West Sunset Rec Connect Summer Program Kick Off Party and BBQ at West Sunset Playground !

On this evening we celebrated film makers from all ages that made films as part of SNBCs' programs in the past year.
More info to be added later...

Experience Corps Members from San Francisco and Oakland gathered at the San Francisco Public Library to be recognized for their dedication and commitment to serving youth in Bay Area public schools.
In the 2005-2006 school year, the volunteers contributed more than 18,000 hours to 13 local schools and served 1,500+ students. At the Recognition Event, four volunteers were honored with Awards for Excellence for their outstanding service and significant impact on children.

On Tuesday, December 19th, 24 elementary school
students and 1 middle schooler headed out on the
Beacon skating extravaganza. We packed up our hopes
and dreams and headed over to the Yerba Buena ice
skating rink with images of ice and endless fun in our
heads. We arrived early on a bright sunny day and
found that the rink was nearly empty. We clammered
over to get our skates and, after some help, the kids
headed on to the rink. Some of us were skating around
like Michelle Kwan while others looked more like the
new spectacle "Frankenstein on Ice" but we all had a
great time. We skated around and played wonderous
games for about two hours and then headed off for
lunch. After a good skate the kids devoured their food
and headed over to the jungle gym to join countless
other youngsters. It was a celebration of youthful
play and comraderie that was truly a moment to
cherish. What a way to welcome in the holiday spirit. Joy to one and all.

The Annual SNBC National Night Out Community BBQ is an opportunity to unite the community and have great fun!

An evening to benefit the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center and to celebrate 10 years of service in the Sunset community.

San Francisco Zoo Field Trip

Experience Corps members, students, and school staff honored and thanked Congressman Tom Lantos, whose support has been instrumental to the program’s success, at a reception held on February 21, 2006 at Francis Scott Key Elementary School.

Thanks in part to Congressman Lantos, today 1,800 Experience Corps members in 14 cities serve 20,000 students struggling to learn to read. In San Francisco and Oakland, 120 Experience Corps members now work with 1,000 students in grades K-8 to help them succeed.

In appreciation, Experience Corps member Virginia Sturwold and two students presented Congressman Lantos with a framed photograph that hung in the U.S. Senate Russell Rotunda in July 2005 as part of an exhibit that showcased the power of Experience Corps members to affect the lives of children. Rep. Lantos was an honorary co-host of the exhibit, “Experience Corps and the New Wave of Civic Engagement.”

Congressman Lantos, a former professor and school board member, and his wife Annette, a former teacher, listened as several Experience Corps members thanked him for his commitment to the program and explained their own passion for it.

Rhoda Meer, like most Experience Corps members at Key Elementary, works with children who struggle to adjust to a second language. "I get the most wonderful satisfaction working one-on-one with these children,” she said. “They can be brilliant in their written work, but the challenge is to draw them more and more into conversation. It's the most rewarding thing to see them gradually get more and more confident, raising their hand and having the courage to speak up."

Principal David Wong shared his gratitude to Congressman Lantos and to the Experience Corps team at Key. “Every time I see the kids with our volunteers, it’s like magic, seeing their eyes light up,” he said. “They touch the lives of our children.”

Congressman Lantos noted that he was pleased to help support Experience Corps’s work. “To see a bit of federal help to enable these wonderful people to give freely and joyfully and with love of their talent and attention and knowledge and experience to these kids is truly heartwarming,” he said.

“The life of a member of Congress is so crowded and so full of a thousand things that, at the end of the day, you don’t know who you saw in the morning, who you had breakfast and lunch with,” Lantos said. “But this is an event that Annette and I will remember as long as we are in Congress.”

Below is a short paragraph that you can include on the website. Lemme know if you need anything else...

Last year, the South Sunset Playground next door to Ulloa Elementary School was vandalized and ruined by an arson fire. The community has come together to help raise the funds needed to rebuild the South Sunset Playground. Students and staff in SNBC's After School Learning Center at Ulloa Elementary raised $457.86 in the "Pennies for Playgrounds" campaign! On February 13, 2006, they were recognized for their fundraising efforts at a special ceremony at Ulloa Elementary School. Supervisor Fiona Ma, Wells Fargo, KNBR 680, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame and Polly Ann Ice Cream all came out to join in the celebration. Each student was given a Wells Fargo Certificate of Excellence and an ice cream and gift coupon from Polly Ann Ice Cream.

Congratulations to SNBC's students at Ulloa Elementary! They are the FIRST youth program to make an organized effort on behalf of the South Sunset Playground fundraising campaign. We are proud of their efforts to help make their community a fun, healthy and safe place for all children and families in the Sunset.

Please contact SNBC if you would like more information about the campaign to help rebuild the South Sunset Playground!

Lights On Afterschool is the only nationwide event celebrating afterschool programs and their important role in the lives of children, families and communities. Along with San Francisco Supervisor Fiona Ma, youth participants, parents, media, education officials, policy makers and other supporters of afterschool programming was invited to help us rally support for safe, stimulating afterschool programs in the Sunset community.

The National Night Out Community BBQ is a chance for members of the Sunset community to come together in a fun and relaxed setting in their own neighborhood. This community gathering also remembered and celebrated the life of Tess Manalo-Ventresca, a long-time friend to SNBC and a volunteer for Experience Corps San Francisco.

A lot of photos were taken at this event, so we've split them up into 2 different albums. The other Event album has a select 20 key photos, and in here you'll find the rest. Feel free to order prints!

This album contains a select few key photos from our great event. More than 350 youth, families, community partners, corporate representatives and elected officials attended our event at the San Francisco Zoo to support and celebrate the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center!

Was your child in a performance out our fundraiser? Here you can find photos from the Urban Dance Performance, Ribbon Dance and Lion Dancers. You all looked great out there!

Various photos from the Spring 2005 BBQ!

Photos from our film festival, celebrating the creativity in our community!

SNBC Spring BBQ - Dedicating community mural by Dustin Kramer and receiving a donation from SBC for our technology programs.