“May the Fourth” be with blood donors in San Diego!
The Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park will be hosting a May the 4th Blood Drive, in partnership with the San Diego Blood Bank. The event will take place at the museum from 10 am to 4 pm.
Not only will this event include awesome Star Wars cosplay by local fan groups, but donors will get a free Comic-Con Museum ticket and a coupon for a complimentary Soapy Joe’s car wash!
The San Diego Blood Bank could really use your life-saving donation. You can schedule an appointment here. Walk-ins are also welcome!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
One cool thing about San Diego’s Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park is that it can inspire heroism. Sure, we ordinary mortals might not possess superpowers, but we do have the power to do great good in this world.
After museum visitors check out the current, very extensive The Myth of Superheroes exhibit, they pass a display concerning real life heroes. Three boards indicate that Heroes are windows to our PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE.
What have Comic-Con Museum visitors–young and old–contributed?
How can you aspire to be a HERO?
Practice kindness…Passion… Be inspired…I spread joy to people…
Who has been a HERO in your life?
Family… Friend…My grandfather…My Dad…
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
There’s a San Diego-based nonprofit organization that rescues dogs from high kill shelters and the streets of Mexico. The Animal Pad rescues all breeds with its connections in Baja California–particularly in Ensenada and Tijuana.
Early this afternoon, as I walked through San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, I met smiling volunteers who were engaged in community outreach. I learned a little about the good work they are doing. The Animal Pad rescues dogs from Southern California as well as Mexico. They provide veterinarian care and rehabilitation for the rescued dogs before four-legged friends head to loving foster homes.
The Animal Pad also has a youth education program and operates the fun Camp Tappy Tails for dog loving children ages 7-12. Their La Mesa facility hosts birthday parties, too!
The Animal Pad website explains: The Animal Pad is only able to do what we do through the efforts of a wide network of volunteers, fosters, donors, sponsor organizations, and adopters. It truly takes a village. And we are always looking for help! The Animal Pad is seeking new avenues for fundraising, veterinary and pet supply connections, and anything else that can assist TAP in helping these innocent souls.
Would you like to adopt a new friend? Do you want to be a hero and help out in some other way? Go to The Animal Pad website by clicking here!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Hey, San Diego, would you like to Light the World this holiday season? Head on down to Old Town San Diego this month and visit the Giving Machine!
The Giving Machine is located on Twiggs Street, near Old Town Trolley Tours, beside the parking lot opposite the Cygnet Theatre. The machine might be mistaken for a typical vending machine, but when you operate it, a charity of your choice benefits!
Charities that benefit when you use the Giving Machine include Save the Children, Catholic Charities, Corazon de Vida, Birthline of San Diego, Gently Hugged, and Mentors International. Struggling people, including the homeless, are helped locally and around the world.
Donations that you can make range from $5 to $120. I was told that donating $20 for a live chicken is a popular choice. There are places in this world where an egg-laying chicken would make a big difference to a seriously impoverished family.
I learned that the machine has been up for two days now, and has already had 209 transactions for a total of $16,000 in giving. The Giving Machine will be operating in Old Town through December, 2024.
I also learned that these Giving Machines can be found around the nation, including another in Irvine, California. It’s a project of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so it’s no surprise the machine is located a short distance from the Mormon Battalion Historic Site in Old Town.
Whatever you might believe, certainly compassion is very important. The Golden Rule is universal.
This is one fun and easy way to help others! Take a photo by the nearby Christmas tree, too!
By the way–San Diego Padres ace pitcher Joe Musgrove and ex-Chargers superstar Eric Weddle will be at a big ribbon cutting ceremony at the Giving Machine this coming Tuesday at noon! It’s rumored Santa Claus will be present, too!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Would you like to have a uniquely beautiful Christmas Tree this holiday season? Would you like to help San Diego’s homeless at the same time?
Seventeen wonderfully decorated Christmas Trees are now on display in the lobby of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel. They are being auctioned to help the homeless. The event is called 1st Annual Holiday Village at the Bayfront: A Cause to Celebrate!
Each one-of-a-kind Christmas Tree has its own fun theme. All were decorated by folks who help our city’s homeless at Father Joe’s Villages. One very special Christmas Tree features ornaments created using the imprints of the hands and feet of children who attend Father Joe’s Therapeutic Childcare Center!
Complete information can be found on this web page. Funds raised go to helping thousands of San Diegans have safe shelter, hot meals, and hope during the holidays. The auction ends on November 24, 2024.
Visit the auction page and see photos of each amazing tree by clicking here!
I really like the kids-made tree: Santa’s Whimsical Workshop!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Would you like to help people in your community who are hungry this holiday season? It’s easy for you, your organization or business to start a holiday food drive! The San Diego Food Bank makes it super simple!
A box or tub placed where people congregate can be filled with items like canned foods, peanut butter, pasta, rice, cereal and oatmeal. It’s easy to print out a poster like the one you see above, downloadable from the San Diego Food Bank website here.
Once filled, the container can be picked up for free by the food bank. Or you can drop it off anytime Monday through Friday, 8 am – 12 pm or 1 pm – 4 pm at the San Diego Food Bank address, which is 9850 Distribution Ave., Dock 0, San Diego, CA 92121
If you anticipate a large amount of donated food, the food bank will happily lend you a big collection barrel. Barrel delivery and pickup by the food bank is free! Can you fill multiple barrels? That would be awesome!
Don’t have a good place for a container or barrel? You can also host a virtual food drive!
Find detailed information about hosting your own special food drive by visiting the San Diego Food Bank website here.
Why not make this holiday season extra meaningful? It’s so easy!
Look! We started a food drive today where I work!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Hundreds of smiling people participated in the Walk4ALZ 2024 walk this morning in Balboa Park. The annual event is a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s San Diego, a local nonprofit organization that helps many of the approximately 100,000 San Diegans living with dementia. Every dollar that was raised will stay in San Diego County.
I took these photographs as I walked near the group. I saw teams holding signs, many families in support of loved ones who have Alzheimer’s, folks along the route cheering on the walkers, and some fun costumes, too!
If you’d like to learn more about Alzheimer’s San Diego and perhaps support their efforts, or if you know someone with dementia and would like assistance, check out their website by clicking here.
An important presentation was made this evening in San Diego’s Balboa Park. A thoughtful audience, assembled inside the World Design Capital’s Exchange Pavilion, learned how the organization Tijuana Access is working to make Tijuana and Mexico more accessible for the disabled.
Eduardo Lopez Ruiz explained how Tijuana Access is raising awareness and lobbying for greater accessibility south of the border. He explained that our neighbors to the south are a bit behind the United States when it comes to making buildings, streets and city facilities more friendly for those who have difficulty functioning in a world full of potential obstacles.
Working to make our world more accessible, Eduardo affirmed, is a matter of compassion. Not only are a significant number of people born with or develop a disability, but most of us become elderly–right?
There are all sorts of ways to make a city more accessible. Automatic doors, ramps, lifts, slip resistant materials and tactile paving can be adapted to enhance mobility. Handrails, rest furniture, properly placed buttons and switches, Braille printing and other changes can make life much easier and safer for many.
The presentation was mostly in Spanish with an interpreter helping us English speakers. I asked how I could link to Tijuana Access with my blog, because readers might like to help in some way. The Tijuana Access Instagram page is here. Their Facebook page is here.
To my readers in Mexico, perhaps this is a cause you’d like to support. Or simply spread the word to help to raise awareness!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Are you a gamer with heart? Would you like to improve the lives of hospitalized kids? Gamers Outreach is a charity that would appreciate your help.
The two cool people in the above photo are raising money for Gamers Outreach during TwitchCon in San Diego. I spotted them today grilling hot dogs at a tent on Harbor Drive. Look for them near a dancing hot dog!
Their objective: help fund programs that brighten the day of sick kids in hospitals, including San Diego’s own Rady Children’s Hospital.
Let me share two paragraphs from Gamers Outreach literature:
WHO WE ARE
Gamers Outreach is a charity that empowers hospitalized families through play. Our goal is to build a world where activity is easily prioritized as part of care. Video games are our tools of choice.
WHY WE DO IT
Being in the hospital can be scary and isolating. Games give kids access to adventure and opportunities to socialize. Sometimes healthcare staff even use games to assist with treatment!
Gamers Outreach has several programs. Click here to check out their GO Karts (Gamers Outreach Karts), which are portable video game kiosks built specifically for hospitals. Kids stuck in bed can play!
The Player 2 program encourages volunteers to distribute, manage, and play games with hospitalized kids! This role is particularly great for college gamers!
The Save Point program provides hospitals with high-tech vending machines that distribute items such as toys, game codes, and fun swag to kids receiving care . . . as they progress through treatment. Make getting better a fun goal! Curious hospitals should check this out!
Gamers Outreach helps thousands of children per year in a multitude of hospitals. Interested in learning more, and perhaps helping this effort? Visit their website by clicking here!
If you’re in San Diego for TwitchCon, head over to the fundraising tent on Harbor Drive across from the convention center, near the Gaslamp trolley station. I spun their prize wheel and got a free hot dog!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
As I entered Balboa Park for a late Sunday morning stroll, I noticed tents and a stage coming down on the grass near Sixth Avenue. I then spoke to smiling people who had worked to organize the event.
When I was told about the Walk in Remembrance With Hope, I wanted to help in a small way with my blog.
The walk was a memorable way to celebrate the lives of loved ones lost to suicide & to raise awareness about suicide prevention. Funds raised stay in San Diego County for suicide outreach & prevention and survivor support services.
If you’d like to read more about the organization, find comfort, or help spread human compassion, please visit the Survivors of Suicide Loss San Diego website by clicking here.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Cool San Diego Sights! 