Local residents can sample new Pyramid brews at a fundraiser for UCP of Sacramento and Northern California’s Autism Center for Excellence summer camp. The tasting event will take place 5-8 p.m. on April 19 at Pyramid Alehouse, 1029 K Street, Sacramento, and will include unlimited samples of Pyramid’s new beer releases, light snacks and live music from local band Secret Argyle. Tickets cost $25 and must be purchased at http://ucpacecamp2012.eventbrite.com. The event will help raise funds to send 15 children with autism to summer camp at Grizzly Creek Ranch in Portola. All 15 campers have been learning the skills to interact with other children with autism, as well as typically developing c

United Way California Capital Region honored nine employers and three volunteers from across the region for their outstanding leadership in local philanthropy at an awards ceremony on March 22. United Way works with 450 employers across five counties to provide workplace giving campaigns through which employees can donate to the causes they care most about via automatic payroll deduction. Intel Corporation, who again led all private sector campaigns in total giving, received the Outstanding Campaign Event award for its Intel Basket Drawing. UPS earned the Best Practices Campaign Techniques award, Allied/Nationwide the Outstanding Campaign Committee award, Lilliput Children’s Services the

Local residents have contributed more than 600 books, one for each child in United Way California Capital Region’s STAR Readers project, thanks to a drive presented jointly by United Way, Barnes & Noble, the Sacramento Public Library and the Sacramento Bee. STAR Readers is a project headed by United Way in which 615 children are receiving intensive assistance from eight nonprofits in Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties. The objective of the project is to dramatically increase the percentage of children who score “proficient” or better on the STAR reading test all students take at the end of third grade. Reading proficiently by fourth grade is a key indicator of whether

Twenty-nine women graduated from Women’s Empowerment’s job-readiness program for women who are homeless on March 22, including the group’s 900th graduate, Stacey Jackson, age 53. Jackson is now in housing and enrolled in Paratransit Inc.’s vehicle operator training program. “Women’s Empowerment showed me that you can do things and make changes after 50,” Jackson said. “I am now very proud to see what I see when I look in the mirror. The changes I’ve gone through have shed a whole new light on my life.” Jackson was born in Missouri to a low-income military family that mostly ate rice and beans. She and her sisters slept in one room while her brother slept in the living room. She married,

Dozens of children in pajamas and their parents crowded into Barnes & Noble in Citrus Heights on March 14 to hear local authors read from their books that are included in United Way’s STAR Readers Book Drive March 5-23. The drive benefits the group’s STAR Readers project that is helping children read at grade level by fourth grade, a key indicator of high school graduation rates. At the event, Erin Dealey read her book, “Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox,” Lori Mortensen read her book, “In the Trees Honey Bees,” and Ann Martin Bowler read her book, “Gecko’s Complaint.” Children also enjoyed a craft project, milk and cookies. “The kids had an absolute blast,” said Steve Heath, president and CE