Our upcoming Give Back Tuesday recipients include:

September 14: ForWords

Established in 2007, ForWords is a literacy and publication project for students in the San Rafael, California “Canal” area. Their students have been historically under-served, are generally from immigrant families, and are often learning English as a second language.  ForWords provides a variety of resources to help these students develop the ability to write effectively, and have their work published, whether poetry, fiction, music, drama, essays, or non-fiction.  ForWords has provided training and mentoring for local teachers, has purchased computers, software, cameras, and other material, developed and implemented 21st century curricula, hired the world-renown University of California Bay Area Writing Project to work directly with our students and local teachers, and hired a talented digital-arts teacher. Since ForWords began in 2007, our students have graduated from high school and gone to 2 or 4 year colleges. Find out more at www.forwords.org.

September 21: The Hungry Owl Project

The Hungry Owl Project, based in San Anselmo, was founded almost 10 years ago in an effort to reduce the residential and commercial use of pesticides and rodenticides by emphasizing reliance on beneficial predators such as Barn Owls, Western Screech Owls, American Kestrels (a falcon), Western Bluebirds and bats.  By putting up appropriate nesting boxes for these creatures, we can keep rodents and insects at bay without poisons.  Through the years we have expanded from Marin into Sonoma and Napa where we are working with vineyards such as Kendall-Jackson and Honig to help make their operations sustainable.  In addition to selling and installing boxes (made by community volunteers, high school woodshop students, Eagle scouts, etc.), we give educational presentations at local schools, featuring our non-releasable Barn Owl, Wookie, do rescue and rehab of owls and raptors in connection with WildCare and other programs. You can find out more at www.hungryyowl.org.

September 28: Marin Abused Women’s Services

For thirty three years, MAWS has been a leader in the effort to make Marin County’s communities free of family violence and domestic abuse.  MAWS is dedicated to providing not only immediate emergency services for women and children fleeing domestic violence, but also to working with battered women to obtain the skills and resources to lead violence-free lives.  To that end, MAWS provides a complete continuum of direct support services, including a safe shelter for battered women and their children, transitional housing, two 24-hour hotlines for women, support groups, advanced advocacy services, court accompaniment and other critical services for women and their children.  All of these services are offered in English and Spanish.  MAWS is the only organization in Marin County operating an emergency shelter, transitional housing and counseling programs for battered women and their children.  For more information go to www.maws.org.

October:

All of our Tuesdays in October benefit the YES Foundation.

The YES Foundation funds and is an advocate for high-quality, inspiring, engaging arts and other educational programs for the students of the Ross Valley School District. YES is a collaboration of parents, teachers, administrators, and community members dedicated to: