JUST LIKE YOU - Latest Blog Entries

JUST LIKE YOU launches USC Chapter

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 06:53:00 -0700

Due to the strong interest from USC students to participate in our program, we have decided to launch a USC chapter for JUST LIKE YOU.

We hope to have a stronger presence on campus this Fall and we are going to be working with a larger number of partner schools in the USC area. Having a student organization will give our volunteers and interns an easy way to coordinate JLU efforts in the area.

Us at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Public/Non-Profit Career Fair. We were a big hit! Looking forward to the semester!

A Big Thank You to Prof. Guillbert C. Hentschke (Cooper Chair of Educational Governance in the Rossier School of Education) for being our official USC advisor.

Fight On!

GLOBAL PLAYGROUND w/ Disney VoluntEARS & Dole - July 16, 2010

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:24:00 -0700

It was a fun-filled (very hot!) day with about 100+ kids aged 6-12 at the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley.

Our "Global Playground" program uniquely combined education, nutrition and physical activity – the three components of a healthy, active lifestyle – brought together in a safe & positive place for kids.

Friendly game of "Dog and the Bone" from India.

Kids jumping during a Chinese stretching exercise.

Passports were given to all attendees, with proof that they had traveled to four continents in a single day.

The Walt Disney Company, the pioneer in entertainment for children and families, had employees participate in the fun and games as "VoluntEARS".

The Dole Food Company, the imminent proponent of health and nutrition and working in communities to promote proper eating and healthy living provided healthy snacks and refreshments for the event.

JUST LIKE YOU in the LA Times!!!

Sun, 09 May 2010 13:57:00 -0700

JUST LIKE YOU was in the Saturday, May 8th edition of the Los Angeles Times, the 2nd largest metropolitan newspaper in the country! The article was on the front page of the LATExtra portion of the paper and featured Oscar Mejia, an 11 year old enrolled in the JUST LIKE YOU afterschool program at Camino Nuevo.

The article explores the impact the program has on Oscar. Read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/jluLATimes

JUST LIKE YOU founders featured on Grassroots.org FACES OF CHANGE series

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:21:00 -0700

Grassroots.org provides a series called "Faces of Change" profiling individuals within the non-profit community, asking the very important question: How do you create change?

Grassroots.org picked JLU co-founders Marie Herwig and Jerry Darko to profile this week.

See the whole article here!

Other non-profit leaders profiled include:
-- Jordyn Wells of Dosomething.org
-- Mike Watson of the Institute of Cultural Affairs
-- Jill Gurr of Create Now ... and others!

We are honored to be profiles alongside such great organizations making an impact in their communities.

We love Grassroots.org and recommend their wide range of services to all non-profits. Check them out!

Pepperdine Magazine's "Higher Measure of Success" article features JLU co-founder

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:12:00 -0700

Linda Livingtone, Dean of the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University, writes an inspiring article about Pepperdine's commitment to an education that stands on the principles of it's founder, George Pepperdine.

The university is committed to a business education that focuses on values such as integrity, stewardship, courage, and compassion.

The article titled "Higher Measure of Success" mentions JUST LIKE YOU and it's co-founder, Jerry Darko, Pepperdine alumnus '09.

Read the full article here: http://magazine.pepperdine.edu/index.php/2010/04/a-higher-measure-of-success/

JUST LIKE YOU awarded grant from All Stars Helping Kids

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:20:00 -0700

All Stars Helping Kids (ASHK) is a robust philanthropic platform that enables all past and present professional athletes to fully leverage their brand to address issues that impact children.

The organization has distributed over $20 million to high-performing nonprofits since its founding in 1989.

We are honored to have been presented with a seed grant from ASHK and this will enable us to expand our programming in the San Fernando Valley / Pacoima area in the Fall.

Thank you ASHK!!!

Listen to JUST LIKE YOU on the Radio with Coach Mike

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:49:00 -0800

What: Kidz N Sports with Coach Mike

Where: Whittier-based 1680 KDSV AM Radio and online at KidzNSports.com

"Kidz N Sports" has been on the air since 2006 and since then, many guests have joined Coach Mike in telling their stories about the youth sports journey. Whether it's coaches, players, umpires, athletic directors, or vendors - each show is design to help others with information to make their child's journey through youth sports a more enjoyable and beneficial one.

Coach Mike's motto is: "Teach First, Win Later!"

In his own words: "Many kids drop out of youth sports by the time they are 14 years old. Why? Sports has so many beneficial life lessons to teach our kids."

Coach Mike brought JUST LIKE YOU onto his show to show just one of the powerful ways we could use sports to touch and change the lives of youth.

Click below to listen to Alison Tolladay and Damion Donaldson represent JUST LIKE YOU to the fullest!

First Half:

Second Half:

You can Tune in every Thursday, 6 - 8 PM PST, by visiting http://www.kidznsports.com/

JUST LIKE YOU teams up with the Los Angeles D-Fenders

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:12:00 -0800

200 kids from all over LA came to watch the Los Angeles D-Fenders play a basketball game against the Tulsa 66ers.

After the game, Los Angeles D-Fenders players came out for another round of games with the kids. They played games from the Czech Republic, India and Botswana as they learnt about each of these cultures.

Check out the pics taken by premiere sports and wedding photographer, Jonathan Moore
(www.jjmoorephoto.com | www.jonathanmoorephoto.com)

Happy Hour Wine Tasting to support JLU, Feb 1 - Feb 15

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:35:00 -0800

You can now support JUST LIKE YOU by grabbing a casual after-work glass of wine at Pourtal in Santa Monica on any weekday (4pm-7pm Happy Hour only) from Feb 1 - Feb 15.

The concept of Pourtal allows you to taste over 40 ever-changing wines by the ounce. Load up a pre-paid Pourtal Tasting Card and take a trip to every wine region without the passport!

The owner of Pourtal has generously agreed to donate a percentage (15%) of all wine-tasting sales between 4pm and 7pm for the next two weeks to JUST LIKE YOU as part of his Angels Share program. "Angel's Share" refers to the portion of wine that evaporates from the barrel during fermentation.

DRINK FOR A GOOD CAUSE :-)

Thank you all in advance.

Grassroots.org thinks we rock!

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:14:00 -0800

Grassroots.org thinks we rock ... check out the blog. JUST LIKE YOU is featured as an exemplary organization!

Donate to JLU just by searching the Internet

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:43:00 -0800

We have something new and exciting we'd like to share with you ...

It’s the new JUST LIKE YOU toolbar!

1. SEARCH

The toolbar has a search box and each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to JUST LIKE YOU.

2. SHOP

Each time you shop online at more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) a percentage of your purchase will AUTOMATICALLY be donated to JUST LIKE YOU – at absolutely no cost to you.

You don't have to sign in or anything, if the toolbar is installed, it will AUTOMATICALLY recognize all your online purchases and donate a percentage to JLU on your behalf.

You even save money as the toolbar provides hundreds of great coupons and deals!

Click here to DOWNLOAD IT NOW
or go to http://www.tinyurl.com/JLUtoobar

And please pass this along to all of your friends. The two minutes it takes to add this toolbar to your browser can make a lifetime of difference!

Get the toolbar NOW! http://www.tinyurl.com/JLUtoolbar

Do you shop at Ralphs? Link your Ralphs Rewards Card to JLU!

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:52:00 -0800

Now, if you do your grocery shopping at Ralphs, you can automatically donate to JUST LIKE YOU without doing a thing.

Simply link your Ralph Rewards card to JUST LIKE YOU and Ralphs will automatically donate a percentage of the sale to JLU.

Follow these steps to set it all up:

Go to www.Ralphs.com
Register / Sign-up as a new online customer (or, for existing online users, simply Log-in)
Type in your Ralph Rewards Card Info (# found beneath the barcode)
Add Community Contribution Program Info Either type in JUST LIKE YOUor ENTER Non-Profit Organization (NPO) # 91961.
Presto!

Now every time you shop at Ralphs, they will donate to JUST LIKE YOU on your behalf!

Thanks so much for supporting us. Every little bit goes a long way!

2nd Global Playground ... recap

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:52:00 -0800

Despite the rain, everyone had a blast!!! Big thank you to Los Angeles D-Fenders, Dar Tucker and Horace Wormely for their support!

Another GLOBAL PLAYGROUND ... Saturday, Dec 12th in Pacoima, CA

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:39:00 -0800

We're doing it again!

Saturday, Dec 12th at the Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando Valley.

Come play games from around the world with special guest basketball players from the Los Angeles D-Fenders (LAKERS organization's D-League team).

It will be a blast!!!

JLU featured in Pepperdine's MBAM online student publication

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:09:00 -0800

Pepperdine's full-time MBA students launched an online news publications called MBAM.tv designed to utilize the power of social & digital media to create an interactive community of future business leaders engaged online in topics relevant to the MBA experience.

JUST LIKE YOU is an example of a social venture co-founded by a former Pepperdine MBA student (Jerry Darko) and as such was featured on MBAM.tv.

Check out the short below ....

Just Like You from MBAM.tv on Vimeo.

Big Thank You to Frankie Warren and the folks at MBAM!

JLU expands to Austin, Texas!!!

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:01:00 -0700

Milena Batanova and a group of students from UT Austin make up Team JLU - Austin. They started JLU programming at Denton Elementary school in Austin this past Friday, teaching Latin American games ..

MEET THE TEAM!

They're a crazy bunch but the kids seem to like them! :-)

Look out for JLU launching in the following cities in the next few months:
Boston, DC, SF, Irvine, Minneapolis.

JLU and City Year ... a match made in heaven!

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:27:00 -0700

JUST LIKE YOU is in LOVE with an organization called City Year.

Across the States, City Year recruits a group of young people, called "corps members", for a year of full-time service. These City Year corps members serve as tutors, mentors and role models to help students stay on track – and get back on track – to graduate.

The City Year model for creating impact is based on THREE (3) tenets that align directly with JLU's vision:

School-Based Service

- "Whole School, Whole Child"

- JUST LIKE YOU has created a innovative afterschool program to supplement in-the-classroom learning with a curriculum that promotes physical activity, health and wellness and cultural awareness, tolerance and sensitivity. These are very important aspects of a child's personal development that need to be addressed to create a "Whole Child".

Community Transformation

- Engaging the community to create, maximize and sustain visible impact.

- JUST LIKE YOU plans community events called "Global Playground" events where kids get to showcase what they've learned about the world by playing the various games in front of invited parents, educators, and community leaders. The community will then recognize the importance of thinking globally.

Youth Leadership

- City Year's Young Heroes and City Heroes programs encourage young students to be active in their communities

- JUST LIKE YOU is building a Young Diplomats programs designed to provide a space for young people curious about the world to brainstorm ways they can make a difference, even at a young age.

JUST LIKE YOU and CITY YEAR are now working together to train corps members and have the JLU curriculum implemeneted in various City Year afterschool programs across the country, starting in LA.

Exciting news!! We are very lucky to be partnered with such an amazing organization. :-)

City Year: Give A Year. Change The World.
JUST LIKE YOU: Building the Next Generation of Global Citizens.

JUST LIKE YOU's first GLOBAL PLAYGROUND event

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:53:00 -0700

JUST LIKE YOU had it's first ever GLOBAL PLAYGROUND event on Saturday, Sept 12th, 2009. It was held at the Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando Valley in Pacoima, CA and it was a HUGE success!

Recap:
-- We had 25 student volunteers from Pepperdine participate as part of Step Forward day.
-- Evian Water provided refreshments for all attendees.
-- A live Mariachi band performed during the event.
-- Parents & Community members took off their shoes and joined the fun!
-- We had over 60 attendees in total.

Here's a video with some highlights from the event ...

JLU story on "Profiles in Caring" finished ... will air shortly!

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:26:00 -0700

This TV segment produced by Profiles in Caring (owners of the non-profit video site, Goodtube) will air on over 100 stations and in 40 countries.

The final cut has just been mailed out to all TV stations and should be airing during the month of September. Check you local listings!

Meanwhile, you can catch it all online ... see below

JUST LIKE YOU has gone global ... BOTSWANA

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:24:00 -0700

Ruchira De Silva of Team Awesome took JLU to Botswana! JUST LIKE YOU has officially gone global!

Ruchira (or Rucci) led a group of volunteers from schools like USC, Wooster, UPenn, Stanford, U of Melbourne, U of London, U of Manchester and some other american colleges as they implementing JLU programming at SOS Children's Village in Tlokweng, Botswana (right outside Gaborone, the nation's capital).

The SOS Children's Village provides homes, support, treatment and care for children affected by HIV/AIDS. An estimated 38% of the adult population in Botswana is infected with the virus bringing the life expectancy down to 38 years old! There are more than 120,000 children orphaned due to AIDS.

JUST LIKE YOU was a well received and the kids were taught how to say Hello in French, Japanese, Chinese, Afrikaans and Spanish before breaking into groups to play cool games from around the world.

As you can see from the pictures, the kids also sported the cool, hip and ultra-trendy JLU Botswana t-shirts!

This proves that JLU can be implemented all over the world! Well done, Rucci!!

Check out the pics ...