YES is Making a Difference (Hardwear Sessions)

YES

By Eric Aaholm, Youth Enrichment Strategies (YES) Executive Director

Youth Enrichment Strategies (YES) is a Richmond, California non-profit agency that enriches the lives of low-income children and families by bringing them to outdoor summer and family camps. Since 1999, YES has provided opportunities for thousands of Richmond and West Contra Costa County children ages 8 to 16, by having them attend summer camps all over Northern California.

In 2004, YES started weekend Family Camps for kids and their parents at YMCA Camp Loma Mar near Half Moon Bay, California. Outdoor camps provide an incredible opportunity for local kids and families to establish a connection with nature, with loved ones, and with themselves through a myriad of recreational and life-skill activities. Camps give participants the opportunity to find respite and joy in settings that are both safe and supportive - conditions that are often lacking in some of their Richmond neighborhoods where poverty and violence can dictate day-to-day life. Check out YES's 10th anniversary video "Camp, Connection, Community" by visiting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFrbU6Jtbd0.

For the past four years, YES has been a proud grant recipient of Mountain Hardwear's Gives Back program and looks forward to involving Mountain Hardwear employees with volunteer opportunities in their own backyard. This fall, YES will offer two Family Camps to children and families from Peres and Verde Elementary Schools in Central and North Richmond. Both Alex Baires and Ryan Hodgkin from Mountain Hardwear are planning to volunteer at the camps.

Baires attended YES's 10th Anniversary annual dinner in May and speaks highly of the organization. "YES is truly making a difference in the very city Mountain Hardwear calls home by introducing community members to nature and the outdoors. The youth and families that YES servers do not have many opportunities, if any, to enjoy the outdoors so I am especially appreciative by YES's mission and ability to get youth outside and away from the daily routine. It's exciting to be able to support a local non-profit that falls in line with Mountain Hardwear's philosophy and values."

To learn more about how to get involved, visit www.yesfamilies.org or contact Eric Aaholm at eric@yesfamilies.org / 510-232-3032.