For several years, San Diego Social Venture Partners (SDSVP) has supported HDF in countless ways. We are very grateful for their assistance with strategic planning, fund development, board development, marketing and much, much more.

Most recently, SDSVP Partner, JoAnne Berg CPA, assisted with our financial reporting systems, and Partner Scott Tritt applied his expertise in television news production to produce a new informative video.

Thank you Scott, JoAnne and SDSVP for your continued support!

Students in the OPEN GATE Program are problem solvers by nature, and many of them have concerns about the environment. When tutors asked students to name a problem in the world today, an overwhelming number of students had environmental concerns. Anthony, age 8, wants to create "a law against pollution", while Maxine, age 9, thinks "we should start making more houses and buildings with solar power because it is renewable, but we can't renew oil."

One of our OPEN GATE classes was visited by the SD County's Mobile Science Lab. One of the most popular stations was the compost station, where Ruby, age 10, learned that "if you put plant matter in a compost, it makes the soil better for plants and the land fills will take longer to fill up." Carmen, age 10, added, "It was fun and educational, we learned it was important to recycle and reuse, and we got to touch worms!"