MLK Fellowship Breakfast Legacy Awards Announced

The 24th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Fellowship Breakfast honors Dr. King’s legacy of Character, Unity and Inclusive Leadership.

The breakfast which is sponsored by the Pleasanton Community of Character Collaborative will be held on Monday, January 22nd, 2024, at the Doubletree by Hilton in Pleasanton beginning at 7:30am.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Jacqueline D Brown, a Senior Leader in corporate technology with Workday of Pleasanton.

Recipients of the 2023 Legacy award are:

SUZANNE BECK of Livermore, leader of the nonprofit, “Dress a Girl Around the World”.

CATHERINE BROWN, a first-grade teacher at Fredericksen Elementary School in Dublin.

TRI-VALLEY REACH, a nonprofit providing resources, education, activities, community, and housing opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Keynote speaker Jacqueline D. Brown will take us on a journey to explore the profound impact of Dr. King's life and principles. Centered around the themes of character, unity, and inclusive leadership to emphasize how Dr. King's character served as a moral compass, guiding him through times of challenge and controversy. His dream of unity transcended superficial differences, and his leadership, characterized by a call to conscience, urged all to confront injustice with courage and unwavering resolve.

LEGACY AWARD WINNER – SUZANNE BECK

Suzanne is super hard working and makes the world a better place as she leads a group of 300+ men and women making simple dresses. The motto of the Dress A Girl Around the World (DAG) organization is “We dream of a world in which every girl has at least one new dress. We want girls to know that they are worthy of respect, and that they are loved by God," and Suzanne has helped to make that dream a reality. Since their Bay Area inception in 2011, the group has made and sent over 65,000 dresses to impoverished areas of the world. They meet about every six weeks to sew, iron, and put together dress kits. Volunteers are welcome to pick up dress kits or attend one of the next events. For more info, see www.dressagirlsfbayarea.com

A former Pleasanton resident and active in the Catholic Community of Pleasanton, Suzanne went through a difficult divorce, so stepped back for a time from any parish/charitable responsibilities: “I simply let the Lord take care of me," she said. After a few months, she asked God to show her where she could serve and not long after Dress A Girl Around the World seemed to fall in her lap. "I knew I could sew, but I also know that I'm much better at organizing people, so we started with 5 friends in my tiny house in Livermore." Suzanne was appointed the “Ambassador” of the SF Bay Area Dress a Girl chapter, and the rest is history! The mother of two grown sons (Foothill grads), she works part-time remotely for Augustine Institute, which provides formative parish and academic resources. She is also happily remarried to Eric, classmate crush from the sixth grade and who is a huge help to all the DAG activities.

LEGACY AWARD WINNER – CATHERINE BROWN

Catherine is an elementary school teacher at Frederiksen Elementary School in Dublin. She exemplifies schoolteachers throughout the Tri-Valley who work diligently to serve children.

In addition to teaching, she served for years as a troop leader, a Service Unit Director, and a summer Camp Program Director for Girl Scouts. She created and co-organizes an annual Veteran’s Day ceremony for her school, dedicated to educating students about the invaluable service and sacrifice of military service members.

She initiated and oversees the annual "One City, One Book" program, fostering a reading experience that unites all Dublin public and private schools, the Dublin City Library, local businesses, and the broader community. A component of this project is Books in the Park, under which books are placed in city parks for children to read. These initiatives aim to strengthen community connections through shared reading experiences.

LEGACY AWARD WINNER – TRI-VALLLEY REACH

Since 1990, Tri-Valley REACH has worked to build inclusive communities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to live independently within existing neighborhoods. REACH believes housing is the key to independence and supports 42 residents in 12 homes in Pleasanton and Livermore.

The REACH shared housing model promotes inclusivity at its best. REACH residents develop friendships with their neighbors, learn to do day to day basic necessities of living independently, such as walking to the mailbox to get their mail or setting out their recycling. Affordable, accessible, and safe housing options are a pressing concern for many extremely low-income adults with I/DD. To address this concern, REACH rents are income based and as low as $350 per month.

All REACH services are provided exclusively through board volunteers, donors, fundraising, and grants. In 2023, the annual REACH for Your Dreams fundraising event raised over $100,000. Donations are instrumental in providing not just a home, but independence to Tri-Valley community members with I/DD. Every heartfelt gift, regardless of the amount, makes a lasting impact on the lives of future and current REACH residents.

To learn more about Tri-Valley REACH, please visit www.trivalleyreach.org.

To Attend the MLK Legacy Breakfast:

Registration is at the Chamber Website: www.Pleasanton.org

Cost is $60 per person