By Bruce Barton
 Joan MacDonald receives the SILVAR Community Service Award from Josie Gambera, left, co-chairwoman of the Los Altos/Mountain View District of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, last week. |
Joan MacDonald wanted to set the record straight - she was not one of the founders of the respected Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC), as some of her admirers touted her to be. However, MacDonald proved a vital catalyst for making the non-profit youth counseling organization what it is today.
MacDonald spoke of CHAC’s history and achievements while receiving the 42nd Community Service Award May 11. The Los Altos-Mountain View District of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors (SILVAR) presented MacDonald the award at a luncheon held at Michael’s at Shoreline in Mountain View. The award annually recognizes unsung volunteers in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills or Mountain View.
The selection committee honored MacDonald for her volunteer efforts in a variety of educational and humanitarian causes, but was “particularly impressed with her longevity with the CHAC,” said Josie Gambera, co-chairwoman of the Los Altos/Mountain View District of SILVAR.
“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of public recognition and the Community Service Award than Joan,” said Monique Kane, the current CHAC executive director. “She is a committed, dedicated, intelligent, hard-working and creative woman. She works harder than anyone I know in her volunteer work.”
MacDonald, who taught English at Foothill and De Anza colleges for 38 years, has served on the CHAC board in various positions since 1973. She described herself as “the oldest living fossil on the CHAC board.”
In addition to CHAC, MacDonald, a Mountain View resident, has been involved in myriad schools, fair housing, and peace and justice activities. She served on both the Whisman and Mountain View-Los Altos Union High school district boards, and has been a strong supporter of the Community School of Music and Arts, the Community Services Agency and the local League of Women Voters, among others.
But it is with CHAC that MacDonald’s impact has been greatest. As president of the board 1988-1990, she signed the purchase papers for CHAC’s headquarters, the Dodie Alexander House. She has served in a wide range of capacities, from strategic planning and financing to public relations and fund raising.
MacDonald described the formation of CHAC as a group of moms coming together to do something about emerging substance abuse problems among children in high and middle schools. Spearheaded by Alexander, a 1989 Community Service Award winner, the group organized to offer prevention services. After taking a course in community outreach at Mills College, CHAC founders recruited MacDonald to bring in representatives of school boards and city councils to boost community involvement.
MacDonald’s energetic leadership and fund-raising abilities helped grow the organization over the years; and in the process, helped turn countless lives around.
“I’m extremely proud of what CHAC does,” MacDonald said. “Our greatest failing is we’re almost invisible to the community. Part of the reason is - our work with clients is confidential.”
The organization’s 17-member professional staff and approximately 50 interning counselors help on local campuses and at the Dodie Alexander House: “711 Church St., at the corner of Hope,” she said, emphasizing the “Hope.”
“We all benefit from the fact that CHAC exists,” MacDonald said. “A child who is overstressed affects the entire school. When he or she learns to cope with stress and becomes a more active learner, it enhances the learning experience of every child in the classroom.” This, she said, extends to family and community - “fewer calls to the police, fewer upsets in the neighborhood and the schoolyard,” MacDonald said. “All of our neighborhoods become better places to live.”
For more about CHAC, log on to www.chacmv.org.
