Irvine schoolteacher prepares for Mt. Shasta climb, where she'll fly 'prayer flags' for those who have lost the battle against cancer. Lori Fallace, a seventh-grade science teacher at Venado… (KEVIN CHANG, Daily…) Six months ago, Lori Fallace had never spent a night in a tent. In June, with subtemperature gear and ice pick in hand, the Irvine schoolteacher will scale the 14,179 feet to Mt.

Reynolds' father, Albert Forster, who is in remission after being diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2010, will be following the riders in a vehicle. "It's amazing," Christopher Reynolds said of having his father along for the journey. "There's definitely no way that I would be able to back out halfway."

As far as dream homes go, the 18-room designer showcase on display at South Coast Collection could turn out to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those interested in design. "I think it's really amazing," said Rick Campos, owner of Christopher Tracy Interiors in Newport Beach. "This may be the only time we're able to do this if we're not able to find a similar space another year."

Although Armenia was struggling from the aftermath of natural disasters and a war with neighboring Azerbaijan when Ohanesian received the distress call in 1992, it hadn't always been that way. Armenia had trained doctors, but far too few supplies and no way to reach impoverished rural villagers. "These very fine doctors were unable to operate in the county's farthest regions because of the equipment — it would be like jet pilots riding bicycles," Ohanesian said.

Newport Beach entrepreneur and philanthropist Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs knows that for 35,000 Orange County residents, "There's no place like home." Helping provide temporarily homeless families and individuals access to shelters and vocational programs is Project Playhouse, the annual charitable event of HomeAid Orange County, of which Brinkerhoff-Jacobs is a founding member.

The $1.5 million home is one of six in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach that make up the 11th Annual Art & Architecture Tour and post-party organized by the Orange County Museum of Art from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The 1900s- to 1960s-era homes feature an array of architecture, including Gaudi-inspired, Craftsman, mid-century modern and contemporary.

The Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa, a nonprofit formed in 1986, has its anniversary gala this Saturday. There was no money to buy a ladle large enough to stir a 30-gallon pot in the beginning years of Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, so founder Merle Hatleberg used a boat oar. People were hungry, and the late Hatleberg wasn't one to back down from a challenge, said Shannon Santos, her granddaughter.

"South Africa is so far away that you don't see what's happening on a daily basis — but when you see those statistics, you have to help," said Marie Stout, a Tias Arms volunteer and preschool teacher. "Every little bit helps and each dollar really adds up." "One Starbucks coffee is worth a week of food for a kid," she added.

Wells Fargo executive tells group of women they need to have a retirement plan and find a financial advisor they trust. Women live longer than men and will spend less time in the work place throughout their lifetime, a financial services expert said Thursday. That message seemed to appeal to the 50 women who came to listen to "The Power of Her Money," a breakfast presentation put on by WISE, an Irvine-based nonprofit.

Nonprofit continues efforts to help people feel confident by holding an open house event Friday. A job interview is all about "selling what's on the inside," but unfortunately that opportunity first requires that a person be suitably dressed, says the leader of a local nonprofit. "Confidence is the secret ingredient," said Jerri Rosen, founder and chief executive of Working Wardrobes, a local nonprofit that offers wardrobe and career development assistance.

Local nonprofit Serving People In Need will celebrate 21 years of serving Orange County's homeless families and working poor this weekend. Since the inception of SPIN, 74,000 families and individuals have received a second chance at self-sufficiency and financial independence through the organization's programs for home placement, substance abuse and free meals.

Battle of the Doctors' Bands fundraiser will help patients in Third World countries. Jeffrey Haupt is a little like Clark Kent, except instead of swapping a reporter's notebook for Superman's cape, the doctor hangs up his stethoscope for an electric guitar and microphone. "It's a lot like living a double life," said Haupt, who by day is a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon practicing near Fashion Island.

It's a big, scary world out there — even more so if you can't see it. Radically changing this mindset is 27-year-old Los Angeles resident Brian Bushway and the organization he helped launch, World Access for the Blind. The Southern California-based nonprofit travels the world teaching the blind and visually impaired a technique that it has dubbed Flash Sonar, a method using sound to gauge distances similar to echolocation used by animals, and other life skills for self-sufficiency.

Girls manage fictitious companies in nonprofit program to learn independence. The city's youngest would-be entrepreneurs will host a luncheon Thursday to showcase the achievements of a Costa Mesa nonprofit's summertime business program. These girls, ranging from 9 to 11 years old, are participating in the Youth Empowerment Self-Sufficiency (YESS) program.

Five years ago, Justin Marroquin, now 7, was diagnosed with autism, which explained some personality quirks like moodiness, attention and social issues. Like most families in their situation — an estimated 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with disorders on the autism spectrum — his parents, Laura and Jerry Marroquin, at first had to face the shattering possibility that their son would never lead a normal life.

Ross, who grew up in Costa Mesa, created Team Think Pink in 2008 to honor a childhood friend's mother, who died in 1998. Barbara Meyers was diagnosed with breast cancer in the late '90s, but the cancer had not been detected early enough, Ross said. Ross, along with Meyers' daughter, Julie Braunsdorf, and a team of other girlfriends from Estancia High School in Costa Mesa, banded together to participate in the Race for the Cure for the team's inaugural Team Think Pink event in September 2008.