Youth Community Service Wins San Francisco 49er Unity Award   

SF 49er Unity Award Recipients (click on photo to enlarge)

Youth Community Service Wins San Francisco 49er Unity Award  For Exceptional Community Outreach Palo Alto, CA. December 23, 2009 – Youth Community Service (YCS) announced that it has been awarded the Perry/Yonamine Unity Award, by the San Francisco 49ers Foundation. This award is presented annually, by the San Francisco 49ers Foundation to individuals and organizations that have take a leadership role in promoting unity and the importance of volunteerism in the community. YCS was chosen for the organization’s exceptional community outreach, which promotes unity in the community.  The Perry/Yonamine Unity Awards will be formally announced at the December 27, 2009 49ers home game. In addition to a $10,000 award and the 2009 Perry/Yonamine Unity Award plaque, YCS will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.  

A Force for Positive Change Young people involved in YCS programs learn that they can be a force for positive change in their communities. They learn leadership skills, appreciation of diversity, and a sense of knowing that education is important to their future and that of their towns.  Many YCS youth participants never knew they could make a difference in their communities until they participated in YCS programs. Working with YCS, students have the opportunity to partner with civic leaders, educators and others to improve their hometowns.  “Many students do not have the opportunity to relate to students from communities that are very different from their own, even when geographically they may be very close. “ Said Leif Erickson, Executive Director at YCS. “Through this program students gain an appreciation for community differences as well as common values. “  Teen mentors have learned that they can reach out to younger students and help them stay in school and have an impact on their communities. At the same time, the mentors gain a sense of responsibility for the younger students in their community.  One high school freshman girl stated that, while her parents dropped out in the fourth grade, she knows she can go to college.  Palo Alto City Councilman Yiaway Yeh, a shy newcomer to Palo Alto in middle school, credits YCS with giving him a place to get involved with peers from surrounding communities and doing hands-on service projects together. “My high school experience with YCS was an important building block in my life. It taught me that in working alongside others I could make a difference. This understanding continues to be critical for me today.”  With YCS, leadership skills are developed through identifying community needs and planning programs to address them.  

Bridging a Divide YCS is one of the few non-profits that has been able to bridge the divide between East Palo Alto and Palo Alto. In East Palo Alto, a heavily Hispanic, African-American, and Pacific Islander community, over 90% of students qualify for the government free and reduced lunch program. In contrast, Palo Alto is an affluent, highly educated, and pre-dominantly white and Asian community. Even though these communities are next to each other, there are almost no opportunities for the young people to get to know one another other than the YCS programs.  YCS partners with most of the established organizations in East Palo Alto to bring the two populations together. The challenges are immense: fear on both sides of the “other”, the cities in two different counties with different leadership, many distinct cultures and ethnic groups. With these challenges comes beauty; the possibility of a truly ethnically diverse population with understanding and respect on all sides.  

 About the Perry/Yonamine Unity Award To celebrate the San Francisco 49ers’ 60+ year history of exemplifying the power of teamwork to accomplish goals, the team honors 1) an exceptional youth football coach, 2) a current 49ers player and 3) a non-profit agency who demonstrate(s) a commitment to promoting unity and giving back to the local community. The award is named after former 49ers players Joe Perry and Wally Yonamine - two individuals who demonstrated the power of unity to make a difference on the field and in the community.  The winner in each category receives a $10,000 grant award to their represented nonprofit organization. (The selected 49ers player can choose a non-profit of their choice). http://www.49ers.com/community/unity-award.html   

About Youth Community Service YCS was founded in 1990 as a unique partnership between the cities of East Palo Alto and Palo Alto and their two school districts - Ravenswood City School District and Palo Alto Unified School District - with the goal of increasing cross community awareness and collaboration through youth service.  By developing service and leadership opportunities for young people and service learning support for teachers, YCS promotes the ethic of service, fosters youth leadership, builds community, and enhances education in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties in the Bay Area.  Since its founding, YCS has engaged more than 15,000 young people in service opportunities that allow them to learn more about themselves and their community, providing over 100,000 hours of service to more than 40 local community organizations. http://www.youthcommunityservice.org   

About the San Francisco 49ers Foundation The San Francisco 49ers Foundation is the non-profit community funding extension of the San Francisco 49ers. Now in its 18th year, the 49ers Foundation supports development programs for underserved youth that keep them safe, on track and in school. Through the leadership of 49ers owners Denise and John York, the 49ers Foundation has donated more than $8 million over the last seven years to non-profit organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.  Through the leadership of 49ers team owners Denise and John York, the 49ers Foundation has donated more than $4 million over the last four years to non-profits throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. http://www.49ers.com/community/foundation.html   
 

YCS Board Chairman, Rita Lancefield says
"It is an honor for YCS to receive this award from the 49ers! We are delighted to have such a major organization recognize our young people for their efforts to make a difference in their communities."