Dear People That I Love,
There’s this poem that I keep seeing on the internet:
Everything is on fire,
but everyone I love is doing beautiful things
and trying to make life worth living,
and I know I don’t have to believe in everything,
but I believe in that.
- Nikita Gill
I hope that the world doesn’t quite feel on fire for you. From the perspective of public education, however, it often feels like fire, after fire, after fire. And yet teachers and students persist in doing beautiful things every day.
I’m writing to you because I count you among the people I love who are also doing beautiful things and I hope you’ll join me in this endeavor to support the teachers and students of Oakland and Alameda. I’m hopping on my bike in April to join Ride 4A Reason- an annual fundraiser and bike ride to Sacramento and I am asking you to join my fundraising efforts.
Last year, thanks to the riders and supporters of Ride 4A Reason, more than 6,000 kids in eleven public schools in Oakland and Alameda had field trips, got to visit their school libraries, experienced the awe of river rafting, and wore official team uniforms for their sports teams -- for many, these were firsts.
This is the 18th year that R4R will be making the trek to Sacramento and I’m proud to be part of it. Over this time we have raised over $2 million for public schools in Oakland and Alameda.
COVID-19 highlighted the glaring inequities in our education system, and, especially now that the short-term funding from the pandemic years has expired, the challenges facing our school children are as great as ever. I’m even more committed to ride and raise awareness for our dismally underfunded school system that affects us all as students, parents, teachers, and neighbors.
My goal is to raise $500 by the time I hop on my bike on April 25th - can you donate today to help me get there? 100% of the funds I raise will go directly to these public schools in Oakland and Alameda. Please consider donating $10, $50, $100 or more to help me get there!
Thank you so much!
