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Mission Viejo proclaims September as children's emotional awareness month; local nonprofit donates Piggy Bear kits
Summary
The commission read a proclamation marking September 2025 as children's emotional awareness month and the Extraordinary Lives Foundation (ELF) described a classroom curriculum and donated "Piggy Bear" kits and books used in local partner programs and translated into multiple languages.
Chairperson Thornton read a proclamation on behalf of Mayor Bob Reesch and the city declaring September 2025 as children's emotional awareness month and encouraging educational programming and community observances.
Amy Bitonti, a board member of the Extraordinary Lives Foundation (ELF), accepted the proclamation and described ELF's "Piggy Bear" social‑emotional learning tools and kits. Amy Bitonti said the group has donated kits and books to local partners including the Red Cross and "Light of the Fires," translated materials into Spanish, Hebrew and Vietnamese, and is using a curriculum developed with UCI teachers. "So we created him to empower children and provide them with social emotional learning skills to teach them resilience, compassion, kindness, empathy, and self calming skills," Bitonti said. She invited schools in need to contact ELF at www.elfempowers.org.
