Staying Connected at School 16
Since my “graduation into retirement” six years ago, Susan and I have remained active in the community that surrounds our home and the main office of His Branches with a number of endeavors through His Branches, the Arnett Block Association, the Arnett Library, and local schools that serve the neighborhood. For a couple years we’ve been coordinating and participating with a panel of volunteer readers who come weekly to School 16 to read age-appropriate books to young pre-K students, a program that has been greatly loved by readers, students, and teachers alike. We’ve also been closely connected with RCommunity Bikes, a volunteer organization that receives donated bikes, rehabs them, and makes them available to city kids who don’t have a bike.
This year after our annual Bike Clinic and bike raffle (free), we were able to make a good number of extra bikes available to kids at School 16 through Curtis Birthright who was coordinating youth athletics at the school, and developed a good relationship with him in the process. Subsequently he approached us for help him start a touch football league for grade school kids at School 16, which involved raising funds to buy the special belt tags and “pinnies” or vests for players to wear. Fortunately, His Branches was able to get a generous grant for community outreach from the Starbucks Alumni Community to help underwrite this and other aspects of our ongoing community outreach activities. We’re grateful for the opportunities that community outreach and partnership offer to us and our neighborhood!