SCMFO Shares Aloha with Families at Annual Luau!

"Aloha!" was the word of the day at the SCMFO Luau July 25, 2026 on the lawn at St. Andrew's by the Sea!  Volunteers greeted 15 military moms, 6 dads, and 22 kids including 2 babies with leis and welcome  bags (including sunscreen--it was a sunny day), beach balls, bubble wands and an ono (yummy) lunch, including sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls, special cookies and cupcakes.  Everyone settled into beach chairs on beach mats and enjoyed the shade of beach umbrellas, while being officially welcomed and having Board Member & military spouse Arika Ferguson talk about SCMFO and how we can help families on base and that we want them to feel comfortable calling us for help.  Then all the guests introduced themselves and their families and talked about where they live on base and where they are from originally.  We hope connections were made as that's one of the goals of our SCMFO morale events.  

And then hilarity ensued with two rounds of Hawaiian-style pinatas (candy collected in small sand pails)!  Two of our wonderful volunteers hosted an impromptu limbo game for the kids.  And then the Polynesian Entertainment Group arrived, with 5 dancers -- 4 whahines (women) and 1 kane (male).  The show was on!  Hulas from Hawaii, Tahiti, and other Pacific Islands.  Crowd participation was the order of the day, with kids and parents participating and loving it!  Before the afternoon ended, every family got to select beach or pool-related gifts to take home---everything from towels to ukuleles to water blasters!  All the families got to take home the chairs, mats and umbrellas as special gifts from SCMFO to help them enjoy the rest of summer at the beach!   Thank you to the many volunteers who donated items for the luau and helped us throughout the day in a thousand ways.  From one of our attendees:  Thank you for putting on the Luau.  My son and I were so excited to come and the hula performance was cool! -- Kayla Lambrecht

Mahalo! 

-- Judy Franz, Luau Chair 

Our 3^rd annual pre-Father’s Day fishing event took place on Saturday June 6^th, out of Dana Point. What a treat for Camp Pendleton dads and children to enjoy this time together.  One of the dads had just returned from deployment the day before; fortunately his wife saw the notice for the event and signed him up before he got home.

One smiling young man wearing a Spiderman shirt announced it was his birthday, and what a special one it turned out to be. The boys outnumbered the girls but they equally had a great time. Lots of fish were caught and even when a small one had to be thrown back it was still tons of fun reeling it in.

As the dads and kids walked off the boat, there were huge smiles and many grateful thank-you’s. SCMFO is truly honored to provide this wonderful event thanks to a very generous donor who funds this fishing trip in honor of her late father.

Memorial Day Event Honoring Those Lost in War

SCMFO participated in the City of San Clemente's Memorial Day Ceremony on May 25  on the Community Center Lawn, along with other community groups. 

Dave Mauerman presented the wreath on our behalf.  We also took the wreath to the event at Park Semper Fi later in the day, so we were well represented on this important day. 

Both ceremonies were very moving, with inspiring military officers' and elected officials' speeches, patriotic music and huge crowds waving flags.  God Bless America!

A big thank for the generosity from so many organizations that donated food to us to help us keep our shelves fully stocked.

This month we received food donations from San Juan Capistrano Garden club, St Andrew's by the Sea Methodist church, St. Clement's church and several other organizations that had food drives for us.

This has become so important and needed by us to have the ability to maintain a small food bank through these regular food drives. Food is so appreciated and needed by the young military families. 

A big thank you to all donated much appreciated.

Once again SCMFO treated 15 young military couples to a Valentines dinner at a favorite local San Clemente Mexican Restaurant.

We asked couples to submit a love letter to us telling how they met. Fifteen couples were chosen to receive a gift card for a Valentines dinner.

This has been a fun and favorite moral event to give thanks for their service.

A special night out for 15 military couples.

2026 SCMFO is a wrap (as in a baby blanket) !

Our 20th annual baby shower for expectant military moms on January 31, 2026, happened on a gloriously sunny day outdoors at St. Andrews's by the Sea UMC. Each mom, many with family members in tow, were escorted through our gift stations. They started at our welcome station, where they received a goodie bag and info about SCMFO. Layettes filled with items to welcoming baby home wrapped in quilts made by Surfside Quilters Guild; large, donated gifts included car seats, strollers, pack and plays from our many supporters. All sorts of clothing items, toys, and more blankets.  Diapers, wipes and formula donated by our friends from Hoag Hospital. Each family had a photo taken and had their new baby blessed by Deacon Pysz of Gloria Dei Lutheran.

It was a blessed day!

We are so grateful to all who made this shower possible: All our volunteers and donors who give throughout the year to support military families: the Surfside Quilters Guild, Heather Goulet and Kim Martin who also provided quilts, members of St. Andrew's by the Sea, St. Clement's Episcopal, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Christ Lutheran, and the San Juan Capistrano Garden Club who provided gifts to fill the layettes. And Hoag Hospital who bring diapers, wipes and formula to the shower every year. 

We couldn't do this work without you.

Mary’s Feast

Mission Statement: 

To offer participants an evening of Christian fellowship, while providing on-going financial support, as well as other resources, to young, local, under-resourced Military families and their children through San Clemente Military Family Outreach (SCMFO)

As in the past, the annual “Mary’s Feast” event, was a heart-warming, joy-filled evening.  Our 2025 event was held at the San Juan Hills Golf Club and guests brought “gifts for the baby Jesus” that are donated to SCMFO for their annual baby shower for up to 100 military families expecting a baby.  A delicious meal, fellowship with friends, honoring our military wives as guests, and a reading of the “Story of Silent Night,’ were highpoints of our evening.  This year we were particularly excited to learn about how the proceeds from the 2024 event have been used to support the students at the San Onofre School; Principal Joe Knisely shared with us about those things and the impact that they had on the students and teachers.

This year’s event included attendees from:

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church; St Edward, the Confessor Catholic Church

St. Andrew’s by-the-Sea UMC; Community Presbyterian Church.

Christ Lutheran Church; St. Clements’ by-the-Sea Episcopal Church

Pet Project Foundation, Rescue Partner for the SCDP Animal Shelter

and, of course, San Clemente Military Family Outreach (SCMFO)

And, the local community and organizations were so generous, both financially and with needed auction items:

Knights of Columbus, Stella Maris Council #3772 San Clemente

Knights of Columbus, Fr Louis F Knight Council #12451

VFW, Dana Point Post 9934

Joey Johnson Photography

Melanie and Paul Himmelright

Goodlad/Heileson Family

Denise Zolg

McCann Family

Schmidt’s Chocolates; Rascals on Del Mar; Salt Life on Del Mar; DeNault’s Hardware

Em & Tess on Del Mar; Captain Mauri, Billy’s Meats; Oliver’s; and others

I want to offer everyone who attended the event, sponsored, donated or was part of the planning team a personal huge thank you to each of you for making this Mary’s Feast successful and memorable.  It been an honor and a blessing to have been leading this event for close to 20 years.

Chris McCann - 2025 Mary’s Feast Event Chairperson/Leader

Lisa Goodland – 2026 Mary’s Feast Event Chairperson/Leader

On Monday November 24th, a beautiful day at Camp Pendleton, SCMFO proudly distributed 1,000 butterball turkey dinners to military families. This is one of our annual events. Meals included sides and a pie for dessert ensuring that the families could enjoy a warm and meaningful thanksgiving holiday meal.

Event included a book mobile that presented books to the children in attendance. Handles ice cream brought ice cream treats to enjoy.  Several other organizations joined in to make the event a very special day.

This event provided essential support to Service members and their loved ones during a time when many face financial challenges.

Our annual fundraiser “Salute to Military Stars,” was held at the El Adobe de Capistrano restaurant in San Juan Capistrano. Participants gathered on the patio to enjoy a margarita and check out the silent auction table with amazing items including a Flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol.

Opening ceremonies began with Judy Franz, President of SCMFO and Dave Mauerman, Vice President of SCMFO and MC. Guests stood for the Pledge of Allegiance, active duty Military were honored, followed by all retired Veteran and other honorary guests including Congressman Mike Levin, of the 49th Congressional district.  The invocation was given by Pastor Karl Stuckenberg, of Saint Andrews BTS.

The program resumed after dinner with Dave Mauerman providing a brief history of SCMFO over 20+ years. Many families have been helped, especially in a moment of crisis when all options were exhausted and they had nowhere to turn. Arika Ferguson, SCMFO Board Liaison to military families on Camp Pendleton, spoke about how families are referred to SCMFO and the process to get them the help they need.  Next we heard from our military guests sharing how their families were helped by SCMFO and their deep gratitude for the help that was given.  Touching stories that reminded us how difficult life can be when there is no family around, and prices in California are much higher than they could have imagined.

Judy Franz read a letter from Active Duty Marine Pvt. His “training schedule” prevented him and his family from attending, as his unit prepares for deployment in January.  The letter reminded all of us of the hardships these young couples experience.  Active duty Marine Sgt attended with his wife. Both spoke about how grateful they are for the help they received from SCMFO.  The Sgt spoke from his heart when he said, “You People Change Lives”, words that touched each of us and confirm why we do what we do. A Marine Sgt attending with his wife shared how SCMFO provided for them at a critical time in both their lives and how grateful they are to know this help was available to them.

Our Key note speaker was Captain Adan Rivera, Commander, Bravo Command, Headquarters Company, 1^st Marine Regiment.  Captain Rivera spoke about the difficulties young marines experience and shared a story, with some levity about needing 100 sets of bunk sheets, extra-long for returning deployed soldiers and how SCMFO helped him and his men.  He is very grateful for all that SCMFO does to help these struggling families and thankful that there is such a great resource available at Camp Pendleton.

We were entertained by our favorite comedian, Ron Ruhman- the clean comedian.  He provided lots of laughs.

SCMFO volunteer of the year was awarded to the team of Karen and Mark Rottmann.  This remarkable duo has contributed in many ways. In December of 2024, they orchestrated food donations for the pantry at SCMFO office with bags, and boxes of donation food from friends. Filling and refilling the pantry throughout the year. Karen even organized a garden tour to raise money for SCMFO!

Judy and Dave gave closing remarks thanking our many donors and sponsors for their continued support.  Silent auction winners were announced, flower arrangements, by Karen were distributed to our guests and the evening was complete.