Donors Boost NovatoSpirit's Kids

Our heartfelt thanks goes to all who gave to us in February! Board Members Alison Moore (pictured here) and Suzanne Daggert were among those who helped us raise a total of $26,215!

Alison, who is a nurse, hosted a bake sale with her medical colleagues at Novato’s Marin Community Clinic. And other people were equally creative with their fundraising.

One teenaged girl who is passionate about dance, Claire Weber, asked some of her fellow dancers and their families at Love 2 Dance to join her in contributing to our dance scholarship fund. Together they raised $725!

Since an anonymous donor stepped forward with an offer to match all contributions up to $10,000 received during the month, donations poured in from near and far. A philanthropist from Piedmont gave $5,000; a gentleman from Napa gave $5,000; a well wisher from San Rafael gave $1,000; a couple gave $1,000 through the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund; and $500 was given by an opera singer in Vienna, Austria. And many of you gave through our partner One World Children’s Fund, which serves impoverished children in more than 20 countries around the world.

Marin’s community radio station KWMR (90.5 FM), based in Point Reyes Station, broadcast a show hosted by Susan Santiago about our mission to help Novato’s low-income children. And news editors at the Marin Independent Journal, Novato Advance and Novato Patch spread the word.

NovatoSpirit was also put in the spotlight by Marin Charitable, which hosted a grants ceremony for us and 63 other Marin nonprofits serving vulnerable children. Marin Charitable’s members are exceptional, as they personally visited and vetted all 64 of us, then raised money to help.

Help came our way before February, through holiday gifts from many, including the Ginnie & Peter Haas Jr. Fund of the Marin Community Foundation, the Novato Senior Citizens Club and Ghirardo CPA.

We’re so grateful to all of you, and now your money is in motion! Our NovatoSpirit kids are running, kicking and dancing, thanks to your generosity.

Our soccer players are enjoying their indoor soccer season at the Novato Youth Center. Most of our kids have never played soccer—or any sport—so they cherish the opportunity to learn. Diane Ascher, who has successfully coordinated the soccer program there for two decades, explains her philosophy: “There are many venues for competitive players—very few strictly recreational games where a kid does not have to be the best, can experiment with the ball, and fall in love with the game. Falling in love with a sport begins a life of happy doctor visits—low weight, blood pressure, healthy heart, and so forth. And so I fight for venues for those who do not want to work at soccer. They want to play at it.”

Our karate kids demonstrated their skills recently at a karate tournament hosted by their master, Mr. Robert Ito, founder of Ito’s White Tiger Kempo Karate. One student who did well at the tournament wrote, “Karate is helping me to become stronger and more confident about myself. About one year and half ago the doctor diagnosed me with a medical condition called Low Muscle Tone. Karate is helping me to strength my muscle tone, and it is also helping me to improve my gross motor skills.”

NovatoSpirit’s youths often praise the cognitive and emotional benefits they receive from exercise. One child said, “I use what I learn at tae kwon do to cope when I am sad or feel bad about my life. I know many people have different circumstances and some probably have worse problems than I do, but while life is difficult, I am learning how to cope in different and safe ways. I learn about the person I want to become.”

Thank you for helping our children become the people they aspire to be.