July 2024 | eNewsletter

Dear Friends,

It’s been a little while since we last reached out this way, but I promise we have a good reason: we’ve been BUSY, but in the best way!

Summer is always a great time at YES and this being our 25th year registering Richmond youth for summer camp, it feels even more energized. Just in the past few weeks, all of the young people in our Youth Leadership Pathway (YLP) programs have graduated from their cohorts and many have already embarked on their summer adventures. Whether it’s camp, backpacking trips with YES, an academic program, helping out at home, or a job in town, we’re proud of all the ways this year’s YLP grads are flexing their leadership muscles. 

Speaking of leaders, our Adult Leadership Pathway (ALP) team just welcomed two new classes to the TREES and Nurture Your Power cohorts. Including the Use Your Power fellows, who will be graduating in later this month, this is the largest group of ALP members we’ve had since the program launched in 2018. Each member brings a wealth of strengths, skills, and passion to the work, showing an impressive commitment to community advocacy, personal well-being, and continuous learning and development. What a wonderful example for the youth in our community.

This leadership and commitment exhibited by the adults and youth in YES’s programs struck State Senator Nancy Skinner when she joined us for a day hike last December. So much so, that her enthusiasm and support for our programs and community led Senator Skinner to select YES as a California Nonprofit of the Year for her district! Read on to learn more about that distinction and for a brief glimpse into YES’s past and present.

And lastly, I want to thank everyone who joined us last month at our annual Down by the Bay benefit concert. As always, I had such an incredible time connecting with friends old and new and sharing in that special community built on love of the outdoors and of Richmond. There’s still plenty of time to support YES campers and a summer of adventure–and you’ll even get a commemorative gift when you give before summer ends for West Contra Costa students on August 19th.

No matter what adventures are filling your summer, I hope it’s giving you the kind of energy you need.

In community,

Eric Aaholm, Executive Director

After filling the summer of 1999 with day trips around the region, YES concluded its very first season of adventure with an overnight camping trip in Anthony Chabot Regional Park. Three volunteers, including YES’s founder, helped students through the unfamiliarity of relative darkness and quiet of their campsite and watched the next morning as they felt the freedom, peace, and safety of being outdoors.

Short camping trips, or “overnights” as we call them, still dot YES’s calendar throughout the year. These quick bursts, often just one night away from home, are a great way of introducing campers of all ages to a new experience of time in nature and interrupting the rhythm of everyday life. Overnights also serve as a reminder that time outdoors doesn’t have to be all or nothing; you don’t need a full week in the backcountry, a lot of time off work or school, or even a long drive to enjoy a night with the stars (and bugs!).

Some of our favorite places for these quick trips are Point Reyes, Briones, Audubon Canyon,  Slide Ranch, Tomales Bay, and Wildcat Canyon.

Down by the Bay

Last month, nearly 300 of our closest friends joined us at Point San Pablo Harbor to celebrate YES’s 25th year and raise money for summer adventures at our third Down by the Bay benefit concert. Afro-Brazilian funk band SambaDá kept the dancefloor active, and speakers Kahlil and Diane showed the vast range of impact that YES’s 25 years of programming has had in our community. Through ticket sales, sponsorships, and donations, we raised over $100,000 for summer camperships and adventures.

Just a short drive from the busy streets of Oakland, the Chabot Regional Parks area is one of those quintessential gems of the East Bay hills. 

At the center of Lake Chabot Regional Park is, you guessed it, Lake Chabot: a 315 acre man-made water supply. The lake has been open for controlled recreational activities since the 1960s, but still serves as an emergency reservoir for the region, so water quality precautions are in place. The Marina is the perfect place to get your day at the lake started–grab a trail map, rent a boat for yourself or book a naturalist-led boat tour, pick up bait and tackle, or maybe just a little snack. 

Directly north of Lake Chabot RP is Anthony Chabot RP, named for the prolific water systems builder whose company created the lake. This park stands out among its East Bay neighbors because of the sheer scope of activities including, you may remember from above, camping!

Pitch a tent at a drive-up or walk-up site and set out to explore the expansive trail system by foot, bike, or horseback or jaunt down to the lake for a day on the water. All the while, you can imagine YES’s very first campers sharing the same experience.

1619 by New York Times