Highly successful people will tell you that great success often blossoms from times of deep despair. Many of San Diego's businesspeople have found the silver lining in the economic woes of the past year and some have even been able to turn today's challenges into opportunities... or make lemonade out of lemons.

The Building Industry Association of San Diego County donated an apartment full of furniture from its recent BIA Cares Furniture Fantasy Event to Just in Time for Foster Youth.

Thirty local labor union apprentice students and a local construction company partnered last Saturday, Oct. 24, to undertake major pro bono repairs to the San Diego Food Bank's ageing 65,000-square-foot warehouse -- saving the equivalent of 225,000 meals just before Thanksgiving.

Cali Bamboo announced Tuesday its donation of $20,000 to the Surfrider Foundation National Headquarters and its San Diego Chapter.

Gafcon Inc., a women-owned construction management and consulting firm with a long history of support for San Diego nonprofit organizations, has partnered for the first time with the San Diego Women's Foundation in an effort to foster the development of young philanthropists in the region.