HELP! let’s get “troubled” kids out of court and into college!!
Just in from Cynthia Derosier…
Hi my marhvelous Surfrider Spirit Sessions supporters and dear friends!
I’m sending out a plea for help on behalf of the kids I’ve told you about…
As you know, the Spirit Sessions has been making great strides in empowering the at-risk youth appointed to us by the Hawaii Family courts. Many of them have such craziness in their lives that they wind up struggling academically. Our work with them has already boosted their self esteem and opened their minds to the idea that they can do and be more than they thought… productive and successful individuals instead of “troubled” and “criminal”. Because of thier new realtionship to the ocean and beaches, many of them are showing an interest in the environment and science. They are gaining momentum and we want to keep them flying along….
SO….. we’ve developed a “phase 2″ to the Spirit Sessions called “NALU Studies”. It’s an intensive outdoor experiential marine biology program designed especially for spirit sessions “graduates”…at the end of the NALU Studies they will have earned 1 college credit and will be pre-enrolled in Windward Community College. THIS IS HUGE! Our partners at WCC just announced that our program now has an official course number and our lab and classroom facilities have been allocated!!…we have already secured over $40k in in-kind donations and were set to receive 2 grants to pay for the rest of the program, but as you can guess, we’ve hit a snag:
here’s the help part: the grant we were supposed to receive by October 1, in time for NALU has been tied up in red tape. We’re getting the $ but NOT until next year. So NALU will happen, but the kids who want in this year may not qualify next year (because many of them will not be out of their respective court programs and/or too old) and we don’t want to turn them away!!
Foundations take too long to process funds and while they want to support us they can get the funds to us in time….so we’re getting back to our grassroots!!!….we need an “army” of individual, corporate and private donors to help make this happen. We are a fiscally sponsored 501(c)3 organization and all contributions are tax-deductible.
PLEASE TAKE JUST A FEW MINUTES TO REVIEW THE ATTACHED 2-PG “BEG LETTER” and other collateral and PASS IT ON to anyone you know (corporate or private or anything!) who might want to help sponsor a kid out of court and into class!!! I’m happy to meet with, speak to and present to any potential donor that has questions etc.
LETS GET THESE KIDS OUT OF COURT AND INTO SCHOOL!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
(if you want to donate online just go to: www.justgive.org/giving/donate.jsp?charityId=29960 and designate “Hee NALU learning Center” as your choice)
Cynthia Y.H. Derosier
Executive Director
c: 389.2474 f: 263.2474
PO Box 1677, Kailua, HI 96734
He‘e Nalu Learning Center
Ocean-Based Environmental Experiential Programs Benefitting At-Risk Youth
Spirit Sessions & NALU Studies: Catching waves to college!
Attachments:
Nalu-Donor-Request.pdf
Nalu-Endorsement-Radius_8-08.pdf
NALU-Tri-Fold-2008.pdf
