With Christmas music played by DJ Mike Nevarez, festive décor throughout the room and gifts via hundreds of raffle prizes, everyone was in a joyful mood throughout the evening. Soboba tribal employee Andrew Vallejos emceed the event and will serve as the Chamber’s incoming chairman in 2022. He said he feels the volunteer position will help bring the community together as Soboba continues to work closely with so many local nonprofits and businesses. Vallejos introduced members of the Soboba Tribal Council and Soboba Foundation who were on hand to help hand out raffle gift baskets.

Cyndi Lemke, who has served as the Chamber’s executive director for the past three years said there are more than 350 businesses and about 150 nonprofits that are active members. She said the primary purpose of the Chamber is to let every member know that they are supported.

“We are behind you!” she said. “People join a Chamber of Commerce for different reasons. Some people want the chance to network with other business and community leaders. Some welcome the publicity that active involvement in Chamber activities can generate for their business. Some people want the opportunity to have a role in community affairs or obtain tools to support their success.”

Lemke assures that the Hemet San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce works hard to help its members achieve all these objectives. The Chamber has a core of active volunteers and staff who are committed to fulfilling the mission of the Chamber and help other members achieve their specific goals.

“These volunteers lead and serve on the key committees and task forces,” she said. “The Chamber’s programs are divided into five major categories: Economic Development, Membership Development, Community Services, Business Training Resources and Events.”

Specific to the recent mixer, Lemke said she loves the joy of the holiday season and the nature of this particular event. “We are there to appreciate each other,” she said. Networking opportunities were abundant as Chamber members interacted with attendees and she assisted Vallejos with hosting.

Sonia Ramos, Founder and CEO of Boxing for Christ, said her nonprofit has been a Chamber member for eight years and she has been an active volunteer during that time. Her program offers professional training for community youth to participate in boxing tournaments, most recently in Arizona, Nevada and Texas. Celebrating its tenth anniversary in January, the organization has helped more than 3,000 youth reach their dreams of becoming successful boxers. “Being part of the Chamber has given us the connections we need for our program,” Ramos said.

Kathy and Vince Conway serve on the board of directors for Carol’s Kitchen, a nonprofit that offers hot dine-in lunches for the community free of charge. It has been serving residents in Beaumont, Banning and Cabazon for 24 years and in April a kitchen was opened in San Jacinto. “Our guests also leave with a bag of extra groceries and can select a few items from some slightly used clothes; all for free,” Kathy Conway said.

The Conways were recently named Beaumont Chamber of Commerce Citizens of the Year. They joined the Hemet San Jacinto Valley Chamber in 2021 and said it has helped them get to know the community.

“We have attended their Network for Businesses meetings where we have made connections. Also, they did a big announcement in the CHAT for our big fundraiser last October as well as an article about who Carol’s Kitchen is and where we are serving our free hot dine-in meals,” Kathy Conway said. “We are looking forward to next year of more events and working with the Chamber to increase our attendance of guests and raising money to be able to keep feeding the hungry.”

She found the Holiday Chamber Mixer to be a beautiful and fun event. “The food and desserts were fabulous,” Conway said. “It was even better because all four of us that attended went home with a gift. It was great to be back out mingling with and chatting with people in a fun and safe environment.”

Photographer Sara Pastrano has been in business for about eight years and found great support from the Chamber since joining about three years ago. “It has been an overall important business move and investment,” said the Hemet resident. “I was very excited to attend this year’s mixer and see old and new faces but my favorite part was seeing everyone cheering for others during the raffles.”

Lemke said the relationships and connections that the Chamber builds with its members is her favorite part. “I love to see our members reach their goals,” she said. “Their goals are our goals because their success is our success.”

After Vallejos wished everyone at the 2021 Holiday Chamber Mixer a safe and Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year, Soboba Foundation President Dondi Silvas gave closing remarks. “We really appreciate the partnerships we have with all of you. Many of you volunteered with our turkey dinner giveaway and Unstuff the Bus toy drive events and we thank you for that,” she said. “Happy Holidays and we look forward to seeing you all again in the new year.”

Hemet San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce will be hosting its annual Business Expo at the Hemet Valley Mall on Jan. 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event is open to the public. Please contact Sonia@hsjvc.com for details. For more information about HSJVC, please visit www.hemetsanjacintochamber.com or call 951-658-3211.

Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians | Contibuted

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After five days of collecting toys at the Soboba Casino Resort Event Center, members of the Soboba Foundation were able to present local nonprofits with more than 5,300 toys to distribute through various community programs.

More than 300 volunteers were scheduled for two-hour shifts for each of the eight-hour days of the annual “Soboba Gives Back!” Toy Drive, accepting a $20-plus toy in exchange for $40 in free slot play.

Soboba Tribal Member Joey Placencia volunteered for double shifts on four of the days and worked six hours on the final day. He has been a regular participant for the past five years.  “My mother Doris, aunt Tara, cousin Tatiana, aunt Maria and uncle Pat also volunteered their time,” he said. “I do a ton of charity events. I was raised in a charitable spirit and my family has always given its time to various causes for as long as I can remember.”

In past years, the event was held outdoors on the walkway leading up to the old casino’s entrance. This year, volunteers got to be indoors at the new facility and toys were stored in neighboring meeting rooms for scheduled pick-ups each week.

About 50 organizations were recipients of this year’s event. The Hemet Preschool was a new addition but there were many regulars that benefit from this program each year, including VIP Tots, Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians and Mt. San Jacinto College’s CARE and Phi Theta Kappa programs.

San Jacinto Unified School District counts on the Soboba Foundation to provide enough toys to bring a happy Christmas to 400 underserved families throughout the district’s eight elementary schools. Due to the volume of gifts involved, each year arrangements are made to fill a Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians’ bus with more than 1,000 toys which is unloaded during an “Unstuff the Bus” community event.

This was the 12^th year SJUSD has participated in the toy drive and the fourth year it was held at the district’s warehouse, where about 300 community volunteers met on Dec. 9 to unstuff the bus and store all the toys inside the district’s warehouse. It took about an hour for all the toys to be passed along the double rows of helpers to reach the hands of those inside who were sorting by age group and gender as they received each toy.

Placencia and some of his family members volunteered to help unstuff the bus and he said his favorite part is seeing all the smiling faces on those that also enjoy helping out.

The district hosted a toy distribution event on Dec. 14 for families to pick up a bag of toys for all the children in their household. Enrollment has grown since 2007 and the increase in toy donations has supported that growth.

“The venue is fully decorated and volunteers from the Hemet/San Jacinto Chamber of Commerce help with cookie and juice distribution and a chance to sit on Santa’s lap for a photo,” SJUSD’s Communications Coordinator Dawn Lawrence said. “It’s not just about the toys, but about family.”

Lawrence said that without Soboba’s support, the district would not be able to serve families in this way, adding that the district continues to have 82% of its student population classified in “low socioeconomic status.”

“This annual toy distribution is extremely important to our youngest students and their families,” Lawrence said. “I don’t know what we would do without Soboba’s help.”

Ruben Valdez, 9, was one of about 10 youths on board the bus who volunteered to remove all the toys.

“I like helping out because it’s for kids in need,” he said.

Jeff Penn, Executive Director of Cops 4 Kids & Communities, strives to build positive mentoring relationships between teens and members of the community through educational, athletic and leadership development programs. More than 25 of the program’s members were on hand to help unload the bus.

“We feel it is important for our youth members to give back to the community,” Penn said. “We want to make sure we are instilling the values in our youth members to help others – the whole idea of charity and philanthropy and giving first, and not expecting in return.”

Penn said that providing Christmas toys for children is a struggle for many low-income families and receiving toys from the “Soboba Gives Back!” program for the past seven years has been incredible.

“Through Soboba’s generous donation of toys, Cops 4 Kids & Communities has been able to serve hundreds of families in need by giving these toys to children during the holidays, where there might not be any otherwise,” Penn said. “On December 23 we will go to the high-poverty areas of our community and give out toys to kids of all ages. We hope that this act will empower kids to see beyond their circumstances.”

Soboba Foundation Vice President Dondi Silvas said being part of the event each year is an amazing feeling. “I also help collect the toys, and people often ask, “who gets the toys?,” and when they find out, they are really eager to help those less fortunate,” she said. “It’s a blessing to be able to give back.”

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