December 5, 2010- Friends & Helpers Holiday Wrapping Event

The 4GOOD network of volunteers helped to sponsor 10 families...but Friends & Helpers supplied gifts and stockings to almost 3,000 families and teens in Los Angeles, Orange County as well as New Orleans - that is amazing!

With your generosity we were able to give our sponsored families a plethora of gifts to help make this time of year just a little bit easier and fun!!!

4GOOD would like to thank those volunteers who came to the event and pitched in to wrap, stuff bags and break down boxes!!!

If you couldn't join us this year...we look forward to seeing you soon at an event!

As always- we thank all of our supporters to helping us continue to do something 4GOOD!

Pictures below.... or go directly to our photobucket album...
http://s1124.photobucket.com/albums/l580/4goodcommunity/Friends%20and%20Helpers%20event%20Dec%205th/

Congrats to our friends ETM-LA - The Glee cast and AMEX give $100K

Great job and so well deserved!!! Check out this wonderful story!!!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Glee-cast-did-it---now-you-can--too-.html?soid=1101840893489&aid=cYb9ZNRkwKg

4GOOD event "Bringing Back The Music"

http://s1124.photobucket.com/albums/l580/4goodcommunity/4GOOD%20-%20Bringing%20Back%20the%20Music/

In partnership with Join the Band, 4GOOD organized a benefit concert to raise awareness and money for Education Through Music - Los Angeles. What a great time had by all. Kids bands performed from JTB and kids from Education Through Music - LA also performed.

I want to thank everyone who participated, volunteered and attended. Thank you for your support of 4GOOD, Join the Band, and Education Through Music – Los Angeles.

All of the JTB & ETM-LA performances were outstanding! To all the performers...by participating, you helped to shape the mission of the event; to raise money and awareness of the need to restore music education to every school child. It was heartening as a parent of one of the performers, and the organizer of the event, to see the kids who are lucky enough to participate in a program such as JTB, share the stage with those who only have music for 45 minutes a week, and aren’t able to take their instruments home.

Whether you purchased tickets & food, took part in the raffle, came to sell product and donated a % back to the cause, or helped in any way with the show, we all did something 4GOOD.

We hope that this will be the beginning of a yearly event that will only grow bigger and better with your continued support.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Erika Athanas
4GOOD Executive Director/Co-Founder

Food pantries are feeling the pinch

Food pantries are feeling the pinch

4GOOD volunteers participated in Friends & Helpers BTS event...

Supplies donated by our friends at Noteworthy!  Thank you!

Volunteers feverishly stuffing pencil pouches that would
eventually be put into the backpacks.

Henry Voelker and; Erika Athanas- stopping to
capture the moment!

More supplies!!!

All the supplies ready to be packed into the
backpacks for the 4th and 5th grade kids.

Empty boxes ready to be filled with backpacks...

Mountains of supplies!!

Anne Bergman and Henry working hard!!

Audrey Libatique filling pencil pouches.

Lisa and Audrey Libatique working hard in the hot sun!

It was sweltering in the sun, but there we were...volunteers from the 4GOOD network joined in on Friday, August 20th, to help pack backpacks for kids in need.  The Organization Friends and Helpers had a goal of packing 3,000 backpacks for kids of all ages...by 1:30 we were done!  Amazing!  Thank you to all the 4GOOD volunteers who came out in the heat to help.  It was a great event and our dear friends at "Friends and Helpers" really appreciated it.  Another great experience for the kids to get involved.

4GOOD July Newletter...see What's going on at 4GOOD...

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4GOOD Book Drive- June 6 @ Sweet Harts

The 4GOOD Book Drive

After weeks of planning and getting the word out there 4GOOD had a very successful Book Drive.  Thank you to all the people who showed up on a Sunday to donate books!  

• THE GRAND TOTAL OF BOOKS DONATED WAS 1,503.  AMAZING!!! 

• All the books were donated to BookEnds, a wonderful organization who graciously came to pick up the many boxes on a Sunday when that is not something they normally do.  Thank you Breanne!!!  

• The Older Teen and Adult books that were donated will be going to the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Summer Night Lights Program- which provides at-risk youths with organized activities aimed at keeping them out of trouble during the summer.  Reading is certainly a great activity!!!  

• The Younger books that were donated will be going to WIC (women, infant & children).  This is a government program that provides assitant to low income families.

A Special "Thank you" to everyone who showed up to volunteer to help us sort & organize the books- we couldn't have done it without you!

When 4GOOD member Michael Swords brought an article from Parenting Magazine to our attention, we felt inspired to do something to help raise awareness of the startling literacy gap between low & middle income American Families...so the idea of a one day book drive was born.


Read the article that inspired this event.
 www.parenting.com/article/Child/Daycare--Education/The-Early-Literacy-Crisis/2

 

Sweet Harts in Sherman Oaks partnered with us, giving us a home to hold the event.  A big Thanks to Aidan and the rest of the gang at Sweet Harts who came in early on a Sunday!  Anyone who came and donated books was given 10% off their purchase of Frozen Yogurt or Gelato.  Sweet Harts also gave back 20% of the sale proceeds for the day back to 4GOOD.  What a Sweet Deal!  Thanks again!
 

Why is it so important to get involved in bridging the literacy gap?
Here are some startling statistics that inspired us to get involved.  It's yet another way to get your children engaged in giving back, especially if explained to them on their level. 

* 37% of American Children live in low-income families and 61% of those families have NO age appropriate books in their homes.  Some kids go to pre-school and have never held a book.  Can you imagine your 3 year old never being read too or exposed to even looking at a book? 

* These kids can't even count on school to get exposed to reading and books...80% of preschools and after-school programs serving low-income populations have no age-appropriate books for their children.

* On average a child from a middle class community has 13 books & a child from a low-income community shares one book with 300 other kids.

* Access to books and educational material is the single biggest barrier to literacy development in the United States and beyond. If we can solve the problem of access, we will be well on the road to realizing educational parity – a goal which has eluded this country for generations.”- 
Susan B. Neuman, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ctr. for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement










We donated the books to a wonderful organization called BOOKENDS...here is why we chose them:

* BookEnds, a non-profit organization, that began in 1993 with 
8-year-old Brandon Keefe, a kid who wanted to make a difference.

* BookEnds strives to instill the value of community service in its student volunteers. More than 206,000 youth have been involved in organizing book drives, collecting, sorting and delivering more than 1.9 million books into the hands of 478,000 children in the greatest need of books.

* BookEnds has completed more than 578 libraries. (More than 478,000 students are benefiting from the book donations.)

* BookEnds' recipients are those schools that are the most in need and have demonstrated a commitment to actively use the book donations to improve children's literacy.

       Check them out at www,bookends.org

Some pictures from the day- Thank you to all who came and volunteered!!!

Pictures of the kids helping to make the signs for the Book Drive the week before the event!  Great job kids!!!

What's Happening with 4GOOD- May 2010 Newsletter

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. NEWS & EVENTS ~ Book Drive ~  Sunday, June 6 from 10am - 3pm In partnership with Sweet Harts Sweet Shop ~ (corner of Woodman Ave & Ventura Blvd ~ Sherman Oaks) Click here for Map of location...If parking lot is full, there is 2 hour parking in the surrounding neighborhood) View the Invitation to read about the statistics, fill out the form to RSVP & sign up to volunteer if you can Help 4GOOD raise awareness of the startling literacy gap between low & middle income American families. Donate your gently used books (children's - adult books) & do something 4GOOD to get books into the hands of underprivileged families who don't have access to appropriate reading material.  The books you donate will be distributed through the organization BookEnds. When you donate a book, Sweet Harts will take 10% off your purchase.   In addition, Sweet Harts will donate 20% of the sales proceeds for the day to 4GOOD.  That's a sweet deal! We hope to collect hundreds of books during the 5 hour drive...that's a lot of books. So, join us at Sweet Harts, donate books, have some sweet tasting treats, get a discount and help raise money 4GOOD! What better way to spend a Sunday? PLEASE FORWARD THIS INVITE TO FRIENDS & FAMILY AND SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS GREAT EVENT!!! FOR MORE INFORMATION ON BOOKENDS & WHY WE CHOOSE TO DONATE TO THIS AMAZING ORGANIZATION. Read the article that inspired this event. www.parenting.com/article/Child/Daycare--Education/The-Early-Literacy-Crisis/2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE NEXT "FEATURED" 4GOOD SPONSORED EVENT We couldn't be more excited about our next sponsored event!!   WHAT: 4GOOD will host a Charitable Concert and Instrument Drive in partnership with Educate Through Music, Los Angeles & Join the Band.  Join us for a fantastic concert to help bring music back to children from an under-served school in Los Angeles. JTB will bring some rockin ' kid bands to perform & if we meet our goal, 4GOOD will be able to sponsor a school for an entire year...more details to come in the coming months. WHEN: Sometime in September (date TBD- daytime weekend is what we are shooting for) WHY: Our goal is to raise $5000 through donations & ticket sales.  Can you believe that is all it costs for ETM-LA to provide a music instructor, instruments, curriculum & a sustainability plan to help the school continue to KEEP the music program going. If your interested - here are some immediate things we need help with: Do you have a connection?  We need a venue!  We are looking for a supper club type vibe, with a small stage and capacity for about 250 people.  The venue also needs to serve food and drinks. Know of a celebrity singer or band? We need one!  Ask if they would be interested in donating their time and talents sometime in September to help us bring music back to a LA school?  We would love to add a "special guest" to the concert.  Got some gently used instruments?  ETM-LA always needs instruments for the kids...we will be having an instrument drive leading up to and at the event.  More info to come on this...just don't give any used instruments away before September!!! If you have any suggestions, questions or connections for any of the above- please email: erika@4goodcommunity.org     Check out the websites of our partners above! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Upcoming "Featured" 4GOOD Participating Event: What: Friends & Helpers Back to School Event Where: Tarzana Community and Cultural Center 19130 Ventura Blvd ~ Tarzana, California. 91436 (Corner of Ventura and Vanalden) When: Friday - Aug 20, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Why: Volunteer with your kids to pack needed school supplies in backpacks so the children of abused families can have what they need to go Back to School. This is the 2nd year 4GOOD is participating in this wonderful event. See the Blog entry and pictures from Last Years Event. http://4goodcommunity.blogspot.com/2009/08/back-to-school-friends-helpers-event.html ~ We LOVE this organization and you will too!  Find out more on their site: friendsandhelpers.com F & H creates a wonderful kid friendly environment - one which you will not want to miss. Check out the list of items needed for the backpacks below.  Start collecting any of the listed items ASAP!!! Updates on how 4GOOD will coordinate collecting the supplies will be coming soon.  Items needed for the Backpacks. ALSO... Check out the  Calendar of Events for great opportunities to volunteer with your kids. Click here Do you have a cause you would like 4GOOD to support?  Please email us and let us know - we are always looking for family friendly events or ideas to create a 4GOOD sponsored event.  So let us know!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Important ways 4GOOD can use your help: Talk us up-  please tell all your friends and family about 4GOOD!  Ask them to come to an event with you.  Sign them up to become a 4GOOD member (click here for membership page).   Web Site & Other Technical Help-  know about website design and management? we could really use your help Accountant- donate your skill & time to help with our accounting ~ we would be ever so grateful Corporate Funding & Donations- do you have connections with small businesses or larger corporations who would be interested in donating product for future events, advertising on our website or blog, or sponsorship/partnership to help us fund our efforts…keep us in mind when you see future newsletters or news about 4GOOD PR & Marketing- we need help creating press kits, getting our name and message out there with local newspapers and magazines, connections with editors or newsgroups, or any other marketing ideas MESSAGES & INFO A Message to all... from co-founder/executive director Erika Athanas I want to personally thank all of the 4GOOD members who believe in what we are doing and continue to support our mission.  This is our first "official" newsletter where you can learn more about what GOOD things we are doing now and in the future.  Please continue to let me know if you have any suggestions for a 4GOOD volunteering opportunity  or any subjects you would like to see covered in future newsletters. Want to help spread the word about the things we are doing at 4GOOD? Please Forward this email We hope to see you soon at an upcoming 4GOOD event. volunteer with your kids...join the movement!!! All my best, Erika erika@4goodcommunity.org 4GOOD 's mission is to help families actively participate in volunteer activities to foster the values of kindness, compassion, tolerance, community responsibility and good citizenship.  You are receiving this email if you previously signed up to become a member of or are currently following 4GOOD on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, or Idealist. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~SPECIAL THANKS~ Sweet Harts- Thank you for donating the space and partnering with us for the book drive on June 6th. Jinhee & Danny Kim- Thank you for your generous donation!  We are grateful for your belief in 4GOOD! Mike Swords- 4GOOD member for bringing the literacy statistics to our attention and helping us find a way to help. A.J. & Rachel Nassiri- Thank you for choosing 4GOOD as your Tikun Olam project for your Bar/Bat Mitzvah.  A.J. & Rachel have committed to volunteer with 4GOOD and have asked each person attending their party to donate money to 4GOOD. Now that's amazing!!  Thank you Terri Fox-Baumel for helping your kids do something 4GOOD.  4GOOD Members- To all the wonderful people who showed up at the Santa Monica Beach Clean-up with Heal the Bay on April 17th.  Thank you for your support!  What a fun day.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW PARTNER: ~Looking for ways to save a few dollars? ~Are you a business looking for a unique cost effective way to advertisee? The BLVD Card allows customers to redeem discount offers with a single card, text or e-mail instead of a printed coupon, linking local consumers looking for discounts & offers with neighborhood businesses who are offering them. Check out the website~ www.theblvdcard.com Have a business? Learn more about how theBLVDcard can help. Contact: Steve Brown CEO/Co-Founder Direct: 818-205-5404 E-mail: steve@theblvdcard.com (Don't forget to mention you heard about them through 4GOOD!) You will find great deals and discounts with companies like: 16060 Ventura Blvd, Encino 19960 Ventura Blvd, Woodland Hills Woodland Hills ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Connect with us: If your not already a member of 4GOOD... ~ click here to receive updates on all the 4GOOD happenings.~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   product you can wear to our next event!!  Click here to go to our Zazzle Store 20% of your purchase will go to help fund our administrative costs & an additional 15% will be matched by Zazzle if you purchase through this link. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Unsubscribe *|EMAIL|* from this list. Copyright (C) *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|* All rights reserved. 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