Forget swimming...how about BOWLING with The Sharks?

I was delighted to announce last month a new partnership with the Sharks Foundation that will transform a VMC pediatric clinic into a Sharks-themed center of health, fun and overall awesomeness.

Well it gets even better.

To help raise funds for the project, the Sharks Foundation is hosting the inaugural “Sharks & Strikes” charity bowling tournament on November 14^th, and you are invited. Join the Sharks Foundation, Sharks players, coaches and broadcasters for a night of bowling and raise money for a great cause. Prices start at only $100 for youth and $150 for adults with proceeds benefiting the “Sharks Pediatric Clinic at Valley Health Center Tully.”

The event will take place at 300 San Jose, near the Oakridge Mall. Tickets are limited, so act fast. For more information or to register, visit www.SharksFoundation.org.

When is a Shark Bite a Healthy Thing?

The San Jose Sharks are a team of tough, big, scrappy and talented hockey players…but they are also deeply committed to their community. No wonder, then, that their entire organization and Foundation are too. Here's a picture of them visiting Valley Medical Center a while back...and our work together continued...

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce a new partnership between the Sharks Foundation and the VMC Foundation: The San Jose Sharks Pediatric Clinic at VHC Tully!

The clinic is already there at Valley Health Center Tully in San Jose, and serves more than 6,000 children each month! And while it’s long on quality care for kids, it’s short on décor and inspiration.

Enter the Sharks, who are investing up to $100,000 to “re-imagine” the Clinic. We’ll have Sharks images of players, team colors throughout and of course “Sharkie”, the team mascot everywhere. More than just looking good, the clinic will be full of healthy tips for kids and parents: Take a BITE out of your veggies, drink water not soda, get your exercise and immunizations…all positive messages to match the positive look and feel.

Parents will love it too, and of course this “Legacy Project” will help the Sharks show off their involvement in our community. They already do a lot, but this is a very big deal. Huge thanks to Jeff Cafuir, the Sharks Foundation Manager, for spearheading the project along with our team here at the VMC Foundation and throughout the Sharks organization.

So yes, the Sharks are caring, humble, community-minded idealists…unless of course you meet them on the ice. Wearing an Anaheim Ducks uniform.

Reducing soda intake...and all that jazz.

Music is more important to me than most things, and for years I’ve served on the Board of Directors of San Jose Jazz. Our Summerfest is the biggest deal in town every August, bringing 100,000 music lovers together for a weekend of celebration and performance. This year’s was maybe the best festival yet…

…and yet, when going over the books at our last board meeting we noticed something odd as compared to last year. Soda sales were off. WAY off. Like 50% down!

Fifty percent.

Ticket sales, beer, food, weekend weather…all similar to 2010. Could our efforts to promote a “Soda-Free Summer” be working? Well, let’s look at some facts:

• The Bay Area Nutrition and Physical Activity Collaborative (BANPAC, part of the VMC Foundation) has data that shows parents and kids are starting to get the message and reduce soda consumption.
• There’s been a sharp rise in local media about the dangers of sweetened drinks this year.
• The American Beverage Association (representing soda makers) recently called Santa Clara County’s anti-soda messages “misleading”. They’re not, and we have reams of data to prove it…but they’re worried, and that’s good.
• Kaiser Permanente, the biggest supporter of our “Re-Think Your Drink” efforts in Silicon Valley, became a major sponsor of San Jose Jazz’s Summerfest this year!

Yes – this is a big deal. For the first time, KP was a major player in our Jazz Festival, setting up wellness stations around the Salsa Stage (the most physically active of the Summerfest, with non-stop dancing all weekend). They gave away water with fresh lemon to all revelers, promoting a healthier alternative to soda.

My friend, colleague and VMC Foundation Board Member Kathleen King takes all the credit: “My giving up diet soda this year is personally responsible for the decline”, she joked with me yesterday. But she’s on to something: The fight to reduce unhealthy drink intake is going to ultimately be fought one person, one family at a time. And with obesity and diabetes rates still climbing, a fight is exactly what this is. Please, join us—it starting to work!

What WOULDN'T I do to raise $10,000?

Let me start by answering the most common questions I've gotten about this caper over the last 48 hours:

1. Yes, I was sober. Mostly.

2. No, it wasn't pre-planned, other than the thought crossed my mind a couple hours earlier. David DuMont's amazing band provided unplanned appropriate music though, which made it seemed rehearsed. It wasn't.

3. Yes, I left my good shoes on, but remembered to take my blackberry out of my pocket.

Here's how it reads in today's Mercury News:

Pizarro: VMC Foundation Executive Director Chris Wilder takes a giant leap for charity

By Sal Pizarro

spizarro@mercurynews.com

Posted: 09/19/2011 03:51:42 PM PDT

Updated: 09/19/2011 09:29:04 PM PDT

Chris Wilder will do anything for a good cause.

The executive director of the Valley Medical Center Foundation raised $10,000 for the foundation in a single bound Saturday, leaping into a swimming pool while wearing a tuxedo.

The momentous jump took place during the VMC Foundation's Soiree Under the Stars at Greg Pinn's Saratoga estate. Wilder has built quite a reputation for going to great lengths to get people to bid during auctions, whether it's for the VMC Foundation, San Jose Jazz or the Healthy Kids program.

So it shouldn't be surprising that during the live auction Saturday, he volunteered to take the plunge from a deck about eight feet above the pool for 10 grand. Several people quickly pledged money toward the total, and in he went.

On Sunday, with his tux still drying out on the deck of his house, Wilder conceded he was a little nervous. "It was eight feet, plus another six feet up to my eyes," said the towering Wilder.

Towering??? Please, Sal!

Anyway, thanks to all who pledged big bucks for me to do this, and for Greg's daughter who brought me a towel...which I didn't use. I just danced instead, which seemed to work!

If you can't see this video at work, email it to your private account...it's pretty fun.

A New Direction in Homelessness...

I met recently with Jennifer Loving, the CEO of Destination: Home. They are a great Silicon Valley agency working to end chronic homelessness, and I’m inspired by their effort.

I’ll admit something to you: There are times when I’ve turned away at seeing a homeless person or family, as it’s just too painful. But let’s take the emotion out of the issue for a minute: Our community spends tens of millions annually (yes, right here in Silicon Valley) without addressing the core issue that people need a home.

Because if they had one, we ALL would benefit. Several studies show that a person that is chronically homeless costs $60,000 a year…in shelters, food assistance, law enforcement – but mostly, medical care. In our community, that means Valley Medical Center.

You may know that Jennifer Loving’s team surveyed some of our county’s homeless a couple of months ago. Here’s some of what they learned from the 943 people they met:

- 100 were 60 years old or more
- More than half visited the emergency department in the last 3 months, resulting in
- 644 hospitalizations in a year.
- Half reported a serious medical condition like heart disease, hepatitis or liver disease.
- 144 were veterans (this, IMHO, is a national disgrace).
- Almost all reported a behavioral health issue or mental illness.

There is a ton more data at http://www.housing1000sv.org/ but you get my point: Even if I didn’t care about the homeless (I do), I’d sure care about the money they cost us all. And I won’t live in a society that just lets them die. I’ll leave. Goodbye.

While Destination Home works on longer-term solutions, Valley Medical Center meets short-term needs with an award-winning program called New Directions. VMC staff see frequent users of our county’s Emergency Department and provide housing, transportation and specialized assistance…the goal being to keep them healthier and out of the hospital.

The VMC Foundation raises money to support New Directions, but funds have run dry. If you would like to help, please click here and give as generously as you can.

There are more than 7,000 homeless people in Santa Clara County on any given night. Help us help them, with my thanks.

Introducing Buck for a Bike!

I'm proud to help announce the newest, coolest campaign by Turning Wheels, the VMC Foundation program that provides brand-new bikes to underprivileged kids. The benefits are so many: The sense of independence and responsibility, the freedom of movement, and the health aspects of riding a bike vs. sitting inside. What's not to love?

Now, it's even easier with Buck for a Bike! The idea is so simple: If everyone in Santa Clara County gave just a dollar, we could buy a bike for pretty much any child that needs one. And if you gave $10, or maybe $100...now we're talking program expansion, bike build clinics - the sky is the limit.

Visit www.buckforabike.org to see some really fun videos, and make your own! The website also makes it easy to share with friends, and to donate what you can.

Oh yeah...when I say I'm proud to HELP announce, that's because local media beat me to it. Take a look here, and support Buck for a Bike!

Giving up your DIET soda...can it make you thinner?

The avid reader of this blog remembers that I gave up my beloved diet sodas a year ago. Today I learned my dear friend Kathleen King has joined me...and she loved her Diet Coke more than I did!

But I hear you: "Sure diet soda isn't GOOD for me, but c'mon...it's not BAD for me, is it?" Well, maybe.

A recent study highlighted in the San Jose Mercury News confirms that diet soda drinkers have much larger waistlines than those that say no to diet (and all) soda.

Reasons given: Some people splurge on calories in their food because they're saving on calories in their drinks. Think Big Mac and super-sized fries with a Diet Coke.

Another factor [the researcher] says plays a role in expanding waistlines is "taste dysfunction." Because artificial sweeteners taste hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar, our bodies come to expect sugary foods to be extremely sweet. So we start to seek out more sugar-laden options.

A third explanation is that our bodies are smarter than we think. When we suck down sweet things, our bodies register the sugary taste and wait for the accompanying calories, said Lillian Castillo, a public health dietitian with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

Click here to read the full article, which I think misses another key point: Maybe - just maybe - people who drink diet sodas (which clearly aren't good for you) are not as averse to eating other things that - whaddaya know - aren't good for you? Seems logical to me, and I know I am 100% guilty.

But I'm working on it. How about you? Join me in making it a truly soda-free summer!