i'm damian true he yoerks today, a local latina author, plus, shopping with the coshopp. we begin with the annual holiday festivities the heart of festivities, with me is the director over christmas in the park, annual tradition in downtown san jose. welcome to the show. >> thank you for having me. >> we have video from last year, again, it is a festival of lights, if you will. here's some of that now. you said you have better product coming in this year?

>> we do we have added a lot to our event this year to really kind of enhance what we offer to the community. this year, we have a brand-new walking path, candy cane lane, we have two new displays that are part of our environmental alley that have environmental messaging for kids to learn about. pg&e has a scavenger hunt that takes kids on a learning experience around the park, trying to find our mascot, blinky. we have a couple other new displays in the park, one that features santa taking flight on christmas eve and then a really special display that's in conjunction with the sheriff's office with laurie smith and we are going to feature live pet adoptions at the park. so we will have cats and dogs, a macy's store front window, they have built inside this trailer, working with the humane society and other shelter services. so, these going to be really special this year at the park. >> very nice. so they kicked off this past fry

day on the 29th? >> yes. such a festive occasion for everybody. you managed to fit or squeeze thousands of people in downtown san jose and it's lining, a cliche, winter wonderland, that is what it really s >> it is, something that's truly special, in fact, we just found out this last week that there is an online magazine called essential based out of the uk. named christmas in the park one of the top ten christmas destinations in the entire world. in the world. >> wow. >> yes. >> pretty impressive. >> we are very honored for that. >> i know we have teetered every year with funding, going to come back, more donations where are we at now? >> solid for this year, obviously. we usually fund for the following year. right now, trying to raise money for without's event. 2014 event. also seeking sponsors for next .

also seeking sponsors for next year's event. 2014's event. also seeking sponsors for next year's event. christmas july event, circle of palms, a very festive area and other programs here and there. right now, we are pretty solid. >> i know we lost the holiday parade because we -- understandably, a one-time event, this one, a month-long. >> absolutely. always open up the day after thanksgiving until new year's. this year, 33 days, it's free of charge, so, it definitely, you know, it definitely sparks the community. >> donation boxes. >> absolutely. we definitely need donations. >> movie night. >> doing movie nights this year, every wednesday before christmas, we are going to feature movie nights at 6 p.m. on our main stage. the first squeak going to be "elf", the second week is "a christmas story" the third week "dr. seuss, how the grinch stole christmas," people should bring out chairs and blankets, hot

chocolate for people to buy, popcorn, something something new for us. >> logon to your website, if you are looking for more information, there it is on the screen, christmas in the park, an annual holiday tradition in downtown happen jose. any final thoughts? >> thanks for having us. i can't wait to see the community at the park. >> thanks very much for coming. see you at the park. next up here, shoppinging with a cop. stay with us.

police officers lending a hand to needy kids, it is called the shop with the cop event in san jose, here with me, daryl cortez, executive director, silicon valley, principal at santee elementary. >> good morning. >> we have video of last year's event. it's -- it's great to see the twinkle in the kids' eyes because you're giving them a $100 gift card to go on a shopping spree at target. tell us about that >> control create it had six

years ago, ten students and ten police officers. over the years, gained in popularity. now, but a of the generous donation from target, which is our huge sponsor, and private donation and grants, we've now expand it had to 50 children and 50 police officers and this year, each child will receive $125 gift card. >> oh, wow. where do you get all this money? >> the generosity of the donors out there. we are always looking for support and that's what sustains us with all the thousands of non-profits throughout the valley here. that's what we need to have this wonderful program. >> i was witness to last year's event, a child, their bill running up to over $100 and the police officer who was escorting them pulled out his wallet and paid for the remaining balance. >> we had assistant police chief ricky goady, now police chief for piedmont, california, police department. and she, the mother was eyeing this cooking ware set and the mother said, well, you know, but my card can only have so much on the gift card, the amount.

so she reached into her wait and said you really want that pots and pans? >> mothered at her and said yes, she fired it. those officers walk away with a sense of humility and compassion that they already possess but it is about bringing you the police officers together for a one-day event to change the attitudes and perceptions and stereotypes that people have, children may have toward police officers and we have an educational component that i will let the principal -- >> talk about that educational component. >> selected to be part of this program, 32 of our sixth graders are going to be participating and the readers for new years campaign, thanks to the generosity of shop with the cops. kids have been given a reading goal to work towards in a 12-week session. so, that is one layer of it. at the end, they are going to go

on a shopping spree december 12th and shop with a cause. that's not the only, the kids get the mentorship and the role models, you know, they get to go with a cop to do this shopping. and he mentioned the stereotypes and a lot of the students in our commune vitt that stereotype and as i was thinking about this ahead of time to reflect on my own as a latina growing up in this community and my own stereotypes with police officers or anybody in uniform, i started thinking about, okay, where does that come from and i started thinking about when i was a child, i was thinking i would walk with my parents and every time a police officer or a cop, say hi and i never realized that effect it had on me until i was growing up myself and my kid, i saw my daughter and she was hiding, i'm like why are you hiding? you told me that before and i did that consciously, you know,

myself. having them come out a different goal. >> if that officer looked like this i would hide, too. tell your kids if they don't behave -- >> it is about bridge the gap and bringing the community together and, again, changing those perceptions and stereotypes that people may have i have 12 agencies participating this year, the officers without fail replied to my e-mail, we will be there sending 10 officers, sending officers, we want to be part of this and some of the officers make personal donations so we can have a successful event, having some local sports celebrities, we have some mascots, we have pga golfer rodriguez from san jose,

guy macintyre, nfl football player and dennis brown from the san francisco 49ers, earthquakes player, a couple of mascots, it's great event and very powerful and moving at the same time. >> $20 goes a long ways you can $120 imagine, i can imagine what it is going to do. >> yes, definitely. >> tell us about the need in your community. >> our community right now, our students are over 90% of them qualify for free or reduced lunch. tells you our whole goal. right now the program only reach 3s 2 students and wish it would reach more, not just the kids going shopping for themselves they are basically going shopping for their families, not just reaching one child it is reaching the entire family, connected with that goes mr. floor remember the one who sought out this organization and brought that to our school. he connect it is to real life,

now that you have this, this is your budget, how many people are in your family? a lot of our -- they are impacted, you have ten people in your family, you have 120, $12 per gift. then tough put in tax, then tough put in -- so it's -- they get to put in all those skills and bring them to real life. >> absolutely. stories in the past where some of these children, they are not shopping for themselves. neck get a toy, game boy, whatever, they shop for the family. >> by their choice. >> by their choice. they had one family, left an indelible image on my mind they didn't go out there go for the toys, electronic games twherngt for the basic necessities, toilet tris and the boy expressed this to the police officer that was escorting them saying my mother needs detergent to wash our clothes, so, it's very moving. the children walk away saying the men and women who wear this badge are good people and they

want to do good. they are compassionate and put the community. children who have good relationships with police officers less likely to get trouble in school and more likely too seek out help from a police officer when they need it >> happening on december 12th. there is a website shop with the cop, december 12th is the big shopping spree at target. >> coleman avenue, looking for donors and sponsors. >> thank you so much. >> thank you very much. up next, a local latina author. stay with us. ♪

hey, that's the last crescent! oh, did you want it? yeah. we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light, buttery and flakey. that's half. that's not half! guys, i have more. thanks, mom. [ female announcer ] do you have enough pillsbury crescents? with grands mini pot pies. only four ingredients. and a few easy steps. weeknight dinner in a flash. and my family devours them. pillsbury grands biscuits. make dinner pop. now, here is a holiday stocking stuffer for you, a children's book addressing special needs w me here is brenda valencia, the author and brain child of these different children's books. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> tell me about david. >> david is my younger brother.

he's 21. he was born when i was 6 years old. and he was born with cerebral palsy. and he is just kind of the light of our family's life and been my main inspiration in life and i just kind of want to show people what a great person he is, what he has to offer and what other children with special needs have to offer. >> now this is a book or these are a series of books that we should probably recommend to every family out there, whether you have a special needs child or not, because this will actually teach your own children at home how to maybe treat children who have special needs. isn't that correct? >> exactly. >> tell us about that. >> when i was younger, i remember kids making fun of david and his special needs and kind of just -- he is there a lot of bull laying it goes on in school and so when i got to high school, i i wanted to do something about that and so i wrote the series of children's books with different folk cusses. this one, a little different

from me, focuses on teaching children about other children with special needs and telling them that although there are thing these do different, there are a lot of things that they do just like us. >> this would be the book to get the child who has a family with a child who don't have special needs is >> who doesn't have special needs. correct. correct. for the general public, i think this is for all children, something that i'd like to share with everyone would be to just learn acceptance and thats akind of what i did through this, through this book. yeah. >> and the other book here is for family members who have siblings with special needs. >> correct. >> give us that perspective. >> i wrote that one because basically when you have a sibling who has special needs, you know they are taking on a lot. and it was difficult for me to tell them i need attention going to my brother.

i wrote this to kind of bridge the gap and let parents know their other children are facing something and they need extra attention as well. so, hopefully, this can be that form of communication between parents and children, the siblings that -- the siblings of the child with special needs. >> this is a special guide for those parents. i didn't realize that, you would feel maybe left out? >> because lot of times, parents or people will say, you know, all the attention goes to the special needs and sometimes they are like, you know, poor thing or, you know, and you still have the other children who are maybe like for us, we had -- david would go to physical therapy or he would be in the hospital and he would just be at doctor's appointments and sometimes, that meant we couldn't go to the park or we couldn't go do the things, couldn't go to disneyland. >> some resent the? >> a little bit of eventment there. yeah. so for me exit was a form of therapy to kind of talk to my

parents and let them know, this is what is going on, without hurting their feelings and so i hope that this can also help other children maybe speak to their parents about the issues without hurting their feelings as well. >> how did this series of books maybe -- how did it help your family stay united? the words that you write about your brother are just truly amazing, the love that your family have for hirnlgt letting you say he was for your family? >> yeah, i think -- i think david's the blessing in itself and these books came after that. but he -- i think the -- the book just helps me express what a great person he's been in my life. >> mm-hmm. >> and i hope that they can do the same for other people. >> so, where are you taking these books and how well received are they, wherever you're taking them? >> the "what about me" came out in 2004, just straight out of high school at that point. so i didn't really know who to you get them out to people or let people know about it, except for in my own neighborhood,

which is the south san francisco area. so, a little different from me, i'm hoping to kind of expand it, i have done a few things with the national hispanic university in san jose and also local organizations, but an organization for the special needs, but i would like to expand it as much as possible to try to help people. >> and it doesn't have to be cerebral pal city can be autism? >> for all special needs, not just specifically for cerebral palsy. >> let's give a little bit of information, if would you like to learn more about these series of books, is this the best way to get ahold of you, facebook address or a better way? >> the facebook page, the books themselves are available on amazon.com. you can look up brenda l. valencia or the titles themselves and it should come up there, as well as e-mail address, which is b as in boy, lv 711 at gmail.com.

>> give us a call at the station, we will be happy to put you in touch with brenda. back after these messages and talk more about the wonderful work that these books are actually doing in our community. so, stay with us.

we are here with a local author, who wrote a book about how dealing with special needs, what it really means, and wrote a book. tell us, how is david doing and what's the program knows circumstance if you will? >> when he was younger, they told us that he wouldn't walk, he wouldn't talk and he was probably going to end up in a vegetative state the rest of his life. now, he is running, he plays soccer for a special needs team. he plays baseball for a special

needs team. he's singing. >> wow. >> he sings, he loves singing with mariachi. so he is the first one on stage at any party. and he is -- doing very well, he is reading, he is going to school, he will be graduating from high school this year. for our district, he is allowed in stay in high school until the age of 22, so this is his last year, he will be graduating from high school on stage just like everybody else. >> very nice. for those who might need to listen to this, talk about what bullying someone with special needs does, the person who has special needs and to the sibling of the child with special needs. >> i think in our situation, david maybe doesn't have the -- really the mental capacity to understand that they are bullying him. for us, it was a little bit more difficult because you want to stand up for your brother. it's one thing when somebody is making fun of you but you see your little brother who can't help himself and it hurts on a

deeper level. and so it -- i'd like to see that stop. i mean, i'd like to see all bullying stop, but more so when someone can't help themselves, it hurts more. >> sure. >> do you think because your brother can't really express himself, do you think maybe a little different, you're speaking for him in that sense? >> that's exactly the case. i felt like i -- i hope that i can be the hope for other children. and i can just teach people what a great blessing they are. >> what's next? i don't know that writing was your career choice, it seems like it is working okay? >> it has my career going but this is something that i'm passionate about and seems to just come naturally for me and so, hopefully, i can just keep writing books about this and maybe hit different topics along

the way, but we'll see what happens. yeah. >> well, camera three is yours. look in that camera and talk to the folks at home who might have children with special needs and give them some encouragement, if you will, into how to not give up and how to be supportive of that child and to stay positive. >> i think my words to you would be when the road seems like it's going to be really difficult to keep having faith that's gonna get better because not every day's going to be the great, you know, the greatest thing that -- your child might not do all these great things in one day, at a it might take some time but just have patience and understand them and if you have other children in your family, make sure to set a little bit of time away -- set a little one-on-one time with them as well and just embrace all your children the same. >> you kind of touched on this earlier, but how close do you think david has brought you and your family together? >> oh, i think he's -- he's

definitely just what holds us together. there's a lot of things you learn when you have a child with special needs in your family and i think one of them is just not to take, you know, today for granted and he showed us, there was points in his life when we didn't think he was gonna make it, so it pulls you close when you know that someone you love is -- >> sure h >> you can lose them any day. and how do you talk to folks who might be playing the blame game at home, saying my child was born this way, because it came from -- how do you stop the blame game and not focus on yourself but focus on your child? >> you know, i don't have a child, so i didn't -- i think that wasn't really something that i had to deal with, that was something more so for my parents, but i think once you have the child, you have to just deal with the situation at hand. it can't be about you anymore, or who -- whose issue it is or if it was something you carried in your genes or carried in my

genes it has something to do with, now you have a child in front of you, you need to give all this love and attention to and just do the best for them. >> we call them god's special kids because they truly are. there is the facebook information for brenda. log on. again, you can buy these books on amazon.com. the titles are "a little different from me" and "what about me." . the author is brenda valencia. any final thoughts for our viewers out there? any final good-byes or anything want to throw out there? >> um, just, you know, hopefully, you guys can go to amazon.com, get the books, to the for me but for your family, for your kids and for your community, to just stop bullying and, um, embrace one another's differences. >> very good. all right. thank you so much for coming. >> thank you. and now here's what's happening in your community.

here is our information for next week's show if you have information, log on, drop me an e-mail, follow me on twitter, my handle is at news damian. pick up a copy of the newspaper and support your bilingual weakleys all across the bay area. we thank you once again for sharing part of journal day with us here. we have some special news coming toward you in the next few weeks, make sure you are tuned, great news, actually, and don't forget your stocking stuffers, log on to amazon.com.

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