Laguna resident Keith Swayne named 2019 Orange County Philanthropist of the Year

The Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF) has announced that one of its own – Laguna Beach resident Keith Swayne, board member and chair from 2017 to 2019 – was honored as Orange County Philanthropist of the Year at the OC Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon on November 14. 

In addition to OCCF, the other nonprofits that nominated Swayne for the honor include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast, Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach, Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO), OC Human Relations, and UCI MIND.

Swayne is known for his fearless, lifelong commitment to tackling the toughest challenges in our community and for passionately striving to break down barriers and build bridges of understanding for all. 

“With a warrior’s heart for the most vulnerable in our community, Keith has been a vanguard of Orange County philanthropy,” said Shelley Hoss, OCCF president and CEO. “Keith has left an unparalleled legacy in Orange County as he continues to create opportunities for those who need them most. While he could have easily enjoyed the benefits of his hard-earned success in retirement, Keith continues to up his philanthropy game at every turn.”

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Laguna local Keith Swayne named OC Philanthropist of the Year for 2019 

Swayne grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Santa Ana and was first in his family to graduate high school and attend college. He then served four years as a Navy officer, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. Following his military service, Swayne’s diligence and business acumen enabled him to build a successful food company, Case Swayne, which later became a subsidiary of Bestfoods/Unilever. 

However, Keith never forgot his roots or his drive to build bridges for others as his own success grew. As CEO at Case Swayne, he found his greatest joy in providing economic opportunity to others – including starting a scholarship program available to the families of Case Swayne employees.

After a successful corporate career in which he served on several nonprofit boards, Swayne and his now late-wife Judy, who founded the Orange County Community Foundation in 1989, formed The Keith and Judy Swayne Family Foundation in 2005.

But Swayne’s commitment to these organizations goes far beyond monetary support; he actively seeks to deliver more effectively on their missions by personally mentoring their leaders to increase their impact and success. 

In recent years, Swayne has focused on supporting efforts to identify a cure for Alzheimer’s – our aging county’s most pressing issue and one that hits close to home. His wife Judy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2006 and passed away in November 2014 after a prolonged battle with the disease. 

After personally experiencing the toll that Alzheimer’s exacts on both patients and families, Swayne collaborated with UCI MIND to work toward a cure. With his support, UCI MIND is advancing nationally recognized research on Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias, and other neurological disorders.

Founded in 1989, the Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF) partners with donors, strengthens the local nonprofit sector, and works to find solutions to community needs. Since its inception, OCCF has awarded more than $630 million in grants and scholarships and ranks in the top one percent in grantmaking activity among more than 780 U.S. community foundations. 

For more information, visit www.oc-cf.org or call (949) 553-4202.

13th Annual Laguna Beach Interfaith Council Thanksgiving Celebration to take place on Nov 24

Enjoy sharing expressions of gratitude at the 13th Annual Laguna Beach Interfaith Council Thanksgiving Celebration, hosted by Laguna Beach United Methodist Church, on Sunday, Nov 24 at 4 p.m. Make sure to bring monetary or canned food donations to help restock the Laguna Food Pantry.

Gail Duncan says, “Attendees are asked to bring canned food donations to help stock the Laguna Food Pantry or a monetary donation. Examples are applesauce, canned beans (low sodium), canned chicken, canned meat (spam and ham), canned tuna and salmon, canned vegetables (low sodium), crackers, granola bars, nuts, pasta, peanut butter, and rice.”

Refreshments will be served in Heaton Hall following the service. 

Laguna Beach United Methodist Church is located at 21632 Wesley Dr.

Guest Column

A powerful, yet the most neglected, act of self-care

By Dr. Vidya Reddy

Hello and this week I welcome you to the self-care corner. 

Self-care is a popular topic these days, but it is very often poorly explained. Perhaps you keep seeing it mentioned in self-help books or magazine articles or self-help blogs and yet don’t have a clear sense of how you’re supposed to add it to your life. It may seem wishy-washy or vague to you. Alternatively, maybe you aren’t convinced that you should practice regular self-care. Maybe you think your resources are better saved for working and for looking after others.

So, what is self-care, and why is it so important? As it turns out, there are many different self-care practices, and not all of them suit everyone. I’m here to take you through the most critical yet often neglected act of self-care. If you would like more information, techniques, and meditation based on life lessons, please refer to my podcast: https://naturally-happy.com/podcast/.

What is self-care? The definition of self-care 

Self-care is a broad term that encompasses just about anything you to do be good to yourself. In a nutshell, it’s about being as kind to yourself as you would be to others. It also involves integrating self-compassion into your life in a way that helps to prevent even the possibility of a burnout. 

However, it’s important to note that not everything that feels good is self-care. We can all be tempted to use unhealthy coping mechanisms like drugs, alcohol, over-eating, and risk-taking.

Many of us are (rightfully) focused on taking care of our health, eating nourishing whole foods, and trying to be active – while meditating and flossing and taking some time of disconnection, away from devices.

These are wonderful acts of self-care, and they are necessary and important.

But there’s one act of self-care that is very often neglected, and it might be even more important than all the others: the practice of loving yourself.

In fact, this is so often neglected that when I mention “loving yourself,” many people don’t know what that means. Many of us have never consciously done it. If we have, it’s so rare as to be a forgotten memory.

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Photo by Johnny Antezana

Dr. Vidya Reddy

What is this “self-love” (not in the sexual sense)? Imagine pouring out love in your heart to someone you love dearly – what would that feel like? Now try doing the same thing for yourself. That’s self-love, and it’s a completely foreign concept for the vast majority of people.

Why it’s so important

I was a practicing Naturopathic Doctor in Canada for almost 15 years before I moved to Laguna Beach, and it is my experience that pretty much everyone I meet is hard on themselves in some way. In some kind of stress and pain. Disappointed in themselves, angry at themselves, constantly feeling inadequate.

Do you relate to this? I think most of us can find a good chunk of this in ourselves.

This is the basic problem that most of us face, every single day. 

We don’t love big portions of ourselves. We beat ourselves up, all day long. We stress out about uncertainty because we don’t think we’re good enough to deal with it. We don’t trust ourselves to stick to something, because we’ve formed a really bad picture of ourselves over the years. We get angry at ourselves for eating too much, drinking too much alcohol, messing up in a social situation, getting distracted and watching videos or playing video games, and so on and so on. We are harsh on ourselves, and don’t like how we look or who we are, in many ways.

This affects everything in our lives. It makes us more stressed, less happy, anxious, depressed, stuck, procrastinating, less happy in relationships, less focused, more likely to reach for comfort foods or distraction or shopping to comfort ourselves from the stress and pain of being who we are.

But if we could give ourselves love, it would start to heal all of this. 

Everything could shift. We could deal with uncertainty and chaos and difficulty in a much more resilient way.

Giving ourselves love is such an important act of self-care, and yet is rarely ever done.

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Photo by Pieter Baetens

Feel your stress and pain and send yourself love

      How to give ourselves love regularly

Set reminders for yourself, everywhere you go. Put reminders on your fridge, on your computer, on your phone, on your bathroom mirror, in your car, at your desk, near your TV.

The reminders only need to be two words: “Love yourself.”

When you see the reminder, the act is very simple (even if it doesn’t feel natural to most people yet – please give it time): 

--Pause and feel any stress, pain, self-doubt, anger, frustration, anxiety you might be feeling. Let yourself actually feel it, physically in your body, for just a few moments. It’s OK to feel this. 

--Now give yourself the balm of love. As weird or silly as it feels, just try it. Imagine first that you are sending love to someone you love very much – your child, your parent, your best friend. Imagine them going through difficulty, and send love from your heart to theirs, hoping to make them better. Notice how that feels in your own heart. Now try it for yourself, generating the same feeling in your heart, but sending it to yourself instead. 

--Feel the love as a healing balm. No matter how little you’re able to generate, feel it wash over your stress, pain, anger, doubt – like a thick, syrupy liquid soothing the pain. Let yourself receive this love like the love you’ve been craving.

It’s that simple. It only takes a few moments – feel your stress and pain, send yourself love, let yourself feel it.

Do it eight times a day. Or a dozen, if you can.

You need this care. Don’t hold it back from yourself any longer. 

In Peace, Love and Gratitude. 

‘Til next time. 

Dr.Vidya Reddy, ND, AMS, DAC, CLC

www.Naturally-Happy.com

Boys & Girls Club leader to be honored at this weekend’s Laguna Hero Fest

The MY HERO Project is proud to announce that Pam Estes will be the recipient of the 2019 Community Hero Award for her ongoing support of local youth. Estes, who is Chief Executive Officer for the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach, will receive the award at the annual Laguna Hero Fest this weekend. 

This is the 12th anniversary of the Laguna Hero Fest, which honors individuals and organizations who have made contributions to the Laguna Beach community. The event takes place Saturday, Nov 16 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach, Canyon Branch. 

Since Estes joined the Boys & Girls Club in 2001, the number of youths served rose from 850 to more than 4,000. She and her 50-person staff have created a lovely, safe space for local school kids to learn, play, and grow. Physical outlets, from team sports to gardening, encourage physical activity, while art, education, and STEM programs nurture young minds. Summer camps and field trips create a sense of community and promote each child’s love of learning. 

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Pam Estes to be honored at Laguna Hero Fest on Saturday, all are welcome to attend

Saturday’s Laguna Hero Fest will be a family-friendly afternoon that will include art activities, live performances, and the screening of inspiring films. MY HERO Media Arts mentors will help students create unique works of art and kids will work with rapper/hip-hop dancer Trey Carlisle in choreographing an original performance. Filmmaker Marc Ostrick will show a film Made in Madras, the story of a teenage soccer player living on the streets in India. The film is this year’s winner of the People’s Choice Award at the MY HERO International Film Festival.

“The MY HERO Project has had the opportunity to work with the leadership at the Boys and Girls Club over the years and it is with great admiration and respect that we select Pam Estes to the be recipient of the Laguna Hero Fest 2019 Community Hero Award,” says Jeanne Meyers, Co-founder and Director of The MY HERO Project. “Pam has guided this most important local institution serving thousands of youth and families since she came on board 18 years ago.”

The MY HERO Project is a Laguna Beach-based organization with a mission to celebrate heroes from all walks of life. Support for the Laguna Hero Fest comes in part from the City of Laguna Beach and the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach. 

Art activities for the festival are being funded by the FOA Foundation and media partners include Stu News Laguna and local radio station KX 93.5. 

Tickets are free but donations are welcome to support the ongoing work of The MY HERO Project. 

RSVP at www.myhero.com/laguna. 

The Boys and Girls Club of Laguna Beach, Canyon Branch is located at
1085 Laguna Canyon Rd.

City to host “Open for Business Workshop” on Nov 21

The next “Open for Business” workshop will be hosted by the City of Laguna Beach on Thursday, Nov 19 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Laguna Beach Community & Susi Q Center.

Workshop participants will include Planning Commissioners, representatives from the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce, and Anthony Viera, Associate City Planner for the City of Laguna Beach.

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Courtesy of Diane Armitage 

The Drake recently opened at 2894 South Coast Hwy

“These meetings are an excellent way for prospective businesses to get an overview of our City’s processes,” states Planning Commissioner Susan Whitin.

As a result of the workshops last year, several new businesses came to Laguna Beach, and others are planned for the future. 

For more information, contact Anthony Viera, Associate Planner at (949) 497-0398 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

The Laguna Beach Community Center is located at 380 Third St.