He practiced restorative and esthetic dentistry in Sunnyvale from 1974-2018.

August Fellowship Committee Meeting

First 2023-24 Board Meeting for the Foundation Board of Directors

Mina Fedor is a middle schooler, founder of AAPI Youth Rising, and Time Kid of the Year Nominee amongst many other things! After a year of witnessing the increase in anti-Asian sentiment and violence towards her community, Mina decided to organize the AAPI Youth Rising Rally. She never could have expected that over 1,200 participants would join the crowd! In this episode of Shining A Light, Mina speaks on youth activism, AAPI education, and the importance of staying true to yourself. 

Michael Bakal, co-founder of Voces y Manos about the inspiring work done in empowering indigenous youth in Rabinal, Guatemala.
Voces y Manos believes that education is a powerful means of achieving sustainable development, health, and self-determination for indigenous communities. Voces y Manos empowers indigenous youth to advance the health and wellbeing of their communities by promoting leadership and providing scholarships.

August Fellowship TGIF at Teri & Vic Kasik's House

Captain Tom Spink, USN (Ret) is a native of Kansas City, Missouri. He is a graduate
of Kansas University (‘68). He earned his Naval Flight Officer Wings of Gold in
1970. Following his first squadron, Patrol Squadron 46, he was an instructor in
the training squadron, Patrol Squadron 31 in Hangar One at NAS Moffett Field.
He left active duty in 1977 and went across the field and affiliated with Reserve
Patrol Squadron 91. He was there for 11 years and was Commanding Officer from
1986 to 1988. After the squadron, he had various Reserve command and staff
jobs at Alameda, CA, in Hawaii, and in Norfolk, VA.
He has a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of
Southern California. His civilian companies include Singer-Link, Watkins Johnson,
Precision Echo, and Lockheed Martin. He volunteers with the Association of Naval
Aviation, the Maritime Patrol Association, VP International, and is a member of
the Wings of Gold Society at the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation in Pensacola,
Florida.
In 2022, he became the President and Chairman of the Board for the Moffett Field
Historical Society and Museum. He and his wife Andrea live in Sunnyvale and
Truckee, California, with a couple of rescue dogs.

Folding alone and largely self-taught, June began folding origami at age 7.
Her many accomplishments in the field of origami include designing and
creating the 1999 to 2006 Origami Holiday Tree at American Museum of
Natural History in New York City. Her folding and teaching talents have
been featured on numerous television programs including the Martha
Stewart Living Show.
She was the recipient of the "Golden Box Pleat Award" in 2005 for
recognition of her International contribution in Origami, and of the "Michael
Shall Award" in 2005 recognizing her volunteerism in bridging East/West
relations. She also participated in San Francisco's World Tree of Hope from
2006 to 2013.
In 1992, June attended her first OrigamiUSA convention in New York City.
There she encountered hundreds of folders from around the world who
shared her passion for paper folding.
Using her limited Japanese speaking ability, she assisted many Japanese
folders who came to attend the convention. In gratitude, she became the
happy recipient of many origami gifts, the start of her extensive collection.
Later while attending international origami conventions, the gifts continued
to flow and her collection of these pieces began in earnest.
A former member of the OrigamiUSA Board of Directors, she continues to
fold and promote the art of origami. She currently lives in San Mateo.