“Catalyst for Kids”
The Catalyst for Kids Project was designed to provide clothing and art supplies, and perform deferred maintenance work for the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento. The team completed painting 775 linear feet of fire lane, washing over 150 windows, and repainting 6 dorm doors. The team collected over 300 clothing items and 2,400 art supplies. In addition, the team raised over $26,000, $20,000 of it will go to supporting the Independent Living Program.
The Catalyst group Helping Hands partnered with SAEHC, a nonprofit organization (501(c)(3) whose mission is to help move homeless families and individuals to become self-sufficient and self-reliant. SAEHC started as a Family Shelter program in 1972, meeting the basic needs of seven homeless families. The agency now serves an average of 500 individuals each day in a variety of programs such as living skills, parenting, budgeting, housing, health and mental health care, housing relocation assistance, and community support services. For 38 years, SAEHC has not only developed a successful history of combating homelessness in the 99-square mile region, but has incorporated other service goals into its overall mission and has managed its programs in such a way that they make visible and measurable changes in people’s lives.Through solicited donations, grant money and volunteers, Helping Hands worked with SAEHC to remodel their donation center & conduct Employment Workshops to help displaced parents and individuals in gaining the necessary skills to become self-sufficient and re-enter the workforce. This remodeled facility now allows SAEHC to more efficiently track, accept, and distribute donations. This project provided a much needed improvement to SAEHC as they continue to help serve the needs of the homeless in our region.
View Helping Hands accomplishments in the SAEHC eNewsletter
Past Catalyst Team Projects:
Class III Team Projects
“Make a Difference”
Team Make a Difference teamed up with the Sacramento Shriners Hospital for
Children and held an activity kit drive for the children. Shriners Hospital for Children provides free pediatric specialty care (orthopedic, burns, spinal cord, cleft lip) to children whose families cannot afford treatment To help the Shriners Hospital and the children that it serves, we gathered donations of money and materials with the goal of providing 125 kits for the children. The kits were comprised of educational and fun crafts, workbooks, and toys to provide an entertaining diversion for the kids. We raised about $1,000 to provide over 150 kits. This project was a great application of the many leadership lessons that Jim Tabuchi provided us throughout the leadership program.
“The Green Monsters”
The main goal of this Catalyst group project was to educate underserved students about the importance of sustainable living. The group project collaborated with the SOAR After School program at Capitol Heights Academy in Oak Park to develop a sustainable living course. Capitol Heights Academy is a Kindergarten through 5th grade charter school in the Sacramento City School District that educates children from the surrounding Oak Park neighborhood. These students have little access to sustainable or healthy education in their homes, and the school is unable to provide the time or resources for sustainable education. Goals of the program were to educate students about sustainable living practices in an age appropriate manner and establish sustainable practices at the school. Students learned about recycling, composting, gardening, and the history of Earth Day, among other lessons. Guest speakers included “Green Beet” (local urban gardener and writer) and the Banana Slug String Band. The project culminated in a neighborhood Earth Day festival where families and neighbors were able to see the Capitol Heights Academy garden and receive information from various community vendors including SMUD & Kaiser Permanente.
Class II Projects
This community project was sponsored by the Sacramento Asian-Pacific Chamber of Commerce (SACC) through their Catalyst Leadership Program. The community project consisted of the Catalyst Green Team in partnership with the State Conservation Department hosting a recycling competition titled: “Share, Think and Grow Green.” The competition was between Grades 3-5 and 6-8 at Riverbank Elementary in West Sacramento, CA. Each team recycled aluminum and plastic bottles and all money generated went back directly to Riverbank Elementary. This school was chosen based on the greatest number of recycling centers within a 1-2 block radius of the schools to ensure the school could continue their partnership with the recycling centers after the competition. Riverbank Elementary supported the recycling program and worked with the Catalyst Green Team to encourage students and their parents to participate in the competition and create awareness towards recycling and improving our environment. The contest ran from September 21st thru October 23rd. The contacted recycling company Nexcycle dropped off recycling bins on Monday, September 21, 2009. Nexcycle then picked up the recycled materials every Friday by 3pm and reported the totals to The Catalyst Green Team. The Catalyst Green Team contacted Riverbank Elementary on a weekly basis for updates with the cumulated total collected. Awareness was generated by the Leadership Class at Riverbank, during a Riverbank Elementary Back to School Night, and a school rally at Riverbank hosted by the Catalyst team. The winning team was announced on October 26th. With the outstanding leadership and awareness generated by Riverbank Elementary, both teams celebrated with an ice cream party held on October 30th at Riverbank Elementary.
