Weekly Wrap-Up 8/19/21

Reeling in NEw Memories During Fishing Day

by Virgo Villajin, JIT Staff

Our community makes its way back to normalcy by bringing back a Just in Time classic, our annual fishing trip! Long time JIT supporters, Brad Norris, Brett Fisher, and John Dee teamed up to take our community out into the open water for a fun-filled fishing experience with support from the Fisherman’s Landing fishing crew. 

The event hosted over 30 guests including participants, alumni, volunteers, and staff. For many of our participants, this was their first time out on a boat or fishing in general. Everyone received some great tips from the ship’s staff on fishing along with some additional one-on-one support from our volunteers throughout the day. With plenty of advice, sunscreen, and a delicious lunch provided by the ship, our community was fully prepared for our trip.

A shared theme that kept coming up was how excited everyone was to be together and see each other outside of a screen. Marie Brañes, a JIT participant shared, “It was my first time on a boat and fishing so I really enjoyed that. It was also nice to meet people in person who I have only seen via Zoom.”

Our own Nina Desmond, participant and JIT staff, brought in the catch of the day, winning bragging rights. Everyone on board was thrilled to see her with a prize-worthy fish and cheered for her as she reeled it in. She grabbed a picture with Brad and credited him for giving her amazing pointers from last year’s fishing trip. Nina, along everyone that caught a fish that day, went home with fresh filets cleaned and prepared by the staff.

It was a great day for our community to bond and create lifelong memories with each other. Twanna Rivlin, one of our alumni, shared, “I love this community. I’m an alumni so this is my first time meeting most of you but everyone has been so welcoming that it didn’t feel that way at all. This was a great bucket list experience for me and I’m grateful for Just in Time for making it happen.”

We’re excited to continue creating “bucket list” worthy experiences for all of our participants.

Volunteer Spotlight: Tina Stepping Up for Our Youth

by Tasha Matthews, JIT Staff

It all started with her seeing a billboard of Just in Time while she was out driving. Not long after, she saw the Just in Time moving truck, and she felt that that was a clear sign to reach out and see how Step Up Foster Youth Mentors can best to support Just in Time for Foster Youth. Tina Thornton works with The Rock Church San Diego under that program and has been a steady, humble heart beat in aiding to the My First Home service, helping to donate needed items consistently every month since the start of the lockdowns last year.

What’s more is that Tina has consistently hunted down every opportunity imaginable, with the mission of ensuring that volunteers would be excited to get involved with JIT and foster youth can be the beneficiaries of some generous supports through in-kind items. She did just that: every month, she and folks on her team would come and give items from kitchen supplies to bathroom supplies at the distribution center.

What’s more is that she had Just in Time featured on a show called Rock Your City, where different members of the staff were interviewed about their experiences with Just in Time and how relevant JIT is to foster youth and former foster youth ages 18-26. That show aired on FOX 5 on 9 AM the past two Sundays. She has been a strong support all the way through, even when we had to make last-minute changes on the filming dates.

She also featured Just in Time in an event with The Rock Church had called “Do Something.” It was a relay race where many middle and high school kids would come and decorate kitchen good basket items and write “welcome home” cards with sweet messages inside it. Tina was amazing visionary in that she graced the room with her enthusiasm and stellar leadership, helping guide the youth through selecting items for the basket that were all neatly aligned in rows, decorating the baskets, and then writing a heartfelt card to the foster youth that would receive those items. The event was a major success, with many of the items being matched by Step Up Foster Youth Mentors.

Tina has proven to be a person of great character, having been super supportive to me in just the short amount of time that I have connect with her. She is a force to be reckoned with. She is a major example of volunteer success, being that change, and stepping it up for JIT youth!