OrgWatch

With the holiday season approaching, San Diego Gas & Electric has announced that it will provide more than $600,000 in charitable donations to nonprofit organizations in San Diego and Orange counties as part of its commitment to help local underserved communities in need.

As part of this initiative, SDG&E will provide grants to more than 60 organizations, according to a release, including: The San Diego Rescue Mission, The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, Feeding America San Diego, Crisis House, Hearts and Hands Working Together, Mama's Kitchen, Promises2Kids, Salvation Army, Senior Community Centers of San Diego, Vietnam Veterans of San Diego, YMCA ó Camp Pendleton, and the Veterans Housing Initiative.

The American Diabetes Association's San Diego chapter will host Step Out, Walk to Stop Diabetes, a fundraising walk, on Sunday morning at De Anza Cove in San Diego’s Mission Bay area, according to a release. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., and the three-mile walk begins at 9 a.m. Event information is available at diabetes.org/stepoutsandiego. On-site registration will be available.

About 900 walkers are expected to participate, raising about $160,000 in donations for diabetes research. More than 130 teams are expected to walk, including teams representing businesses, neighborhoods, clubs, community groups, churches and family members affected by diabetes.

Walden Family Services will hold its ninth annual Wine DíVine food and wine tasting benefit on Tuesday from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Grand Del Mar. Tickets are $150.

This yearís event will feature many of Napa Valley’s top wineries, matched to the culinary delights of some of San Diego’s finest restaurants. Festivities will also include both silent and live auctions.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Walden Family Services, a treatment-level foster family and adoption agency serving mentally and physically disabled children and youth as well as medically fragile youth throughout Southern California.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will host its 14th annual Light the Night Walk on Nov. 2 at Petco Park, according to a release.

Light the Night is an inspirational two-mile walk that brings together thousands of individuals to raise funds for lifesaving blood cancer research and critical patient and family services.

Walkers will join together in twilight holding illuminated balloons ó white for survivors, red for supporters and gold to remember those lost to cancer. In addition to the walk, the eveningís festivities will include music, food and family activities. 

Check-in is at 6 p.m. with the opening ceremony beginning at 7 p.m. and the walk starting at 7:30 p.m. For more information on this yearís event, visit lightthenight.org/sd/.

Feeding America San Diego, San Diegoís largest distributor of donated food, has announced the winners of the 2012 Finest City Food Fight, a month-long competition challenging local businesses to help fight hunger in San Diego.

This yearís Finest City Food Fight champions are GTC Systems Inc., Moss Adams LLP and US Foods, whose employees helped raise food and funds during September’s Hunger Action Month. From Sept. 1 through Oct. 5, nearly 50 participating companies challenged their employees to give back by donating food, funds or volunteering their time. In total, participants of the Finest City Food Fight helped raise more than $15,000, 5,000 pounds of food and donated more than 900 volunteer hours for local families in need.

All proceeds benefit Feeding America San Diego and the local community. 

Wells Fargo Bank recently donated $25,000 to provide students of Nestor Language Academy Charter School with the Big Brothers Big Sisters High School Mentoring program, according to a release. Wells Fargo Bankís donation will support the school’s BBBS High School Bigs program, which will have Southwest High School as its high school partner.

In this program, high school students mentor elementary children during weekly one-on-one sessions, spending time together reading, playing sports or talking. Both high school student “Bigs” and elementary student “Littles” benefit from this program, as high school students learn the value of volunteerism and the elementary students are encouraged by someone they truly look up to, according to a release.