GABY Grants 2009
The Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s GABY congratulates the youth teams for their vision and team work in taking action for your community and the environment. Sixteen youth-led projects have resulted from weeks of conversations and reflection on ways to give and to create positive change in our communities. In the next few months, they will turn their vision into concrete action steps to improve their schools, neighborhoods, and communities.
Youth teams can log into the GABY website gaby.sacregcf.org to network with one another, learn about all the projects and new tips on taking action for the community and environment.
Project Green Light
Asian Pacific Community Counseling
Group: Youth Against Drugs and Alcohol (YADA)
YADA consists of over 35 students from high schools around the South Sacramento and Elk Grove area working to educate youth and others about drug and alcohol prevention and of the consequences that comes with drug and alcohol abuse. This year, YADA is focusing on educating elementary children on saving energy and how energy abuse greatly damages our environment.
Project Re-Fresh
Asian Resources, Inc.
Group: Come Back Krew
The Come Back Krew are three high school seniors from Hiram Johnson carrying out their project to make a difference in their community. Their goal is to work with their community to revitalize their neighborhood by creating and repainting murals.
Arcade Creek Project
Mira Loma High School, International Baccalaureate
Group: Mira Loma Arcade Creek Project
This group is comprised of juniors and seniors who work together to ensure the sustainability of the local Arcade Creek and to promote environmental sustainability in local elementary schools. They plan to continue their efforts through educating elementary students about the importance of maintaining the health of Arcade Creek.
Plant Trees
Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy
Group: The Planeteers
The group will be connecting with youth and adults in the Elk Grove area to plant tree seedlings in the community. They are attempting to offset deforestation and air pollution in their area as well set an example for other groups and people.
Recycle Awareness “a la LAS”
Language Academy of Sacramento
Group: Language Academy of Sacramento, Student Council
The executive board of five students from the student council will raise the awareness of over 300 LAS elementary and middle school students about the importance of recycling. Recycling bins will be placed in the classrooms and hallways.
Going Batty
Center for Land-Based Learning
Group: FHS FARMS
FHS FARMS is a group of students from Florin High School in Sacramento who have participated in the Slews and Farms program. Their goal is to inform youth about the importance of bats as pollinators through hands- on activities and by creating a bat house.
Youth to Youth Environmental Teaching
Grant High School
Group: GEO Academy
The team will have students from Norwood Junior High School visit Grant High School’s garden and cooking classroom. The students will learn about the projects that GEO students are working on, including how to grow and cook your own food and how organic practices help to improve the environment. There will be presentations about the group’s salsa business, the restoration of habitats, and the group’s environmental design class.
Environmental Awareness Slide Show
Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy
Group: Youth for Environmental Awareness
YEA is a youth leadership team from SAVA. Their goal is to educate the youth of Elk Grove on the issues affecting the environment, as well as to equip the youth with ways to clean up the environment.
California Native Plant Arboretum and Garden
Sacramento High School
Group: Hands on Trees
HOT is a group of students dedicated to educating other high school students about the importance of environmental protection through interactive experiences. They plan to create a garden to help teach others about the importance of native plants for water conservation.
Gulo Pond Restoration
Center for Land-Based Learning
Group: Rosemont High School FARMS
This group consists of four students from Rosemont High School who wants to impact their community by involving and educating the freshman class. Their goal is to help create a habitat for the animals indigenous to Gulo Pond by planting native trees.
On the Wild Side
4-H, University of California Davis
Group: On the Wild Side
On the Wild Side is a coalition of high school teenagers from the Sacramento region who have created a youth camp. They are dedicated to providing opportunities for the younger generation of our region to learn about science and nature through an environment camp.
Educational Garden Tour and Healthy Garden Cooking
Grant High School
Group: GEO Academy
The team will invite fifth graders from North Avenue Elementary School to Grant High School to cook and learn about nutritional facts in their kitchen and small garden. The goal is to teach the children about good food choices and that vegetables can be made into many dishes that taste good. They will also teach how healthy foods are linked to an urban garden.
Youth Anti-Tobacco Public Service Announcement Premiere
Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center
Group: Asian Coalition for Tobacco-Use Prevention
This thirty strong group, ACT-UP, meets on a weekly basis to distribute anti-tobacco related material and conduct surveys on tobacco use. In this project, they hope to educate younger students at the movies with a warning about tobacco use and the environmental impact of cigarette smoke.
Recycle and Score
Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy
Group: SAVA Shoots 4 Green
This fifteen student leadership group strives to improve their environment and community and increase community pride by instituting a fun and self-motivating recycling program.
Cleaning Up Our Act
MET Sacramento
Group: DEVA
This group consists of about 20 girls who are connecting to older adults and youth in the community by volunteering in parks and hoping to set an example for other people. The group will take a day to plant trees in parks in the city to decrease carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants.
School Energy Efficiency Project
Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy
Group: SAVA Power Inn Power Savers
The student leadership group will purchase materials, such as energy saving power strips, that will make their school more efficient and eco-friendly.