When she released her first book, “Freeing Your Heart For Love,” Lorrine Patterson asked herself what was beyond it. She based the book on her troubled adolescence and wanted to do more to help teens challenged with depression and trauma to discover self-love and find happiness.
She decided to start Show Up & Love, a Milpitas-based nonprofit that hosts five-week workshops and 30-day programs in teen centers, high schools and middle schools in the Bay Area..
The programs are meant to empower people by helping them develop interpersonal leadership skills, increase self-confidence and acquire the motivation and ability to bring about positive changes in their lives. By learning to love yourself, Patterson says, you learn to make good decisions and stand up for yourself.
“Show up and love yourself so that you can show up and love others,” she adds.
Patterson launched Show Up & Love in January 2022. The nonprofit held a Cookoff for Love fundraiser at the Barbara Lee Senior Center auditorium on Sunday, July 16. Milpitas Police Chief Jared Hernandez and Mayor Carmen Montano were on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Hernandez and Montano were also on the judging panel of a cookoff that pitted Clint Jackman, Eric Bernardo and Daniel Sevilla of the Milpitas Police Officers Association against Jamie Hernandez, Keenan Wolfe and Andrew Quimby of Milpitas Firefighters Local 1699. The dishes were judged on their appearance, tenderness and texture, sauce and seasoning, and flavor.
The Best Brisket and Best Chicken awards went respectively to Wolfe and Hernandez, and the Best Pork Shoulder award went to Sevilla. The Best Overall and the People’s Choice awards went to the firefighters.
Refreshments kept the 150 guests cool in the warm afternoon as they strolled between the photo booth, the face painter and the craft and self-love activities around the room. Music was provided by DJ CJ Flash and Noreen’s Dance Collaborative performed.
All proceeds from the cookout fundraiser are earmarked for the supplies needed for Show Up & Love workshops and programs, as well as self-love gifts distributed to the community.
For more information, visit www.showupandlove.com.