- Positive Words Strengthen Positive Values
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library – Help Us Get Free Books to Napa Kids
- Spotlight: Opportunities to Support our Community
- Highlights from CanDo’s Community Calendar
| | Featured Topic: The Impact of Words | | |
Positive Words Strengthen Positive Values
A vibrant new art display at The Westin Verasa in downtown Napa is currently showcasing colorful, student-made posters promoting kindness, acceptance and respect. Created through the Positive Poster Project (PPP), the artwork features uplifting messages like “Kindness is Contagious” and “We Are Better Together,” and is already drawing strong reactions from visitors.
“Children’s art has always been very powerful,” according to acclaimed chef Ken Frank of La Toque at the Westin. “This exhibition causes people to stop and think. It’s the perfect message at a time when we really need something positive, uplifting and non-divisive.”
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The PPP is led by Pro-Inclusion Napa (PIN), a community group formed in 2023 after antisemitic signs appeared in the community. Since launching the initiative in 2024 and becoming a project of CanDo, PIN has partnered with local schools and displayed more than 400 student posters in public spaces including Napa City Hall and the Napa County Office of Education. Students are encouraged to reflect on acceptance, kindness and respect — even toward people they disagree with.
Pro-Inclusion Napa is now expanding its reach with a new yard sign campaign (see below), distributing bilingual signs reading “Acceptance, Kindness, Respect” to residents starting in January. As co-founder Joanne Sutro explained, “We want to give voice to people who are kind and open,” emphasizing that the effort is nonpolitical and rooted in community values.
With a growing presence in schools, events and neighborhoods, organizers say the goal is long-term cultural change — creating a Napa where messages of kindness feel so normal they no longer need to be pointed out.
Summarized from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat article, "The Napa County project turning hate into hope, one poster at a time," Nov. 24, 2025. Read the article here (paywall).
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The Positive Yard Sign Campaign is Launching… Now!
If you’ve ever seen hateful messages attacking specific groups, based on their religion, race, color, status, or beliefs, and felt sad, mad, sickened, or helpless, then Pro-Inclusion Napa’s Positive Yard Sign Campaign (PYSC) is for you.
Envisioned as a way to counteract hate speech signs and fliers appearing in Napa neighborhoods, the PYSC offers a simple way to promote our core values of respect, acceptance, and kindness towards all people.
| | Photo courtesy of Santa Rosa Press Democrat | | | |
Thanks to generous donations, including a significant gift from Community Projects, Inc., 400 beautiful yard signs were ordered and delivered in December. While this number seemed ambitious for a brand new project, we were hopeful that we could eventually find “homes” for all of them.
In preparation for the Campaign which launches January 1, PIN members began visiting community organizations in mid-December, to introduce the project and distribute yard signs. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. All 400 of the yard signs have already been claimed and are waiting to be displayed in yards and windows at homes, schools, and businesses throughout our community! That’s right, the first 400 PYSC signs went like hotcakes in just three weeks!
But don’t worry, it’s not too late to get one. These colorful, 2-sided signs, proclaiming “Respect, Acceptance, Kindness” in both English and Spanish, have been reordered and will arrive in early January. Visit our webpage to find out where you can pick one up or, if needed, to request a delivery.
| | | Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library – Help Us Get Free Books to Napa Kids | | |
Exciting things are happening with CanDo’s Neighborhood Reads Project! We are partnering with First Five Napa County, whose mission is to lift up our community’s young children, their families, and the providers who serve them. Together, we are working to bring a new, free, age-appropriate book to Napa County kids 0-5 years of age each and every month.
How? Beloved singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton has the answer to that: her Imagination Library project brings the excitement of reading into Napa County homes. Parents simply register their children. We want to make it easy for them to do it.
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Here’s How You Can Help
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Attend a one-hour ZOOM meeting on Jan. 14 (12:00PM - 1:00PM) with First Five and CanDo, to learn more about the Imagination Library. Email info@nvcando.org if interested. Write “Dolly” in the subject line.
- Pledge to go to one or more Little Free Libraries in Napa, attach a poster to the LFL, and place bookmarks inside children’s books that are on offer, as shown in the photos.
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REMINDER:
CanDo's Give!Guide campaign ends tomorrow at midnight!
Make sure to take this final opportunity to show your support for the fabulous nonprofits in Napa County!
www.candogiveguide.org
| | | | You can volunteer for one of our dynamic projects, even for just an hour or two, or help one of the many local organizations we support. Each individual action connects to others. Together, we‘re making our Valley and world better. | | More Opportunities to Support Our Community | |
Volunteer Opportunities & Events to Support Local Nonprofit Groups
Tell 'em you heard about it through CanDo!
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MLK DAY OF SERVICE - WETLANDS EDGE TRAIL
Sponsor: American Canyon Community & Parks Foundation
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DAY/DATE/TIME:
Monday, January 19,9-11AM
LOCATION: Wetland Edge Trail. 2 Eucalyptus Drive, American Canyon
FFI:
Email andrea@acparks.org, call 707.563-3757 or visit their website
| | | If you represent a local nonprofit, you may submit a SPOTLIGHT EVENT or VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY by completing our online form. | | Space permitting, posts run up to three weeks prior to your event. Flyer or image is required and must be sent as a jpg. | | |
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sunday, 6PM for the following Tuesday's edition.
FFI: Learn more and submit your event here.
| | Looking for Local Volunteer Opportunities? | | Local community members can connect with the causes they are passionate about. | |  | Explore volunteer, event, and action listings to discover ways to make a positive impact in your community. | | |
PO Box 855
Napa, CA 94559
Email: info@nvcando.org
Phone: (707) 225-8942
Tax ID: 46-2670379
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