The Caring Ambassadors Program, Soul Sisters Productions, LLC and Oregon Food Bank need your help! This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival and the 12th year that Caring Ambassadors has supported the foodbank and donated more than $10,000 in free health care screenings in the Caring Ambassadors Health Pavilion at the festival.   Last year the dunk tank was so popular it is back for another year of stress relief in addition to our free hepatitis C screenings. Stress is taking its toll on people and we want to help alleviate, just a little, the daily stress we all face. Attendees at the festival will get 2 free throws but more if they make a donation. The amount of the donation can be set by YOU, the dunkee! The net proceeds will be split between Caring Ambassadors and the Oregon Food Bank.   We hope you will help the cause by volunteering to be DUNKED! By getting Dunked, you will help eliminate hunger and hepatitis C in Oregon! Hunger impacts 270,000 families per month in Oregon and hepatitis C affects 95,000, most of whom are unware that they are infected with the virus. We hope we can count on you to volunteer a little of your time between June 30th through July 4th to maybe get dunked and help end hunger and hepatitis C in our state.  Please email Stephanie@CaringAmbassadors.org to join us and reserve your time slot in the tank!

On September 25, 2016, the Caring Ambassadors Program and Soul Sisters Productions, LLC are hosting a fundraiser, Tunes & Tastes of Oregon, at a private estate in West Linn, Oregon.  The event will feature music by King Louie & LaRhonda Steele, with a silent auction, wine wall, and more.  An auction highlight: a beautiful 12-string guitar signed by the Steve Miller Band.   The afternoon event raises funds for the Caring Ambassadors Program, a 501c non-profit which empowers patients to seek their own journey to wellness and overcome diseases including hepatitis C and lung cancer.  The program achieves these goals through advocacy programs, free screening events, patient education materials, and hepatitis C and lung cancer awareness campaigns.   Hepatitis C is largest infectious disease outbreak in our lifetime and it is curable.  The disease currently affects 170 million people worldwide and as many as 5 million in the U.S., most of whom are unaware of their infection.  We are part of a global plan to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030.  Four hundred and fifty individuals die each day from lung cancer in the U.S., but with early screening, new testing and treatment, patients can beat lung cancer.   Tunes & Tastes of Oregon will be held at the private estate of Carol Kadel on Pete’s Mountain in West Linn.  The actual address is printed on event tickets purchased at this link: http://portland.scenethink.com/cal/79609   Tunes & Tastes of Oregon is co-hosted by Soul Sisters Productions, LLC.  www.soulsisterspdx.com

  On Sunday, May 15, 2016, a by-invitation celebration of life was held for Sweet Baby James Benton, aka “Portland’s Ray Charles.”  The event was organized by Soul Sisters Productions, LLC in coordination with James’ widow, Cathy Galbraith.  An all-star line-up of Portland’s finest musicians performed, numerous volunteers donated their time, and an auction was held to raise funds to start a scholarship in James’ name: the Sweet Baby James Fund for African American History and Music at the Oregon Community Foundation.   This event was particularly meaningful for Tracy, as she and James had become close friends during the decade that her husband Louis and James had co-led the musical group, “King Louie & Baby James.”  James was as wonderful a person as he was a musician—warm, soulful, and frequently hilarious.  R.I.P., Sweet Baby! To learn more about James’ amazing life and musical career, visit his website.  Tracy Turner-Pain with Sweet Baby James Benton