November has been a tough month for California. First the mass shooting in Thousand Oaks and then the fires in Malibu and Paradise. Fire hit very close to home over President’s weekend with the fire at Sierra House Elementary and we are so grateful to our local firefighters, district staff and community helpers for quickly stopping the fire from spreading and for working so hard and so quickly to get the school open again.
It is times like this when we realize how incredible our community is. From collecting supplies for victims of the Camp Fire, to funding Thanksgiving dinners for local families in need – our community always rises to help others.
Indeed, the Club has been the lucky recipient of some much needed community support recently. First came the wonderful Trick or Retreat event at the Tahoe Beach Retreat and Lodge. The Club was the lucky non-profit partner for the event and the proceeds just about covered our candy costs:)
The same week the Barton Foundation provided the funding for another YELL Camp with Dr Matt Wong during Spring Break. Then came a wonderful donation towards our operational costs from the American Century Foundation, closely followed by amazing kindness and generosity from Vail Epic Promise. Vail Epic Promise not only provides a generous contribution to our food program, but has also donated the Cal Lodge Parking Lot for Tahoe Brewfest 2019 and provided another summer of Epic Discovery adventure for our members. Vail and US Bank are the two biggest annual donors to the Club and we are so grateful for their support.
We also enjoy many wonderful partnerships with other non-profits in town. LVF is helping to train our staff in behavioral and mental health needs, SOS Outreach takes our kids skiing, TRTA takes them backpacking and TYFS includes us in their Holiday Party. It is this mutual support and collaboration that builds community and together we are stronger.
The greatest give of all this year has without doubt been the wonderful donation from Lisa Maloff and the gift of land for our building from LTUSD. Huge thanks must go to Dr. Tarwater, Billy Wessell and all on the LTUSD School Board for their unwavering commitment to the Club and the children. Our dream of a purpose built home of our own is becoming a reality and it could not have happened without Lisa and LTUSD.
Finally, we are so grateful for our staff and our members. We have the most amazing admin. team, program team and support staff – all of whom make work fun, efficient and meaningful. And the icing on the cake is our members – their laughter, their tears, the special bonds that they have with each other and the staff, their enthusiasm and their talent. They make the hard days worthwhile and we are so grateful that we get to work with them.
We wish all our partners, donors, Club parents and members a very Happy Thanksgiving.
