New Year Brings New Children to Nonprofit NovatoSpirit

NovatoSpirit’s dance students burst into the New Year with music and motion, performing with their friends onstage recently at the Civic Center Auditorium. They impressed an audience of hundreds!

This year our current dancers will be joined by some new NovatoSpirit students, who have been on our waiting list. One new girl wrote, “I want to be healthy, exercise, listen to new music, learn new dance moves, make new friends and especially have so much fun. Since I have a lot of free time, I don’t want to sit there and watch TV. I want to get up and dance.”

Many of our students have never had the opportunity to exercise, or to be on an athletic team, because of financial difficulties. So they especially appreciate receiving a NovatoSpirit scholarship for athletics, such as dance, basketball, soccer, tae kwon do and karate. We offer each child a scholarship for 5 years, so each can exercise frequently in a safe environment with an experienced, encouraging teacher.

Speaking of teachers, one of our NovatoSpirit mothers is thrilled with the talented instructor her daughter has at the Love 2 Dance studio. “We feel so lucky to have an amazingly great teacher, who teaches my daughter leaps, tricks, and turns in class. All of the other girls in the class are nice and supportive of each other and my daughter is having a great time. We can’t believe that my daughter has been with NovatoSpirit for four and a half years, and we have all benefitted so much from this great scholarship. Without dance, my daughter would not be who she is today.”

One new NovatoSpirit boy is excited about playing basketball for the first time: “Basketball looks like a good sport to me. I have seen teams play basketball in books. I like it that they are quick at taking the ball away from the other team. I want to be fast as them and learn the skills. I want to do it to be energetic and strong.”

Meanwhile, our karate and tae kwon do students are enjoying their workouts. Our tae kwon do students are taking Korean language lessons with their esteemed teacher, Master Myong O, and have reported they feel healthier as a result of their exercises. One of our female students wrote, “Tae kwon do is helping my health for so many reasons. It helps my mind go clean with no struggles or worries, and it helps me stay active. I used to be very shy before, but now that I am in tae kwon do I can really embrace myself. It helps me have contact with my friends. It helps my body and myself to be very strong.”

Another girl wrote, “My teacher and I do not speak the same language and he has been patient with me. He patiently explains the moves to me and encourages me to continue. I have been given an opportunity to improve my communication skills through my classes…Tae kwon do is helping me balance my life both physically and mentally. It has provided me an outlet and a hobby. I appreciate the opportunity to continue growing and learning.”

Like this girl, all of NovatoSpirit’s children are growing and learning, thanks to your generosity and goodwill. Please accept our deepest thanks.

NovatoSpirit has also been blessed with recognition and recent grants. We were celebrated at the Heart of Marin Awards for being nominated for “Achievement in Nonprofit Excellence.” And we received generous gifts from Marin Charitable and Unity of Marin.

Especially heart-warming was the gift from a teenager, Jensen Neff. During the holidays, Jensen spent hours taking photos and selling them to benefit NovatoSpirit, raising $200 for the children we serve.

Now we’re all looking forward to February, when we’re encouraging kids and teens to “Be a Valentine” and raise funds to benefit low-income children in Novato and around the world. Please consider having your family help NovatoSpirit reach our $8,000 fundraising goal to benefit Novato children or help impoverished children in other countries, who are served by our partner One World Children’s Fund, www.owcf.org.

NovatoSpirit is a 501c3 public charity. For more information, please visit www.novatospirit.org.