Page 6 - Dinuba Sentinel 3-15-18 E-edition

A6| Thursday, March 15, 2018
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The Dinuba Sentinel
NAMI
Continued from Page A1
Pastor's Corner
M Faith over fear
ark 6:50, NLT: “They were all He stepped back a few feet and drew his terrified when they saw him. But sword. Pointing it at her, he said, “Are you Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t afraid of this?”
Chavez, left, and Rubalcaba speak to the audience at Orosi High School on March 7.
distributed encouraging notes, were hosted on a local radio talk show and even had an approved proclamation by the city of Dinuba for Mental Illness Awareness Week in October.
Said Chavez, “There were a lot of suicides happening two or three years ago. We noticed all the suicides happening around the community so that’s when we tried to take on the role of talking about the topic. We know it’s a topic that isn’t really discussed because there is a misconception with if you talk about it, it will lead the student to self-harm.”
This year they have broadened their topic to awareness of mental illnesses. One of their recent projects included a trip to
the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Said Rubalcaba, “We went to the Golden Gate [Bridge] where we passed out ribbons. We gave them to people passing by and telling them this is for suicide awareness. We told them, ‘You are special, too.’"
As to the biggest takeaway of their venture, Chavez said it was “seeing how prevalent this topic is. Many people know about it, but don’t really say anything because of the misconceptions. Last year when we had a guest speaker and she asked the students to raise their hand if they knew anyone that would try to self-harm themselves. More than half raised their hand. She
asked how many had tried to reach out to them and hardly any raised their hands. At that point, we knew this was a good topic to raise awareness on because it isn’t discussed at home or at school.”
Rubalcaba added, “It has impacted me so much. It showed me that saying kind words to someone can truly impact their whole day. It moves me even more that people continue to say ‘Thank you for all you guys do. It has helped me and made me go get help.’ I feel like that has so much meaning.”
More information on mental illness can be found at NAMI. org. The suicide hotline can be reached at (800) 273-8255.
the club that he was a natural for. Explained Cotton, “When you look around the room and you see the people who have various skills, there was no one with a bookkeeping skill - so I opted to be the treasurer. And then the next year, the same thing. I probably hold the record for having the treasurer position for so many years, I think it’s close to 30 years. Finally we got a new member and she offered to be treasurer and I thought it was
time I give it up.”
Cotton remains active in the
Lions Club to date, helping with fundraising events.
“It’s an experience of comradery,” Cotton concluded. “The fellow Lions are all very good, doing what they can, to make something work.”
Dinuba High celebrates National FFA Week
Jackson Moore | The Sentinel
be afraid,” he said. “Take Courage! I am here!” This one verse contains three statements that
contain keys to remaining calm in the midst of chaos. Let’s look at the first key (I’ll share the following two keys in the ensuing weeks).
Key No. 1: “Don’t be afraid.”
Notice the command is: “Don’t BE afraid,” not, “don’t get afraid.”
John 14:1, 27 NLT: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and also trust in me.
“I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the whole world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
Fear, phobeo, panic-stricken fear.
Fear and worry are interest paid in advance on something you may never own.
Years ago a military officer and his wife were aboard a ship that was caught in a raging ocean storm. Seeing the frantic look in her eyes, the man tried unsuccessfully to remove her fears. Suddenly she grasped his sleeve and cried, “How can you be so calm?”
Without hesitation she answered, “Of course not!”
“Why not?” he inquired. “Because it’s in your hand, and you love me too much to hurt me.”
To this he replied, “I know the One who holds the winds and the waters in the hollow of His hand, and He will surely care for us!”
The officer was not disturbed because he had put his trust in the Lord.
Note the words of the psalmist in Psalm 56:3-4, 10-11 NLT: “But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
“I praise God for what he has promised; yes, I praise the LORD for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?”
Let’s choose faith over fear.
Angel Menchaca is the lead pastor of Christian Worship Center of Cutler and Dinuba.
Cotton Continued from Page A1
not everyone’s philosophy, but it happens to be mine.”
Dinuba Lions Club Second Vice President Tim Conklin said the award was “because of his years of service to the Lions Club and the community. It all goes hand in hand. They don’t just give the Marvin Jones Fellowship to a good Lion, but a good community member. His work with the historical society, bringing new members to the Lions Club, the guy is just awesome.”
Cotton first became involved with the Lions Club even earlier, but would delay his service instead to a service of another kind as he was drafted into the United States Army.
After a few different stops within the Central Valley, Cotton and his family settled in Dinuba
in the late 70s.
“I came to Dinuba and our
neighbor Don Doyle invited me to come to the club. I subsequently joined, thinking it’s a good venue to be in the community. I was new, but while I didn’t have a lot to contribute at the time, I did think it would be a worthwhile venture.
“I think the greatest thing was being with a group of people, originally a group of men. Getting to know these people, they were all very fine people. I got to really like some of them. Some, you might say, I became close friends. It was something I looked forward to.”
Aside from being a consistent contributor to the club’s fundraisers and other efforts, Cotton soon found a niche within
Leslie Garcia Dinuba FFA Reporter
During the week of February 18th through the 23rd it was National FFA Week. National FFA Week is when FFA chapters across the country share agriculture with their fellow students, as well as their communities, and it's also a time for alumni and sponsors to advocate for agricultural education and FFA. FFA holds a major historical significance in the members and people's lives because FFA students are able to show how truly important the agriculture industry is and that it is not just about farming.
The main way that the Dinuba FFA Chapter shared agriculture
and FFA with the school, to try to pop others balloons
throughout the whole month of February the display case in the main campus building was decorated and highlighted by the FFA. In this set up, they had different representations of the FFA including awards, scrapbooks, pictures of competitive teams, agriculture classes offered, and many other items.
The Dinuba FFA chapter also had activities at lunch for the members throughout the week. FFA week started off strong with the first activity of the week being an intense game of tug- of-war. The following day was a big pop with an ankle balloon pop activity. Ankle balloon pop is where members tied a balloon around their ankle and they have
and make sure that their balloon does not get popped by someone. Then the next day was “corntastic” because they were able to play several games of corn hole. The last day of National FFA Week was easily the funniest. Members had the opportunity to vote for one officer and one advisor to get a pie in the face while showing off their FFA spirit. The lucky winners for the pie in the face was Advisor Mrs. Borba and Treasurer Jose Flores. All the members had a great time celebrating throughout the week participating fun activities while sharing in comradery. Dinuba FFA is happy to share the events of National FFA week with our supportive local community.
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