Third Annual OneChild Golf Tournament

Save the date!

OneChild will hold our Third Annual Charity Golf Tournament on Tuesday, August 26, 2008.

Happy New Year!

After a quiet December at OneChild, we are back and gearing up for a great 2008!

We did not serve families in the month of December but we will resume our regularly scheduled Saturdays in January. We do not schedule families until we have volunteers signed up for shifts, so if you have not yet given us your availability for January, please do so now!

Last month we took advantage of the holiday sales to stock up on basic clothing items like underwear, sweatshirts, and sweatpants. We were also able to organize the OneChild office and store so that we now have space to store extra clothing and school supplies.

The next big event for OneChild will be our volunteer orientation and training in February 2008. If you would like to volunteer with OneChild this year, please email us at onechildca@yahoo.com for more information.

If you have a blog or a web site, please consider adding our OneChild blog as a link. We also welcome comments on our blog. We love to hear from our supporters!

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

OneChild's 1st Annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner was a success! There were 25 volunteers and friends who enjoyed a nice dinner and each other's company at Bernie Dutra's home last week. Each volunteer was presented with a small plant in appreciation for "helping us grow" at OneChild.

This dinner was the first time that many volunteers were able to meet each other in person. For those who already knew each other, it was a great chance to catch up. During dinner, Bernie announced that OneChild had just received a donation of $500 from the Pete Stark Foundation!

Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who do so much to help OneChild! We could not do it without you.

Our Store

The OneChild store is located at 2000 Mowry Avenue, just behind Washington Hospital. We are in a portable building within walking distance from the Fremont BART station. Here is a short virtual tour of our space:

This is the area where kids get to choose two books to take home. The area behind the backpack stand will soon be occupied by a really nice shelving unit that will make socks and underwear much easier to access.

Each child who visits the store gets to choose a brand new backpack. The books we give away are sorted by age and the books you see in this picture are for those who are just learning to read.

Each child gets to fill up his or her backpack will lots of brand new school supplies. The green lists remind volunteers which supplies to give, as these are determined by school grade. For example, those in kindergarten will receive supplies like markers and glue while those in high school will receive binders and pens. We also make sure to give wide-ruled paper to elementary students and college-ruled paper to middle and high school students.

This is our front door and a view of the boys' shirts. Behind the men's sweats is a rack of boys' jeans.

This is a picture of the men's jeans and sweats. In the back corner you can see our temporary fitting room. We would love to give this corner a makeover!

This is a view of the girls' shirts and jeans, as well as a rack of "extra" items. These vary by season and can include things like shorts, tank tops and dresses that are given to kids but do not count against their total of 3 shirts and 2 pants.

This picture shows the section with clothing for girls and teens. The door in the back leads to a bathroom that is used as another fitting room.

Toddlers and infants are also clothed at OneChild, as long as they come in with an older sibling.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

OneChild Hires New Staff

In the past month, there have been many exciting changes going on at OneChild!

Starting November 1, 2007, OneChild will have two part-time paid staff members. Jennifer Heystek is the new Interim Executive Director and will stay with OneChild until February 2008. Beth Wong is a long-time volunteer and will now serve as the Volunteer Coordinator and Fundraising Chair.

The two portable buildings in front of the OneChild store have been removed, which makes our building much easier for families to find. Our web site has been updated and the store, stockroom, and office have been cleaned and organized.

We will soon be installing a new shelving unit in the store to make it easier to store and find socks and underwear. We are also planning a new creative style of adding some color to the store by decorating the walls.

Last week, Bernie and Jennifer met with two representatives from Leadership Fremont. Leadership is planning their community service project for 2008 and they are interviewing local non-profit organizations for ideas. We are thrilled that OneChild is being considered for this special project.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new blog of OneChild!

We are a non-profit organization committed to providing disadvantaged children with brand new clothing and school supplies. We are located in Fremont, California and serve children throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Our goal is to reinforce a sense of well-being with children in financial need, so that they may appreciate their individual worth. To date, OneChild has served over 1300 children!

OneChild is dependent upon the donations of generous people. No gift is too small. To make a financial donation or to drop off new clothing or school supplies, please visit our web site at http://www.onechildca.org/.

This blog will serve as a way to keep the public informed of the wonderful work OneChild is doing. Be sure to check back often for the latest news about fundraisers, volunteer opportunities, and media coverage.

Thank you!