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MAY 2017 • LAFAYETTE TODAY • PAGE 1
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HELPING TO CLOTHE TEENS IN NEED
By Fran Miller
It was 2011 when Laura Graham, then a student at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, decided to help change the lives of local needy teens. With the assistance of her mom, she started 1Closet, an organization that has since helped to clothe thousands of young people living in foster care and shelters throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. When Graham left for college in 2014, she handed the 1Closet reigns to the Glasser family of Alamo whose three sisters, Riley, Carly, and Bella, have led, and will continue to lead the organization through the next several years. Riley served as director until leaving for college in August, Volunteers help to sort teen clothing at a 1Closet 2015. Carly, a student at San Ramon Valley High School, now serves as sorting event. director, and Bella, also a student at SRVHS serves as executive director and will have her turn at the helm when Carly departs for college in 2019. “Laura found us through a National Charity League connection,” says Carly. “She was looking for someone to take over 1Closet once she left for college. Our family was a good fit, especially since three sisters could keep the organization going for many more years to come.” 1Closet partners with local high schools by holding clothing drives for gently
See Teens continued on page 19
The young artists pictured above are the winners of the 2017 Friends of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center annual Bookmark Contest. Any student in K-8 who uses the Lafayette Library is invited to participate, but most entries were submitted through the Lafayette Elementary Schools, Stanley School, and St. Perpetua. Each winner received a gift certificate to Bel&Bunna’s Books, a gift certificate to the library’s own Friends Corner Book Shop, and a certificate for a complimentary framing of their winning bookmark by FastFrame of Lafayette. Come by the Friends Corner Book Shop or the Lafayette Library, and see the outstanding collection of artistic bookmarks. Back row: Ava Curletto, Andreya Cox, Isabella Bartos, Chloe Dawkins, Ethan Del Rosario, Carrie Zhang, Sofia Bartos, Dagny Bradford-Urban, and K. Yasumura; Front row: Cooper Banwart; Stella Byrne, Ella Del Rosario, Gavin Wang, Avery Marshall, and Tamia Grosser.
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LOCAL AUTHOR CHRISSA HARLEY VENTRELLE RELEASES MAY IT BE: GROWING A GENUINE LIFE
By Fran Miller
When Chrissa Harley Ventrelle’s oldest child started high school a few years ago, she felt the pace of her life, and her family’s life, accelerate to breakneck speed. School, homework, athletics, clubs, and other activities quickly filled the days and nights, and real conversation started to take a back seat. In an effort to slow the pace a bit, the Lafayette resident and mother of three returned to her writing
Author Chrissa Harley Ventrelle and her youngest son, Ryan. Photo credit: Suzanne Everly.
roots and began composing a series of reflections – simple and poetic thoughts and hopes to share with her children as they stand at the precipice of adulthood. Ventrelle recently published in book form the resulting collection, May It Be: Growing a Genuine Life. Within its 100 pages, Ventrelle, a former restaurant reviewer for Bay Area News Group, offers insightful and thoughtful musings broken into nine metaphorically titled categories linking nature to life, such as Wayfinding, Trail Markers, Valleys, and Peaks. While the book is a passion project for her family, Ventrelle hopes that others will find it meaningful and that her words might help to provide a sense of one’s true north.
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR MAY IT BE?
I have three kids, ages 19, 13, and 9. When our family schedule started to get incredibly hectic, I worried that I wasn’t making enough time in the day-to-day rush to elevate the conversation to what really matters in the long run. I worried that I wasn’t providing the space for my kids to learn about Volume XI - Number 5 themselves and explore what really 3000F Danville Blvd #117 matters: connection with others and Alamo, CA 94507 something greater than themselves, an Telephone (925) 405-6397 understanding that struggle is a part Fax (925) 406-0547 of everyone’s life, and remembering editor@yourmonthlypaper.com to find joy in the journey. In its final Corstorphine ~ Publisher form, May It Be: Growing a Genuine TheAlisa opinions expressed herein belong to the Life is a collection of short offerings writers, and do not necessarily reflect that of LaToday. Lafayette Today is not responsible on creating a growing and giving life, fayette for the content of any of the advertising herein,
See Book cont. on pg. 20
nor does publication imply endorsement.