Turkey Day Handlebar

Happy Thanksgiving weekend good people.

Hope your day was filled with family, friends, food, football and whatever other f-word makes you happy!

Me and my little mustache friend biked up Mt. Diablo with my friend Brett (and appreciated the road warning sign to the left) and even met Tom the Turkey minutes before he dove into the Leary's deep fryer.

The turkey's not the only thing that's hot right now. Our mustache fundraiser is on fire! $1,733 raised thanks to 24 friends and family who have chipped in. And it's making a difference: we're just $57 away from fully funding biology supplies for fourth graders and the Y donations have already bought enough food for 124 youth meals.

Can you help us keep up the momentum and help us support two amazing youth-oriented efforts?

The Shih Yu Lang YMCA: Located in San Francisco's poor Tenderloin neighborhood, this little Y branch is a home-away-from-home for dozens of at-risk youth. I volunteer on the Board here, work with their youth programs, and can attest to how special this place is. This Y has experienced brutal funding cuts and is on a shoestring budget. I'm raising funds that will go directly to their food program, which buys food that youth learn to cook (and eat) for dinner each night. To contribute, please visit the YMCA giving site and select "Shih Yu Lang" branch.

Think College Now: This is an amazing oasis of educational hope and change in Oakland's Fruitvale District. It's an educational success story: a poor school (95% of kids there on free and reduced lunch) that has completely turned around test scores and parent involvement. They work really hard to raise funds for books and other materials in face of three straight years of funding cuts. You can choose a specific classroom project to contribute to on my Mustaches for Kids Giving Page.

As the turkey digests and you take a few days for well deserved relaxation, please consider helping kids that are not as fortunate this holiday season. My mustache thanks you in advance!

55-hour mustache shuffle

The mustache is coming in like a bed of roses, my energy's high, and the time is right.

Day 11 of the Mustaches for Kids march: Let's make it happen good people!

My devilish little mustache can mean more educational supplies for kids at my favorite elementary school in Oakland called Think College Now. The school is in the hardscrabble Fruitvale District, with 95% of the kids on free and reduced lunch and where almost 70% of kids are English language learners. Bucking the odds, it's a magical place full of ambitious kids, supportive parents and a lot of hope. They've gone from 15% of kids learning at grade level to over 70%. Amazing progress and a testament to their hard work.

And we have the opportunity to buy more books, technology and educational supplies for them. And they need it, currently suffering through a $150,000 funding cut from the school district. Can you help out? If so please visit my Mustaches for Kids giving page, select a project and take 2 minutes to make a donation.

Our fundraiser, called Mustaches for Kids, is giving $500 to the elementary schools sponsored by the two guys who raise the most money this week. I need your help. In the immortal words of the Princess Leah: 'Obi Wan, you're my only hope!'

mustache gobble gobble

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. To me, this time of the year means a full belly, four days off, and the Detroit Lions losing the NFL game on turkey day. Not everyone's so lucky though.

In the Tenderloin, dozens of kids from 6-18 depend on the neighborhood Y for dinner. The Central Shih-Yu Lang branch runs a food program where the kids learn how to cook food and then take turns preparing dinner. The program helps youth prepare nutritious meals while ensuring these kids have a square meal five times a week. The food costs alone are $20,000 per year and decreased funding means this Y program's in jeopardy. But that's where you and I come in.

Another opportunity to be a holiday hero involves helping kids in Oakland use the same classroom supplies and equipment that many of us took for granted as kids. Think College Now, an amazing elementary school in the Fruitvale District, has asked me to help raise funds for books and science supplies. District funding basically pays for teachers and textbooks-- anything else depends on parents chipping in. At a school where 95% of families live in poverty, that's tough. But that's where you and I come in.

If the descriptions above don't move you to join in and contribute to these worthy causes on Thanksgiving, consider this: I have to walk around with this stupid mustache for a month, just to have an excuse to promote these two causes.

So.... To contribute to the Y food program, please visit the YMCA giving site and select "Central-Shih Yu Lang" branch.

To help with school supplies, you can choose a specific classroom project to contribute to on my Mustaches for Kids Giving Page.

To review: Thanksgiving + generosity + mustaches = well fed, educated kids. Please join in and thank you!

Friends and family,

I'm hoping that you can help me support some really deserving kids.

Over the next four weeks, I'll be growing a really questionable mustache to help raise attention and funding for two really great causes:

The Shih Yu Lang YMCA: Located in San Francisco's poor Tenderloin neighborhood, this little Y branch is a home-away-from-home for dozens of at-risk youth. I volunteer on the Board here, work with their youth programs, and can attest to how special this place is. This Y has experienced brutal funding cuts and is on a shoestring budget. I'm raising funds that will go directly to their food program, which buys food that youth learn to cook (and eat) for dinner each night. To contribute, please visit the YMCA giving site and select "Shih Yu Lang" branch.

Think College Now: This is an amazing oasis of educational hope and change in Oakland's Fruitvale District. It's an educational success story: a poor school (95% of kids there on free and reduced lunch) that has completely turned around test scores and parent involvement. They work really hard to raise funds for books and other materials in face of three straight years of funding cuts. You can choose a specific classroom project to contribute to on my Mustaches for Kids Giving Page.

Thank you so much for taking time to contribute to one of these worthy causes. In a time of year marked by generosity, family and good will, your contribution will make a real difference in kids' lives.