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Garden Pathways, Inc. will honor five outstanding “Women with a Heart for Bakersfield” at the sixth annual High Tea on Wednesday, September 10 at 11:30 a.m. at Seven Oaks County Club. Honorees Connie Wattenbarger, Judi McCarthy, Ann Hansen, Annie Everly, and Karen Brown have a proven record of exceptional community service and leadership that has made a positive and lasting impact in Bakersfield. Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, Mayor Harvey Hall, and other dignitaries will present awards and resolutions to these women who inspire, mentor, and empower others to serve our community.

Proceeds from the event will help transition people from welfare and at-risk conditions to self-sufficiency through the mentoring and education programs of Garden Pathways.

Participants served include youth and families impacted by gang violence, families in welfare-to-work and child protective services programs, emancipating and emancipated foster youth, pregnant and parenting youth, truant youth, and other at-risk youth.

“Mentoring brings hope, restoration, and wholeness that can change people forever,” said Karen Goh, executive director of Garden Pathways. Attendees will hear how the power of mentoring has transformed lives.

The five honorees have shaped the life of our community and have served as mentors to many.

Connie Wattenbarger has improved conditions for children and youth in Kern County through her advocacy for education, abuse prevention, and social change. Having served for twelve years on the Kern High School District Board of Trustees, Wattenbarger now co-chairs the Kern County Student Leadership program.

As founding organizer of the Women’s & Girls’ Fund of Kern County, Judi McCarthy, mobilizes women to meet the needs of women and girls through collective giving. Her volunteer efforts have amassed an endowment that has far exceeded initial goals. McCarthy becomes chairman of the board of the Kern Community Foundation in January 2009.

A puppeteer trainer and former president of Kids on the Block, Ann Hansen enables children to learn about disabilities from the perspective of “disabled” puppets. As a founder of the Self-Esteem Council/TeenEnrichment program, Hansen fosters the mentoring of girls and guides them to handle adversity with dignity and grace.

For the past two decades, Annie Everly has devoted countless hours to feeding and improving the lives of the homeless and the poor of southeast Bakersfield. Chairperson of the Black Infant Health Coalition for over twenty years, Everly faithfully continues to advance the health care of our community.

Karen Brown translates personal adversity into assistance of children and families that face economic and health crisis. Her volunteer philanthropic efforts support burn victims, crippled children, and those challenged by cancer, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and terminal conditions.

Past honorees will also be recognized — Sheryl Barbich, Izetta Camp, Irma Carson, Esther Chapman, Holly Culhane, Peggy Darling, Joan Dezember, Beckie Diltz, Chris Frank, Beverly Beasley Johnson, Virginia Kirschenman, Pauline Larwood, Billie Jo Medders, Barbara Patrick, Jeanette Richardson Parks, Rebecca Rivera, M.D., Sunny Scofield, Sandra Serrano, Mary K. Shell, Lueether Ward, and Wendy Wayne.

The public is invited to honor these outstanding women as well as to invest in the lives of needy and at-risk families and youth through mentoring. Mentoring — a lasting investment in our community — brings hope, restoration, and wholeness that changes families forever. Proceeds from the High Tea will enable the expansion of mentoring and training services. Individual tickets are $55; table sponsorships of 10 are $550.

Since 1998, Family to Family Mentoring, a division of Garden Pathways, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has helped hundreds in our community transform their lives and move toward self-sufficiency through mentoring and life-skills training. Participants served include youth and families impacted by gang violence, families in welfare-to-work and child protective services programs, emancipating and emancipated foster youth, pregnant and parenting youth, truant youth, and other at-risk youth.

Named by the University of Southern California and the California Council of Churches as “a promising practice — a program that breaks new ground and exemplifies the power of collaboration in leveraging the capacity of faith-based organizations to serve the state’s poor,” Family to Family Mentoring continues to foster community transformation and provide hope tomany in our community who have only known poverty, abandonment, and life-dominating challenges.

To learn how you or your agency can become involved or be a sponsor, contact:
Karen Goh, Executive Director, Garden Pathways, Inc.
(661) 633-9133
kareng@gardenpathways.org
Garden Pathways, Inc.

Garden Pathways, Inc., a community-based non-profit organization, provides innovative opportunities for families and individuals of all ages to discover their unique purpose, activate their personal creativity, live in health and safety, and develop skills for success in life. Through collaborative efforts with community agencies, community service groups, and faith-based organizations, Garden Pathways offers mentoring, training, and education in the arts and the art of living. Garden Pathways’ programs include Family to Family Mentoring, E3 Performing Arts, The Garden Preschool and Infant Care, and The Gate.

• Family to Family Mentoring helps grow healthy families by providing mentors to guide and encourage those who are trying to overcome poverty and at-risk conditions. Family to Family’s broad range of mentoring services covering essential life skills effectively strike at the heart of issues that keep people from reaching their potential.

• The Garden Preschool and Infant Care nurtures comprehensive readiness for success in school and life in all areas — intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and artistic.

• E3 Performing Arts provides a creative alternative to traditional day care. Students discover and develop their unique purpose and creativity as they engage in a broad spectrum of the arts, academic enrichment, physical activities, and character education.

• The Gate provides a safe place for young people to listen to and perform the music that they love under mature mentoring influences.

Garden Pathways, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in Bakersfield, CA founded in 1997 by local individuals seeking to translate their faith into effective community building. Garden Pathways offers its services without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation, or any other classification protected by law.