Community

Courtesy of Mentor Tutor Connection
Mentor Tutor Connection aims to enhance students’ life skills through adult tutoring and mentoring. Students are pictured here participating in a ropes course.

• Mission: Mentor Tutor Connection aims to enhance the academic and life skills of local youth through individualized volunteer tutoring and mentoring. Mentors work with high school students facing challenges due to socioeconomic or other personal circumstances; tutors volunteer in the classroom and after-school homework programs at elementary and middle schools to help students who are falling behind in reading, math, science and other subjects.

• 2019 update: Carol Olson replaced Padma Gargeya as executive director Sept. 16. Olson said she’s been “a big fan” of the organization since her days as president and CEO of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce (1996-2006). Olson, whose children attended local schools, later served as director of environment and stewardship programs at the Morgan Family Foundation and most recently managed her own consulting company to advance nonprofit and philanthropic effectiveness in outdoor and environmental education. She said MTC is a “great match for my experience and interests.”

Courtesy of Sunday Friends
Sunday Friends empowers families to break the generational cycle of poverty.

• Mission: Sunday Friends empowers families to break the generational cycle of poverty by fostering positive development in children while educating and guiding parents to support their children’s life success.

• 2019 update: Sunday Friends moved its office and Treasure Chest store to a new location – the Franklin-McKinley School District Service Center in San Jose.

Courtesy of Hidden Villa

Hidden Villa Summer Camps provide educational experiences that build connections and inspire a deeper appreciation and respect for nature. Children work in the garden at the Los Altos Hills-based wilderness preserve, above. 

 

• Mission: Hidden Villa fosters educational experiences that build connections and inspire a deeper appreciation and respect for nature, food and one another.

• 2019 update: Hidden Villa Summer Camps celebrated 75 years last season. The first season of camp in 1945 drew 62 campers.

The Community School of Music and Arts ensures that the arts are accessible to all, including special-needs participants in its Artistic Intelligence program.

• Mission: The Community School of Music and Arts ensures that the arts are accessible to all, including special-needs participants in its Artistic Intelligence program, which has existed for more than a decade.

• 2019 update: Between September and next May, an estimated 100 children and adults from Gatepath + Abilities United and Morgan Autism Center will take dance, music and art classes at CSMA three days a week.

 

• 1970: Chef Lawrence Chu opens a small Chinese eatery in a renovated laundromat – the first in Los Altos to serve meals to-go.

• 1970: Community service and giving back are integral to Chu’s philosophy – he joins Los Altos’ Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce (today its longest-standing member).

GreenTown Los Altos is kicking off its “Plant 500 Trees” campaign this month. The nonprofit organization plans to plant 500 trees throughout Los Altos and Los Altos Hills from November through April 26 – National Arbor Day.

“I’d been looking around last fall and noticed all the dead and dying trees,” said Gary Hedden, president of GreenTown Los Altos. “Well, GreenTown is all about the environment. We like to call ourselves the ‘stewards of the environment.’ Let’s plant some trees.”