Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell

2000 Thanksgiving dinners given away at Rainier Community Center

On Tuesday, November 22, they came from Ballard and Rainier Beach, West Seattle and Madrona for a take home Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. Young families with children, the elderly and disabled, lined up for local NBA stars Brandon Roy, Jamal Crawford, Will Conroy, Isaiah Thomas and Spencer Hawes (the “Home Team”), Seahawk player Kam Chancellor to bag and help distribute Thanksgiving dinners for 2,000 Seattle families.

Jamal Crawford, Brandon Roy and Councilmember Bruce Harrell.

People pack the Rainier Community Center.

The “Home Team” partnered with Safeway to purchase 2,000 turkeys. In return, Safeway provided all of the traditional Thanksgiving trimmings.

People began gathering in the gym around 4:30 p.m. Before long, the gym was packed with people waiting to sign in and pick up their dinners. There were plenty of volunteers to get everyone signed in and to help ensure that the event ran as smoothly as possible.

Families enrolled in the Seattle Public Schools free and reduced lunch program were encouraged to pre-register at one of eleven Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Centers. The gym was packed by upwards of 2,000 families who came to take advantage of the giveaway and to meet professional athletes and elected officials. They were not disappointed! The event was a success, with smiles all around.

Photo Credit: http://sportswashington.net/turkey/

Press Release: November 1, 2010

The Seattle City Council presented a Proclamation recognizing the lifetime work of Alan “Al” Sugiyama, who among other great efforts, co-founded the Asian Family Affair newspaper in 1972 and promoted Asian American history throughout the 70’s.

Mr. Sugiyama is regionally and nationally respected for his integrity, courage, and tireless commitment to our youth and our community. His efforts helped to end misrepresentation of Asian Americans in the media.

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“The City Council is proud to present this proclamation highlighting the hard and distinctive work of our friend, Al Sugiyama,” stated Councilmember Bruce Harrell. “He has served more than 26,000 high-risk youth in King and Snohomish counties by finding innovative alternatives to transition kids into productive and fruitful lives.”

In 1979, Mr. Sugiyama established the Center for Career Alternatives (CCA). For 30 years, Mr. Sugiyama’s work as executive director for CCA helped to create and foster spaces where disadvantaged adults and youth in King and Snohomish counties can go for free education, employment and career training.

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For fifteen years Burl Garnett, Jr. reluctantly put up with a 4-way “right turn only” traffic star in his neighborhood. Well, Burl decided he was not going to put up with it anymore! You see, the star intersection at 44th Avenue South and South Holly (the only one of its kind in the city) caused Burl, his neighbors and visitors to drive blocks out of their way because of the “right turn only” situation. Disobedience would often times result in a traffic citation. It suffices to say that Burl and his neighbors decided to take this matter into their own hands and correct the situation.

In January of 2009 Burl successfully gathered enough signatures for a petition to have the traffic star changed to a traffic circle that would allow turns in all directions. However, he encountered bureaucratic roadblocks at the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) which made it difficult for the neighborhood’s request to have the star removed become a reality. Burl placed a call to my office for help. My staff assisted Burl along with SDOT’s Tracy Burrows and Luke Korpi in making the star become a circle. But the real hero in this is Burl Garnett, Jr. I commend him for his tenacity to get this job done. Great job Burl!

I am excited to share with you the exciting news of Joanne Harrell’s appointment to the UW Board of Regents. I am honored that she is being recognized for her commitment to the University of Washington and this region. Thank you Governor Chris Gregoire for this fantastic appointment.

For Release: Immediate
Date: Oct. 8, 2009
Media Contact: Governor’s Communications Office
Phone: 360-902-4136

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced the appointment of Joanne Harrell to the University of Washington Board of Regents. Harrell is the chief of staff for the Original Equipment Manufacturing division at Microsoft, where she has worked for the past eight years.

“Joanne brings an extensive history of service to this position,” Gregoire said. “Not only is her career experience impressive, her willingness to give back to her community is admirable. I know Joanne will add additional leadership to the board of regents, and will serve her alma mater well.”

Harrell graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications. She later earned a Master of Business Administration in marketing at the Foster School of Business before being appointed trustee at UW’s Evans School of Public Affairs.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by this opportunity to serve the University of Washington, as well as all Washington state citizens,” Harrell said. “This is a rare opportunity to give back to my alma mater – which gave me so much, and work with an impressive team to further improve our state’s higher education system.”

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I must share with you a huge honor for our family. My wife Joanne Harrell is being recognized for her career and public service as one of six inductees to the 2009 University of Washington Department of Communication “Hall of Fame.” The community celebration will take place on October 29, 2009, at the University of Washington Club, starting at 5:00 pm. Link: Communication Alumni Hall of Fame 2009

Joanne has been an incredible example of how individuals and organizations should communicate effectively and transparently. She has built a successful career around converting these values into high performance. Her commitment to continued learning led her to study management and marketing at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and the Brookings Institution. While President & CEO of the United Way of King County from 1997 to 2000, Joanne led the chapter to successive national fundraising records where she grew the non-profit from the 14th to the largest United Way program in the country. She serves and has served on a host of boards, including REI, Seattle Urban League, YWCA, the Salvation Army, the Seattle Art Museum, UW’s Evans School of Public Affairs, and the International Women’s Forum. Joanne is the 1997 recipient of the “African American Achievement Award,” Omaha, Nebraska, and the 1992 recipient of the “Women of Achievement Award,” Seattle. Other honorees at this event will be H. Stuart Elway, Bruce Johansen, George Sundborg, Maggie Walker and Harold (Hal) Zimmerman. Truly these are well-deserved recipients and great community leaders.

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The official honoree for this year’s Ninth Annual Ballard High School Golf Classic is Jim Vatn. He was recognized for his ceaseless involvement in the Ballard community, as well as the city of Seattle.

Jim Vatn was this year’s honoree at the Ninth Annual Ballard High School’s Golf Classic. In recognition of his work, I asked the Seattle City Council to sign a proclamation recognizing Jim for his hard work and dedication, perseverance and commitment to build Ballard High School’s sports and music programs into the strong departments they are today, and contributions to Seattle’s diverse cultural population.

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