Just before Christmas ASB girls and leaders spent the afternoon sharing holiday cheer with patients, residents and staff at the Bend Transitional Care facility. The gathering featured 20 lovely singers touring the hallways and bringing joy to those who were not able to make it home for the holidays.
More than 60 participants prepared boxes of food and gifts for two foster families in Central Oregon. The generosity of the participants exceeded our expectations as numerous boxes were prepared to deliver to the families just before Thanksgiving. The van was full of goodies for the children and adults alike and made it to the homes before the snow made roads impassable the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We all experienced the joy of giving while acknowledging how much we were grateful for!
ENROLLMENTS FOR THIS EVENT HAVE CLOSED. We had a GREAT response!
If you have talked to Char previously but neglected to enroll – please email her at afterschoolbuddies@gmail.com to see if anyone has cancelled.
There could be room for your child!
45 students led by more than 12 adults are expected to gather to prepare blessings for Central Oregon families. We are THANKFUL for your generosity to make this happen for all those involved – recipients as well as participants!
Calling ALL Buddies (girls/women ages 4th grader or higher) to attend an epic ASB get together and prepare a Thanksgiving basket for 2 local foster families. (Previous participation in ASB is not required.)
Crafts, food, games and more will make the afternoon a worthwhile and fun way to spend time with your Buddies and bless others too! And – attendees get to make/keep items to add to their own Thanksgiving celebration!
There is NO CHARGE to attend this event however attendees must enroll in advance and are invited to bring 1 item from the list below for the special family baskets.
We will collect donated items on the 25th and prepare gift boxes/basket. Items will be delivered to foster homes before Wed Nov 27th. We are hoping to provide “fixin’s” for Thanksgiving dinner and beyond for 4 -5 people in one family and 8 (including 6 small children) from a second.
Items for 18 month old boy
Items for 13 year old girl
And there is more! Blessed to be a Blessing!
The second family identified include the foster parents who have three biological kids (girl: 7, boy 4, boy 2), and are adopting a boy who is 4 . Additionally they also have two foster boys, ages 8 and 4. So – yes – three four year old boys along with their others! So if you have items that would be a blessing for this family – feel free to share them on the 25th!
Many are starting to ask – “When does ASB start their school year programs and where will they be held?” The simple answer for now is … we don’t know. With the changes made to the public school hours this fall – teens are no longer out of school earlier than the elementary students. With the hour + difference in release times – it makes it impossible for us to offer elementary programs as we have for the past 17 years. And the middle school students also are released an hour later than in the past so continuing the THRIVE! middle school program is also in question.
However, ASB leaders are meeting together and talking with other community members to determine if we can adjust to still provide leadership development and mentoring opportunities for Big Buddies (teens/college students). For example – offering programs for younger students and teens during school break/holiday weeks is a possibility. Also offering after school teen/college student only sessions (much like we do for camp) is a possibility. Thinking “out of the box” is important now – just as it was when we first started the THRIVE middle school ASB program in 2005.
SO – it’s a “wait, pray and see what God has in store ” time for us. If you have suggestions or ideas how we can serve the girls we have mentored for so many years – feel free to email Char at afterschoolbuddies@gmail.com. Keep checking this site as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages to see if anything new comes about.
This year’s camp exceeded all expectations. With 87 campers and adult leaders supported by an additional 13 + volunteers… camp was truly the biggest and best ASB camp ever. The 2019 theme “Stars of the Decades” was played out by teams sharing cultural, social, scientific and spiritual themes of the 1920s, 1950s, 1960s and 1990s. Boy did we have fun teaching each other about what was important in those decades.
During our last week of leadership training and preparations we were surprised by a very generous donation from Hayden Homes as part of their First Story grant project.
Not only did they bless us with money to pay for camp supplies and food but members of their marketing team from all over the northwest spent an afternoon helping us prepare decorations. They were AWESOME helpers!
Additional donors from our business community included the following companies listed below. We are continually grateful for the support that local businesses give to our organization.
Trader Joes
Market of Choice
Newport Market
Smart Foodservice
Food for Less
Little Caesar’s Pizza
The 2019 ASB Summer camp is now open for registration. Girls who have completed 4th grade or older are invited to join us for what could be the best time of your entire summer. August 5-8th are the dates for the 2019 FREE summer camp entitled “Strong Girls are STARS!” We have spent the past 2 years of our after school programs helping girls discover how strong they really are. Now it’s time to SHINE and celebrate that awesomeness by participating in our 14th summer day camp!
Want to learn more? Click the link to check out our Youtube video all about camp.
Are you available to help us as a volunteer counselor (Big Buddy) or adult advisor? If so – we want to hear from you! Contact us at afterschoolbuddies@gmail.com to find out how you can contribute.
To register your daughter as a Little Buddy camper (completed grades 4th-8th grade) go to the Summer Camp 2019 menu and click on the Enroll Click Here link.
Juniper ASB celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day and the start of spring by preparing Blessing Bags
for families served by Kindred Connections.
Girls from all of ASB’s programs have been focusing on a variety of character building lessons related to our acronym for S T R O N G. Starting out with Strong Girls Can Be SUCCESSFUL for 2019, all groups have complete lessons on being TRUSTWORTHY. Here are several images of girls learning about being trustworthy.
Consider giving to After School Buddies this year and help Bend’s young girls and teens become STRONG! Strong
Girls Can… our 2018_19 theme… inspires all of us to think big and have confidence that we CAN make a difference! Help us do so by clicking on the DONATE button and make a difference in what we can do with our Buddies!
Two of our three elementary programs start up this week and we have room in both for more 4th or 5th grade girls. Be sure to visit the Programs 2018_19 page to enroll your daughter. Juniper ASB for 4th and 5th grade girls starts Nov 26. The THRIVE! middle school program starts Wednesday Nov 28, Pre-enrollment is required for all girls. Teen Big Buddies and adult volunteers are still needed for both ot the programs that start later in Nov.
