Greetings from The African American Youth Harvest Foundation "AAYHF"
Greetings from Michael Lofton, CEO, African American Youth Harvest Foundation Inc.
As a Native Austinite, it gives me great pleasure to send shout out to all the Members of the Greater Chamber to say "Hello" as a New Member. Our Foundation has been here in existence since July 2007. Our African American Youth Resource Center is located at 6633 Hwy 290 East, Suite 307, Austin Texas 78723. Currently our Team is working remotely;
Currently we are hosting our Annual Urban University Summer Camp, but this year it is a "Virtual Camp" due to the COVID Pandemic. We have a number of virtual programs going on right now and you can find out more about them by viewing our website at www.aayhf.org.
The African American Youth Harvest Foundation is trying to raise funds to expand our reach and support hundreds of needy families with small children ages 0-5, as these are among the most vulnerable at a time like this, yet research tells us that these are the most critical years in a child’s development, setting the foundation for future achievement and life success. Our Early Childhood Expansion Planning report, made possible by generous funding from the St. David’s Foundation, can be found at our website at www.aayhf.org/reports.
A... has been doing this work and intentionally focused on the African American community for 13 years. We have served thousands of individuals. Over the past few weeks, we facilitated the awards of college scholarships to 15 students! Yet, it saddens me to say, that of $30 million in funding that has been distributed by local funding agencies to nonprofits for COVID relief over the past two months, we have applied and not received one dollar of this funding to help our organization and families. As an agency, we have weathered our fair share of institutional discrimination and politics, to say the least. We continue to come out of our pockets personally to help families who need immediate, direct assistance. Your donation will help with this as well!
Between COVID and protests (which will certainly increase the spread of COVID), our families are needing (and will continue to need) support more than ever. AAYHF has one part-time social worker who has been fielding inquiries from families. It continues to be unsafe and more difficult than ever for families with children (especially single-parent households) to venture out and find food and supplies without over-exposing themselves to the virus. Further, data confirms that African Americans are dying from COVID at higher rates, due to the long-term health inequities that have resulted from historical cycles of poverty.
In closing, I just wanted to say hello and know that you can reach out to us at any time. We are always looking for Mentors, Scholarship Support, HEB/Walmart Gift Cards for Families, Volunteers and Re-Entry Employment Opportunities for our clients.
Michael
Details
June 18, 2020
African American Youth Harvest Foundation
Name: Michael Lofton
Phone: 5125856696
Email: mrloftontalkshow@att.net