Go Nutz Donuts raised around $200 for fallen fire fighter Cory Iverson.
This family photo shows Cory Iverson, his wife Ashley, and daughter, 2-year-old Evie Iverson. Ashley is expecting their second child.
You may remember that he died of thermal injuries and smoke inhalation incurred while fighting the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Station 75's Captain Jeff Griffith and crew stopped by to pick up the money and pose for a couple of pictures at the same time. Also on hand was Wildomar mayor, Ben Benoit.
Left to right, Mayor Ben Benoit, Fire Fighter 1, Go Nutz Dounts head honcho Henry Silvestre, Captain Jeff Griffith of Station 75, Fire Fighter 2.
I asked Henry what motivated him regarding this cause. As it happens, he went to school up in Ojai and was closely following the news of the Thomas fire. Some of his former classmates lost their homes or were otherwise displaced.
When he heard the bulletin about the death of a fire fighter named Cory from San Diego county, that rang a bell. He has a regular customer named Cory, that is also a fire fighter from the same general area, and he hadn't come into the store for awhile.
Captain Griffith stopped by and mentioned that Cory Iverson had gone to the academy with one of the guys from Station 75.
Knowing how much money it takes to raise kids, and there being one and another on the way, Henry decided to put out a fireman's boot that people could put money into for the Iverson family.
All the fire departments in San Diego County came together for one "boot drive" [started by] a couple of fire captains in Poway. They raised over $285,000 in one day.
Captain Jeff Griffith, Station 75
Looking north from the Baxter overpass. You can see many cars that had stopped on the side of the road to get a glimpse of the passing hearse.
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. — Michelangelo Wildomar Rap has never missed the mark.
This event was several months in the making, and it was spearheaded by Wildomar resident Jodi Pesicka along with Toni Bravo-Rousseau. Both of these brave women are the mothers of children that survived near drownings.
You'd never imagine the amount of time, prep work, sweat and worry that goes into an event that is less than two hours from the public's point of view... unless you've done something similar yourself.
. The event was named after Jodi's daughter Justine Lee: The Justine Lee Pesicka Memorial Foundation Water Safety Awareness 5k Run/Walk.
Here are the two shirts that were seen at the 5K. The black and purple one was worn by the volunteers and staff. The white with blue lettering was worn by the runners.
Justine died in 2013 at the age of 24, more than 20 years after the incident that forever changed the Pesicka family's lives.
Toni's seven year old daughter Summer is in hospice, though she was brought out to Marna O'Brien park to be at the event, she faces many challenges daily, and needs round the clock care.
Toni Bravo-Rousseau, Robin Dixon, Jodi Pesicka and Summer.
According to WHO, in the United States: drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death in children aged 1-14 years.
It's as silent as it is avoidable, and Jodi and Toni want to get the word out to parents and caregivers of children to not take their child's safety around water lightly. It only takes a moment for a drowning to occur, and the damage lasts a lifetime... if the child lives at all.
Toni Bravo-Rousseau, in the black shirt, looks at one of the exhibits that showed many near drowning survivors. The names of the survivors, and the number of years since their near drownings goes as follows. From Left to Right at the top: Ashleigh (11); Isaiah (7); Joey (10) ; Ivan (1); Owen (6) ; Damion (17); Summer (6); Angelina (4). Down the right side: Blake (2); Gabriel (3); Aiden (6). From left to right on the bottom: Adam (19); Bradley (25); Harper (2); Kurt (16); Matthew (4); Lucy (2). Down the left side: Noah (1); Niel (18).
Water Safety Awareness was the point of the event. Though it was also a chance for the community to get together and have a great morning too. It was a good showing for a inaugural 5K. There were more than 75 timed runners, and about half that many walkers.
The first finisher, Mario Trujillo of Lake Elsinore, made the run in 18:03.
The snack bar was dispensing free Go-Nutz donuts, bananas, coffee, water and other things. There were also many different vendors and exhibit booths to visit. Take a look at the promotional video that THINK Together from Wildomar Elementary did for this event. It's as informational as it is cute.
All the money raised from the event will be going to help pay for infant float lessons for families that can't afford them.
One family made the run in good time, and still had the energy to give a thumbs up.
Please visit the facebook page for more information about the foundation or where to get local infant float lessons. Just leave a message and you're sure to get a timely response.
Jodi and Toni were grateful for the tireless efforts of many different volunteers. Also key were the Wildomar Rotary and the Elks. Thing about volunteers, they don't do it for the recognition, but for the value of being a service to others, so no one is getting named here. ☺
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The only reason I started swimming was for water safety. Then, once I started falling in love with sports, I got more comfortable with it. – Michael Phelps
It's been several months in the waiting, but the big day has arrived, Go Nutz Donuts is officially opened for business.
I stopped in around 8:30 and had a chance meet up with councilmember Ben Benoit, along with some other friends that had already been inside. We chatted while I let the line subside a bit.
I picked out four different items to sample, along with one of their special coffee mugs ($14.99) that comes with lifetime refills for 99¢.
I'm not really big on sweets in the morning, don't blame me - blame my tastebuds, so I was eager to sample the C.H.P. (Cheese, Ham and jalapeño Pepper). A terrific balance of flavors along with some zing from the jalapeño.
The maple donut had a deep flavor, and the chocolate one had a great taste too. I had to enjoy the texture and taste of the cronut... looks like I may have to rethink this "sweets in the morning" thing I mentioned earlier.
Remember that this is a soft opening and they're still working out a few kinks. They have an extensive menu, but many of the items weren't available today.
I'm looking forward to trying such things as Crazy Balls(a concoction involving a donut hole and a meatball) and The Hankster (2 glazed donuts with an egg, sausage and cheese).
Go-Nutz bling for purchase.
I loved the unique shapes of the donuts I purchased, they had that artisan feel to them and the taste was great.
They are located in the Stater Bros shopping center (Clinton Keith and Hidden Springs Rd, right next to Print Postal).
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