4th Annual Back 2 School Event

On September 17th we had our 4th Annual Back to School Event. This event continues to be a big success and has provided the youth and community with an opportunity to gather together and enjoy some fun family activities. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot to do including the popular science booth. Some other activities included how to make homemade ice cream, slime, Oobelc, relay races and a visit from the Oakland Fire Department. At the event we gave away over 200 bags with much needed school supplies for the youth, 8000 lbs of food and our BBQ fed over 300 people. We heard from many members of the community about What Now America means to them and how it's helped their families. We also had a record number of volunteers from St. Mary's Church, My Own Two Hands, BuildOn and Convergence Church. We are so honored to have this support and we could not have done it without them. We want to extend our thanks to all the volunteers and everyone who donated to make this day a success.

Holiday Season Events

The holidays are here and What Now America is ready to celebrate. On November 19th we will have our big holiday lunch with all the trimmings. The youthʼs families and community are invited to participate. We will be serving a traditional Thanksgiving lunch at 1:15 pm, the program will still start at 12pm as usual (itʼs our Art day).

On December 24th, we are creating a tradition of our own. Last year on Christmas Day, we took a group of 25 students to the movies and everyone had a great time. We plan to do that again this year and include up to 30 program participants to join us for a day at the movies. This means the center will be closed that day, but plan to meet us at 12pm at the deFremery parking lot and we'll carpool to the AMC theater in Emeryville. Lunch will be provided as usual and we will return back to deFremery at 5:00 pm.

How you can make a difference!

As What Now America looks to the coming year we have many goals we would like to achieve. Most immediately, we will be hosting our holiday events and plan to give away 9000 lbs. of food at during the holidays and feed 300 people a Thanksgiving meal. On an ongoing basis, as prices for goods continue to rise our weekly expenses also are going up and we strive to keep our doors open every Saturday. Lastly we are also hoping to continue to expand and enhance our weekly program. Part of this expansion would be to hire a full time Program Director who could conceive and implement educational curriculum and other activities for the youth.

Donate To What Now America

To continue to serve the community we need your help. As we go into the season of giving we would greatly appreciate any support you can provide. We are a 100% volunteer run organization so each and every dollar will go into the program to benefit the youth. Make What Now America the organization that you gift for that person who has everything, donate to What Now America in their name and weʼll send them information about how the gift is benefiting the youth. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit and all donations are tax deductible.

To donate you can go to our website: www.whatnowamerica.org/support-us/donate-now. Or visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/whatnowamerica & click on the Donate Now! tab.

Volunteer with What Now America

We are also looking for volunteers to create and implement our curriculum and most importantly have fun with the kids! If you are interested and would like to do something to give back to the West Oakland community and make a difference with its youth, consider volunteering with us on a Saturday.

Students' Work

We recently asked the students to write what they are thankful for in this holiday season. Several wrote about What Now America and what it means to them. Here are a few of those letters.

“I am honored to be in this program. I appreciate the hard work you do to make the program good. I appreciate the food you make and the events you have for us. Just like the Thanksgiving dinner youʼre going to have for us. It will be so fun! And the Christmas event. Weʼre going to the movies. That will be so fun too. I hope everyone will get to come.” Akira (age 9)

“I am thankful for What Now America. What Now America to me is here to help children read or to help them do something that they canʼt do. I like What Now America because they help me with everything that I need help with. My favorite day is Art day because I love drawing and I can draw everything Iwant at What Now America.” Saron (age 11)

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2 0 0 9    B 2 S

Hello {contact.first_name} {contact.last_name},

We kicked off our second year! of Saturday programs serving the West Oakland community with our 2nd annual back to school event. This celebration for the whole family was a smashing success. We supplied attendees with over:

• 200 bags of school supplies,
• 2000 lbs of groceries,
• served over 1200 healthy lunches, and
• registered 20 new youth to the program.

The day was alive with face painting, math facts, educations games, sack races and many other fun activities. You can see the great photos and video from the day by clicking here. At this year’s event we truly noticed our reputation in the community as a reliable, safe destination for youth of all ages – and their families. A special thanks to all of our volunteers who participated through My Own Two Hands and our donors for making this happen.

As we move into the rest of the school year we ask for your help keeping up with the increased demand. We supply take-home grocery bags and healthy lunches every week. Just $25 or $50 would greatly offset food and curriculum supply costs. Please make a donation today.

A    M o m ' s    L e t t e r

Last week I received another letter from an appreciative parent. These letters mean so much to us at WNA. We send them out to the entire board (who are also the staff) and talk about what we can do to make sure we serve as many families in ways that help them and the youth. I’ve included a few excerpts from the mother of Cody and Eric below.

"The kids are given help with homework. This has been a real help to me. They'll sometimes really resist doing their work, or resist help from me. But they'll do it at WNA, & they'll accept help there. Also, the computer access helps, as some of my daughter's assignments involve the computer, & she doesn't usually have access elsewhere, on the weekends (& sometimes on weekdays. Her school's computers are currently not working.) Staff from the program help keep her on- track (she has A.D.D.)."

"The staff & kids in this program are quite diverse. I always appreciate this, as my kids are adopted, & of different races. There is a large age-range of kids who attend. I have witnessed only polite, appropriate behavior there (I work for OUSD, I know this is not necessarily the case with large groups of kids.) The staff are friendly, competent, & really care about the kids."

"I've been very impressed with this program, & actively refer friends to it."

We’re so happy to be making an impact on lives in our community. Your support has helped us.

L e a n    B u t    N o t    M e a n

As we prepare our budget for this school year we know we need to run lean. This is nothing new to us. As a start-up all-volunteer organization we thrive on very little. With your help we can shine even more. Here are some of our goals for the year:

• Hire our first paid staff member: We hope to afford a part time program coordinator to help us plan our SLAM! Curriculum, lead the Saturday program and offer insight we can use to better our services. Can you help us become a staff of 1?
• Host a huge Thanksgiving Feast: Last year we served over 100 meals at our Thanksgiving event. This year we expect a bigger turnout on Nov 28th. Just $20 would fund 5 meals for the day. How many kids will you feed?
• Open minds with field trips and adventures: This last year’s rock climbing outing and back packing trips open new possibilities for our youth. We hope to offer many similar new experiences for all age groups. Will you send a kid packing?

Please help us meet our goals by making a donation today. We’re also looking for a donor willing to help us with an end of year matching gift campaign. If you’re able and as excited by our youth as we are – shoot me a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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G i r l s    T r i p

On the first annual girls backpacking trip, youth experienced fascinating landscapes and challenged themselves, building strength and community. After the trip, the youth were excited to share their stories, and displayed expert knowledge of backpacking skills.

The backpacking participants described the many differences between the outdoors and their homes, sharing the perks of being immersed in nature, and the survival skills learnt in the wilderness. The dazzling beauty of the night sky in unpolluted air was a highlight, as the youth observed the moon and individual stars. Lillian Lake impressed the youth with clear and sparkling blue waters, showing the natural landscape’s reflection, “like in movies”, as described by one of the trip participants. The hikers also ran across a number of different animals, including marmots, chipmunks, and an impressive young buck. In addition, they showed great resourcefulness in dealing with pests like flies, and adapting to weather conditions. Read More

B o y s    T r i p

The boys backpacking trip in collaboration with Big City Mountaineers concluded on August 22nd, and youth returned with inspiring stories of wilderness adventures to share. The youth trekked across the Sierra Mountains, visiting beautiful national parks like the National Sierra Forest and Ansel Adams wilderness. The intensive trip helped the youth achieve personal goals and immersed them in a new, exciting and challenging experience.

The youth learned a wide range of useful tricks and survival skills for the outdoors, including essentials like making a campfire, and pitching a tent. The trip also fostered teamwork and appreciation for the environment, as the youth learned to honor the backpacker's code and left no trace of their presence. Tips and tricks for surviving in the wilderness were shared, including a special way of cleaning plates to minimize the impact on the environment. Read More

B a c k    t o    S c h o o l    E v e n t

Our Back to School event is one of many annual events that we host; it's a full-day event where we bring together the community in order to set the mood as the young ones in the community start going back to school. During the event, we have a number of activities going on. The Fire Department is always nice enough to show up in their fire engine for a fire prevention lesson. We have dentist volunteers who attend the event with dental supplies to give hygiene lessons. Other local organizations offer resources such as healthy eating and so on.

Last year, more than 200 community members attended our first annual Back to School event. We passed out 80+ backpacks and more than one thousand other school supplies (pens, pencils, notebooks, rulers, etc.). This year, we are expecting a larger number of participants as our advertisement efforts have grown.

More info

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