Many thanks to Board Sport School on Crown’s Beach in Alameda for hosting our teens for a day of Windsurfing on the bay in September.

We especially want to thank the fantastic instructors who donated their time to teach us. By the end of the day, we were all surfing, and considering no one in the group had ever been before, it was quite an accomplishment!

To learn more about our hosts visit http://www.boardsportsschool.com/

The Independent Charities Seal of Excellence is awarded to the members of Independent Charities of America and Local Independent Charities of America that have, upon rigorous independent review, been able to certify, document, and demonstrate on an annual basis that they meet the highest standards of public accountability, program effectiveness, and cost effectiveness.

For more information visit their website at http://www.lic.org/.

Are you a federal employee planning on participating in the Combined Federal Campaign? We’d love your donation! Our CFC number is 75626.

If you're a state employee participating in California State Employees Charitable Campaign, our CSECC number is 2616. And as always, thanks for the support!

In August, eight AVARY youth were invited to visit to KMEL's (FM 106.1) morning show.

It was a great time, our youth learned what it takes to put on a radio show, and got a minute on the mic to shout out to friends and family. Many thanks to Chewy Gomez, and the whole KMEL morning crew for making AVARY feel so welcomed.

A special thank you to Ian Atkinson for helping to arrange this visit.

This year the Finish Line Youth Foundation generously awarded us funds to help purchase equipment (shoes, socks, tents, and sleeping bags) for our teens’ five-day wilderness backpack trip in Immigrant Wilderness, and for new gymnastic mats.

The extra backpacking supplies allowed us to double the number of teens going on the backpack trip from last year, and the mats helped cover the plywood floor, making dancing, aikido, and yoga, all the more fun and all the more safe.

Thank you Finish Line!