By Daniel

Saturday, August 2, 2008 10:48 PM

Day One of Operation Back To School

Operation Back To School started today, we visited 4 neighborhoods,(Loma Vista, Pajarito, Apple Valley, and Santa Clara  Apartments) we gave 155 backpacks filled with school supplies to children from grades k-12. We had over 25 Pre-K children who received coloring books, and crayons.

Operation Back To School Highlights, over 310 + attended, dozens of give-a-ways, 10 new mentee applications for HYA, and a special visit from the Dog -Rovercomer, The Rock Christian Fellowships children ministry mascot. ( The children loved him). We also had a special visit from the Rio Grande Sun Newspaper; Staff Writer Sarah Walsh.

Please visit the growing Photo Diary here

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Alliance Helps Needy With School Supplies

By Polly Summar
Journal Staff Writer
“My kids are Catholic,” said the man answering the door at a La Loma Vista Apartments unit late Monday afternoon.
But that’s not a problem for Daniel Arellano and his youth volunteers with Hope for Youth Alliance. Canvassing the apartment complex, the group is simply looking for kids who are going to need backpacks and school supplies when school starts. It doesn’t matter what faith they or their parents are.
“Their faith is not a wall for us,” said Arellano, founder and president of the alliance and an associate pastor at The Rock Christian Fellowship.
The Hope for Youth Alliance has targeted five lower-income neighborhoods in Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties and is going door to door this month finding the names, ages and schools of kids who need backpacks, from kindergarten through 12th grade. Six area banks have pledged their help — Century Bank in Española, Bank of America in Española, Community Bank in Española and Santa Fe, Zia Credit Union in Los Alamos and Española, Los Alamos National Bank and Valley National Bank in Española — and the alliance is also looking for individual donations of money and supplies.
“One local bank has an anonymous angel who has provided most of our needs for kindergarten through fifth grade,” Arellano said. “She’s dropped by over eight bags filled with supplies.”
Arellano knows that a filled backpack won’t solve all of a kid’s problems but said the alliance’s mission is to help kids succeed emotionally, spiritually and academically. He believes that being prepared with the right supplies for school is a start. Arellano said he’s read figures that a third of American families will not be able to afford school supplies this year.
His wife, Esperanza, operates the private academy at The Rock and has helped prepare lists for the various grades of what a backpack should hold, and the alliance has also contacted various schools for information.
Arellano comes by his interest in kids naturally.
“I have a heart for troubled kids,” said Arellano, 29, “because I was a troubled kid myself. I’m a graduate of the New Mexico Boys School.”
He describes bouts with truancy, drug use and incarceration.
“At the age of 13, a probation officer introduced me to Christ, and I started attending church and from there I started a whole new journey.”
Gradually working with kids at The Rock, Arellano was selected to attend a 15-month leadership initiative.
“That’s where my vision and my calling solidified to working with at-risk youth,” he said. With the creation of the Hope for Youth Alliance, a 501c3, Arellano now speaks to juvenile probation officers, local church and works with “some of their most incorrigible kids.”
The Hope for Youth Alliance has no paid staff, but Arellano’s salary is covered by the church as an associate pastor.
“Alongside my work as a pastor, I am doing this,” he said. “All our monies are generated for specific programs. Potentially, we’d like to be a premier mentoring organization.”
With many members of the group wearing T-shirts saying, “Got Mentors?” they say they like canvassing the neighborhoods.
“It’s pretty nice because we’re helping people,” said Daniel Martinez, 14.
In just 20 minutes of work on Monday, the some 25 volunteers had a list of 58 kids at the apartment complex who need backpacks. Arellano estimated that among the five neighborhoods, some 400 kids will need the filled backpacks.
The Alliance members will distribute the filled backpacks on Saturday and Sunday during parties in the various neighborhood with hot dogs, sodas, games and puppet shows.

See the Article here online

A anonymous angel found Operation Back to School a much worthy cause to invest into. We have picked up numerous full bags of supplies from one of our local partnering banks.

She called me this morning on my cell phone and said she was going to continue to fill our box at her local bank toward our school program and the she will begin to drop of backpacks today.

Thank YOU!!!! to our Anonymous Angel who is investing in or holistic effort to equip children and youth from Northern New Mexico academically.

+Related-This Photo is just a small portion of what our Angel has given.

Download Postcard backtoschoolcard for Publication

Thanks to the following individuals who brought you Operation Back To School…and there are still more coming.

James and Consuleo Martinez of Chimayo,

Ross and Gina Chavez of Espanola
Wilfred and Bernice Chavez of El Guique

Larry Trujillo of Espanola
Richard P. Cook of Espanola,

Johnny Devargas of Espanola
Rueben and Ramona of El Guique

Matthew and Kelly Rivera of Espanola
Arlene and Querencia of El Guique

Daniel and Esperanza Arellano of Espanola
Robert and Nancy Manzanarez DDS, PC

Insurance Del Norte
Izzy and Debbie Gallegos, Albuquerque NM

Gino Brazil- Ginos Gym

Wray and Delilah Ortiz of Espanola

Dr. Fox, Espanola, NM
Dr. Leslies Hayes Espanola, NM

Donate Via Paypal here

I received an honorary invitation to participate in this Leadership New Mexico program. Check it out here

The Core of the program:

Core Program sessions are held in communities all over the state in order to expose participants to the different regions of New Mexico and the local issues important to each region. In addition, program participants experience the unique culture of each community, weaving for themselves a broad-based and comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing a state with many cultures and geographic diversity.

Each program year includes a two-day retreat and orientation, followed by educational sessions on topics such as:

* Health and Human Services
* Economic Development
* Education
* Environment and Natural Resources
* Government, Crime and Justice, and Leadership

Participants are selected using the following criteria:

* Commitment, motivation, and interest in serving New Mexico.
* History and demonstrated voluntary leadership in community activities.
* Record of accomplishments within his or her own company or organization.
* Interest in seeking future key volunteer and/or appointed leadership roles.

* An occupational commitment to remain in the state.

* Commitment to play a personal role in helping to shape New Mexico?s future.

The Albuquerque Isotopes are committed to giving back to their community, spreading goodwill and promoting the positive aspects associated with baseball in particular and sports in general. The Albuquerque Isotopes want to “Take You Out to the Ballgame”. This community program provides deserving non-profit and community youth groups the opportunity to receive complimentary tickets to an Isotopes home game.We went to a Isotopes game last night, and we will be out there with two more groups of students from our program the next two nights.

Attention Mentors: If you have yet to pick up your tickets please call me or email me to arrange to get your tickets. Also we will not be able to travel as planned as a group, because our van broke down on us, we had to be picked up by our school bus at 12:00 AM off of I 25, 30 miles south of Santa Fe. The kids who were able to go last nights enjoyed themselves and got to stay up way past their bedtime.

The Rock Academy and HYA Youth at Isotopes Park

View Isotopes set here

Young men need direction that comes from a man…maybe you are the one.

This is our second postcard and will be used to recruit men to join our mentoring alliance. Please feel free to down load it and distribute it for Hope for Youth Alliance. We are always in need of men who will mentor young men. 9o% of young men who come to us asking for mentors are absent from their fathers.

Fatherless young boys need a male-model they can learn from, maybe you can be the one.

download here!

You are cordially invited to Hope for Youth Alliance Mentor training on Thursday, April 17 2008 at 6:30 pm

Place; Rock Christian Fellowship/919 N. Riverside Dr/ Espanola, NM 87532/ Please contact us here by Email.

Come learn about how you can develop a transformational mentoring relationship with a kid in your community. We have over 25 youth on a waiting list you may be the one.

Youth at risk face the following problems:

• Delinquency
• School Failure
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Gang involvement
• Violence
• Broken families
• Teen parenting

Youth involved in mentoring programs are:

• Less likely to start using drugs and alcohol
• Less likely to hit someone
• Less likely to skip school
• More likely to improve relationships with parents and peers

Download Postcard For Duplication here:pdf

Please visitwww.gotmentors.org for more resources.

Introducing 2 new websites.

Please visit them and check them out.

The website of Hope for Youth Alliance of Northern New Mexico.

www.Got Mentors.org the affiliate website of Hope for Youth Alliance serves as mentor support and resource for Mentor and youth mentoring organizations.