Tag Archives: Development

Michael Weber’s Decades of Donations to the Red Cross

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Michael donates blood at the Pleasanton Red Cross donation center, just a three-minute walk from his office at Simpson Strong-Tie.

The work of the American Red Cross would not be possible without the many volunteers and donors who selflessly continue to give their time and resources in support of the organization’s mission. Michael Weber is one of those supporters who has donated both blood and funds several times, exemplifying the values and company culture of his employer, Simpson Strong-Tie.

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Seven Decades of Gratitude: An Unforgettable Volunteer Helps After a Fire

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Co-authored by Channa Sweet and Jill Feldon LaNouette


October 20, 1957 newspaper clippings of the 4-alarm fire that took place on Fell St.
Credit: The San Francisco Examiner // Archives

Carol awoke at 2 a.m. to an unimaginable scene unfolding in front of her. She was trapped in a room with smoke burning her nose and flames licking at the door. Unable to leave through her bedroom door, she climbed out her window and escaped from the third floor down an already burning fire escape. With singed hair and bare feet firmly planted on the cold ground, she stood across the street feeling like she was “watching her whole life burn away.”

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A Circle of Giving: “Please Convey My Gratitude”

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Photo courtesy of Lisa Lemus

A Tender but Strong Love Becomes the Foundation of Gratitude and Giving

When Phillip Wong, a math professor at Contra Costa College, met Lisa Lemus—a K-12 teacher—at a church dance on Valentine’s Day in 1996, everything changed. As divorcees, they both understood what it meant to spend a life together, yet they also understood what it meant to live alone (coincidentally, they’d both been single for 17 years). Most of all, family was everything to them. Phillip had three grown children, and Lisa had two. But living on their own had left them open to dating, and their meeting was unforgettable.

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