Jill Batinich a U.S. citizen

Jill Batinich, one of the speakers in the November 11 Veterans Day Ceremony, is proud to announce that she became a U.S. Citizen on November 17, 2015 in a ceremony at the Ontario Convention Center.

Jill says, “I have lived here with my husband Danny and three children since September, 2003 and I am very proud to be an American. I think it’s the best country in the world!”

Ironically, the ceremony was memorable but not for pleasant reasons. Jill says, “Because of what happened in France, everyone was really freaked out and the place was swarming with police dogs. People weren’t hanging around afterwards.” Just days earlier, Jill gave a presentation at the Veterans Day Ceremony on “The History of War.”

Jill is a 2014 recipient of the Canyon Lake Volunteer of the Year Award, having run a Thanksgiving Food Drive and Christmas Toy Drive out of her home every year since 2011.

On December 1, she will begin accepting toys for her annual Christmas Toy Drive. The drive will run until December 15, after which she will distribute the toys to HOPE (Helping Our People in Elsinore) and the fire department’s Spark of Love Toy Drive.

Anyone who knows of a Canyon Lake family that needs toys this Christmas is invited to email her at jillbatinich@yahoo.com.