Bringing Fashion to the Foster System

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Entry into the foster care system does not come with a suitcase full of toys, clothes or promise. The baggage kids carry is packed with a troubled past, an uncertain future. Their material possessions consist of only the clothes on their back.

A Witness

Stacie Hawkins has opened her door five times to foster kids. Each of the five boys arrived with the same possessions: nothing but a head full of uncertainty for what the next minute would bring. “That’s what bothered me most is they don’t have anything to identify with,” Hawkins said. “They didn’t come with anything of their own. They didn’t get to bring their teddy bear or books, pajamas, or even a blankie.” In August, she decided to do something about it.

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The Other Red Meat

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Beef may be what’s for dinner at your house. But lately, thanks in part to TV Chef Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and other documentaries, many at-home chefs
are concerned about what may be lurking in that cut of meat. Enter local rancher, John Holbrook of Cave Creek.

Holbrook’s company, JH Grass-fed is bringing to market local, grass-fed beef and lamb that promises to be free of hormones, antibiotics, grains and feed byproducts. (More of a white-meat fan? JH contracts with a farm in Chino Valley for antibiotic-free chicken.)

The team started selling the product, which is raised 45 miles north of Anthem near Mayer, in farmers markets in 2009. “Quality and safety of food is our job,” Holbrook told In&Out. “It just happens to be that by doing grass-fed beef we’re not only doing it more humanely but it’s better product for human consumption.”

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Council Beats a Dead ‘Freedom Way’

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At its Nov. 16 meeting, Anthem Community Council again voted to cease production of Freedom Way, the monthly community mag. The issue was resurrected by Board member Ron Jerich. Several in the audience spoke disapproving of the decision to discontinue publication.

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Search for Suspects in Anthem School Vandalism

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In the second incident of criminal damage in three weeks, 10 windows were smashed with rocks at Anthem School over the weekend of Nov. 4. Principal Pat Yennie said the damage, which is primarily along Whitman Drive, makes the teachers sad. Yennie suspects perhaps some “big kids” are responsible. “Why do you have to do that?” he said.

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Prestigious Scholarships Within Reach for Anthemite

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One of our own young Anthemites is a finalist for the highly-regarded Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships. Christopher Bennett, a 10-year resident of Anthem and 2006 graduate of Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, was awarded a campus endorsement from Stanford University, where he received his bachelor’s degree, and most recently, his master’s degree in June.

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