Smile! You Just Shopped for a Cause

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We all know how easy and convenient shopping online is. But did you know there’s a way to make it even more gratifying? And it requires nearly zero effort on your part.

Shop AmazonSmile and a portion of your purchase will be donated to the San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization (CECO). You can support CECO and their 60th anniversary efforts when you shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday (and, really, year-round).

AmazonSmile functions the same as Amazon, but the online retailer donates 0.5 percent of the product price of eligible purchases to a charity of your choice (read: CECO!).

Using AmazonSmile is easy:

  1. Go to smile.amazon.com (different from the regular Amazon link).

  2. Sign in to your Amazon account or create one.

  3. If it is your first visit, pick your own charitable organization. Type “San Diego County Employees' Charitable Organization” or “CECO” as your charity. You can also visit this link and CECO will already be chosen for you as your charity.

  4. Shop as you normally would! (You will see eligible products marked as “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on product detail pages.)

  5. Bonus tip: Save the AmazonSmile link as a favorite and always shop from there.

There are several other ways to support CECO throughout the year. Make a biweekly donation via payroll deductions for as little as $2 per pay period. See CECO pledge instructions. Or you could make a one-time donation by contacting your CECO Department Representative or a member of the CECO Executive Committee.

What's Your Thanksgiving Tradition?

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Thanksgiving means a lot of different things for different people. Maybe for you it means playing football all day with family. Maybe it means going to Grandma's every year or camping out over the long weekend. Perhaps it's something as simple as turkey, mashed potatoes and the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. 

Whatever it means to you, we want to know. Tell us your Thanksgiving traditions in the comments! 

Probation Pays it Forward for Thanksgiving

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Six area families will have a bountiful holiday thanks to the Probation Department. Chief Adolfo Gonzales and Probation officers delivered Thanksgiving meals to families in need last week.

Probation partnered with San Marcos Elementary in San Marcos, Lincoln Acres School in National City and Montgomery Elementary School in Chula Vista to select the families. Principals from the schools, which Probation recently adopted, selected students with stand-out records in the classroom. One student hasn’t missed a day of school in a few years.

For Chief Gonzales, the mission is personal. Growing up, Gonzales said his own family received donated Thanksgiving meals from the Salvation Army.

“Ever since I’ve had the opportunity to give back, I have,” said Gonzales.

The donations are also about strengthening Probation’s ties with the community.

“We’re building safer communities by developing relationships with the families who we work with,” Gonzales said. “We’re hoping the children will not become our clients in the future, but instead become our employees.”

How are you paying it forward this holiday season? Tell us in the comment section below. 

Help to Count the Homeless

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Last year, there were 8,692 homeless men, women and children in the San Diego region, the fourth largest homeless population in the nation behind New York City, Los Angeles and Seattle.

Has the number changed? You can help us find out.

The Board of Supervisors is once again encouraging County employees to volunteer and spend a few early hours early in the morning to help count the homeless. The annual Point-in-Time Count will take place Friday, Jan. 27, 2017 from 3:45 a.m. to 7 a.m.

The Board believes this is such a worthy cause that County employees who participate will be paid on County time.

The Point-in-Time Count is part of the Regional Task Force on the Homeless’s WeALLCount campaign. The annual count gives a snapshot in time of the number of people experiencing homelessness throughout the San Diego region. The numbers help the region apply for federal funding and identify solutions on how to best serve this at-risk population.

Last year, the 497 County employees who participated accounted for about a third of all volunteers. The Board hopes even more will hit the streets and participate in the 2017 Point-in-Time Count.

Volunteers will work in teams in specific locations and simply tally how many homeless people they see.

If you are interested in participating, review the registration guidelines and FAQs and then obtain approval from your supervisor via the supervisor approval form.

Once completed, you can register for the WeALLCount campaign on the Task Force’s website. After you register, you will complete a short LMS training.

Score $10 SDSU Football Tickets

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Photo credit: SDSU

Photo credit: SDSU

Gather up the family next weekend for a Thanksgiving tradition—football! San Diego County employees can purchase discounted tickets to San Diego State’s game against Colorado State on Saturday, Nov. 26.

The Aztecs are on fire. The team is currently 9-1. And it’s just one of 11 teams nationally with one loss or less and one of only seven undefeated teams in league play. Plus it may be the last time to see Heisman Trophy candidate Donnel Pumphrey in action in San Diego before he graduates.

The game kicks off at Qualcomm Stadium at 6 p.m.

Don’t miss out on the fun; purchase tickets for $10 (regularly $16). Use promo code RISEUP.

It's Official: Most Awarded County

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County Probation's Trauma Responsive Unit received a CSAC Challenge Award.

Several County departments were recognized at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors' meeting for recently winning eight innovation awards. A representative from the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) came to present staff with two Challenge Awards and six Merit Awards—the most awarded to any county in the state this year.

Read more about the County's individual CSAC awards.

The Office of Emergency Services received a Challenge Award for developing a First Responder Access and Functional Needs Training video series.

Have You Seen Her?

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She sits all alone, but can be seen by thousands of motorists every day.

She is Nancy Nguyen, a case manager at the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital, and the face of a campaign promoting the Master of Social Work at Cal State University San Marcos.

She appears on a billboard along Highway 78 West at the intersection of El Camino Real. It will be up for one more week.

The university asked Nguyen if they could use her image to promote a successful graduate from the program after she first appeared in an internal campaign promoting CSUSM’s Department of Social Work.

Nguyen completed her master’s degree in May of 2015 and started working the Psychiatric Hospital three months later. 

Gallery: CECO's 60th Diamond Anniversary

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The San Diego County Employees' Charitable Organization hosted its 60th Diamond Anniversary Celebration at the Mission Valley Resort on Friday. If you missed the big bash, click through the gallery.

The fundraiser featured dinner, dancing, opportunity drawings and more. Plus, the County of San Diego Board of Supervisors recognized CECO as a Live Well San Diego partner.

CECO's annual fundraising campaign continues through the end of November. Take the 60 for 60 CECO Challenge or buy a pie or two in the Marie Callender's pie sale. Plus the CECO will host a Bake sale and Bake off at the County Administration Center on Nov. 18.

Brrnnnng! We Have a New Voice Mail System

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Imagine a world without voice mail.

Missed calls. Misunderstandings. Missed opportunities.

Well, we have a new voice mail system taking over Nov. 16. And if you haven’t taken the time to set up your new voice mailbox before then — you won’t have to imagine a world without voice mail. You’ll be living in it.

And you don’t want to go through that experience. So, go to your phone. Set up your new system so you’re ready to go Nov 16.

It’s actually very easy to do. Here’s what you do:

Pick up your phone. Call this number: 495-5050 (You don’t have to punch in an area code, or *9 — anything. Just punch in the seven-digit number.)

A voice will ask you for your code. Punch in 1-2-3-4 on your telephone touch pad. This is your temporary security code to allow you into the system.

Now you’ll be asked to punch in a new four-to-15 digit security code of your own choosing, followed by the # key. You may want to write your new code down in a safe place so you don’t forget it!

A voice will now ask you record your name so your mailbox has your name in it. You push 2 to start recording, 2 to stop and 5 to save your name. Simple.

Finally, a voice will ask you to set a personal greeting. You know, something like, “Hi there! You’ve reached the desk of (your name) in the department of (your department). I’m on another line or away from my desk. Please leave me a message and I’ll get back to you! Have a great day!”  Just like with your name, you’ll push 2 to start recording, 2 to stop and 5 to save your greeting.

Do all of this and you’ll hear a “Congratulations!” This means you’ve done everything right and you’re all done! Way to go!

Here’s an important thing to note. You have to do all of these steps at one time — set a new password, record your name and record a new personal greeting — to complete the process and get that “congratulations” message.

For example, you can’t set up your new password — then decide to hang up and record your name and personal greeting later. When you call again, you’ll be back to square one and have to start over with the temporary 1-2-3-4 security password.

So, if you you’re like many of us — you don’t have a gift for speaking extemporaneously and may stumble over your words as you try to record your new voice message — you may want to write up a few lines and read them. That way you won’t get flustered and hang up before you finish the entire process!

Fortunately, our County Technology Office has sent all of us a lot of information to help us through the process, including a video and guides:

Easy Voice Mail Setup Video Instructions

So, do yourself a favor, take a minute if you haven’t already and set up your new mail box.

You don’t want to get caught in a world without voice mail!

For more information, or if you have questions, call 495-5910.