Monday, August 22, 2011

4GOOD volunteers join Friends & Helpers to help pack backpacks for abused families

4GOOD volunteers spent the morning packing more than 2000 backpacks with our friends from Friends & Helpers.  This was the 3rd year in a row 4GOOD participated in this wonderful event!  What fun had by all!

Monday, July 18, 2011

4GOOD Annual Book Drive a Win-Win!

Imagine a library without books. What strikes you first is how much an empty library echoes without books lining its shelves. Thanks to 4GOOD volunteers and donors, BookEnds, and Scholastic, now the New Academy school library shelves are fuller, with 1,372 additional books donated!
Located in Canoga Park, the New Academy is a K-5 independent charter school that emphasizes art and science.  The school is part of Tierra Del Sol which is comprised of affordable housing units and a supportive on-site Community Center.  The Complex assists families making their economic, educational and personal dreams come true. 

Five years ago, our partner BookEnds had already helped fill the school library, but it still lacked books. That’s where 4GOOD came in. In partnership with BookEnds, we organized a book drive June 5 at Carneys in Studio City to help fill the library with books for K-5 students.  Not only did families chow some delicious hot dogs and fries, but a face painter and art teacher also donated their time, ensuring that the event was as fun as it was productive.

We at 4GOOD
would like to thank BookEnds (especially Gretchen), Carneys, Colored Faces 4 Fun, Art Teacher Sybilla Duncan and especially to the amazing 4GOOD community for helping us get books into the hands of these elementary school students. We will cherish our new found friendship with the students and Principal Ms. Ellis from New Academy and look forward to contributing to their library next year!
In total 4GOOD collected 1,781 books - WOO HOO!!!
Book Donation Breakdown:
1372 - donated to New Academy
409 - Pre K books donated to WIC & St. John's Child and Family Center in Compton - Adult books donated to the BookEnds Amazon Pilot Program where proceeds go back to BookEnds and the Serra Project helping with people with HIV & AIDS.

Pictures of the Drive and delivery of books to New Academy!!  It's all GOOD!



Thursday, May 26, 2011

May 4GOOD updates

Scholastic 2011 Family of the Year 



Sometime back in March, I saw an ad on the Macaroni Kids Newsletter for “Scholastic Family of the Year,” a nationwide contest to identify families who are making a difference in their communities.  I thought, “We do that...or at least we try!”  So I sent in the required essay about how we co-founded 4GOOD, what we do and how it works....
Fast forward to this May 23rd when we were officially announced as Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine 2011 Family of the Year!

It has been an amazing ride and we are so humbled and grateful for all that this brings to 4GOOD!  We hope by bringing our story to the national forefront, we will inspire other families to get out there and give back!

Click here to read the full article and see below to check out some of the pictures from the day!  Oh, and of course, don't miss the FAMILY 4GOOD storybook with a foreword written by William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman, the Celebrity Ambassadors of the campaign.


We are so thankful to Scholastic and to Got Milk? for helping to bring our story to life in the magazine, the storybook and the Milk ad!!

Thank you,
Erika, Peter, Izak and Eli
co-founders of 4GOOD

Got Milk pictures and Pictures from the article Larsen & Talbert Photography

Monday, May 23, 2011

2nd Annual 4GOOD BOOK DRIVE ~ June 5th


Join 4GOOD
partnering with Carney's & BookEnds
for the Second Annual
Book Drive

~ Donate your gently used books ~
4GOOD is partnering with BookEnds to help restock the library of a local elementary school in need.
Especially looking for elementary aged books about animals, nature and space ~ but you can donate any kids or adult books!

Carney's will donate 15% of its sales to 4GOOD, so clean out your bookshelf and enjoy a delicious lunch for the whole family!

With a book donation our partner Carney's will give away and a FREE LARGE DRINK with purchase of any sandwich & fries. Limit one coupon per family. Offer only good on June 5, 2011.

You will also be entered in our raffle where you can win a number of cool prizes.

Don't forget to stop by our arts n craft table to make cool bookmarks and create a piece of art for the receiving school library.

Join the movement and sign up to be a 4GOOD member
www.4goodcommunity.org

________________________________________________________________

4GOOD will be donating all books to BookEnds, a wonderful organization that engages student volunteers to organize book drives in their schools to recycle their quality children’s books directly into the hands of kids in schools and youth organizations in desperate need of books.

Our goal is to collect over 2000 books during the 3 hour drive...that's a lot of books.
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL!!!
PLEASE TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!!
Spread the word about this great event!!!

For more information on the event and to sign up to volunteer go to:
http://eepurl.com/dSPwH

We look forward to seeing you there!!!

March 2011 Newsletter



Saturday, March 12, 2011

Want to get involoved? Join us and make a difference!!!

4GOOD Volunteer Coordinator Opportunities-

4GOOD is looking to fill a few unpaid volunteer opportunities to help increase the organizations impact in the community by creating and promoting high-quality family friendly volunteer activities. If you have approximately 5 hours a week to volunteer, can demonstrate the ability and commitment for the particular area of need, and would like to do something 4GOOD… we would love to hear from you!

We're looking for a few people with relevant experience in the following areas who would like to help 4GOOD plan and create family-oriented community service opportunities

Volunteer Event Coordinator
- If you have experience coordinating volunteer events, are an organized person, and would like to help 4GOOD create and execute upcoming events…we want to hear from you!! We are looking for 2 – 3 volunteers to help us plan and execute upcoming events. You would be working directly with the Executive Director to help plan, organize and publicize the events.

Social Media/ Volunteer Growth/PR Coordinator – Do you have experience or feel you could help get the 4GOOD message out? We are looking for a savvy, fun and social person to help us Blog, Facebook and Twitter Post and bring attention to our mission. You would work directly with the Executive Director to help get our message out.

Technical /Website Coordinator- We are looking to take our “homemade” looking website to the next level…we need help with Metatags, Google Analytics and Website design help. If you think you could help to steer the technical ship 4GOOD…you are what we are looking for.


Please send an email to Erika Athanas- erika@4goodcommunity.org. If you are looking for an internship, credits for volunteering, or just want to do something 4GOOD…contact us.