Events

Wings of Angels holds annual fundraising events and raffles, with all proceeds going to directly aid families.  The outpouring of community support by organizations, families, friends and individuals has been amazing!

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Photos

Click here to view our online event and memorial photo albums. Or, click on the camera image next to an event summary below to view photos.

Upcoming Events

11th Annual Bowl-A-Thon
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Shasta Lanes- Redding, CA
1:00 to 4:00 pm
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2012 Fashion Show Fundraiser
Friday, October 5, 2012
Win River Casino - Redding, CA
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2012 Spaghetti Feed
Saturday, October 13, 2012
4850 Cedars Road - Redding, CA
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Previous Events

Select a year below to read a summary of events  2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

Christmas 2012

Lisa Bartsch spent Saturday afternoon laughing, smiling and joking with friends at a Christmas party, along with helping her son Lucas Bartsch, almost 2, eat Hawaiian-style pizza. It was very different from last year's Christmas season, when she put on a smile to conceal her fear about Lucas. Or Mother's Day, which she spent alone at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento as doctors tried treatments on her son for a brain and a spinal tumor. "You're not there to share in this holiday. You're over the phone, you can't hug them, you can't look into their eyes and tell them it'll be OK," she said.

But this Christmas, Bartsch and her family were at Angelo's Pizzeria on California Street on Saturday, one of 15 families celebrating early at the Alyssa Araiza Wings of Angels Organization's Christmas party. For her and other families, the trials of a serious condition or illness can be overwhelming — especially during the holidays. But the power of faith and support of a community, such as the Wings of Angels party, help parents cope. In fall 2011, Bartsch learned her son had a brain tumor. Doctors acted quickly to perform surgery, and the family then waited for news as Lucas underwent other treatments. That Christmas, Bartsch said, was agonizing. "I did put on my happy face," she said. "We had no idea what to expect of surgery. I was overwhelmed by fear." At one point, she said she was standing in her kitchen when she broke out sobbing and couldn't stop. Rona Edwards, 18, said what was happening to her sister, Bartsch, her uncle and her two siblings didn't seem real. But, when they learned of Lucas' second tumor, on his spine, the reality hit home. "We felt like we'd already been through it," she said. Edwards spent her summer vacation in San Francisco this year with her sister as Lucas underwent rounds of treatment.

Carrie Pico's family was one of those celebrating at the Christmas party. Her son, Grady Stepp, 4, spent three months at UC Davis Medical Center after he accidentally shot himself with a gun. She stayed with him the entire time, even though that meant time away from her two daughters. "It was hard being divided from the whole family," Pico said. Other parents kept stopping by Bartsch's table, remarking at Lucas' full head of hair and getting a grin flashed back from him. "It's encouraging, it reminds you you're not alone. Your family is among so many," Bartsch said. "Cancer has consumed so many lives." Most hospitals will work to allow patients to be at home for Christmas, said Donna Araiza, who founded Wings of Angels. She said the holidays often remind people, and the hospitals, of the importance of family. "They try to get the kids home, even if it's just for the day," she said. Araiza, whose daughter died from cancer, said. "People don't forget you. We had guys from the fire department that came in and brought presents. We'd have members of the San Francisco 49ers that came in to see us."

Bartsch said the comments from friends, family and even strangers helped her family get through the therapy. She said one stranger sent her a check, with a little note attached. "We pray for you and your son every night at the dinner table," she said. Others would send care packages, or even just remind Bartsch her family was in their thoughts or available to chat, she said. "There were times I wanted to talk about it with people, times I didn't." Bartsch said it's given the family a completely different perspective on Christmas.

This year they're celebrating Lucas being in remission since November. Pico said she and her children will also be celebrating a milestone this Christmas: Grady's last round of physical therapy progressed so well he was able to get off a feeding tube. "He loves dessert, he loves cookies and all the fudge," she said. "He's our little miracle baby." And, on Saturday, he enjoyed a warm slice of pizza at the Christmas party.

Matt's Reverse Birthday Party 2012

For most parents, the loss of a child is so devastating that the mention of that child’s annual birthday is something they strive to avoid. Not for Darrell and Gina Farley. The couple, who lost their 10-year-old son, Matt, to cancer last October, prefer to focus on the positive. “When Matt was in the hospital he would always want to share (the gifts he got) with the other kids on the floor,” said Darrell Farley. “And so it just seemed fitting with his birthday coming up (April 30) we thought, hey, instead of doing something for us, let’s throw a birthday and give gifts to others.”

And so the “reverse birthday” was borne, a way to celebrate on behalf of their son, the theme of his favorite song: One in Spirit. “We’re just people that have a heart for doing things for the community,” said Farley. So they invited a very special group of children to their party, children involved with Alyssa Araiza Wings of Angels, a non-profit “committed to aiding families who have children suffering with pediatric cancer or life-threatening illness,” says their web site. “We want to make people aware of these families that have needs,” said Darrell Farley.

On April 28, 2012, the Farleys will be handing out gifts to Wings of Angel children. There’s even “truck rides” scheduled, thanks to the generosity of Wal-Mart. “We have a lot of things planned,” said Farley. “We even have some surprises for the parents.” Some people might wonder how the Farleys find the strength to turn their bad fortune into blessings, but Donna Araiza, who founded Alyssa Araiza Wings of Angels in memory of her own daughter, explained she receives tremendous joy from giving back. “When I get a text message from a mother who’s in Sacramento,” said Araiza, “one that says you’ve just lifted such a burden off of them, it helps lift my spirits.” The Farleys feel blessed to have Araiza in their lives, they said. “We’re very thankful,” said Darrell Farley. “She’s allowing us to bless these children like we were blessed with Matt.”

In the end, that’s what it’s all about for everyone involved with Matt’s special birthday. “We’re very thankful to the businesses that have donated,” said Gina Farley. Araiza feels the same way. “This is what our community has allowed us to do,” said Araiza. “Yes, we’re the catalyst, but without folks like we have around here, people who allows us to do what we can do, it wouldn’t be possible.” And with people like Matt and Gina Farley and Dan and Donna Araiza in the world, there are truly angels on this earth.

2011 Bowl-A-Thon

Our Tenth Annual bowl-a-thon fund raiser was held on Saturday, April 2, 2011. Each year this event is hosted by Shasta Lanes and is our biggest fund raiser of the year. Each year the bowl-a-thon fills quickly and provided lots of love and laughs. Our bowl-a-thon has become a very popular event and it provides lots of fun for participants and spectators. We have chance drawings for approximately 60 gifts and give prizes for categories including most money raised and highest/lowest scores.

Bowl-a-thon 2011 raised over $21,300 to benefit “Wings of Angels.” Because of our success, we were able to donate $4,300 to the family of seven year old Rachel Grant who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2011. Rachel’s identical twin sister passed away 3 ½ years ago from a different form of cancer. This wonderful family continues to struggle with Rachel’s health and continued treatment.

Because of the continued support of our many friends, organizations, businesses, and the success of our two annual fund raisers, “Wings of Angels” has been able to make many donations to the families of seriously ill children in our community.

2011 Spaghetti Feed

Spaghetti feed 2011 raised over $21,000 to benefit “Wings of Angels.” We served nearly 500 meals, had a life auction, raffled of a Remington shotgun and big screen television as well as
raffling off more than 60 other door prizes. Bbecause of the success of this event we were able to donate $3,500 to the family of three year old Erika Nogle who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2011.
Erika is currently doing well and still undergoing her treatment. In January 2012 North Valley Bank donated two of their fleet vehicles to Wings of Angels. These vehicles were in beautiful shape and Erika and her family received one of these vehicles to make their commute to Sacramento for treatments more manageable. This donation from North Valley Bank was a true blessing.

 

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Seventh Annual Bowl-A-Thon
Wings Seventh annual Bowl-A-Thon was held on Saturday, April 4 at Shasta Lanes.  This event had twenty-four teams, more than one hundred bowlers, many spectators, and raised nearly $15,000. This bowl-a-thon event was dedicated to the memory of 24-year old Ryan Taylor who passed away in February 2009 after battling a brain tumor for over a year. Ryan was a seasonal firefighter for the City of Redding and son of Randy& Elaine Taylor of Palo Cedro. The top individual honors went to Sharen Webster (raising $1400), Robyn Stamm (raising $1018) and Roque Matagulay (earning $978). Top team honors went to the Webster family who raised $2360. There were drawings held for over 80 door prizes.

Club Interact Benefit Barbecue
Club Interact held a benefit barbecue for Wings of Angels in August 2009. This benefit was organized by Kailee Schroeder, a childhood friend of Alyssa's. Along with other local youth, Kailee had participated in the Rotary sponsored Camp Royal where they were challenged to return to their community and organize an event for a local organization. Thanks to Kailee, Wings of Angels was selected as the recipient of their fundraising event which included four bands, a barbecue, raffle and door prizes. The event was quite successful, raising over $1,300 for Wings and helping keep Alyssa's memory alive while building a foundation for young leaders. It was an amazing, positive experience to witness the local youth work so hard to help less fortunate families in our community. Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to Kailee and all those involved in making this benefit so special.

Eighth Annual Spaghetti Feed
Wings Eighth annual Spaghetti Feed fundraiser was held on Saturday, October 17 at the Sons of Italy. This event raised nearly $22,000 and served more than 650 meals. The live auction, with auctioneer Dale Toten was a success. There were chance drawings for approximately 80 gift baskets and gift certificates, a 42" plasma television and a Benelli shotgun. A portion of this event's proceeds supported the family of Caden James, a 5-year old who was in the Bay Area since being diagnosed with leukemia in June 2009. Combined with the success of the Spaghetti Feed fundraiser and continued donations, Wings was able to donate over $4800 to Caden's family. 

 

Sixth Annual Bowl-A-Thon
Wings fifth annual Bowl-A-Thon was held on Saturday, March 29 at Shasta Lanes.  This event was a huge success and raised more than $25,000 for Wings families. Top honors went to Perry Webster who raised $1,455, Bryan Gartner with $1,375 and John Ohler with $1,050. With all the generosity, we gave donations to four families and assissted a fifth family. These donations were in addition to the monthly assisstance already provided to our families. On September 13, 2007 Wings purchased a beautiful, used Ford Thunderbird for the family of five-year-olf Jazmine Regalado who had relapsed with cancer. Jazmine and her family had been riding a Greyhound Bus to/from Sacramento for chemotherapy. Since adopting our first family in October 2002, Wings has donated more than $250,000 and assissted more than 60 families. Wings is currently providing monthly assisstance to 25 families.

 

Fifth Annual Bowl-A-Thon
Wings fifth annual Bowl-A-Thon was held on Saturday, March 31 at Shasta Lanes.  24 teams participated with many spectators.  This was the most successful fundraiser to date, raising more than $22,000!  This success is directly attributed to the support of many friends, sponsors and supporters.  The highest honor this year went to Roque Matagulay who raised $2,356, with Mike Gonzalz raising $825, Kathy Kidd raising $805 and Bernie Berkowitz with $777.  This year Wings donated to two local families.  The first, a family of a three year old girl who had surgery in Arizona on April 20th for an extremely rare tumor deep within the brain; and the second, a family of a 2 year old girl who had surgery on April 9 to remove her lymph nodes, uterus and ovaries.  These little girls are just two of the 22 children supported monthly by Wings thanks to much generous support.

Spaghetti Feed 2007
Wings annual Spaghetti Feed fundraiser was held on Saturday, October 13, 2007 at the Sons of Italy Hall.  This year Wings served 500 meals and raised almost $19,000 for its families. Many Wings families attended the event and made the night very special, and inspiring. There was a live auction and chance drawings for approximately 70 gift baskets and gift certificates.  There were also special drawings for a 42 ” plasma TV and 1973 Jensen Healy sports car.  The sport car, donated by Allen & Jennifer Woodward and restored by Hild Collision, was given to winners Michelle & Mike Robinson.  The television was given to winner Karen Williams.

 

 

Fourth Annual Bowl-A-Thon
Wings fourth annual Bowl-A-Thon raised more than $15,000.  The event filled quickly with nearly 100 bowlers participating and many spectators attending.  The highest honor in the bowl-a-thon goes to the person who raises the most money.  The competition for this honor was fierce between Kathy Kidd and John Ohler.  Kathy Kidd walked away with the honor by raising $2,175, and John was no slouch, raising $1,501.  Their challenge made the event more exciting, as everyone was anxious to see who would be the winner.

Spaghetti Feed 2006
Wings annual Spaghetti Feed fundraiser was held on Saturday, October 21, 2006 at the Sons of Italy Hall.  This year Wings served more than 575 meals and raised almost $16,000 for its families.  It was the biggest spaghetti feed to date and was made possible by great publicity for the organization and many generous people.  There was a live auction and chance drawings for approximately 60 gift baskets and gift certificates.  There was also a special chance drawing for 32” plasma TV and a 12-gauge Benelli shotgun.  The shotgun, donated by Redding Firefighters, was given to winner Tom Cherry and raised $1,970.  The television was given to winner Ashley McTucker.  Many Wings families attended the event and made the night very special, and inspiring.

Christmas 2006
Wings Christmas 2006 was held at Angelo’s Pizza Parlor and served 21 families which included presents to 44 children, $50 Food Maxx or Winco gift cards and a pizza party with all the trimmings.  16 families attended the celebration. Many of these families never get the opportunity to see each other outside the hospital setting, so having that many families attend was truly a blessing.  Everyone was in the spirit of Christmas and had a great time thanks to the generosity of many sponsors.  

Third Annual Bowl-A-Thon
The Wings third annual Bowl-A-Thon filled quickly with over 100 bowlers and many spectators attending.  Over $12,000 was raised.  Special thanks to Kathy Kidd who raised $1,025, John Ohler for raising $801 and Ana Diaz-Bachman for raising $600.  A portion of this year’s proceeds benefited three local families with children with serious illness.  The remainder will help assist other Wings families.

Spaghetti Feed 2005
The fourth annual Spaghetti Feed fundraiser was hosted by The Sons of Italy and sponsored by them, Arcadia Healthcare, ERA Select Properties, Carmona’s Appliance, Sierra Homes, Holiday Quality Foods, The Redding Employees Association, Dave & Laurie Mundy and Shasta Inter Agency Communication Employees (Shascom). Wings served over 420 spaghetti dinners and had a great time. Sierra Homes donated eight beautiful sheet cakes with the Wings logo and Producer’s donated 250 cartons of milk. This extra touch made for a wonderful meal! The hall was beautifully decorated.  This year 12 families were touched by Wings at this very special event. It was great for the families to see each other outside of the hospital setting. To watch these families is truly an inspiration to continue Wings of Angels. Many door prizes were given away and laughs & hugs ere shared. There were chance drawings for approximately 50 gift baskets, certificates and wicker items. The event netted over $7,100, with a portion of the proceeds supporting two local families with children with cancer: one being a 20-month old battling Ewing Sarcoma and the other a seven year old battling non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Christmas Party 2005
This year’s Wings Christmas Party was held on Saturday, December 17, 2005 at Angelo’s Pizza Parlor. Nine of the 16 families attended and had a wonderful time. Wings provided presents to 35 children and gave $50 Food Maxx gift cards to all the families through the generosity of Sierra Homes. All presents were donated by the employees of the city of Redding during their annual city of Redding Employees Association Christmas party. Presents not used by Wings were donated to Northern Valley Catholic Social Services.

 

Second Annual Bowl-A-Thon
The second annual Bowl-A-Thon was held on Saturday, March 26 at Shasta Lanes.  There were 22 4-person teams and $9,004 was raised for Wings, which was much better than expected.  Following the event, $1,000 was donated to one family and $500 to another.  This year, the award for raising the most money was given to one of Wings’ biggest supporters, Kathy Kidd, who raised $500.  Next in line was Ana Diaz-Bachman with $400 followed by John Ohler.

Spaghetti Feed 2004
The third annual spaghetti feed fundraiser was held at Sons of Italy on Saturday, September 28, 2004. As always the hosts from Sons of Italy were absolutely fabulous!  Wings was sponsored this year by Arcadia Health Care, Carmona's Appliance Center, ERA Select Properties, The Redding Peace Officers Association, Redding Firefighters Association, Dave & Laurie Mundy, Sierra Homes, Holiday Quality Foods, Sons of Italy and "Friends of Wings of Angels". Thanks to the A-Team for providing such a wonderful meal. 

First Annual Bowl-A-Thon
The first annual Wings Bowl-A-Thon was held Saturday, march 15th at Shasta Lanes.  17 4-person teams participated and raised $7,675!

Moravec Family Helps Wings of Angels
In November 2003 Wings had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful family who was going through a difficult time after their 16 year old son Kelly was diagnosed with cancer. Wings adopted this family and provided monthly assistance to them in the form of gas cards, phone cards and stamps, and quickly became friends with the family. As a giving family, they chose to give back to Wings: For his senior project Kelly, with the help of friends and family made beaded angel ornaments for Christmas and had a "Goodies Galore" bake sale at Redding City Hall on December 17, 2004. The following day at the Wings Christmas party, Kelly presented $750 that he had raised for the organization. In spring 2005 Kelly’s senior class at West Valley High School did a walk to raise money for the Moravec family. Kelly requested half the money raised be donated to Wings.  The night of Kelly’s graduation, he presented a check for $1,020 to Wings.

Spaghetti Feed
The second annual Wings Spaghetti Feed was held Saturday, September 13 at the Sons of Italy Hall.  We served over 400 spaghetti dinners and raised more than $7,400.  A portion of the proceeds benefited a local family with a preschool-aged child recently diagnosed with cancer.

Miralles/Huff Fundraiser
With support of the Redding Employees Association, Wings held a bake sale/chance drawing fundraiser on Halloween at City Hall.  The Miralles/Huff Family Benefit Fundraiser was a huge success, raising $4,565!  All proceeds from this event went directly to the Miralles/Huff family to help with medical expenses incurred by the family as Justin battled with melanoma. A very special thank you to Gail Crowley-Risk Management who helped put this event together and to Kelly Caulfield-Volunteer Services who provided a “Walking Taco Bar” luncheon.

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