Partnership Spotlight

This holiday season, here are some community resources available for free!

As summer approaches, we wanted to share free and low-cost summer resources and activities for kids from some of our partners.

Reading and Learning

ENP Literacy Mentoring

Trained and equipped Literacy Mentors meet one-on-one virtually with K-3rd grade students to help them with their foundational reading skills and sight words. Sign up using one of the links below:

• Tutee sign-up, English
• Tutee sign-up, Spanish

FUSD School Libraries

School Libraries will be open to the public at all summer school locations. Find summer school sites HERE.

Sora App

Students in Fresno Unified School District can use the Sora App for online reading access

Fresno County Library

The Fresno County Library has free summer reading programs and activities for kids, teens, and adults. Click HERE for more information and a calendar of events.

Take a Book, Leave a Book

Find a Book Bin or Little Free Library near you and exchange a book!

12 Free Learning Apps and Websites for Summer

High-quality digital tools for kids that are both educational and entertaining.

Free At-Home Learning Library

Share Wide Open School in English or Spanish with families to help them find activities.

Online Learning Sites

• Really Great Reading’s Heart Word Magic – complimentary teaching tool designed to help students learn to read and spell high-frequency words, particularly those that aren’t very decodable. Show your students the animations, then try their fun, hands-on free Student Practice Activities
• Heidi Songs – sight word songs
• Education.com – sight word games
• ABCya – sight word games and more
• Starfall – books and games by grade level, Kinder-3rd grade
• ENP Read-Alouds – books read by Literacy Mentors
• Flocabulary– create a “Free Trial” and get access to many reading lessons that include videos and pdfs
• Valley PBS – watch local Fresno Unified teachers share ideas or watch the videos live with your student
• Common Sense Media – Fun Summer Reading Challenges
• Online Books – see our Literacy Mentor newsletter for links to many different sites that have free resources
• Arbolabc.com – Español

Activities

Camp Fresno

Starting the week of June 15^th, the City of Fresno will be offering Free 3-day overnight camps. While they hope to open camp to current youth leaders, they are particularly interested in also opening to the most vulnerable. They are most eager to provide the opportunity to teens who perhaps would never have had a chance to experience an outdoor camp; or perhaps those who have made some bad choices in life and an outdoor experience like this might impact their lives positively. Complete the interest form below:

English Interest Form

Spanish Interest Form

City of Fresno Parks and Recreation (PARCS)

Fresno PARCS offers a variety of activities for kids. Some of these activities have a cost associated with them. To learn more and register, visit their website.

Activities include Youth Sports and Virtual Programs.

You can also visit their Facebook page for upcoming events and activities.

Martin Park VBS

Martin Park is hosting 7 weeks of VBS CAMP to reach kids with the Gospel!

They have partnered with Child Evangelism Fellowship, First Presbyterian, River Park Bible Church, Children’s Champion and The Well to facilitate a VBS CAMP for one week at a time.

VBS Camp will run from June 14th-July 30th on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, from 3pm-5pm. Dinner will be provided each night at 4:30 for children and volunteers! 

On the 3rd week (June 28-July 2) they will take kids to VBS at River Park Bible Church. 

On the 6th week (July 12-16) they will take kids to City Bible Adventure at First Presbyterian Church.

Each day the kids will participate in singing, lessons, craft and games.

Call 559-554-4319 to sign up!

Additional Websites

• Activity Hero – Search this website for upcoming events for kids in Fresno
• Fresno Summer Camps – List of summer camps in Fresno, costs associated with these camps

Food

Fresno County Food Map

Search fresnocountyfood.org for free food near you.

Food Bank

Central California Food Bank is here to help you get access to the food you need. To find a food distribution near you, utilize the daily calendar, enroll in CalFresh, or sign-up for a pick-up.

• Food Locator – Find food distribution partners near you.
• Food Distribution Calendar – Find Neighborhood Markets, Mobile Pantries, and USDA Commodities partners by date.
• Groceries 2 Go – Schedule a pick-up appointment at our Groceries 2 Go location Monday – Friday (7am-4pm) or at one of our satellite locations near you (hours vary by location).
• CalFresh – Their team can help you enroll in CalFresh.

Other

Webinar

Consider hosting a Summer Learning Program! Hear tips and plans from our partners by watching the webinar recording HERE.

College students have been a big part of our work for many years. Through serving with ENP, they are able to give back to our community, gain valuable experience, and put their studies into practice. Win all around! This year we especially relied on college students as they had the capacity and knowledge to support our online programming!

Huge applause to each one of these seniors who is graduating from Fresno State this weekend!

Here are some quotes from graduating seniors on what they learned from their exerience with ENP as a whole.

“I learned that students really enjoyed having someone to talk with and they cherished that 30 minutes. They looked forward to those days even if they didn’t always want to do their sight words…This really showed a resilience in the students and I actually got to learn from them not just them learning from me. This whole experience during a pandemic really put into perspective the importance of literacy mentors and the important work that ENP does by giving volunteers an opportunity to make a difference and see a difference in the students they work with.” – Angelica Torres

“I learned to take leadership in my mentoring skills and support students who need help on academia.” – Chong Hang

“I am learning how to communicate with younger kids and how to create curriculum that best supports their needs. I am also learning how to be comfortable with communicating with parents. I think this is really valuable for me because it prepares me to work with kids in my future profession!” – Gwyneth Quitorio

“As a whole through my experience I learned that for my future career I want to work with kids. I learned how to be patient with students and how to adjust to their learning to get them to being more engaged.” – Cyenna Garrett

Literacy Mentors

Angela Barrera
Angelica Torres
Ashley Moreno
Devin Arguelles
Gao Joua Moua
Gwyneth Quitorio
Isamara Lopez
Kiera White
Milca Gutierrez
Ryan Rendahl

Scholars in Service – Literacy Mentor

Cyenna Garrett

Child and Family Science – Literacy Mentor

Leslie Hernandez
Madison Herron

Read Fresno Mentors

Alejandra Lopez
Andrea Rivera Maranon
Chong Hang
Coraima Godinez
Stephanie Gonzales

Recreation Intern

Matthew De Leon

Health/Fitness Support

Alex Valdez
Kathryn Orozco

Digital Literacy Aide:

Michelle Pinal

“It has been one of the most impactful and rewarding experiences of my life. Through this opportunity
of teaching, I ended up learning a lot myself. This opportunity opened my eyes to a greater need
in my community and now more than ever I want to dedicate my time and efforts to make as
many positive impacts in my community as I can.” – Ashley Moreno

It’s amazing the ripple effects of how someone’s simple loving efforts can affect thousands, even after 40 years. That describes the life and work of Mike McGarvin, founder of the Poverello House, who died this past Saturday.

Kyle Godfrey started attending the Powers-Ginsburg Saturday Sports Program when it began in the fall of 2009. He was just out of the sixth grade. Since then, he has become a volunteer for the program, where his focus has shifted from competition and entertainment to making a difference in the lives of children who currently attend.