REF Community Comes Together

Dear REF Community,
Just one week has passed since Ravenswood schools closed and we launched the REF Emergency Fund, and yet so much has happened. I am so touched and hopeful to witness our community coming together to take care of each other. With the latest prediction that schools may not reopen until fall, our sustained support of our students and families will be critical. 

How You Can Help

• Contribute to REF Emergency Fund 
• Donate and volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank 
• Donate and volunteer at Ecumenical Hunger Program
• If you are bilingual, volunteer to interpret for families and teachers
• If you are able, continue to pay folks who typically work in your home, or that you see in your daily lives. Many of the parents in Ravenswood work in service industries that pay hourly, so this time will be devastating economically. 
• Stay up to date by checking the District website.
• Please pass this email along to friends so they can join the REF email list.

Thank you to the many of you who have already reached out wanting to help, and for your invaluable gifts of time and money. I’d like to give you a brief update of where we are today:
REF Emergency Fund:

• The REF Emergency Fund has raised nearly $200,000, thanks to your kind contributions. This is a wonderful start, but the needs are growing daily. 
• Yesterday, we received a $50,000 match opportunity from an incredibly generous anonymous donor. Please share this opportunity to double your donation with your friends and family.
• Thus far we’ve used the Emergency Fund to:
  • purchase a Zoom license for the District to enable remote meeting and learning
  • fund an emergency child care program
  • make a donation to Ecumenical Hunger Program, a local food pantry that serves many of our families
  • provide $10,000 in gift cards to Target and Safeway to allow families to purchase groceries and other household needs
  • purchase masks and protective gear for our staff and volunteers distributing food
• Our REF board is continuing to work closely with the District to evaluate opportunities to use the Emergency Fund to: 
  • enhance distance learning
  • bolster food distribution
  • offer emergency financial support for families and staff
  • support emergency child care

Ravenswood City School District Efforts to Address Evolving Needs:

• The leadership team at the District is working hard to address the evolving needs of the school community. Please take a few minutes to watch this video to hear directly from Interim Superintendent Gina Sudaria and her team about their latest efforts to support families. 
• The District is providing almost 2,000 meals a day to children in the community. Families can drive by school sites to pick up breakfast and lunch from school nutrition staff and bus drivers are also dropping off meals at students’ homes. In addition, a coordinated effort with Second Harvest Food Bank and the Boys and Girls Club provides food for families. The schedule is on the District website.
• Mental health counselors, guidance counselors, the District nurse, and the District social worker are continuing their work with virtual appointments.
• Students, families and teachers are making the big shift to distance learning. Teachers have the goal of calling families 2-3 times per week to provide academic support and collect and share information around urgent needs and concerns including child care, rent payments, groceries and health care. 
• With the longer closure anticipated, the District is moving to having online options for all students, not just middle school students. This is a big lift for this community. Many families lack internet access, and rely on shared phones for homework. CZI is helping provide 300 WiFi hotspots, with more to follow, and the District is signing out classroom Chromebooks to individual students.
• Teachers are working to record and send out lessons, schedule Zoom and Google hangout sessions with students, call and text families and more.

Volunteer Needs

• We are partnering with the District to enlist translators to support with communication during this time. So far,128 bilingual volunteers have signed up to connect families and teachers and interpret conference calls. 
• We will continue to post volunteer opportunities on the REF website as they arise.
• We are working closely with city officials, local non-profits and community service providers to coordinate efforts including Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Facebook, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, EPIC, Devices for Students, LitLab, Menlo Church, Boys and Girls Club and more. Please reach out to partners above for volunteer opportunities in our community.
  
  
  

Together, anything is possible. Please stay healthy and thank you for keeping Ravenswood students and families in your hearts. 

Warmly, 
Jenna Wachtel Pronovost
REF, Executive Director