Garvin Thomas

“At one point, I broke.” After two-year returement, champion skater Alysa Liu shares what brought her back to the sport After the 2022 Beijing Games, Alysa Liu was burned out on skating and quit the sport entirely. She’s back with a new approach and loving skating like never before. NBC Bay Area’s Garvin Thomas headed ...

Going into tonight’s free skate at the World Figure Skating Championships, Alysa Liu is in first place.

This is a woman who hadn’t put on a pair of skates for TWO YEARS before coming out of retirement last year.

Loved hearing her story.

@nbcbayarea.com @nbcolympics.bsky.social
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People often ask where I find my #BayAreaProud stories. I don’t, really. They find me. I rely on viewers who let me know about stories of kindness, generosity, and compassion in their lives.

Know of one? Share it with me. @nbcbayarea.com

Email: bayareaproud@nbcnayarea.com

If you received one of these emails, @nbcbayarea.com is interested in speaking with you. You can reply to me or email: newstips@nbcbayarea.com.

After decades facilitating organ donations among others, East Bay man inspired to donate himself For more than two decades, Luis Mayer has worked at Donor Network West, the designated organ procurement nonprofit organization serving Northern California and northern Nevada.

For #BayAreaProud stories, I always look for someone who's gone "above and beyond" to help another.

Well, when your day job is at a non-profit that's already saving lives, the bar is set pretty high.

Luis Mayen easily cleared it.

#BayAreaProud @nbcbayarea.com bit.ly/bap0899

In 2025, we celebrate our 13th year of bringing you #BayAreaProud stories. It's an honor to get to tell our viewers about all the wonderful people doing good in their communities.

Know a story of kindness, generosity, or compassion? Share it with me: bayareaproud@nbcbayarea.com. @nbcbayarea.com

“At one point, I broke.” After two-year returement, champion skater Alysa Liu shares what brought her back to the sport After the 2022 Beijing Games, Alysa Liu was burned out on skating and quit the sport entirely. She’s back with a new approach and loving skating like never before. NBC Bay Area’s Garvin Thomas headed ...

Loved this conversation with Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu.

She admits her sudden retirement from the sport in 2022 left many confused.

Alysa now shares what led up to it, why she came back, and why she is enjoying skating like never before. @nbcbayarea.com

bit.ly/4jWrvHQ

#Breaking: Suspects flee police during an attempted traffic stop near Stonestown Galleria, crash into parklet outside The Napper Tandy Grill in the Mission District. Six people were taken to hospital—two suspects in custody. @nbcbayarea.com

‘My canvas is San Francisco': Runner uses GPS to create amazing artwork Around 10 years ago, Lenny Maughan noticed that when he mapped his runs, it sometimes resembled an object, animal or person. So, he set about doing it on purpose.

San Francisco is a beautiful place. It's no wonder so many artists use it as a subject for their work.

Lenny Maughan, however, uses it as his canvas, creating his remarkable works one stride at a time.

#BayAreaProud
bit.ly/bap0897

Non-toxic fire retardant, developed by Mountain View teens, protects dozens of homes in LA wildfires The product, developed by Barrett Deng and Sebastien Burkhardo in a Silicon Valley garage, got its first real-world test in the Palisades and Eaton fires. Garvin Thomas reports.

In 2021, Barrett Deng and Sebastien Burkhardt were in Boston when wildfire smoke blanketed the region.

"We realized this wasn't just a California issue."

The two retreated to a Mountain View garage to find a way to help. #BayAreaProud @nbcbayarea.com
bit.ly/bap0895

The show goes on: Scotts Valley theater didn't let nearby tornado halt performance Minutes before the curtain went up on Scotts Valley Performing Arts’ production of “A Year With Frog And Toad,” a tornado struck. With some ingenuity and teamwork, the show went on.

Nothing was going to stop this musical. Not even a tornado.

#BayAreaProud @nbcbayarea.com bit.ly/bap0894

San Francisco mother-daughter duo spread holiday cheer – and socks – to city's unhoused In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a mother-daughter duo started an annual tradition of biking around San Francisco and handing out new socks to people living on the streets.

Darnel Tasker says she wasn't planning for this to become a yearly tradition but when people began asking her if she was doing her "sock thing" again she said, "Yeah, I guess we're doing our sock thing!" #BayAreaProud @nbcbayarea.bsky.social
bit.ly/bap0893

East Bay group gets charitable holiday operation up and running in less than two months At the Lamorinda Care Collective, those in need are welcome to take what they need this holiday season. Garvin Thomas reports

When Maya Enista-Smith looked around her community, she noticed three things: a lot of empty storefronts, a lot of people with the means to give, and a lot of people who could use some help.

It all gave her an idea, one she executed in record speed.

#BayAreaProud @nbcbayarea.bsky.social

Fisherman's Wharf housing massive gingerbread village for holidays (17,000 jelly beans!) created by New York artist There are many great holiday traditions in San Francisco. Another one might have just opened its doors on Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s the culmination of artist Jon Lovitch’s lifelong love of the holidays ...

John Lovitch fell in love with San Francisco after a visit with his family when he was 10.

This year, for the first time, Jon gets to bring his other obsession, building gingerbread villages, to Fisherman’s Wharf.

#BayAreaProud @nbcbayarea.bsky.social

bit.ly/bap0890

My mother is visiting for the holiday with her cavanese, Harry. That's my dog, Lily, on the right. Guess who's the boss?

North Bay Triathlete, Facing Terminal Diagnosis, Tackles Dream Race In this edition of Bay Area Proud, Garvin Thomas introduces us to a North Bay man doing amazing things even after getting terrible news.

We could all learn a lot about living from the way in which Jonathan Pascual has chosen to go about dying.

#BayAreaProud @nbcbayarea.bsky.social

When a stray cat was dropped off at a Redwood City animal rescue and its microchip came back as being registered in Ukraine, they knew they were going to have a story to tell.

They were correct. Watch: bit.ly/bap0887

#BayAreaProud @nbcbayarea.bsky.social