Colleen's Lifelines

As many of my friends and colleagues know, I'm retiring.  Our new Executive Director, Marie Leatherby,  is a uniquely qualified and wonderful choice to lead the Sacramento Life Center.  Along with our excellent Board of Directors, staff and volunteers, Marie will help fulfill our mission in a powerful, passionate, and successful manner!
I have very much enjoyed my work here for the past 6 years;  it is providential that I was given the opportunity to be the Executive Director for an organization that simply wants to help women and men make a lifesaving choice - through parenting or adoption - for their preborn children.
My heart and is full, remembering the many incredible people I have worked with or met and I am blessed to have been a part of this lifesaving work.  I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

On Saturday, November 12, 2011 we invite you to our annual Salute to Life Gala Dinner & Auction!  This year it is at the Radisson Hotel Ballroom, 500 Leisure Lane, Sacramento.   Registration begins at 5:00 p.m. and the dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. This is the Sacramento Valley's premier Pro-Life Celebration to promote LIFE, especially those  of us who are most tiny and fragile.


The tickets are "pricey" - and in these tough times, it is especially challenging for many of us.  However, this is our largest fundraiser that helps us meet our $500,000+ annual budget.  Since all of our lifesaving services are FREE, and we have never asked for or received any government funding, we rely on our friends to help us not only survive but THRIVE!  Your financial support is greatly needed, appreciated, and welcomed  :)


Individual tickets are $125.00 and a table of ten is $1200.00.  We have 15 incredibly beautiful raffle baskets and 22 uniquely wonderful auction items.  Come see old friends and meet new friends, listen to amazing testimonials of two of our clients and celebrate LIFE!


Please call us at 451-4357 for information or to request for an invitation.  We accept credit cards, checks or cash.  


THANK YOU!  We hope to see you on November 12, 2011!

Hot off the press - the Sacramento Life Center's "RECIPES FOR LIFE" cookbook - over 450 of the best recipes ever!  Available by calling 916-451-4357 or on our website:  www.saclife.org ---What a great way to support our LIFESAVING mission;  Cost is only $25.00 + tax!!  YUMMY!!!

Do you want to get your car washed and support LIFE at the same time? Come to St. Mel Catholic Church parking lot on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. and get your car or other vehicle washed!  And 100% of any donation you make will  go to the Sacramento Life Center!  The car wash is located at 4745 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fair Oaks, CA

Quick question:  have you ordered your Thanksgiving pies yet?  Before you think early senility has set in, let me assure you that I realize it's not November.  However, this is a first invitation to all of our new and old Friends of Life to set aside SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2011 for our next Salute to Life Gala Dinner & Auction.  New location this year:  Radisson Hotel Ballroom, 500 Leisure Lane, Sacramento.   Join 600+ other Friends of Life as we raise money to operate our clinics in 2012.  Come listen to beautiful stories from several our our clients!
More information coming!

May 24, 2011 was another milestone in the Life Center's history.  We celebrated the official "opening" of our new Saacramento clinic space - same address, different suite.  We are now at 930 Alhambra Blvd. Suite 230!  We have 600 more square feet of space which allows us to have a large, beautiful ultrasound room, two light, airy, and welcoming counseling rooms, space for our male mentoring program, and even a (small) kitchen!  Lots of windows and soothing colors!  Over 100 people came by to wish us well!  Also on display was our Mobile Medical Clinic!  Lots of "oohs" and "aahs" throughout the day!  We are so blessed by the wonderful investors in our LIFESAVING mission!

Now that we all moved into our new clinic space, we are having an Open House on TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011.  Join us anytime between 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. for sweet treats and much more.

Also, we will have our new mobile pregnancy clinic - our "Lifemobile" available for tours!

Bishop Jaime Soto will give a blessing to our new clinic space at 3:00 p.m. that day.

Just call us at (916) 451-4357 or email at info@saclife.org  to let us know if you will be joining us!

On March 31 and April 1 we moved from one suite to another suite in our building.  There were several good reasons for our move, including 600 more square feet of space; much better ultrasound room; space for our "mentoring men" volunteers; and  much closer to the elevator (important for clients who have children needing strollers or clients who have disabilities).
Moving reminds me of childbirth.  During the actual labor and delivery, I think most women say (or at least think)   "why in the heck am I doing this?  This is very painful."  But when the labor is over and the baby is born, most women say, "Oh, that wasn't too bad."  Well, now that we are on the "other side" of the move, we are thinking "it wasn't too bad,"  but during the process, when our telephones and internet was down for four days instead of one, we were all wondering, "why in the heck are we doing this?"
Official Open House is Tuesday, May 24!  Invitations are coming, but if you are reading this blog, consider yourself invited!! :)

On March 8, 2011 I shared the story of the Sacramento Life Center with several hundred people at a Church in Davis, CA.  Afterwards, a woman came to me and said: "Five years ago, I brought my daughter to the Sacramento Life Center.  She was pregnant and thought for sure she would get an abortion.  You all helped us so much."  And then she introduced me to her five year old grandson.  She said, "here is "Michael" (not his real name).  You showed us a picture of him through an ultrasound when he was only 8 weeks old."  I shook Michael's hand and treasured the moment I connected with his little hand.  What a joy and privilege to meet Grandma and Michael and to share this story.

On February 23, 2011 we drove our Medical Mobile clinic to St. Francis High School in Sacramento.  We were able to do a remote "LIVE" ultrasound in the mobile clinic, and the images were projected onto a large screen during an all-school assembly.  What a great way to show growing, fragile, beautiful LIFE!  And what made this even more special is that the baby shown in the ultrasound was the soon-to-be delivered son of one of the faculty members and his wife.  We are available to do these "remote" ultrasounds if the technology is available at the venue. We can show the miracle of LIFE as it grows in a womb. Call us at (916) 451-4357 to inquire about bringing our mobile clinic to a school, organization, or church! Although they say a picture is worth a thousand words, we find that these pictures leave many people speechless!  LIFE IS GOOD!!!

Here's a belated story about the first day our Lifemobile got "rolling" on November 17, 2010:

Our driver parked the Lifemobile in the parking lot across the J Street entrance to Sacramento State University.  It was a beautiful Fall day and our counselor got all the information set out on a table outside the Lifemobile.  The very first visitor was a 60+ year old woman who came by to ask if this clinic provided dental care for senior citizens.  Our counselor replied, "No, we're a pregnancy clinic."  The visitor got angry about all the services young people get, and was especially angry that young people don't give her their seat on the light rail.  Shortly after that, a woman drove up in her car and said she heard on the radio that the Lifemobile's "inaugural" run was that day; she went out of her way to come by and give us a wonderful donation to support the great work that the Life Center provides the community.  Shortly after that, our first client, a college student came by.  And that's how we started!!!