Sponsorship Program Achieves Milestone at Local School

In 2012, A Bridge For Kids officially became a non-profit organization and excitedly set out to positively impact the lives of San Diego’s low income teens. We knocked on a number of San Diego high school doors, asking to meet and present our mission with the hope of creating partnerships that would last over time. To our surprise, many doors did not open. We found schools resistant to partnering with a new organization they did not know, despite our mission of providing their low income, high achieving teens financial and mentoring support to help these teens create a brighter future. Many schools felt that what we were offering their students was too good to be true, and they were hesitant to trust an organization that did not have a proven track record.One school, The Preuss School, UCSD, decided to take a chance on ABFK and invited us in. We had meetings with Scott Barton, Principal-Director, and these discussions led to the beginning of a fruitful and rewarding relationship. We interviewed and carefully chose our first two students for sponsorship, Richard Vu and Laura Castro. Two generous members of the San Diego community chose to sponsor these teens providing them with funds so Laura could purchase items such as a lacrosse stick, athletic equipment and even her Senior Prom dress.  Richard used the financial support he received to purchase over 100 items that helped further his pursuit of his athletic, educational and artistic goals.In the 5 years since The Preuss School first opened their doors to ABFK, we have developed and continued to enjoy a successful and mutually respectful partnership. To date, almost 100 sponsorships have been awarded at the school for well in excess of $100,000 in support. With these funds, students purchased many items supporting academic, athletic and artistic endeavors, such as:

• Computers
• Athletic equipment
• School and athletic uniforms
• Support materials for school projects
• Art supplies
• School supplies

Many of these students have also participated in other programs that ABFK offers, free of charge, such as SAT/ACT online courses, college campus tours, and financial assistance for tutoring. Additionally, all of these students were mentored by their sponsors and many have developed great friendships with these mentors, lasting throughout high school and into college.We thank Scott Barton and his administrative staff and faculty for welcoming ABFK into their school and for their continued support and partnership, allowing us to help their students create a bright and successful future.