Ex-Showbiz “Arranger” and Santa Clarita Valley Mom Co-Founded SCVi Charter School to Provide All SCV K-12 Students a Leadership-Based Alternative to Traditional Schools By Stephen K. Peeples When SCVi Charter School co-founder Amber Raskin first looked into fresh alternatives to traditional public schools or homeschooling for her own children, she thought beyond her own family. She figured other Santa Clarita ...

  Former Owner of Famed Margo Boutique Now Leads the Volunteers who Run Closet on Main, Single Mothers Outreach’s Clothing Resale Store in Newhall As longtime owner of the upscale Margo clothing boutique in Newhall, Margo Hudson gained lots of experience in running a stylish retail store. After closing shop, Hudson came out of retirement a few years ago to ...

  Valencia Photographer and Mom Carries on her Work on Behalf of the Rebuilding America’s Veterans Nonprofit, Despite Personal Health Battle By Stephen K. Peeples As vice president and media relations director of Rebuilding America’s Warriors, formerly the Iraq Star Foundation, Micaela Bensko has been helping military veterans scarred in combat get free reconstructive or plastic surgery since 2007. The ...

Summer Camps and Year-Round Programs ‘Lighting a Fire of Change’ on Behalf of Special-Needs Kids By Stephen K. Peeples Eva Payne, Project Kindle executive director, Santa Clarita resident and mother of six, is the latest KHTS Santa Clarita Unsung Hero presented by Mercedes-Benz of Valencia. As founder and executive director of the nonprofit Project Kindle in 1998 when she was ...

Single Mom Who Became a Community Bank CEO Gives Back, Personally and Professionally By Stephen K. Peeples Tamara Gurney, the latest KHTS Santa Clarita Unsung Hero presented by Mercedes-Benz of Valencia, is a single mom who has built Mission Valley Bank into a thriving $250-million a year business over the past dozen years as its founding president and CEO. At ...

By Stephen K. Peeples As a senior partner with Valencia-based NewMarket Careers, Sue Reynolds is an accomplished small business owner who helps Santa Clarita Valley employees and the companies who need them find each other. But outside her role as a mover and shaker in the Santa Clarita business community, Reynolds is a super-volunteer, although she would never refer to ...

By Stephen K. Peeples As director of volunteers and recreation at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center in Newhall for more than eight years, Robin Clough coordinates all the volunteer programs, and manages the 30,000-plus hours the center’s nearly 1,000 volunteers contribute every year.  She’s also a tireless advocate for girls, women and especially seniors in the SCV, usually behind ...

By Stephen K. Peeples As the community liaison officer with College of the Canyons’ Public Information Office since November 2006, Jasmine Foster has a long list of official duties. But her volunteer spirit extends far beyond her regular job, contributing untold hours to nonprofit groups in all corners of the Santa Clarita Valley, without expecting anything in return, except maybe ...