CHAC/FIRST 5 Presents: Your
May Overview
Greetings Families, Partners, and LTI Community
Happy May everyone! The school year is in its final stretch and
summer will be here before we know it. Do you have your summer activities
scheduled yet? Take a look at what we have going on – we hope to see you soon!
Here’s this month’s news
Happy
Mother’s Day!
Mercy
Street to Ramp up Fundraising Efforts.
Over the nearly 4 years that Mercy Street FRC has been operational, we have
slowly built up to be a beloved resource in our communities. We’ve offered
literally hundreds of free classes, including our weekly Play and Learn
classes, enriching parenting classes, specialty series and memorable events. A
majority of our classes are led by amazing volunteers, and we have developed
strong partnerships with dozens of community organizations.
As time goes on, it
becomes increasingly important that we leverage other resources to sustain the
level of services we have had. We would
also like to boost the potential to reach people in even more personal and
specialized ways, and we will need to increase our fundraising efforts.
How we’re doing that:
- Charging a small amount for specialty classes. These classes were developed in response to community requests and we love offering them, however they are not funded by FIRST 5.
- Applying for additional grants. This helps extend our budgets for programming.
- Seeking donations from local businesses, participants and community members. Many local businesses support us with donations of planting materials and food for parties and snack times.
- Mini-fundraisers. We have hosted small fundraisers like Garage Sales (see below for our sale on May 3), raffles and special workshops.
Fund raising is a common
concern in education that you will most likely hear about throughout your
child’s school career. Our Program Director is currently recruiting parents to
form a fundraising committee to contribute ideas, help in making connections, and
participate in coordinating more effective fundraising. If you would like to join the committee or have
ideas about how to support our programs for the future, please contact Program Director,
Maddi Pascua at 650-967-4813 or email mpascua.chac@gmail.com
Thank you for your
support!
Garage
Sale Fundraiser on May 3 – We need your help!
Mercy Street FRC will be
participating in the Mountain View City Wide Garage Sale on Saturday May 3. Now
is a great time to sort and clear clutter and donate items that you and your
children no longer need. We are requesting donations of gently used items that
can be dropped off on Friday May 2.
You can also stop by on
the day of the event for moral support or to pick up some great deals.
Proceeds from the sale
will benefit our Childcare program and “I’m Ready for Kindergarten” teachers.
If you have benefitted from these classes, we would very much appreciate your
support so that new families can take part.
The sale is 8:00AM – 2:00PM on Saturday, May 3. We will be hosting it out of our Mercy Street Family Resource Center located at 748 Mercy Street, Mountain View
Thank you!
Movetrition – We just ended our second series of
Movetrition at Vargas Elementary lead by a new group of students from San Jose
State University and De Anza. The children
and their families had a fun time
learning how important it is to eat fruits and vegetables. The volunteers from
SJSU and De Anza throughout the 6 weeks gained more confidence in planning, coordinating,
prepping, and leading the activities. They got to increase their knowledge on
child development by interacting with the children. We are so proud of our
college student volunteers! If you are a college student who needs hours for
your class, please contact Nancy Doan at 650-967-4813 or send her an at nancydoan5@gmail.com
Potter
the Otter has a New Book!
If your kids love Potter, they will want to see his latest adventure. We have
some at Mercy Street – ask one of the staff. Otherwise, if you want to have the
free e-book “Potter, Potter, the Healthy Otter,” all about the importance of
exercise - click http://issuu.com/first5kids/docs/potter_2_book_issuu_22783d4a249b30?e=3250347/4184126
Volunteering
at Mercy Street is FUN!
Do you have some free time to volunteer? Friends or grandparents who have time
during the day to help? We have a wide variety of volunteer activities
available, from preparing art projects for classes to assisting in classes,
office work and outreach. It really does take a village to support our young
people. Come to our next volunteer meeting Monday April 7 from 10-11:30 to hear
more, or contact Volunteer Coordinator, Nancy Doan at 650-967-4813. Registration
required by April 4 (childcare available).
Thank you to our families who are helping us
with donations and funding opportunities. Tesin Dosch has been a big supporter,
dedicating time and sale items, as well as alerting us to corporate sponsorship
opportunities she found in the community. If your company has a corporate
matching or grant program, please let us know!
We would also like to thank Savita Hegde, one of
our “I’m Ready for Kindergarten” moms for her donation. She said the program
was so beneficial to her child that she wanted to support our work. We love
hearing about how families lives improve after they participate in our program.
Holidays
and Scheduled Closings:
Here is a list of
upcoming days we will be closed and class cancelations. Please watch our
calendars for unexpected closings, such as teacher illness.
5/7 – Volunteer meeting
– Wednesday Play and Learn at Mercy is canceled
5/26 – All centers
closed for Memorial Day
What’s NEW for May?
Mountain View
Science
Kids in Mountain View!
Get your lab coats ready – Science Kids is here! Thursdays May 1 – June 19 (8
weeks) from 10:00-11:30AM. Class is for
children ages 3-5 (sorry, no siblings).
Includes basics of numbers, shapes & colors; the world around us;
science skills: measuring and more. Cost is $25 for the series, due at the
first class. Tuition is nonrefundable and cannot be transferred to another series.
Space is limited to the first 15 children/30 people. By Aliza Savransky. (Lab
coats not required) ;)
Register here: http://bit.ly/1o4Mtlq
Or call 650-967-4813
Sunnyvale
Bombay
Jam: Thursdays throughout May, 4:00pm-5:00pm. Cost $1 per person. Join this fun filled Bollywood dance
inspired class for adults and children (must be supervised by an adult). Easy
to learn, great exercise and infectiously fun. Please wear comfortable clothing
and shoes that will work with carpet. All attendees must sign a waiver prior to
participating. No registration required.
Father’s
Group – Spanish.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are dads’ turn to get together and talk about being a
father. Many topics from finances to discipline to early literacy will be
discussed. 6:30pm-8:30pm at Vargas Elementary. For more information or if you would like to join please contact
Francisco Hernandez at 650-967-4813 or send him an email at fhernandez.chac@gmail.com
Did
you know about our FIRST 5 partners in Sunnyvale?
Find calendars for the
FIRST 5 FRC at Fairwood Elementary here http://www.first5kids.org/frc/fairwood
Cupertino
Let’s
Get Moooving! Our
popular outdoor fun in the sun class is back on Fridays, starting May 2 – June
20 (8 weeks). 10:00am-11:30am. Cost is $3 per child per class, or purchase a
Fun card for $20 per child for the whole series. Includes playground
exploration, music & movement, story time, and fun art project to take
home. Parents AND children encouraged to move. Please wear comfortable clothing
and sun protection. Bring water. No registration required. Fun pass is
nonrefundable and not transferrable to other series. All proceeds goes back into the program.---------------------------------------------------------------
Volunteers Needed! Do
you have a few hours a week you that you can spare? Do you want to give
back to your community? Do you want to make an impact in the lives of
young children and their families? Do you want to expand your knowledge
of early childhood development? Do you have expert knowledge that you can teach to our families? Come join our team. If you are interested and/or want more information on our fabulous volunteer program, please send an email to Nancy Doan at nancydoan5@gmail.com. Thanks for considering – the success of our program depends on Volunteers! Together we make the difference.
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Volunteer Network! CHAC/FIRST 5 Volunteers, stay connected on all our volunteer news, updates, training opportunities, and more! You can take part in our Facebook Volunteer Group. Find us by typing "nancydoan5@gmail.com" in the search bar or click
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Feedback: Do you have comments that you would like to send the staff? Please send us a note to:mercystreetfrc@gmail.com
