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Candice Bun

Candice Bun
In

Back to School Newsletter 2023

Hello GU Family!

Fall is in the air! I hope you are enjoying the beginning of your fall season. We are excited for the upcoming school year. Can you believe that summer is gone, and we launch our 2023-2034 Academic Enrichment Center next week? We are so grateful for all the support we received over the summer for our summer camps and our successful backpack giveaway – Thank you to all our volunteers and donors who made this possible. As we begin our new AEC school year, we would love it if you partnered in prayer with us for each student; we have 17 signed up so far! We hope you can join us this school year as a prayer partner, volunteer at the center, or at one of our events. Check out our volunteer section below for more info; please share with any friends or churches who may be interested as well!

Hispanic Heritage Month started on September 15 and runs through October 15; please check out our website for ways to celebrate with us and our community. We hope to see you at any one (or more!) of these events.

The many contributions of Hispanic/Latino leaders are evident in America. We recommend reading up on so many notable contributions. A featured movie that just came out on Amazon Prime is our recommendation for viewing this month! Jose M. Hernandez’s powerful and sweet story is a must-see! Click the photo for an article highlighting his story and the subsequent movie.

Back To School

Our students have been settling into the new school year and we are excited to launch this week. Please read below for some tangible ways that you can support our students and families, including volunteering, prayer team, and donations.

Can you help a student this year?

Now is a great time to engage with our community by reading with a child. Just one hour a week makes a difference in the lives of our students and families. Our fall programming begins on Monday, 9/25. We have weekday opportunities from 4:00-5:30 p.m. (you choose 1 hour that suits your schedule). Please join us AND consider telling a friend! We also welcome High School students interested in completing community service hours or seeking a service project. Our upcoming calendar is below, and updates are always available on our website. Click for more information or to sign up.
Click to Sign Up

Welcome to the Team!

Cindy Santana

Cindy Santana has joined the team as our Family Engagement Coordinator and will lead our Academic Enrichment Center (AEC). A native of Sinaloa, Mexico, she is a valuable member of our organization with much experience in working with children and families. Please click her photo to see her whole bio. You can reach her at cindy@generations-united.com or 650.422.1658

Kat Alvarado

Kat Alvarado is a native of the Bay Area and has spent many years connected to Generations United. She is working in the medical field and will be working with us in the afternoons at the AEC. Please click her photo to read more about her.

ExploraDios

 

We are excited to launch a new community group in the heart of North Fair Oaks. We appreciate your prayers as we prepare to meet and explore life’s questions and faith in God.

We’ll meet on Saturdays beginning September 23 and culminate with our annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner. Please join us for that celebration on Sunday, November 12.

$30,000 Match

Our fall match campaign is at 38% with $9,535 raised so far! Every gift is DOUBLED so please help us start this school year off with a BANG!

Give Today
We encourage donations via Facebook or Zelle (no fees!). We also accept ACH, Venmo, and PayPal.
Details are on our website, click the button above.

With programs starting up, we need some passionate individuals to join our team. We welcome your referrals, so please forward this email to anyone interested in working with us.

Click for more information

Calendar:

9/23 ExploraDios begins

9/24 Glocal Ministry Fair at Peninsula Covenant Church (3560 Farm Hill Blvd., Redwood City)

9/25 First Day of AEC

Here is our AEC calendar should you like to join us for the fun! We have added Danza Colibri to our Wednesday programming! The children are loving this! We continue dance and music with Fridays and Sundays as well as Taekwondo on Thursdays at 5:30 at Salvation Army.

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Candice Bun
In Community Happenings, Upcoming Events

Cultural and Community Opportunities

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Generations United!
Explore the culture around our city and find ways to get and stay connected to our neighbors in Redwood City.

A decorated guitar with a label of La Musica
picture of a taco stand
group of dancers in traditional Mexican dress

We’ve added a map below for some of the suggested locations. Have fun exploring!

1. EL ELOTE Fiestas Patrias in Downtown Redwood City – Sun. Sept. 17 3 pm – 8 pm

2. EL PAVO– Join us in our Community Thanksgiving Dinner in November (details to follow)

3. LA IGLESIA– Peninsula Covenant Church will host a Glocal Ministry Fair on Sunday, Sept. 24. 3560 Farm Hill Blvd. Redwood City.  Attend a Spanish-speaking church (Kairos Church or Verbo) Comunidad Familiar Cristiana, Familia Cristiana Verbo, Templo La Luz

7. LA MÚSICA– Listen to Spanish worship music or attend a concert in Spanish

10. EL PAN DULCE– Try a warm concha or a Mexican snack (Panaderia Michoacán)

11. LOS TACOS– Try a new restaurant/food (pupusas, tamales, caldo, birria, etc) or from a region you’ve never tried (Cuban, Puerto Rican, Peruvian)

15. EL MERCADO– Visit a Hispanic Market (Mi Rancho, El Mercadito Latino, Chavez, etc.)

16. LA CALAVERA– Attend Redwood City’s Día De Los Muertos Festival (details to follow)

17. LA BANDERA– The Mexican flag will be raised for the first time in Redwood City Downtown at 10 am.

24. LA DANZA– Go to a cultural presentation (Danza Colibrí), an art exhibit, or join us for our Danza & Music classes on Fridays (4:45pm-5:45pm) or Mariachi lessons on Sundays (9:00am-1:00pm)

Candice Bun
In Community Happenings,

A Summer to Remember

by Angie Ibarra Miller
Founder & Executive Director of Generations United

_______

This year, we started as every year does. We assessed our 2022, prayed, met as a staff, and mapped out our year. As we began to look towards summer, something just caused me to pause. I had a sense that summer would look different in 2023. We put some dates in the calendar, but it was only for a few weeks. We knew we would do our VBS with our partner, the Salvation Army, but we needed to figure out how the other weeks would empower children; we weren’t entirely sure. We did as we always do, jumped into action, and looked at grants, volunteers, and staff necessary for summer camp funding. We began preparing our grant requests and praying about what we would do. There were so many children to consider and families genuinely struggling to determine how they could work, but children needed care.

April 2023 – We decided not to have our joint summer camp with w/another church in San Mateo. We realized that we couldn’t pull it off. Staffing in Silicon Valley has been challenging. When young people can make $27 @ In and Out…why work at a small nonprofit? Our precious and dedicated volunteers wanted to take summer breaks. After all, it was the first summer where families felt they could travel freely.

The door that opened was with Peninsula Covenant Church (PCC). Someone advised us that they had space at SACC. We devised a plan for a small discount off the costly rate and frantically contacted our funders. 

We worked with Executive Director Dione and set in motion our plan to serve as many children as possible during the 8-week timeframe. North Fair Oaks (NFO) children had never been able to swim in a pool, run on a spacious lawn, learn bible songs daily, do woodwork, do cooking class, have water fun, and enjoy weekly field trips. This option was a blessing as families didn’t have to worry about their children staying home alone, playing in their carports unattended, or zoning out on video games. God had provided.

We are so thankful that after 15 years of partnership with PCC, we saw our children having such a fantastic summer on my church campus. I’m thinking of a student who lost an aunty in a horrible car accident and had so many friends to enjoy summer with. A family of 3 children who joined us, with three more at home, faced terrible circumstances this year when their father lost his job. Another family lives in a mobile park, and our sweet student is now in middle school and unsure if she wants to go. She smiled every day and said that bible time was her favorite time!

We launched with a prayer team covering all children, staff, and facilities! https://generations-united.com/summer-prayer-partners/

We pray this will be the first of many blessings as we bridge the communities of North Fair Oaks and PCC. They are only 3.8 miles from one another, and they are worlds apart. May our church look more like heaven in the days to come! 

There are many stories from this summer that we’d love to share with you! Please stop by our center in September, or consider volunteering! https://generations-united.com/volunteer/

Thank you for a stellar summer! <– Click to view our video recap of this amazing summer!

Candice Bun
In

Thank you Summer 2023

We are so grateful to every one of our loving volunteers.
This summer, we spread so much love to our students and families.
This would not have been possible without our donors, volunteers, and community partners’ faithful support, tireless commitment, and loving dedication.

Thank you from our students, staff, and community. Please view a short video below with highlights from summer camp and VBS!

Match Campaign Met!

We are incredibly grateful to every person who gave to our summer match. We raised $30,000, which a generous donor then matched! THANK YOU!!

Each of our students is grateful for the prayers this summer, and you can scroll through to continue to pray for them to have a successful school year.

Candice Bun
In , Upcoming Events

June Newsletter 2022

Dear Friends and Partners,

It’s June – how did half a year go so quickly? As we head into the summer, we have mixed emotions as we finish the school year strong! There are many highlights to share, which would take much longer than our monthly newsletter!

We have experienced several losses this year with dear volunteers who left this earth earlier than we’d hoped. Our friend Brian Dubois went to heaven in May, and I wanted to share a sweet quote from his time as a volunteer. Brian was intentional about being missional in his city. Please pray for Jaymie and their family.

We are excited about the direction and focus of GU as we head into the future. The graduation of 40+ entrepreneurs from our Business 101 class last month was stellar. What an incredible advancement for our community after several challenging pandemic-impacted years!

Summer Camp plans are moving forward, and our partnerships are growing; we are grateful to Peninsula Covenant Church and Salvation Army for welcoming our students. After grants and scholarships, we have an immediate need for $20,000 to cover the remaining costs of student tuition. Details are below or please reply for Sponsor-a-Student information.

Our superpower is equipping individuals, families, churches, and businesses to open up their doors (and hearts) to serve the most vulnerable within our reach. YOU can be a part of creating lasting memories for a student in our community by supporting GU. Join us at Peninsula Covenant Church (3560 Farm Hill Blvd. Redwood City) Sunday, June 11 at 12 pm for a casual lunch and hear from Angie Ibarra Miller about this vision! Thank you for your love, prayers, support, and service – it means the world to us!

Important Dates this month:

  • Sun 11: 12 pm lunch @ PCC 3560 Farm Hill Blvd.
  • Sun 18: Happy Father’s Day
  • Mon 19: Summer Camp begins

Mother’s Day Celebration

We enjoyed a wonderful celebration with our mothers and mother figures last month! It has been a blessing to partner with Stanford and have use of the park around the corner.

Click here for more photos!

Graduations 2023

Justin and Kyler are moving on from elementary school and heading to middle school! We are so proud of the work they have accomplished this year and the joy they bring to our student group.

Congratulations to these Business Owners!

These incredible entrepreneurs completed an intense Business Development Class and we are so proud of them! Thank you to Tito & Adela of Marketea & the team at Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center.

Volunteer Spotlight

Melisa Njeru (far right) is a new volunteer at Generations United, and has hit the ground running! Melisa is known to be the first person to show up to set up for an event and be the last person to leave after tear-down. She is ready to jump in and do what is needed. She also tutors one of our 5th graders each week. Thank you so much, Melisa, for all you’ve done in your short time with Generations United!

Join us This Summer!

While our hours of operation are limited during the summer to make room for summer camp planning and execution, we are still hosting tutoring sessions for reading partners and students. We need friends to come by and help keep things looking good and running smoothly: clean-up, gardening, small projects, organizing books and materials, etc.

Thursdays at noon we get food donations and we could use your help to organize & distribute them to our families. Contact Julia or click the link below.

Click to Volunteer

Summer Double Impact Match

Summer is the time when most non-profits face financial giving declines. This year we have some BIG goals and we’re excited to share them with you! Our biggest needs this summer are staffing, family events, and summer camps for students. We have some amazing partnerships with local organizations that help offset many expenses, so our need is significantly less. You can sponsor a Summer Camp student for $100/week. Our goal for summer campers is $20K! Click below.

Thank you to all who give generously! From now through July 31, your gift is matched dollar for dollar up to $30,000!

Click to Donate

We encourage donations via Facebook or Zelle (no fees!). We also accept ACH, Venmo, and PayPal.

Details are on our website, click the button above.

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Happy Father’s Day!

We are grateful to all who love our students and send a special shout-out to the dads in our community – especially our staff dads Kopo & Keith.

We love you and celebrate you!

Volunteers needed for Summer Camp

Summer Camp starts next month! We have 35 students signed up! We also welcome more volunteers to join us! We are so excited to partner with Calvary San Mateo again this year. We will also work with the Salvation Army! We know it will be a meaningful and joyful experience for all! Please pass the word on to friends, family, and coworkers!

Summer $20K Match

Summer is the time when most non-profits face financial giving declines. Would you consider a summer gift that will be matched by a generous donor!
Double your impact TODAY
We encourage donations via Facebook or Zelle (no fees!). We also accept ACH, Venmo, and PayPal.
Candice Bun
By In

Back to School Newsletter 2023

Hello GU Family! Fall is in the air! I hope you are enjoying the beginning of your fall season. We…
Read More
Candice Bun
In Upcoming Events

Summer 2023

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  • summer camp
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Information for Families/Información para familias

Scroll Down for Volunteer Information

Registration is open now. More information below. La inscripción está abierta. Más información abajo.

SUMMER CAMP OPTIONS -2023

VBS

July/julio 17-21: Salvation Army. 9am-3pm, Concert/concierto 7/23 11am. Ages/edades 5-12 (Free/gratis)

 

Salvation Army: Monday-Saturday $40/per week/lunes – sábado $40 por semana

June/junio 19-24: Discovery Camp (ages/edades 8-12, 4 spots available/espacios disponibles)

June 26-July 1: Discovery Camp  (8-12 yo, 5 spots available/espacios disponibles)

July 3-8: SAY/Junior Music (7-11 yo, 5 spots available/espacios disponibles)

July 10-15: SAY/Teen Music (12-17 yo, 5 spots available/espacios disponibles)

 

Discovery Camp/ Campamento de Descubrimiento

6-day camps that offer a variety of experiences, including swimming; arts and crafts; archery; slingshots; campouts; campfires; hiking, outdoor education; cabin activities; chapel time and devotions, and much more. Through this camp experience campers will have the opportunity to discover the depths of God’s love for them and the wonder of his creation.

Campamentos de 6 días que ofrecen una variedad de experiencias, incluida la natación; Artes y manualidades; tiro al arco; tirachinas; campamentos; fogatas; senderismo, educación al aire libre; actividades de cabina; tiempo de capilla y devociones, y mucho más. A través de esta experiencia de campamento, los campistas tendrán la oportunidad de descubrir las profundidades del amor de Dios por ellos y la maravilla de su creación.

 

Music and Worship Arts Camp – ages 9 to 13 years old:
Campamento de música y artes de adoración – edades 9 a 13:

is a 7-day camp that provides campers with opportunities for vocal ensembles, creativity through gospel arts, and playing musical instruments. The camp concludes with a concert that will be open to campers’ families, friends, and Corps members.  Also, campers will be able to participate in regular camp activities, such as swimming, arts and crafts, and more!  

es un campamento de 7 días que brinda a los campistas oportunidades para conjuntos vocales, creatividad a través de las artes del evangelio y tocar instrumentos musicales. El campamento concluye con un concierto que estará abierto a las familias, amigos y miembros del Cuerpo de los campistas. Además, los campistas podrán participar en actividades regulares del campamento, como natación, artes y manualidades, ¡y más!

Salvation Army Youth (SAY) Camp, ages 7 to 12 years old:
Campamento para edades 7 a 12:

is a 6-day camp that is part of the Salvation Army Sunbeam, Girl Guard, and Adventure Corps programs which take place at The Salvation Army Corps throughout the year. Campers will earn emblems for participation in camp activities, electives, and classes while also experiencing regular camp activities and having the opportunity to discover the depths of God’s love for them through His creation.

es un campamento de 6 días que forma parte de los programas Sunbeam, Girl Guard y Adventure Corps del Ejército de Salvación que se llevan a cabo en el Cuerpo del Ejército de Salvación durante todo el año. Los campistas ganarán emblemas por participar en las actividades del campamento, las electivas y las clases mientras experimentan las actividades regulares del campamento y tienen la oportunidad de descubrir las profundidades del amor de Dios por ellos a través de Su creación.

MOUNT HERMON (Santa Cruz Mtns): Sunday-Saturday $40 refundable deposit per week
domingo a sabado $40 inscripción por semana

July/julio 30-Aug/agosto 5: 2nd -6th grade/2o -6o grado

August/agosto 6-12: 4th-6th grade/4o grado – 6o grado

Volunteers make a big difference in helping to manage the amount of students who participate in camp at the Salvation Army. You can choose a day/time, one full day, or a recurring time. We still always need readers to meet students during the summer.

Sign up on our volunteer page and indicate your availability

Volunteer this summer!
Candice Bun
In Community Happenings, , Upcoming Events

May Newsletter 2023

I am filled with gratitude for the beautiful gift of being a mom to two incredible women of God, and for being known as “MamaAng” to my extended family. Mother’s Day holds true significance for many, but it also can be a hard time for some. We acknowledge that and hold space for those who face this day with mixed feelings. In the midst of the grief of loss and the pain of estrangement, we also recognize that there are women who have demonstrated love in our lives in extraordinary ways. For these women, I am extremely grateful.
This month, we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! My own family tree has roots in the Philippines and several of our staff members (Tapelus, Bún) will celebrate and share their AAPI heritage with us throughout the month. As we honor our history and elevate the stories of our AAPI community, we welcome your stories and experiences. Please contact Julia for more information on how to share your story or tradition with our AEC students.

We invite you to celebrate Mother’s Day on Dia de Las Madres – Wednesday, May 10. Details below.
Happy May!

Blessings and gratitude,

Easter Celebration

We celebrated Easter with some fun at the AEC. Our new partnership with Stanford opened the park up to us for an egg hunt along with some lawn games. Click the photo to the right for a fun Instagram recap.
Thank you to the generous donors & volunteers who helped make it possible!
We look forward to returning to the park next week for Mother’s Day!

We’d love to see you this month!

There are many opportunities for you to support our students and be a part of events:

Click to Volunteer

Día de las Madres

You are invited to join us as we celebrate the Mothers of our community. May 10 is the day that most Latin American countries celebrate Mother’s Day and we will honor our mothers on that afternoon.
We will have music, sweet treats, and a special performance by Danza Colibri!
Join us to celebrate the amazing women of North Fair Oaks. We also welcome your financial support.
Give Today!

We love our volunteers!

As we head into the final few weeks of school, we are calling on all volunteers to support our students in finishing the school year strong! We need your help to play games, read, do art projects, and just be present with our students at our AEC. Can you spare an hour or two in the coming weeks? Our center is open Mon-Thurs from 3-6 pm. We could also use some snack donations if you prefer a food donation! Click below for more information.

Join Us!

Thank You to all who served with us on the AEC Spring Cleaning team!

April was volunteer appreciation month and Julia (our Volunteer Coordinator) made this wonderful video featuring our students. Enjoy and be sure to follow us while you’re there!

Sponsor a Summer Camp Student

Summer brings a lot of free time for our students which creates an opportunity for us to help support them. “Summer slide” is a very real and pressing issue for our students as they miss out on dedicated academic support and instruction. Our summer camps allow them to have fun AND engage in some academic activities to help keep their brains sharp and their imaginations growing.
Most summer camps in Redwood City are $250-$650 weekly. Generations United program is $200 per child for one week of full-time programming.

Your financial help is a huge blessing and bridges the financial gap as we increase to longer hours versus after-school programming. We also welcome more volunteers to join us! We are so excited to partner with Salvation Army again this year! We know it will be a meaningful and joyful experience for all! Please pass the word on to friends, family, and coworkers!

Sponsor a Student

Economic Advancement
North Fair Oaks (NFO)
Business 101 Class
Jan-May 2023

We’re grateful for the amazing opportunity to work with our neighbors and business partners in North Fair Oaks to create a model to alleviate poverty. We knew it was time. We really weren’t sure what the response would be when we started working on the plan to gather entrepreneurs in NFO, but the result has been wonderful.
Sixteen students graduated from our class in 2022, and now we have 50+ active participants who will graduate with a business plan – that’s more than a 300% increase! We had to move to a larger space to accommodate everyone!
Completion of the class will allow these entrepreneurs to apply for a $5000 grant to launch their business and potentially a $10,000 interest-free loan for those completing a business plan.
Thank you to Renessaiance Entrepreneur Center, Marketea, and the incredibly dedicated entrepreneurs who dedicated twelve weeks to dreaming together!
Click to Sign Up

Graduation: May 20, 2023
Follow us for more updates and save the date for May 20 when we will celebrate the graduation of FIFTY small business owners!

Click to Sign Up
Important Dates in May
10 – Mother’s Day/Día de las Madres Celebration at Stanford Park
13 – Happy birthday to Keith Miller
14 – Mother’s Day – Outreach Opportunity at Sequoia Church. Join us for a special time of preparing Blessing Baskets for mothers in our community. 10:45 am 233 Topaz St. Redwood City
15 – Happy Birthday to Julia Fior
20 – Business 101 Class Graduation
26 – Last Day of AEC
Click here to view our current AEC Calendar
We welcome your financial support and encourage donations via Facebook or Zelle (no fees!). We also accept ACH, Venmo, and PayPal.
Details are on our website, click below.
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