Jim and Angela Brusa will be honored with the 2024 Goodwill Helping Hands Award at a special Evening of Good Will event on Thursday, October 24 at the Stockton Golf and Country Club.
The 2024 Blue-Ribbon Planning Committee is being co-chaired by Becky Carlson, Deanna Eberhardt and George Gibson, and is comprised of Goodwill Board Members, community leaders and colleagues who know them best.
Raised by two hardworking families of proud Italian & Greek Mediterranean heritages, Jim and Angela(Parises) Brusa’s strong roots in our community started young. Watching the unwavering faith,optimism, and community involvement of their parents, they inherited old-fashioned values. Jim and Angela married in 1983, making them a great team and power couple in the community. Carrying their united family legacies of importance of family, deep faith, and giving back to the community, the couple has made lasting contributions throughout our community. The theme for the evening is Faith,Family and Community.
Jim’s career path has taken him from working in the insurance and financial services business with his father, to construction, land development and sales, to St. Mary’s High School, where, in 1995, he became Director of Institutional Advancement and Facilities, followed by 22 years as Athletic Director and the frosh-soph football coach, to becoming President in 2017. Through Jim’s leadership, SMHS has raised the bar in all areas, including academics, Catholic Identity, facilities, theater arts, athletics, and FFA. His vision for SMHS is far-reaching.
Angela began her career with the Bank of Stockton in 1981 working part-time while attending University of the Pacific’s School of Business and Public Administration (now the Eberhardt School of Business) where it was a graduation requirement that students pursue school projects for a bona fide business. A surprise introduction to the Bank of Stockton’s president resulted in an internship in the Marketing Department. Upon graduation, she was officially hired, and the rest is history. She has worked under three generations of Bank of Stockton Presidents and is best known as the heart behind the Bank of Stockton’s community relations, philanthropic endeavors, and its brand.
The Goodwill Foundation Board of Directors selected Jim and Angela “because of their broad-based commitment and dedication to the betterment of San Joaquin County, and their support and involvement of non-profit organizations especially dedicated to children and families,” said Denise Ost,President of Goodwill Foundation, Inc. and Goodwill Industries of San Joaquin Valley, Inc.
The Goodwill Foundation was started in 2005 for the purpose of providing a financial legacy, primarily through Evening of Good Will, to support the mission of Goodwill Industries of San Joaquin Valley, Inc. Past Helping Hands Award honorees include Dean and Kathy Lagorio Janssen, Gene and Dianne Gini,Michael Duffy, William Trezza, Douglass Wilhoit, Peter Jaffe, Ron and Dea Berberian, Dino and Joan Cortopassi, Bob Kavanaugh and others who have and continually lend their helping hands throughout our community.
Proceeds from Evening of Good Will help support the long-term sustainability of Goodwill’s mission to provide individuals with employment barriers the opportunity to become self-sufficient, contributing members of our communities. For sponsorship and ticket information, contact Carrie Sass at 209-612-5478.