Recently I caught up with former Stepping Stone Board Member, Maritza Rosales.  She was kind enough to share this wonderful picture of her new son, Julian.  See Julian’s comments below: My mom is Maritza Rosales who attended A Stepping Stone Preschool Class 1990-1991 at Mitchell School in Isaac School District– only she was Maritza Hernandez then.…Continued

Gifts in Kind Keep Companies Bullish on Serving Even in a bear market, many companies want to support nonprofit organizations, whether monetarily or through drives and donations. But even when the well seems dry, there are ways to make a difference.   Gifts in kind – services or goods that organizations would otherwise have to…Continued

Last October, I received an email.  It was very simple and direct with almost no details and went something like, “We are looking for grass-roots non profits in Phoenix to highlight for a documentary we are putting together.  Please contact me at your earliest convenience.” “Ugh, Spam“, was my first thought. With my pinkie poised over…Continued

As some of you may already know, children’s books author Maurice Sendak passed away recently.  I remember reading In The Night Kitchen over and over to my two young boys…”milk for the batter, milk for the batter…”.   But most people remember him for Where the Wild Things Are. Can you believe he was a pioneer? A rebel? …Continued

  On Monday, May 7th, the parents in our program gathered in the classrooms with their children for one of their last Child and Parent Times Together.  To the left are parents in the three-year-old classroom. The children sang for the whole group and then joined their own mom or dad to present special pictures…Continued

Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust recently announced grant awards totaling nearly $1.9 Million to 22 different local non-profits–including $55,000 to A Stepping Stone Foundation.  We are so grateful to the Pulliam Trust for supporting our children and families in this way.  Congratulations to all the non-profits, many of whom are our colleagues in our community work.

Thank you past president Michael Hensley, Attorney at Jones Skelton, Hochuli, for this true and recent anecdote: I was at a reception last night (5/3/12) for Arizona’s Finest Lawyers at the house of Retired Supreme Court Justice Gordon when I ran in to attorney Jill Goldsmith who is also a member of Social Venture Partners Arizona (SVPAZ).  She heard Executive Director Cynthia Gattorna’s Fast Pitch some time ago…Continued

Last Friday (4/27/12), the Morrison Institute for Public Policy released a new report called, “Dropped?” highlighting the fact that Arizona’s economic future is at risk if we continue to fail to address our Latino education attainment levels.  As I listened to the presentations, I couldn’t help pondering what’s next?  Most of us in the room…Continued

Every day is the day of the young child at A Stepping Stone Foundation’s core program model at Westwood Elementary in Phoenix, AZ.  Besides our primary task of giving four-year-old children all the skills they need to read on time, we also provide daily opportunities to learn how to be a good friend and neighbor. …Continued

Our parent celebration last Thursday, April 28, was oh, so sweet!  Thank you to all our visitors and board members who joined us.  Our children sang, our current parents received their certificates of accomplishments, and former parent, Neida Ascencio, spoke to the crowd (seen below). .   A huge thanks to Westwood Elementary Principal Lori Weiss for…Continued