Workday 2009 video

Attendees at ShareFest’s Sixth Annual Evening of Community Fundraiser got the first glimpse of our 2009 Workday video, but now it’s online for all to see.

Pass it along, especially to any of our generous volunteers.

Communities headed toward healing

These two articles in the L.A. Times about the community center ShareFest helped create in Harbor Gateway are examples of the direction ShareFest is nudging neighborhoods.

Both articles discuss the Cheryl Green Community Youth Center that ShareFest volunteers built on the Sixth Annual Workday, but they also show a glimpse of the community it is helping heal.

I accordance with ShareFest’s goals, the center is a step toward diffusing violence, gangs and racial tension in Harbor Gateway, but there is still change to be had in this area and so many others.

Let’s be proud of the work done but remember there is plenty more.

Youth center opens as racial tensions ease in Harbor Gateway

After Cheryl Green, a black teenager, was gunned down, allegedly by Latino gang members, near her house after school, her mother was approached by several African Americans offering to retaliate violently for her daughter’s death.

Earlier this week, Charlene Lovett recalled the moment, looking back on how tense relations between blacks and Latinos had become in the section of Harbor Gateway known as “The Strip.”

That was in December 2006, at a time when blacks said they feared Latino gangs were trying to push them out of the neighborhood. Lovett said retaliation, however, was not the answer.

Full article

Youth center named for victim of ethnic violence

Los Angeles officials on Monday dedicated the Cheryl Green Community Youth Center in Harbor Gateway, named after the African American teenager who was shot to death in 2006 by Latino gang members.

Green, 14, was killed near her home when a 204th Street gang member fired into a group of black youths on Harvard Boulevard, police said. The Latino gang had been preying on and attacking blacks for years.

Full article

Still getting Workday stories

Check out another article about ShareFest and how much of an impact volunteers have had on Redondo Beach schools, especially during the state budget problems.

As the school year ends, Redondo Beach’s schools look better than they did in September, despite the daunting budget challenges faced by almost all districts in California. Student and community volunteers spent May 2 working on much-needed beautification projects at five Redondo Beach Unified School District sites. At Parras and Adams middle schools, as well as Alta Vista, Tulita and Jefferson elementary schools, campuses were cleaned, trees and flowers were planted, picnic tables were built and old ones refinished, and murals were painted on classroom doors and on the sides of buildings to lift the students’ school spirit. Volunteers even built a retaining wall at Parras.

Check out the rest of the article here.

If you’ve seen ShareFest in the press or want to share your personal stories, please, leave us a comment.

Harbor Gateway community center opens

After two years of work, the Cheryl Green Community Youth Center in Harbor Gateway is open and ready to serve the community.

After a huge community push on ShareFest’s Sixth Annual Workday (that you can read about here), the Boys & Girls Club is now running programs after the center’s recent opening.

ShareFest, Janice Hahn, L.A. City officials and the entire Harbor Gateway community came together to unify the neighborhood and create a safe place for kids after the shooting of Cheryl Green more than two years ago. But her memory has caused the community galvanized to create  a safer environment for its youth.

The hand-painted sign outside the center

Here is a piece of an article the Daily Breeze ran about the opening of the center:

Charlene Lovett walked up the ramp Monday, stopped, looked at the lettering on the wall, and began to cry.

Two-and-a-half years after her 14-year-old daughter, Cheryl Green, was killed in Harbor Gateway allegedly because of her race, Lovett’s dream of a community center for the neighborhood children had finally arrived.

Lovett took part in the opening of the Boys & Girls Club Harbor Gateway/Torrance Cheryl Green Community Youth Center.

The center at Del Amo Boulevard and Denker Avenue is just blocks from where Cheryl died, and takes the place of a dirt lot.

“Cheryl’s spirit is here,” Lovett said. “I’m looking at all the young kids here. It’s amazing that we are here together – Hispanic and black.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

Change through partnerships

Over the years working with ShareFest, churches often form bonds with the communities they serve. ShareFest is a conduit for communities to connect and create change together.

One example of this is King’s Harbor Church and Bert Lynn Middle School. For two years the church, school and ShareFest have worked together, and the effects on the middle school are evident.

Take a look at the letter below to see how much has been accomplished.

Dear Sharefest Staff:

Bert Lynn would like to thank Sharefest and the King’s Harbor Church for another successful Sharefest Day. We appreciate all the work completed as this day made a significant difference to our school.

The school entrance looks awesome with the removal of the caged fence and repainting of the walls. The decorative wood slats aesthetically looks 100x better and brings in a lot more light to the corridor entrance. This day also included sanding and painting of all the classroom doors, and lunch benches. All this work would not have been possible without Sharefest and the church’s adoption of our school.

I want to especially acknowledge Mr. JR McDonald, the coordinator for all his time and dedication. He helped organize the event and did all the prep work, which made for a successful day. Thank you again for organizing this event, matching us up with a charitable group, the funds to complete some of the projects, and the donated supplies. This event has made Bert Lynn a cleaner and more beautiful place for students to attend.

Enclosed is our school newsletter with a short article about the work that has been completed over the past two-years of Sharefest work performed by the King’s Harbor Church, showing the before/after picture of the entrance to our school. Thank you again for the continued valuable work your agency does for schools and nonprofits throughout the South Bay.

Sincerely,

LeRoy Jackson                                             Jayne Okazaki

Principal                                                        Assistant Principal

The chain link behind these to signs was replaced with wood shading.