On March 3, AARBF’s McKenzie Dern had the opportunity to discuss the importance of smoke alarms during a Facebook Live on the Safe Kids Central California page with Dr. Hailey Nelson from Valley Children’s Healthcare: https://www.facebook.com/SafeKidsCentralCA/videos/2781579905438213

Smoke alarms are one of the best and least expensive ways to provide early warning when a fire begins. When properly installed and maintained, smoke alarms can help prevent injuries and minimize property damage. And when you look at the facts, it’s clear that, in many cases, they mean the difference between life and death!

On March 5, AARBF hosted its first ever Virtual Ski Trip. We had almost 50 people attending including burn survivors, volunteers and AARBF staff!

Participants each received a “Camp in a Box” which contained a plush snowball, hot cocoa packets, snow in a tube – snow pets, and Laffy Taffy candy.

We packed a lot of activities into the evening including, Freeze Dance, Make Your Own Snow, Hot Cocoa, Scavenger Hunt Search for your Ski Gear, Dad Jokes and Silly Time with the kids and volunteers, Pictures, Slideshow of past Ski Trips, and videos of Jack Rabbit up on the Bear Valley Mountain.

This evening would not have been possible without the help of our wonderful volunteers who went above and beyond to make this event exciting for the children: Snoopy, Buc, Finn, Dash, Quincy, Barbie, Nemo, Bambi, Grizzy, Chop, Hamster, Mocha, Sneak, Skipper, Baby Bear, Jack Rabbit, Gidget and Rajah. And AARBF staff: Scott “Scooter” Wertz, Margarita “Cubby” Rodriguez, and Daniel “Apollo” Chacon along with Board President, Russ Charvonia.

On Saturday, March 6, we enjoyed another great virtual yoga class led by guest instructor Tiffane “Lala”! Tiffane is well known among our Champ Camp campers! She is a burn survivor and certified yoga instructor who guided participants throughout the live interactive session.

Our virtual yoga sessions are held the first Saturday at 10:00am, every other month. The next session is scheduled for May 1. You must be registered to receive the log-in information. Please register at https://forms.gle/d9wYaaz41vNycPPC8. The deadline for registration is Friday, April 30, at 12:00 PM.

Recovery from a severe burn injury can be a long process. Finding others who have shared a similar experience can aid in that recovery. If you are a burn survivor, we encourage you to take advantage of two virtual experiences available this year through the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors. Phoenix World Burn Congress: Engage 2021 will be held on May 14 and Phoenix World Burn Congress will be held on October 22-24.

Phoenix World Burn Congress: Engage 2021 is a global, virtual event that will have many familiar Phoenix WBC elements, only in a single day format. Registration is now open at https://www.phoenix-society.org/phoenix-wbc-engage.

Phoenix World Burn Congress will once again be a virtual event for 2021. They will be bringing the same Phoenix WBC magic with even more ways to find community and connection. They are also using feedback from the 2020 conference to enhance and expand their virtual conference for this year!

AARBF can help you with attending one or both of these conferences through our scholarship program. Please fill out your application today at https://forms.gle/9SQhX96BiZ7JyySv6. The application deadline for Engage 2021 is Wednesday, April 14, 2021.

In March, AARBF hosted its first Music Expression session with the help of Kechi Okwuchi! We had over 30 survivors, family members and guests tune in as Kechi shared about her story, healing process, her passion for music, and how she started her musical journey. We especially enjoyed listening as she serenaded us with one of her favorite songs, “Breakaway”. She said the song has helped her though some trying times. Thank you, Kechi for taking time from your busy schedule to speak with us!

The next session in our monthly Expression Series is Writing Expression, scheduled for Thursday, April 22. This month’s special guest is the author of “The Circle of Fire”, Justina Page! In addition to being an author, she also presents at many workshops on how to write your story. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to meet Justina and get your writing questions answered!

Please register for the Writing Expression today at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScmoGyrAq7O3f8wpEfRxfc-BS1C_jaqVXbeXDiZNZ2s-2PtCw/viewform

Future Expression Series sessions include Art Expression in May and Music Expression in June. To learn more about our Expression Series, please visit our website at https://www.aarbf.org/expression-series/.

In March, we shared a behind the scenes glimpse into our recent 50th Anniversary Photoshoot! These photos will be used in a commemorative 50th Anniversary coffee table book, releasing later this year, featuring 50 stories from our burn community.

We are so grateful to the special people, including survivors and volunteers, who have allowed us to share their stories through this book! We are honored and humbled to have been a part of your journey for the last 50 years.

To stay updated on all of the fun and exciting events and projects in celebration of our 50th Anniversary, we have created a new page on our website https://www.aarbf.org/50th-anniversary/. You will want to bookmark this page so you do not miss out on all the exciting activities we have planned!

AARBF is now on TikTok. We want to create the best user experience we can, so we would like to know what you want to see! Please take a couple of minutes to fill out our brief questionnaire: https://forms.gle/QxdAeoagJdCxWrgK8. Your input is greatly appreciated!

Bows for Dough and Grow Your Stache are back again for 2021 with a new component … Champy-on’s! Fundraising starts April 15 and will run through June 9 culminating right before the start of Champ Camp 2021. It is due to supporters and participants like you that AARBF’s doors have remained open, as we navigated through times of uncertainty, and we will continue to move forward and support burn prevention efforts as well as the burn survivor community as long as we are needed.

You do not have to wait until April 15 to start. You can register now at https://p2p.onecause.com/champyon21! Please join us for the eight weeks of fundraising fun as you sport a Bow, Mustache or your very own Champy-pin!

For any questions, please e-mail Erika “Kika” at [email protected] or give her a call: 559-286-0710 x17.

We hope you will join and create your very own team or join a team with your friends, organization, volunteers, department, etc.! Support us by sharing and/or donating today!

AARBF’s Jennifer Radics-Johnson shared her expertise on the benefits of third-party fundraisers in an episode of the Philanthropy212 Podcast with Penny Cowden. Jennifer discussed everything you need to know about third-party fundraisers, what they are, how AARBF utilizes them, and how other nonprofits leaders can do the same for their organizations. To listen to the podcast, please visit https://www.philanthropy212.com/podcasts/third-party-fundraisers-with-jennifer-radics-johnson/

Thank you, Jennifer for sharing your knowledge to help others in the nonprofit community thrive!

These are upcoming events and activities. Currently, our events are being held virtually. Please contact your Regional Manager to find out how you can help!

• Carnival Circus
• Volunteer Appreciation Week 
• Virtual Yoga
• Art Expression
• Writing Expression

For Northern California, please contact Scott “Scooter” Wertz at [email protected] or 415-495-7223 x19

For Central California, please contact McKenzie “Bubbles” Dern at [email protected] or 559-286-0710 ext. 15

For Southern California, please contact Margarita “Cubby” Rodriguez at [email protected] or 818-848-0223 x16

We need assistance with our virtual fundraiser. You can help by building a fundraising team or sharing the event to your social media and contacts.

April 15 – June 9: Champy-On/Grow your Stache/Bows for Dough, https://p2p.onecause.com/champyon21, please contact Erika “Kika” Mendoza at [email protected] or 559-286-0710 ext. 17 for more information

April 14: Scholarship applications due for Phoenix World Burn Congress: Engage 2021

April 15: Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation 50th Anniversary 

April 15 – June 9: Bows for Dough, Grow Your Stache and Champy On Virtual Fundraisers

April 18-24: Volunteer Appreciation Week

April 23: (7:00pm – 9:00pm), Virtual Volunteer Appreciation Night

April 22: (7:00pm – 8:30pm), Writing Expression, contact Daniel “Apollo” Chacon at 415-495-7223 x 18 or [email protected]. 

May 1: (10:00am – 11:00am), Virtual Yoga, register online at https://www.aarbf.org/yoga/

May 2: (1:30pm – 3:30pm), SoCal Survivors Online Support Group, contact Margarita “Cubby” Rodriguez at [email protected] or 818-848-0223 Ext. 16 to receive log-in information.

May 4: (7:00pm – 8:30pm), Santa Clara Valley Medical Online Support Group, contact Scott “Scooter” Wertz at [email protected] or 415-495-7223 x19 to receive log-in information.

May 6: (7:00pm – 8:30pm), Family and Caregiver Online Support Group, contact Daniel “Apollo” Chacon at 415-495-7223 x 18 or [email protected] to receive log-in information.

May 11: (6:00pm-7:30pm), Fresno Community Regional Medical Center Online Support Group, contact McKenzie “Bubbles” Dern at [email protected] or 559-286-0710 ext. 15 to receive log-in information.

May 12: (6:30pm – 8:00pm), North/East Bay Burn Online Support Group, contact Scott “Scooter” Wertz at [email protected] or 415-495-7223 x19 to receive log-in information.

May 13: (7:00pm – 8:30pm), Burn Care Professionals Support Group, contact Daniel “Apollo” Chacon at 415-495-7223 x 18 or [email protected] to receive log-in information.

May 18: (7:00pm – 8:30pm), Spanish-Speaking Online Burn Survivor Support Group, contact Margarita “Cubby” Rodriguez at [email protected] or 818-848-0223 Ext. 16 to receive log-in information.

May 20: (7:00pm – 8:30pm), Statewide Support Group – Online, contact Daniel “Apollo” Chacon at 415-495-7223 x 18 or [email protected] to receive log-in information.

May 21: Carnival Circus Night, contact McKenzie “Bubbles” Dern at [email protected] or 559-286-0710 ext. 15 to receive log-in information.

May 27: (11:30am – 1:00pm), Saint Francis Online Support Group, contact Scott “Scooter” Wertz at [email protected] or 415-495-7223 x19 to receive log-in information.

May 27: (7:00pm – 8:30pm), Art Expression, contact Daniel “Apollo” Chacon at 415-495-7223 x 18 or [email protected].

May 31: Memorial Day, All AARBF Offices Closed