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.

2014 Blanket Making Party: 102 Blankets warm blankets made for those in need in our community.

Last Friday, we hosted our annual Blanket Making Party at Oak Ridge High School, where youth and adult volunteers alike made "no-sew" fleece blankets.  These blankets are distributed to the homeless, during the cold winter months, through our homeless outreaches and given to our partner agencies who help the homeless. 

A total of 102 blankets were made in this one night! 

We also had a local soccer team make an additional 20 more to contribute to the cause!

Thank you all who attended and assisted!

Volunteer Spotlight :: Chloe Simon

Chloe Simon, an 8th grader at Marina Village Middle School, has been with Hands4Hope since she was a 6th grader.  Chloe has participated in over sixty Hands4Hope events and outreaches since her time with us and is such a joy to work with and asset to our organization.  We recently interviewed Chloe about her experience with Hands4Hope, here's what she had to say...

H4H: What brought you to Hands4Hope?

Chloe: I, at first, was just doing H4H because I needed community service hours in the 6th grade, but after a while I started to greatly enjoy volunteering and try to do it as often as I can.

Chloe with adult volunteer Page Phelan manning the ticket stand for the haunted house.

H4H: What are a few of your favorite things about H4H?

Chloe:  I like to do a lot of the homeless outreaches (both the Placerville and Sacramento outreaches) and I also enjoy doing the Green Valley Community Church Saturday Cafe in Placerville.  I also like the concept of H4H, which is a youth organization that gives back to the community because it sets a great image for youth and opens their eyes up to what happens in poorer communities and the less fortunate. 

H4H: What have you learned from being involved with H4H?

Chloe: I have learned how grateful many people are that we help them out on such a regular basis. I have also learned that even though I am only a teenager, I can still contribute and make a difference in my community.

H4H: How has volunteering made you feel?

Chloe: It makes me feel so grateful for what I have when I volunteer and also feel very empathetic towards the people that we help out.

H4H: How do you see yourself being involved with H4H in the future?

Chloe: I am going to make sure that I will stay as involved with Hands4Hope as I am right now. I am currently the treasurer at the H4H Club at Marina Village and volunteer very regularly.

H4H:  Would you recommend for friends and other people your age to get involved with H4H?

Chloe:  I definitely would recommend for my friends and other fellow peers to get involved with H4H.

Thank you Chloe for involvement with Hands4Hope and your willingness to learn and grow through Exploration, Action and Leadership!

2,025 pounds of food collected during Hands4Hope’s Neighborhood Fall Food Drive

During the last two weeks of October, Hands4Hope hosted a fall food drive to benefit one of our partner agencies, The Twin Lakes Food Bank, whose inventory was extremely low and who were in desperate need of community support.  We hosted a drive slightly different than our semi-annual food drive, where we normally ask volunteers to stand outside of local grocery stores asking for patrons to donate any foods and/or gift cards.  This time it was done more personal - we asked you to host drives throughout your neighborhoods.  

Willing families hosted a drive in their neighborhood where the family prints a pre-made flyer, hands them out to their neighbors, collects food donated and deliver the items to the Twin Lakes Food Bank truck on two given days. 

This approach brought in great results!  The neighborhood fall food drive brought in over 2,000 pounds of food!   “[The generosity of this community] will be able to help so many families in need!  We are so glad to have [Hands4Hope’s] support and we look forward to partnering with [them] in the future.  Together we are making a difference in our community!” explains Tammy Thompson, Director of the Twin Lakes Food Bank in a thank you letter to Hands4Hope.

Some Hands4Hope volunteers brought it a step further and thought outside the box.  Some volunteers posted the drive on their personal social media pages asking for friends to donate and bring the donations to their house.  Another great idea was from a Daisy Troop, who collected donations from within their own families by scouring cupboards or shopping for specific items on the list.  The El Dorado Hills Daisy Troop 2735 left a note on their delivery thanking Hands4Hope for providing them with their first opportunity to learn about community service.

Parent volunteer Andrea Clark says "This was our families first experience running a neighborhood food drive. We were overjoyed at the positive response and generosity our community offered! We look forward to the next one!"

Thank you to all who hosted and donated in the Hands4Hope Neighborhood Fall Food Drive and helping support those in need in our community! 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

To all the supporters and contributors of our two largest fundraisers of the year, we say…

October was a huge month for us at Hands4Hope.  Our two largest fundraisers of the year take place, our Haunted House as well as the Benefit Dinner and Costume Ball.  We couldn’t do them without the generosity of our community members and local businesses.   The funds raised through these events are key to making the programs we do possible.  Hands4Hope currently serves 1,250 young people through our after-school program, in addition to having a service learning program at fourteen schools from Sacramento to Placerville. Youth are coming out of our program more confident, more aware, and more willing to take on issues facing their community.

The Haunted House

The Hands4Hope Haunted House has been a two-year process in the making by a group of individuals and volunteers who gave their time and resources.  Thank you to our Haunted House Committee for planning, developing and executing this huge undertaking of creating our most elaborate haunted house yet, the Temple of Terror.  Thank you to Eric Zeps (Design Lead​) and team, H4H Board Member Doug Busch (Props and Engineering Lead)​, Kimberly​ Rumph (Cast & Costume Coordinator​), and Gen Walk (Project Coordinator)​, as well as adult volunteers Kristin Beal, Cindy Abraham, Mike Bassett, Rick Craine, Christy Leflar, and Dave Martinez.

Thank you to our youth volunteers who assisted in building, decorating, casting and running our Haunted House: Andrew Bassett, Jacob Bassett, Jordan Bui, Aiden Burrell, Mathew Cruz, Carson DeGeorge, Troy De La Cruz, Katie Ellis, Destry Fitzpatrick, Riley Fitzpatrick, Jack Fowler, Kaden Jeppsen, William Landry, Zoe Leflar, Paul Mahui, Marissa Marks, and Rick Morrill.  Nelson Madison, Laura Nepo, Jannat Randhawa, Laura Roberts, Marco Sanchez, Thomas Schmitt, Bailee Seo, and Caroline Shank.  Claire Snyder, Megan Sollenberger, Sydney Tamplin, Haley Tangen, Ryan VanOvereem, Nimi Virk and Camy Wilsom.  Tyler Francis, Haley Lehtola (H4H Youth Board Member), Jake Phillips, ​Sarah Reinhart, ​Thomas​ Schmitt, Austin Reynolds, LeAnna Ordanza, and Conner Bellinger.

Thank you also to the adults who supported these youth on a regular basis: Gen Walk, Tori Loba, Madeleine Vadenais, Page Phelan, Bev Ching, Inga & Todd Buckendorf, Dorcey Fitzpatrick, John Tamplin, Kristin Beal, Janine Wilson, Lisa Allen, Christy Leflar, Yoko Kono, Terese Ellis, Carol Misso, Ying Cole, Marcie Dalton, Mike Marks, Cheryl Kiyama, Cindy and T Abraham, Sarah and Stan Henjum.

Thank you to our Marketing Committee, who created our largest marketing campaign of community awareness of the haunted house.  Our Marketing Committee includes Becky Davis of Intel (H4H Board member), Rick Fergerson of Fergerson Financial (H4H Board Member), Page Phelan of Verizon (H4H Board Member), Sam Phelan (H4H Youth Board Member), and Samantha DeLeon (H4H Communications Coordinator).

Thank you to the El Dorado Hills Town Center a development by the Mansour Company for providing the location of the Haunted House.  To Kevin Mooney of Kinetic Design who created the Temple of Terror graphic as well as to local business Ink It for fast turnarounds on our posters, banners and other marketing collateral as well as to Grapevine Apparel for their assistance in printing our Haunted House volunteer shirts.

Thank you to our Haunted House sponsors, KERRY LEE Remarkable Jewelry, Datwyler Orthodontics, Fergerson Financial, ESI Builders & Remodelers, Tri-One Electric, Inc, and the El Dorado Hills Town Center A Development by Mansour Company.  As well as to Hop House for sponsoring our tickets.

Thank you to Union Mine High School, Folsom High School, Ponderosa High School, Camerado Middle School, Herbert Green Middle School, Marina Village Middle School, and Rolling Hills Middle School for promoting our Haunted House by hosting a school night.

The event was a great success, making over $12,000 to support our school based serving learning programs.

The Benefit Dinner and Costume Ball

The Benefit Dinner and Costume Ball is our is our most important annual fundraiser  and this year’s Intergalatic Shindig at Area 51 was out-of-this-world!  This event is planned months in advance and couldn’t be done without the time and effort of our Benefit Dinner Committee.  Thank you to this year’s committee, which included Committee Chair Debi Harlow (H4H Board member), Jessie Baratta of El Dorado Disposal, Leslie Fox (H4H Parent Advisory Committee member) and Shan Harkleroad (H4H Office Manager). 

Our Platinum Sponsors provide support to assist our programs all year long and they are a big part of funding the benefit dinner.  Thank you to these sponsors – El Dorado Disposal, Wells Fargo, Seafloor, Blue Shield of California, Fergerson Financial, US Bank, The Gift of Kids, Datwyler Orthodontics, El Dorado Hills Town Center a development by the Mansour Company.  Also, thank you to the dinner’s Table Sponsors AT&T, CBS13/CW31, Serrano El Dorado, Syblon Reid, TechShop, and Western Sign Company. 

The night of the event everything looked and sounded amazing.  Thank you to these local businesses and individuals who made that possible – Clarity Audio Video Lighting, Diane Wilkinson Catering, Madrona Vineyards, Menka Belgal Photography, Placerville Brewing Company, Deanna Santana, Eric Zeps and our Youth and Adult Volunteers who assisted in decorating and serving that night.

Thank you also to those who donated to our Live, Silent, and Dessert Auction.  And thank you to all who attended and supported Hands4Hope that evening!

The event was a wonderful success and because of all of the support, we were able to reach our goal of $30,000. These funds will be used to support our youth development and outreach programs that are life changing for the youth involved and those they serve.