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College Bound 2026
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Did You Know?
When you invest in the JIT mission before the end of the year, your contribution will be doubled! Longtime supporter, Ron Livingston, has generously offered to match funds raised by Just in Time for Foster Youth up to $75,000 through December 31, 2021.
November 24, 2021
Upcoming
events
events
Nov. 25 & 26: JIT Offices Closed for Thanksgiving
Dec. 4: My First Home for the Holidays
Dec. 9: Coach Approach to Mentoring
Dec. 16: New Volunteer Info Session
A Community to Count on:
JIT Thanksgiving Dinner
by Virgo Villajin & Rachel Trujillo
Just in Time’s annual Thanksgiving dinner has been a long-standing tradition for our incredible community. It gives our participants and alumni an opportunity to connect and share a hot meal during the holiday season, surrounded by caring staff and volunteers that coordinate the yearly gathering. For some participants, it’s even the first time they celebrate a holiday with others instead of being alone.
JIT participant Christiana shared, “Even though some of us may not be able to go home to family, this still provides a space for community and I still feel that holiday love. I really appreciate this year after year; it really makes my holidays so much more special!”
In the time of a pandemic, it’s more difficult to bring our community together, but we stepped up and got creative with a drive-thru Thanksgiving dinner. This year, we were able to serve 300 hot meals to our participants, alumni, and their families. Large made-from-scratch dinners were prepared by Bekker’s Catering and the holiday spread included Thanksgiving staples like turkey and ham along with classic sides including stuffing, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green bean casserole. This year we also gave out cookies donated by the Cravory and handwritten notes of encouragement from SEINT Beauty’s Love is Never Wasted program. Our participants were greeted and served by our enthusiastic staff and volunteers as they drove through our Mission Valley parking lot.
Participant Marie shared “I’m really thankful for this event to give us this community feeling and remind us we’re not alone even though we’re being affected with COVID. Thank you to everyone that made it possible from the food, to the handwritten cards and cookies; we really appreciate the personal touch.”
During the evening, we also celebrated the 10-year volunteer anniversary of our amazing photographer, Janet Coover. Kathryn from our Volunteer Services team prepared a card signed by the JIT team, a bouquet of Janet’s favorite flowers (peonies), and a gift to acknowledge this major milestone.
We are incredibly grateful to you for making events like our Thanksgiving dinner possible! Together, our community can achieve anything. Thank you for being a part of it and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at JIT!
Golf & GAthering with the EAgles
by Virgo Villajin
The Eagles organization began partnering with Just in Time through a connection we made with member Jack Jackson. The alignment was clear from the beginning, as they saw many people in their community who did not have positive adult role models in their lives. They provide value to JIT as much-needed adult male volunteers in c-suite positions, as investors, and they help add diversity to our community. Many of our participants share with us that they really appreciate our volunteers and love having people with similar backgrounds as them.
JIT staff member and alumnus, Ivan, who has worked closely with the Eagles through JIT, shared, “A lot of the members are former military, so their culture reflects that. They appreciate timeliness, service to our country, and hard work. They’ve been amazing volunteers and I’m excited to see our partnership continue to grow.”
Over the years, the relationship has blossomed and the Eagles have helped us with many Bridges to Success for Young Men events and community outings like our annual fishing trips. In addition to Jack, we’ve received amazing volunteer support from their organization. Allen Maxwell, president and CEO of Onmi2Max Inc., has helped us with our Shark Tank competitions by serving as a judge and providing business-boosting feedback to our competitors. He also delivered an inspiring keynote speech at our Pathways to Financial Power conference this year, and even provided one of our participants a job! Merv Cutler, also from the Eagles Organization, recently helped facilitate a Bridges to Success workshop to teach our young men about communication.
This month, they invited us to attend golf-centered fundraiser at the Singing Hills golf course. Members of our staff and volunteers had the opportunity to table at the event and share stories about our community and how the attendees can get involved with our mission. JIT participant Athina also had the opportunity to share her experience with JIT at their closing ceremony, further increasing awareness of the importance of supporting former foster youth. During her speech she shared, “I will be forever grateful to Just in Time for allowing me to be where I’m at today. I could not have done it without them. I’ve gone from being in a family of six, to being taken in by another family making 10 of us, and now am part of a community of over 1,000 that I hope you all will join too.”
We’re thrilled about our friends at the Eagles Organization and where our partnership will go; sky’s the limit!
