Award roundup

If there's an award season for nonprofits, ShareFest is in the middle of it right now.

• We got recognition from a nationwide body with a Certificate of Congressional Commendation from the U.S. House of Representatives that Congresswoman Jane Harman awarded to us on May 17. 

• We received two statewide accolade with a Certificate of Recognition from the California Legislature Assembly  from the 55th Assembly District on June 3 and a Certificate of Recognition from the State of California Senate from Jenny Oropeza, Senator, 28th District, on June 3.

• We were given a citywide award with a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Los Angeles from Janice Hahn Councilwoman, 15th District and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in June.

Among all these awards there's another kind that is especially close to our heart. When the local communities we serve recognize ShareFest for the work it has done, it validates our efforts to make an impact on these areas. They know better than anyone else the affect projects like our Workday and Youth Development Academy have, so an award from a city council, chamber of commerce or any other local organization means as much to us as any national award we could get.

On that note:

• The Wilmington Coordinating Council awarded ShareFest with the Non-Profit Organization of the year award on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at the Bannings Landing Community Center.

Thank you to these wonderful organizations and to all the volunteers who make what we do possible.

ShareFest's managing directors receive an award from Mayor Villaraigosa during the 2008 Workday.

Serving your school

 

This is an e-mail from Suzie, a volunteer who worked at Taper Avenue Elementary School at this years Workday. She is one of the many volunteers who got to impact an organization or neighborhood right where she lives.

Immediately, her son saw how important of a contribution they were making at his school. Take a quick read.

This year’s ShareFest Workday took on a special sense of necessity as the recent economic crisis and statewide cutbacks have cast a dark and heavy cloud over our public schools. Our school, Taper Avenue Elementary, continues to work very hard at working with parents and students to better the community by producing students who are well rounded academically, creatively and socially. The faculty, staff and administration give every ounce of their energy to these students and for that we are so grateful that to give back, just one day, to the improvement of our school seems like a small thing.

Our kids got more involved this year in helping place letter templates for us to paint on the playground, by picking up trash and washing paint brushes. Our oldest son, who is in the second grade, took a special sense of pride, being that it’s his third year doing ShareFest at his school. Jason’s excitement to go to school the following Monday to see the reaction of his friends and teacher were all indications that he knew he was a part of something special.

Our schools, our neighborhoods and the American family need now more than ever to rally around one another to bring a positive, hopeful, spirit of grace and joy to our communities, and ShareFest provides an entryway for that message.

Taper was one of 255 projects.

The press is rolling in

More and more communities are taking notice of what ShareFest is doing, and newspapers from different neighborhoods are spreading the word about the Workday.

This is a bit of an article about Eagle's Nest Preschool that ran in the Beach Reporter newspaper:

Nonprofit helps beautify El Segundo Preschool ‘Nest’ 

by Jennifer Evans 

Hauling wood chips, building cubbies and painting classrooms was all part of a volunteer effort by the community as well as the nonprofit organization ShareFest, when beautifying El Segundo’s Preschool “Eagle’s Nest” earlier this month.

Kelli Keller, preschool administrator and assistant principal at Center Street Elementary, said she was excited about the turnout of the event held May 2 at the city’s preschool.

“There were so many volunteers present, willingly working toward creating an improved environment for our community’s youth. They really need to be commended for their hard work,” Keller said.

Be sure to see the whole article here or on their Web site at http://www.tbrnews.com/.

This is just one of the many projects receiving attention. Every mural volunteers painted, tree they planted or quarter they deposited had an impact on the local community. These small, community newspapers are a great indicator of a city or neighborhood's attitude toward the work ShareFest is doing.

See any articles in your local paper? Leave a comment and let us know.

More coverage of Banning High

The Palos Verdes Peninsula News ran an article today about the project that went on at Banning. Here's a piece:

At Rolling Hills United Methodist Church, there’s a newfound sense of pride — pride in a school and pride in a certain group of students. But that school isn’t on the Hill and those kids aren’t from the Peninsula. It’s Banning High School and its students in Wilmington.

On Saturday, May 2, about 30 members of RHUMC spent the day painting, shoveling and cleaning alongside at least a sixth of Banning’s students.

As the 30 volunteers filtered onto campus, many were met by rap pumping out of a loudspeaker in the middle of campus and at least 550 teenagers and parents ready to serve.

“It was really good for people to see the reality of what life is like at some place outside of PV, and see that there’s pride and that people really care about getting an education,” Jo Hunt, a RHUMC member and Peninsula resident, said.

Be sure to check out the whole article here.

Seeing ShareFest's imprint

We posted earlier about a mural Vanesa Andrade and other volunteers completed at Alta Vista Preschool and how much it meant to Andrade. You can read about it here.

But the volunteers and artist weren't the only ones affected by it. It had an immediate impact on the community it was meant to bless.

This is an e-mail we got from Aaron Benton, who works for the Redondo Beach Unified School District who passed by the mural at Alta Vista.

Our wonderful artist, Vanessa Andrade, completed the project this week.  It looks FANTASTIC!!!!!  In fact, as I was driving away on Saturday after detail and touch-ups, I saw a grandmother walking with her grandson in a stroller and just as the mural came into his view, he was pointing at the animals and talking to his grandma.  As I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw that she had actually parked the stroller and they were continuing the conversation.  Would not have happened if it was still a blank wall.  Thank you so much for the work you do!  Parents, staff, and the community loved the project. 

Thanks again!

—Aaron Benton

The mural in progress