Summer Search Alumni Association

Bay area newsletter: Winter 2009

Summer Search San Francisco Ambassadors kayaking in San Francisco with the Bay Area Alumni Board.

The mission of the Summer Search Bay Area Alumni Board is to keep alumni connected to Summer Search and to each other through volunteerism and a growing support network.

letter from the BOARD

Welcome to the Bay Area Alumni Board’s Winter Newsletter!

Dear Fellow Alumni,

Welcome back! It has been a year since our last newsletter and we, the Bay Area Alumni Board, want to keep you informed on the exciting things that have transpired in 2009 and the upcoming events like the 20th Summer Search Anniversary and Alumni Summit in 2010.

This past year the Bay Area Alumni Board held its 1st Inaugural Community Service Event and 2nd Annual Wine and Cheese Fundraiser. Both events were an extraordinary success and are a testament to the commitment of the Alumni Board and alumni to a program that changed many of our lives.

As the Alumni Board processes our past year at our annual retreat, we will reaffirm our core values of (community, accountability, and respect) and revisit our objectives:

• To build a community among Summer Search staff, alumni and students
• To nurture an independent voice among alumni.
• To give back to Summer Search through volunteer time and fundraising efforts

We will continue to cultivate creativity and energy from alumni to help achieve our community goal of keeping alumni connected to Summer Search and to each other through volunteerism and a growing support network. In this newsletter, we hope you find ways of connecting with the Alumni Board and Summer Search.

Sincerely,

Jessica Paz-Cedillas, Alumni Board Chair

upcoming Events

1. Bay Area Alumni Board's Winter Community Service Event
   Come help deliver meals to Tenderloin residents with Summer Search Ambassadors and City Impact! We’ll be prepping meals, delivering food to residents, passing out toys to children, and serving hot meals.
   
   Saturday, December 12 at 8:30am-1pm
   230 Jones Street (Between Eddie and Turk) in San Francisco
   Please RSVP to Hillary Hoff at HHoff@summersearch.org.
2. Summer Search's Alumni Holiday Party
   Alumni, come celebrate each other with stories, food and music!
   
   Sunday, December 20th 4-6pm
   at the Monkey Club
   2730 21st Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
   To RSVP, click HERE.
   For more information, visit our website.
   
3. Summer Search turns 20 and the
   Third Annual Alumni Summit in San Francisco!
   
   September 24th – 25th, 2010
   
   To celebrate Summer Search's 20 year track record of success and to honor Founder Linda Mornell, Summer Search is hosting a gala event on September 24, 2010, at the Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason in San Francisco. We are expecting up to 1000 guests to attend, many of whom are alumni, long-time supporters, founding board members, staff and students, who have had a major impact in shaping Summer Search into the dynamic and effective organization that it is today. The festivities will be a down-home, casual family event --- “an urban picnic” --- and alums you are encouraged to stay through the weekend for the National Alumni Summit on Saturday September 25th. We hope you can save the date for this special occasion and join us!

cover story

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITIES THAT NOURISH US

Bay Area alumni, students and staff got together at Heron’s Head Park on June 13, 2009 for “Environmental Equality for All!” the Alumni Board’s first annual community service event.

By the numbers:

1 local park in Bayview Hunters Point, the neighborhood in San Francisco with fewest number of parks per capita

24 acres of native habitat including wetland marsh, coastal prairie and upland scrub along the bay front

46 alumni, students and staff who did habitat restoration

100 native plants planted at Heron’s Head Park

3 cubic yards of invasive plants pulled and composted

15 square meters of mulch spread over invasive plants

Did you know: the New York, Seattle, Boston and the Bay Area alumni boards each hosted a community service event this past summer to clean and rejuvenate local parks? Way to follow through on the alumni’s collective goal set at the 2008 Alumni Summit!

Thanks to the staff of Literacy for Environmental Justice– a youth empowerment and environmental education organization – for hosting this service-learning event in which we reflected on the social justice issues connected to the environment.

If you have ideas for the next service event, contact Alumni Board member, Tracy Zhu.

news & updates

MOVING TOWARDS CIVIC ENGAGEMENT:
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Summer Search nationwide is planning to expand its programming to better serve its current students. The organization is making a stronger commitment to 1) college access and retention and2) civic engagement for all of its students. The Alumni Board seeks to engage alumni in developing our thoughts and program ideas around these two areas. To read more on one Alumni Board member's reflection on civic engagement, click here.

RAISING "FUN" IN THE WINE AND CHEESE FUNDRAISER

On October 17, 2009, the Bay Area Alumni Board hosted its 2nd Annual Wine & Cheese Fundraiser. We doubled our attendance and donation numbers! Thank you for making the Alumni Board’s second annual Wine and Cheese Fundraiser a success!

The goal of the fundraiser was to give back to Summer Search, which has given us so many opportunities, and to provide a space for our friends, family and networks to connect to our Summer Search stories.

By the numbers:

1 art gallery in the Mission, A.Muse Gallery

78 tickets sold

9 raffle prizes given away

$2,000 dollars raised

Uncountable bottles of wine finished

AMBASSADOR AND ALUMNI BONDING ON THE BAY

On Halloween, the Alumni Board invited the Summer Search Ambassadors, a cohort of current students who dedicate extra time to SS and the community, to kayak on Mission Creek located south of the AT&T baseball stadium in San Francisco.

Kayaking in the city allowed us to connect to each other as well as our local environment. We kayaked down Mission Creek into McCovey Cove where kayakers retrieve homerun balls hit out of the stadium during game days.

Ask yourself: when was the last time you had a chance to enjoy the bay’s waterfront?

We now have a Facebook page for Bay Area Alumni—search “Summer Search Bay Area Alumni” to find us!”