Meet the Team: Mandy McGowen

Meet Mandy McGowen, West Sunset Rec Connect Program Coordinator

Mandy McGowen, SNBC’s West Sunset Rec Connect Program Coordinator, has always loved San Francisco and, while living on the East Coast, swore it was the only place in California she’d ever live. Mandy moved to the Bay Area for a position as a Camp Director in Mill Valley. When the job was over, Mandy was so happy enjoying family, food, and the sites of San Francisco that she decided to stay a while… and it led her to SNBC!

WRSC’s Program Coordinator, Mandy McGowen, dressed up for Superhero Day as Captain Kale.

Mandy started at SNBC in the fall of 2010 as a Program Leader at SNBC’s afterschool program at Ulloa Elementary School. For Mandy, it quickly became clear that SNBC was an organization she believed in and felt proud to be a part of. In addition to working with 5^th graders at Ulloa, Mandy taught the Mini Meals cooking class at SNBC’s West Sunset Rec Connect (WSRC). She has since made the jump to full time employee, serving as the Program Coordinator at WSRC, and she is ever so happy to be an integral part of the SNBC team! 

Mandy holds a bachelor’s degree in English from UC Irvine and a master’s degree in educational theatre from NYU. While in school, Mandy aspired to teach in the public education sphere, but now that she’s found herself working in out-of-school-time learning, she’s discovered many ways to flex her teaching best practices and loves it! Thank you, Mandy, for being such as wonderful and fun-loving part of SNBC!

Tony Talarico: Why I Give

Take a moment to hear from one of the parents of a child in our afterschool program. Tony Talarico tells you why he supports SNBC and why he's asking you to do the same:

SNBC's Sunset Elementary Afterschool Learning Program (ASLP) provides wonderful opportunities for our children.  Each afternoon Mr. Allan and his team of teachers take our children through engaging enrichment activities that reinforce the curriculum they receive during the school day and enhance their daily educational experience. The program provides a valuable benefit to parents, too, in that it is easier for me to concentrate on my work during the afterschool hours when I know that Yvonne is in a safe environment where she can get help with her homework, participate in clubs, and interact positively with classmates and friends. 

Outside of Sunset Elementary, SNBC is an active participant in our community. In addition to afterschool programs, SNBC also offers computer technology programs and skill building classes for adults. They consistently promote education by being a constant presence at neighborhood celebrations, street fairs and events. Serving a total population of 1,000 children and adults every week, SNBC is critical to the vitality of our neighborhood.

The Sunset Elementary Afterschool Learning Program is offered free of charge to all students. By joining me in donating, we can help Allan and his team do even more for our Sunset ASLP students, and we can help SNBC be an even greater participant in our community.  Gifts of any size will be helpful and appreciated.  I am proud that Yvonne is a participant in the Sunset ASLP, and I hope that you will join me in participating in this important campaign. 

Sincerely,

Tony Talarico

Parent of Yvonne (4^th Grade, Ms. Adams and Mr. Todd)

Friend of SNBC

Ashley Summers - Why I Support SNBC

With Christmas is just 1 week away, it's the perfect time to make a gift to SNBC! Your donation to SNBC helps us fulfill our mission of connecting people to their PASSION, POTENTIAL, and COMMUNITY. 

Hear why recent donor Ashley Summers gives to SNBC:

"I give to SNBC because they provide invaluable services to youth, adults and families in our community. SNBC is a pillar of the Sunset District and administers programs that without them we would not have in this neighborhood. I used to work for SNBC and I can attest that the staff are a very dedicated, enthusiastic and kind group of people."

This holiday season, can you too make a gift to SNBC? Thank you for your support!

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: Adult Evening Programs

Adult Evening Programs: San Francisco Chinese Line Dance

One of things that makes our Adult Evening Programs unique is that we are able to partner with other community organizations that wish to offer services to the community, but lack the space to do so. At our hub site at A.P. Giannini Middle School, SNBC is able to partner with organizations to provide a wide range of programming to the Sunset Community. In addition to SNBC's partnership with Bay Area Asian Sports and Loong Mah Sing See Wui (Dragon Horse Lion and Dragon Dance Association), one of the great success stories of the past year has been our collaboration with San Francisco Chinese Line Dance.

San Francisco Chinese Line Dance (SFCLD) founder Philip Hui had heard that SNBC ran free programs for adults in the evenings and approached us to see if there would be a space available for their group, which had only been operating for about a year at that time, since they were currently restricted to meeting outside in public places during the daytime such as the area near West Sunset Playground. SNBC agreed to open up space to them once a week and the response from the community was overwhelmingly positive. SFCLD would consistently pack the gymnasium with community members looking for a fun, safe, and culturally unique program to connect with others in the Sunset. That it was free, operated on a drop-in basis, and was a great workout to boot were just added bonuses!

Now in their third year, SFLCD -- which is comprised of both regular SNBC Evening Program participants as well as community members from all over the city -- has become one of the cornerstones of the Evening Programs and has expanded to meeting twice a week, providing its services to between 75-90 community members each week! SFCLD is fun, inclusive, and culturally relevant to the community it serves. Partnering with community groups such as SFCLD is just one of the ways SNBC is working hard to provide the Sunset with free, quality programming.

For more information about San Francisco Chinese Line Dance, check out www.sfcld.org. If you have a group or organization that would like to provide a service to Sunset residents but are needing a reliable, safe space, please contact SNBC’s Evening Programs Coordinator, Patrick Montgomery.