NEWS: Join us this month for our First Annual North County vs. South County Poker Tournament and Casino Night! Old News Black Tie Dinner / January 9, 2004 This year's Black Tie Dinner will be January 9, 2004 at the Cliffs in Shell Beach. The festivities begin at 6:00 PM in the evening. The evening's events include champagne, hors d'oeuvres, multi course gourmet dinner, silent and live Auction, and Music by the Brett Mitchell Trio. Tickets are $70 per person. Request ticket information by e-mail or phone (805) 237-9409, but act quickly - we're very close to selling out. Press Release ATTENTION: RE: D.R.E.A.M. for Kids Foundation. Discovering. Reaching. Embracing. Aspirations for the Millennium. "Helping Build a Secure and Loving Environment for our Foster Children." P.O. Box 13857 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-3857 1-888-494-3543 www.dreamforkids.com TOPIC: Building our Team: Getting closer to our Dream DREAM for Kids Foundation, a local non-profit organization serving the needs of San Luis Obispo's foster care population, welcomes a new member to their Team: Carla Savage-Sachs, Foundation Coordinator. Her role will be to help orchestrate and manifest DREAM's goals in supporting and servicing SLO counties foster youth. Ms. Savage-Sachs has joined DREAM just in time for their key annual fundraising events: The Haunted Caves, October 29th and 30th at Eberle Winery in Paso Robles. Event sponsored by Eberle Winery and the Paso Robles Rotary Club Black Tie Dinner, January 9th, 2004, Cliffs Resort, Shell Beach. Both events promise to be magical, memorable and personally rewarding! Request ticket information by email or phone (1-888-494-3543; www.dreamforkids.com). Ms. Savage-Sachs is truly an exciting new addition to DREAM's foundation. Prior experience working as a counselor for a foster care group home, as well as her entrepreneurial skills as a former business owner and current co-owner with husband Dr. Sandy Sachs of Health in Motion Chiropractic Center, combine to make her services to DREAM highly applicable and invaluable. At a time when DREAM has reached a growth spurt in terms of community recognition, organizational development and outreach efficacy, Ms. Savage-Sachs will help forge and nurture new growth. HIGHLIGHTS: WHAT: DREAM for Kids Foundation hires Foundation Coordinator, Carla Savage-Sachs, and gears up for their upcoming, annual fundraising events: The Haunted Caves and The Black Tie Dinner). QUOTE: " It is an honor to be a part of the DREAM Team. I am here to help expedite and steer DREAM's mission of helping to build a secure and loving environment for our local foster children. Part of my role will be to continue to find ways to effectively get our message and needs out to concerned citizens for foster youth through our public fundraising efforts (like the Haunted Caves and the Black Tie Dinner), as well as help to better link our current services (Mentoring and Scholarship Programs) specifically to our targeted population - the kids- be they operating within the foster care system or currently struggling as recent emancipated youth." WHEN: DREAM became a non-profit foundation February 1st, 2001. Foundation Coordinator position filled, August 2003. Haunted Caves Event, October 29th and 30th, 2004 Fourth Annual Black Tie Dinner, January 9th, 2004 WHERE: D.R.E.A.M. for Kids Foundation. P.O. Box 13857. San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-3857. This year's Black Tie Dinner will be located at the Cliffs in Shell Beach. The Haunted Caves Event will be located at Eberle Winery in Paso Robles. WHY: The purpose of our fundraising events is two-fold: to raise the level of awareness and support among our concerned community members for the need for better services and outreach to our foster youth in San Luis Obispo county, as well as provide occasions for fun and fancy to all those involved in the cause. Our largest fundraiser of the year is our annual dinner auction, our Black Tie Dinner event. It is an evening of magic, emotion and intrigue, combining a large silent auction as well as drawings and high- spirited bidding during our live auction. The evening also provides an opportunity for the attendees to better get to know our efforts and mission through a riveting video presentation as well as a keynote speaker, both of which focus on the lives and real experiences of children in foster care. Our past fundraising efforts have allowed us to contribute towards providing targeted scholarships to emancipated foster youth in our county for educational or professional purposes, as well as continue to reach both our immediate goals of opening a Resource Center for foster youth and our long term plans for the establishment of a group home with wrap around services for high-level, at risk foster children. BACKGROUND/ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: DREAM for Kids Foundation is a coalition of concerned community volunteers who want to help local foster children- through age 22- reach their full potential. Currently 500,000 children in the US are in foster care. 1-5 live in California. Fewer than 10% of kids in foster homes will ever be adopted. An estimated 15,000 18 year olds are turned loose every year in the US, untrained, uneducated and unmotivated on an unsuspecting and non-chalant public. San Luis Obispo counties foster care population is close to 400 children. There are approximately only 75 licensed foster homes throughout the entire county of SLO. Every year approximately 45 of our SLO county children are sent out of the county to high-level group homes. Currently there is no facility in the county of San Luis Obispo which can provide the level of care needed by some children to resume healthy development. DREAM's long-term goal is to develop a self-contained campus which will provide wrap-around services and programs for the highest level "at risk" youth. Levels 9, 12 and 14, ages 4-18 within the next 5 years. DREAM's current and ongoing efforts focus not only on raising funds for a foster care group home, but also on the continued development and implementation of their scholarship program, mentoring and educational services, and local resource referrals, all of which could give immediate relief, guidance and assistance to the emancipated foster youth of the county. QUOTE: " We are getting the dream out there. We are building a strong team. What we really need now is more and more continued community support and involvement in making the dream come true for the kids" September 10, 2001 HAUNTED CAVES AT EBERLE WINERY OCTOBER 29 & 30 Paso Robles, CA - Come if you dare and venture through the Haunted Caves at Eberle Winery October 29 & 30 from 5 pm to 9 pm where ghosts and goblins will be lurking in the shadows. Scary tunnels will lead to who knows where, and spirits from the past will rise to help the misguided find their way. Eberle Winery has over 16,000 square feet of undergound wine caves that will become possessed during the spooky Halloween season. Humans over 10 years are recommended to take their chances under the winery at Eberle, but children of all ages are encouraged to participate in the Halloween fun! Enter the wine caves through the tasting room where complimentary wine tasting will be available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Haunted Caves are sponsored by the Paso Robles Rotary Club and all proceeds benefit the D.R.E.A.M. for Kids Foundation. DREAM is a non-profit foundation serving the foster youth of San Luis Obispo County. It is a coalition of concerned community volunteers who want to help local foster children- through age 22- reach their full potential. Their immediate goals are to provide resources and referrals, such as scholarships and educational services, for the foster youth population, with a long term dream of building a campus with wrap around services for San Luis Obispo foster youth. Advance tickets can be purchased for $5 per person at Eberle Winery, (805) 238-9607 or the Dream for Kids Foundation Office, (888) 494-3543. Tickets are also available at the door. November 19, 2001 The Exchange Club golf tournament to benefit the Dream for Kids Foundation was held on October 26th. The proceeds from this successful event were appreciated. Thank you to Jamba Juice for their sponsorship and contributions to our fundraising efforts. Collection jars, along with Dream for Kids information cards have recently been placed in their 3 local stores. Dream representatives will be a part of the upcoming SLO Vettes Christmas Parade. This organization is generously offered to contribute donations. (Time and location will be announced.) The Second Annual Black Tie Dinner will take place on January 11th, 2002 at the Cliffs Restaurant in Shell Beach. More information is available in Events. T-shirts, hats and other items have been designed with a Dream for Kids logo and will soon be available. New Times Article (p. 11) - October 25, 2001 San Luis Obispo, CA Fresno Bee Follow-up Article - Feb. 2001 Fresno, CA Fresno Bee Article - Jan. 2001 Fresno, CA Time Magazine Article - Nov. 2000 New Times Article - Nov. 16, 2000 San Luis Obispo, CA