Our website has had a makeover!!

Dear Volunteers and Supporters,

We're excited to announce that we've had a bit of a makeover for our website!  Before you check it out, we'd love to share the reasons for the change... Easier usability (for the back end) The primary reason for the change is the usability on our end.  The last website was not the most user-friendly for non-html coders.  The new platform our website has been created on is SOOOO much easier! Therefore, our office administration can spend more time updating our website with recent news, announcements and pictures rather than trying to figure HOW to update our website with vital information. More for you! The usability for you is as easy as the old website in regards to navigating it. However, with this new platform, we've been able add so much more for you, including a monthly calendar that shows our outreaches and club meetings for each month.   In addition, we now have the ability to update any H4H Club meeting information for our youth (as well as their parents).  The options are endless for this website.  If you have an idea of what we need or should add to the website, please let us know by clicking here. It's mobile-friendly! Another huge reason for the change is our website is now mobile friendly so you may easily navigate on your phone or tablet device.   Check out the new website at www.hands4hopeyouth.org and enjoy exploring! Click here to let us know what you think of the new website. - Jennifer and Sam (Communications Coordinator)

Happy 2015! We've come a long way!

Dear Hands4Hope Volunteers and Supporters,   

Happy 2015!! It is with joy and excitement that we embark on another year. This March, Hands4Hope will mark its 7th birthday and oh, how far we have come in seven years. It was in January of 2008 that I invited a small group of friends to lunch and shared my vision of this organization with them. They loved it and agreed to help me turn this vision into reality. We started with a group of 15 youth, our children and their friends, and hosted our first event on March 18, 2008.

Hands4Hope is now 1,250 youth volunteers strong! We partner with fifteen local schools, have Hands4Hope Clubs at ten schools, and have three more schools wanting to start Clubs in the New Year. 

Hands4Hope continues to use community service and service learning as the platform to encourage youth to be compassionate and teach them skills as individuals and leaders. We continue to give a voice to youth on issues which affect our communities, as well as empower them to create, develop and implement projects that support their chosen causes . . .  and it continues to be awe-inspiring to see them in action.

This past year, our young philanthropists invited speakers from agencies to H4H Club meetings to talk about their mission, those they serve, and their current needs. Club members took this information and devised a plan to help fill those needs. They coordinated and implemented fundraisers, drives, and awareness campaigns. They had teachers dress up in baby costumes and ran a carnival to promote donations. Through their efforts,  over $10,000 was raised for causes they are passionate about, additionally they collected toiletries, clothing and food. They made journals, cards, meals, and blankets for those struggling. They explored needs in our community and took action. They made a difference!

We are very excited for 2015, to see what wonderful and inspiring projects our youth will design this year, and to see them blossom and grow as individuals as they work to benefit others.

It is going to be a great year!! Best wishes to you and your family for a very happy 2015!

  

Jennifer

Jennifer Bassett 

Founder/Executive Director

916.919.5695

Please Consider Hands4Hope In Your Year-end Giving! Thank you!

Hello Hands4Hope Families, Friends, and Ambassadors!

As 2014 comes to a close, I’m sure you join me in thinking, “where has all the time gone!?” As we each reflect on this year – with our families, at our jobs, and in our communities – I’m proud to share some of the amazing accomplishments the Hands4Hope youth, leadership teams, families, and friends have achieved:

• Partnered with 15 local schools to engage 400 students in service learning projects which included: clothing and toiletries drives, fundraising projects benefiting the needs of local agencies and serving the less fortunate. Hands4Hope Clubs completed 26 projects during the 2013-14 school year, all to improve the lives of others.
• Planned, prepared and served 3,255 meals to homeless on the streets, to senior residents living in low income housing developments, and to mentally challenged women at a local shelter.
• Mentored children bi-weekly at a transition home for recovering moms and their children, where they built positive relationships with the children and served as positive role models demonstrating good and caring behavior.

“Hands4Hope provides an opportunity for youth to see and participate in the needs of others that they may have never seen or may never see and experience. Their efforts have produced many solutions to many of the social ills that plague our society.”   Ron Sachs, Job’s Shelter of the Sierra

To learn more about the many accomplishments of Hands4Hope youth, please watch our most recent video: http://www.hands4hopeyouth.org.

The commitment from our youth and families is the foundation of Hands 4 Hope; none of these results could be achieved without YOU, your imagination, creativity, passion, and support! I am deeply grateful for your many contributions.

Our numerous youth-led programs also depend on resources and funding. As you consider making your final tax-deductible donations for the 2013 year, or perhaps consider donations in a family member’s name as a holiday gift that keeps giving, please put Hands4Hope at the top of your list. Please donate directly through our website today: http://www.hands4hopeyouth.org/donate/. We are happy to supply a Certificate of Donation for those dedications. Checks are also gratefully accepted.

For a little as $20, your donation can fund a blanket, hand-made by our youth, to keep someone warm this winter. A donation of $50 allows our youth to prepare and deliver 25 meals to someone who otherwise would go hungry. A donation of $100 funds a “youth in action,” allowing a youth member to participate in our service learning and outreach programs for one year. And, a generous donation of $400 provides a scholarship allowing a youth member to attend our H4H leadership camp next summer, providing an at-risk youth to experience something that could change their lives forever.

I know this time of year is especially difficult to find the extra money in your household budget to give to local nonprofits, even those you love like Hands4Hope! My only ask is that you make every effort to support our organization by donating today at http://www.hands4hopeyouth.org and in doing so, support the more than 1200 youth involved and the thousands of community members who benefit from our programs.

Thank you for your support and commitment as we continue to develop programs that directly benefit our community, as well as the people we serve. We are making a difference every day, and that is something worth investing in!

Warm wishes for a happy & safe holiday season,

Jennifer Bassett

Jennifer Bassett
Founder/Executive Director
Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference
916.919.5695
www.hands4hopeyouth.org

Empowering youth to make a positive difference in the world around them through Exploration, Action, and Leadership.