LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Lafayette Juniors Raise $55,000 for Several Bay Area Charities


Lafayette Juniors present Youth Homes with $25,000. From left: Shannon Venturini, Cathy Kauder, Beth Goldberg, Sheri Mascorro, and Joy Aitchison.

The Lafayette Juniors raised $55,000 in the last 12 months for local nonprofit organizations. The funds were awarded on June 2 by the Lafayette Juniors in a special ceremony at the Lafayette Community Center to Youth Homes, Diablo Ballet, Lamorinda Spirit Van, and the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.

The Lafayette Juniors have a history of organizing fundraising events like the Rummage Sale in the fall and the Kitchen Tour in the spring to raise money for selected beneficiaries. This year the Juniors chose Youth Homes, an agency dedicated to serving traumatized foster children and young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area, as their major beneficiary. The Juniors donated $25,000 to support the work Youth Homes has been doing since 1965. As the oldest, continually operating children's residential program in Contra Costa County, Youth Homes transforms the lives of young people through a comprehensive system of care that includes crisis shelters, community-based counseling, residential treatment homes, and private home placement.

The Lafayette Juniors also donated $15,000 to Diablo Ballet's PEEK Outreach Program and $7,500 each to Lamorinda Spirit Van and the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.

To obtain an application or learn more about the Lafayette Juniors, please visit www.lafayettejuniors.org.