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Dream Builders Team Aera Energy focuses on project “Coloring Our Community”

There are many ways to give back to the community and various groups who could use some help. This spring a Dream Builder team consisting of eight high school seniors sponsored by Aera Energy LLC decided to reach out to underprivileged youth of Bakersfield. Through our project  “Coloring our Community,” we personally touched the lives of children at the Bakersfield Homeless Shelter.

For four consecutive weeks, art lessons were taught by guest artists Julie Fleming, Mary Lee Zander, Denise Calhoun, and author and illustrator Sandy Rudnick, using supplies donated by six local high schools. An Art Supply Drive took place at collaborating high schools: Stockdale, Liberty, Centennial, Ridgeview, Highland and East Bakersfield High Schools during the weeks of January 14 –25. The high schools involved collected a grand total of over 50 large boxes of supplies such as crayons, colored pencils, markers, glue, scissors, paint, oil pastels, paper, coloring books, note pads, glitter, and many more craft materials.  Seventy-five percent of supplies collected were donated to the Homeless Center and each child was given a personal craft bag to enjoy. The remaining supplies were donated to the local Jamison Center.

“Working at the Bethany Center was more than just an opportunity to interact with children. We got to know the children on another level and were able to learn lessons about life. We hoped to impact the children at the Bethany Center, as well as the students at our local high schools,” said Kehau Valos, senior at Stockdale High School.  The ultimate goal of Team Aera Energy was to provide a sense of comfort to children in difficult circumstances through “Coloring Our Community.”

More about Dream Builders
   
Each year the Jim Burke Ford Education Foundation selects 25 achieving high school seniors to become a part of Ford Dimension/ Dream Builders, an organization that focuses on civic responsibility, life skills, and leadership development. Its purpose is to share the value of civic responsibility as a lifetime commitment with students who have shown a desire to make a difference in the community. Within the organization the selected students are divided into four groups, each having a corporate sponsor that have included Aera Energy LLC, Castle & Cooke, Rabo Bank, Bright House Networks, Wells Fargo Bank, Kern School Federal Credit Union, America General Media, and more. Mid-way through the school year, each team is responsible for developing a community service project.

A final Award and Scholarship Banquet is held , commemorating each student of the Ford Dimension/Dream Builders program. Each of the four community service groups presents their project to a panel of judges, family, friends, and people of the community through a PowerPoint slideshow. Awards are given to the group with “Best PowerPoint,” “Best Collaboration” ‘People’s Choice”, “Impact on Community,” and “Best in Class.” The winning group of each category is awarded $250 to donate to any charity of their choice. Team Area was awarded “Impact on Community” and “Best in Class” with a grand total of a $500 donation to their choice of the Bethany Services homeless center.

Team members included:

Danae Jarrett - Ridgeview HS
Kehaulani Valos - Stockdale HS
Peter Kelly    - Liberty HS
Nina Krauter - East HS
Jacob Loeffler - Centennial HS
Angelina Roman - Highland HS
Devin Russell - East HS
Brant Bonetti - Stockdale HS