COLTON COURIER Weekly
December 04, 2025
Vol 154, NO. 01
More Toys Needed: Colton Rotary Toy Drive Extends Holiday Giving with Collections Through Dec. 15
IECN.com
When Your Backyard Becomes a Warehouse: IE Communities Are Paying the Price for Convenience Pg. 3
PHOTO DENISE BERVER Colton Rotary members, volunteers and local pageant royalty gather outside Walmart on S Mt. Vernon Ave. during the club’s annual toy drive collecting new, unwrapped gifts.
By Manny Sandoval
T
he morning after Thanksgiving, Colton Rotary volunteers were back at work, collecting hundreds of toys for local children and teens during the club’s annual toy drive outside Walmart on South Mt. Vernon Avenue.
On Nov. 28, the drive gathered hundreds of new, unwrapped toys and gifts for youth in the community. Those who missed the event can still help. The Rotary is accepting new, unwrapped toys and gifts through Dec. 15 at Inland Valley Insurance Agency, 183 W. H St. in
Colton. The club is also accepting cash donations. Rotary Club President Erlinda Armendariz said, “Distribution will be held at Immaculate Conception Church on Dec. Rotary Toy Drive, cont. next pg.
Our IE Campaign Fights Inland Empire’s Negative Stereotypes With Polling, Canvassing, Finds Voters Feel Powerless Can Tree Wonderland Turns Canned Goods into Holiday Meals at Feeding America in Riverside Pg. 4
State Housing Secretary Visits SB County Sites as Affordable Housing Investments Top $84 Million Pg. 8 Inland Empire Community Newspapers Office: (909) 381-9898 Editorial: iecn1@mac.com Advertising: iecn1@mac.com Legals : iecnlegals@gmail.com
PHOTO COPE COPE staff and volunteers wearing “Our IE – Beauty in Our Fight” shirts pose for a selfie during door-to-door canvassing in San Bernardino in October 2025.
By Manny Sandoval
T
ired of hearing the Inland Empire reduced to crime, homelessness and warehouses, three community-led nonprofits have launched the Our IE campaign, using polling, canvassing, billboards and roughly 900,000 digital ad impressions to shift how residents see their 49-city region — and their power to change it.
PHOTO COPE From left, COPE civic engagement project manager Stanette Dixon and civic engagement coordinator T.S. “Tamez” Nolley prep to talk with residents about Prop 50 and what they love about the IE.
The campaign brings together Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (IC4IJ) and Starting Over Inc., a Riverside-based organization led by formerly incarcerated people. The three groups teamed up after attending a narrative change convening in Long Beach as part of a Million Voters Project grant and its MVP Echoes Academy, deciding to build a regional effort focused
squarely on how people talk and think about the Inland Empire. “Our participation in this, Our IE, is really to combat the negativity that circles around San Bernardino, Riverside counties, the totality of the Inland Empire,” said Stanette Dixon, civic engagement project manager at COPE. “Knowing that there are resources here, there are services Our IE, cont. next pg.