 Collective Roots fosters young leaders by engaging youth and their communities in food system change through education programs that impact public health and the environment. At Collective Roots, we believe the students we work with are the future CEO's of Silicon Valley. Their future is our business, and our stock is going up! We rely on generous supporters to accomplish our work in the public schools and local community. Here are 3 reasons why we deserve your support this year: 1. Collective Roots invests in the education and health of local youth. Our garden-based education programs deliver life science and nutrition curricula to hundreds of school children (K-12) in East Palo Alto (and beyond) each year. Our offerings help raise academic performance through experiential learning in our 1-acre organic garden. We employ creative educational strategies and service learning to connect children to the natural environment, literally showing students the fruits of their labor. Our students show exceptional outcomes, averaging 70% improvement in knowledge gained. Our gardens provide a setting for horticultural studies, and a dynamic environment wherein students are the most important crop. The life skills that we teach the children–leadership, assertiveness, and self-motivation–will facilitate their success in a variety of future endeavors. 2. The work of Collective Roots benefits the entire community. Collective Roots has played a leading role in bringing about food system change through the establishment of the East Palo Alto Community Farmers' Market. The weekly market opened last June, providing high quality, locally grown produce at affordable prices throughout the year. In our community, which did not have a supermarket for more than twenty years, we take pride in connecting farmers directly with consumers in a mutually beneficial relationship. Over 62% of shoppers surveyed at the market believe that it has contributed to their overall health. 3. We spread our mission by inspiring community volunteers to lend a hand. Each year, Collective Roots engages thousands of volunteers to help us transform school environments, improving public and environmental health. Corporate groups, community organizations and pro bono construction professionals regularly contribute "sweat equity" to our monthly garden cleanup days, as well as other projects such as habitat restoration. And they are delighted to do it—our volunteers report benefits such as "sharing an experience of diverse community" and "amazing results that transform children's lives." These are just a few of the investments that Collective Roots is making in the "future CEO's" like Lizette and Antonio (pictured above.) We invite you to review the "Community Investment Portfolio," which highlights our accomplishments over the past year. Then please consider making a donation to help assure our positive growth and deepen our "roots" in the community. Lastly, we encourage you to send this letter to a friend who might be interested in supporting our work. To do this, please visit the online version of this email for a "ShareThis" link in the top right corner. Our best for a happy and healthy holiday season,  Wolfram Alderson |