by April | Volunteerism
One of our staples is ensuring we give back to our community in the form of service. During this Christmas season we assisted at the Holiday with Hope Celebration. Each year the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA hosts a holiday celebration on the Saturday before Christmas. This years festival took place Saturday, December 20, 2014 from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm.
Purpose
To provide a fun day for families with children during the Christmas holiday season. Each year gifts are presented to thousands children thanks to the generous donations of individuals and businesses.
This year’s event featured
- Arts and Crafts
- Picture with Santa
- One gift per child that is present*
- Music
- Entertainment
- Much more!
We are thankful for the opportunity that the YMCA gave us to assist families this holiday season
by April | Community
Our Annual Christmas Awards breakfast took place Saturday Dec. 6th, 2014 at the Mission Valley Sheraton with the goal to celebrate this holiday season by honoring those that serve our community and bringing educational awareness to San Diego’s foster and underprivileged youth during a festive Christmas celebration.
For the past eight years it has been our opportunity to give and receive the gift of service. We invite youth and families of San Diego to partake in a morning of joy, gift giving and celebration. This year we have grown larger than ever inviting nearly 100 children and providing them with gift certificates and age appropriate gifts during this celebratory breakfast. These children and teenagers come from a variety of programs which include San Diego Adoptions, VIP Mentors, “Just in Time for Foster Youth” along with 
children from local foster and area group homes
This year’s Keynote Speaker was Devin Hughes.(The Chief Inspiration Officer) with Community Activist of the Year Awards going to Tinesia Conwright (DETOUR Empowers), Adam Rajah Gainey (Promises 2 Kids), Dion Sayles McKinney (Community Activist) and Leonard Thompson MANDATE records) all of which have directly impacted young people’s lives on a regular basis.
We also honored educational administrators Dr. Aaron Bruce and Marne Foster both of which have greatly impacted our student’s lives at both grade school and collegiate levels. Finally, sticking with our theme of education we will honored our shining star Andreia Dooley (Garrett) and Natasha Dunham as our inspirational collegiate for overcoming monumental obstacles to graduate from college along with awards for children from both the Heartbeat Music Academy and the H.E.A.R.T (Higher Education And Rising Together) mentoring program.
This was a wonderful Christmas event benefiting San Diego’s Foster and underserved youth and encouraging them to attend and complete college
by April | Community, Volunteerism
HEART doing our monthly community service and helping less fortunate families at the Season of Love -Block Party
Thousands of people turned out for the community block party hosted by New Seasons Church in Spring Valley Saturday.
The church partnered with “Feeding America San Diego”, Boar’s Head, Walmart, and Ralph’s to feed thousands of people during the “Seasons of Love” Thanksgiving event.
Those who attended the block party got to take home a free Thanksgiving meal, along with clothes, shoes, and baby gear.
“The church is suppose to help those in need. We want to be the example of the church giving back to the community. We shouldn’t always take from the community, we should give back to the community,” Dr. A.B. Vines, senior pastor of the New Seasons Church said.
Always looking for opportunities to serve our community our young men believe that giving back is the root of success and makes you understand just how lucky you are.
by April | Education, Uncategorized
In an event accented by hands-on workshops, class lectures, laboratory visits, campus tours and interaction with UCSD faculty and undergraduates, hundreds of pre-college students and their parents got more than just a savory taste of university life this month when they attended Dare to Dream College: The African Experience at UCSD.
“As an African American,” said one parent who participated, “I think this event not only challenged young Black students to dare to dream college and to go after that dream, but also challenged parents to get involved, and stay involved, in preparing their children for higher education –starting in early childhood.”
Indeed, the message of early academic preparation and active parental involvement were important goals when UCSD Student Educational Advancement (a division of Student Affairs) joined with the California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal-SOAP) of San Diego and Imperial Counties in sponsoring Dare to Dream College. The event was not only intended to help enhance college-going rates of African Americans in San Diego, but to also provide an opportunity to showcase the academic and career opportunities UCSD has to offer.
And from UCSD, the event enjoyed the participation and support from the Chancellor’s Office, faculty, staff, Student Affairs, the Black Student Union and other undergraduates. “It was truly both a community and university effort,” report Loren Thompson, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Student Educational Advancement (SEA), and Linda Doughty, Director, Cal-SOAP.
The event immersed 4th through 12th grade students in various interactive activities with faculty, staff and undergraduates based upon students’ grade levels and academic interest. These included workshops on why college is important, how to develop “mental toughness ” for college, a debate with the UCSD Black Student Union on overcoming peer pressure.
Meanwhile, parents attended informative and motivational sessions that addressed their particular needs and concerns including workshops on how to be advocates for their children’s education, negotiating college for their children, and a special stage reading and panel discussion on how to speak to children about the importance of college.
Dare to Dream College is an annual event and to follow up with event attendees for inclusion in additional college preparation activities.
