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Menlo Park OKs $1.2 million grant to Habitat for Humanity
The Menlo Park City Council voted unanimously May 11 to approve a $1.2 million grant to Habitat for Humanity to support a project to help 20 owners of Belle Haven homes with safety-related home rehabilitation projects, such as roof or window replacements, plumbing and electrical fixes, or insulation projects over the next three years. The funds come from the city’s Below Market Rate housing fund.
The program will provide homeowners with 0% interest loans typically between $40,000 and $70,000, which they pay back over a period of 30 years to cover the costs of the rehabilitation projects.
According to Maureen Sedonaen, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, the program aims to work with low-income homeowners of color, mainly seniors, who face difficult choices in the current housing market. For low or fixed-income households like theirs, she said, many have to choose between living in unhealthy, leaky or poorly insulated properties they can’t afford to repair, or selling their properties and leaving the region. The program will start by reaching out to homeowners to apply for the loans.
Ride your bike in May to earn local prizes
The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition is hosting its annual Bike to Work Day but with a pandemic twist on May 21. Instead, the event is a “Bike to Wherever Day,” acknowledging that many folks may still be working from home and don’t currently have commutes they can opt to take by bike.
People who register and pledge to ride their bikes in May can pick up a free bag at a number of locations throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara counties on May 21; some distribution sites may be set up on May 22 instead. Go here to sign up and learn more.
San Mateo County residents can also track their bike trips during May via Strava or Commute Tracker to be eligible for additional prizes. Learn more here.
Mental Health Awareness Month
San Mateo County’s Office of Diversity and Equity is hosting Mental Health Awareness Month throughout May, including the following virtual events:
• Friday, May 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. Film screening of “This is Crazy: Criminalizing Mental Health,” a film by Brave New Films. It’s a short documentary telling the stories of people with mental illness who have found themselves in the prison system rather than getting access to mental health care. After the screening, a panel will talk about decriminalizing mental health problems. Zoom Webinar ID: 939 9524 2833.
• Monday, May 17, from noon to 1 p.m. “Mental Health and Pets.” The Peninsula Humane Society, SPCA and Office of Diversity and Equity will provide a lunchtime talk with their pets on Zoom and talking about their experiences. Go here for more information.
• Tuesday, May 18, from noon to 1:30 p.m. An Asian American and Pacific Islander panel will speak against stigma in an event called “Hope for Change.” The Zoom link is here.
• Wednesday, May 19, from 3 to 5 p.m. A workshop for teens and young adults to learn about how to develop growth-focused mindsets. Register here.
• Friday, May 21, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. A panel of older adults will talk about their experiences of growth and recovery in a session titled “Growth and Recovery in the Face of Challenges: Re-examining Myths about Mental Health.” Register here.
Access the full list of May events here.
Application open for Woodside Planning Commission
The Woodside Planning Commission is recruiting for a new member who lives in District 1.
During the pandemic, the commission meets virtually on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 6 p.m.
The application is due Friday, May 14, at 5 p.m. Interviews will take place on May 25 at 7 p.m.
Interested residents may check residency requirements, request information and submit applications by email to Town Clerk Jennifer Li at jli@woodsidetown.org.
New assistant principal at Las Lomitas Elementary
Heather Peterson will become Las Lomitas Elementary School’s vice principal on July 1, according to a school newsletter. Peterson is presently a third grade teacher at the Atherton school.
“With 30 years of teaching experience and 25 years at Las Lomitas, her relationships and connection with the students, staff, and community will be assets to the school moving forward,” said Principal Alain Camou in the newsletter. “Her impact on children has gone beyond the classroom in innumerable ways. Now she will have an opportunity to further influence the lives and education of students as our assistant principal. I look forward to working alongside Heather as we lead Las Lomitas into the future.”
Portola Valley high school senior runs solo marathon
Allison Berkowitz, a resident of Ladera and a senior at Santa Catalina High School, a boarding school in Monterey, ran a marathon (26.2 miles) on Sunday, May 9, through the town with friends and family cheering her on, according to her mother Maryann Berkowitz.
Ally decided to train for the marathon in early January using the Peloton marathon program app, Maryann said. She used the mix of running workouts, strength training and stretching classes over the course of five months leading up to her run, Maryann said.
“Given that organized marathons have all shut down during COVID, this accomplishment is bigger than usual as it required her own personal motivation to keep it going on her own for five months,” Maryann said in an email. “I asked her ‘why did you do it? She said, ‘Why not? We are here during lock down at home, and it allows me to focus on getting it done.'”
Ally will attend Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York, in the fall, according to her family.
Big Help Day at Trinity School
SLIDESHOW. Lower Campus Director, Sue Krishna, and parents organized a series of activities for the students, including assembling kindness kits together at school and drawing artwork to display their reflections on what it means to be kind during Big Health Month. Photo by Tiffany Griego. 
Trinity School preschoolers pose for a photo in front of artwork they made. Photo by Katy Roybal. 
Students show the kindness kits they made for Big Help Month. Photo by Tiffany Griego.
Trinity School in Menlo Park reimagined its “beloved” annual community service initiative, Big Help Day, virtually during the pandemic, according to a May 5 school blog post.
Over spring break, Trinity students focused on acts of kindness for others, made DIY Kindness Kits at home, and wrote their actions on paper hearts.
“Our children proudly reported they did over 1,000 acts of kindness and assembled and donated over 540 Kindness Kits to LifeMoves, Samaritan House and Operation Care & Comfort,” according to the post. “Trinity’s collective altruism is now on full display with the kids’ beautiful rainbow, which impresses upon our children that together our individual acts of kindness combine to make a BIG and HELPFUL impact in our community.”
Call for Portola Valley Equity Committee applications
In recognition of the growing awareness of racial and economic inequities in the United States’ culture, and of the critical need to address these inequities, the Portola Valley Town Council approved the formation of a new standing town committee during its April 28 meeting.
The committee will address systemic barriers to inclusion that may exist within the town’s policies, regulations and practices.
The committee, which will meet monthly at a date and time to be determined, will consist of seven Portola Valley residents. Mayor Maryann Derwin and Councilman John Richards will act as advisory-only liaisons.
Applications will be accepted through Friday, May 21, here.
Atherton PAL hands out scholarships
The Atherton Police Activities League (PAL) has awarded scholarships to seven 2021 high school graduates, according to a May 4 press release from the nonprofit.
Georgia Butler, Alexa Gomez and Lizeth Suarez from Sacred Heart Preparatory and Kimberly Hernandez, Oliver Khan, Rachel Park and Kari Trail were the recipients of the $5,000 awards.
Butler played volleyball, lacrosse, was on the swim team, rowing team and played water polo. She plans to attend Tufts University and go on to medical school to become an obstetrician. She started and led a campaign for students to write letters to the Religious of the Sacred Heart, a group of nuns that live on Sacred Heart’s campus.
Gomez co-founded and led the People United for Multicultural Awareness, where she prepared weekly meetings and planned cultural events. She also received the Menlo Park Rotary Club award. She plans to attend Loyola Marymount University or San Diego State University and is interested in becoming a criminal investigator.
Suarez played soccer and was a dance team member and co-founded People United for Multicultural Awareness with Gomez. She volunteered at Stanford Children’s Hospital, taught math to junior high school students, and served food and provided translation services. She plans to attend Azusa Pacific University to study nursing.
Hernandez was active in leadership via the student council, was a freshman transition leader and wants to become a lawyer or judge.
Khan participated in cross country and the track and field team, won the 2020 MIT Book award, and volunteered with the Friends and Buddy program. He plans to attend University of Southern California, where he would like to design the next-generation passenger jet liner.
Park played on the varsity volleyball team for all four years and founded Curieus, a program to help bridge the opportunity gap to students in STEM. She plans to attend either Stanford or Harvard universities and work toward becoming a social health care entrepreneur or business executive.
Trail, a soccer player, interned as a youth leader at a local church and created Verses Magazine, a print project where she manages, designs and edits the 100-page magazine. She plans to attend either USC or California Institute of the Arts.
All donations to PAL are from Atherton residents. To date, PAL said it has given out $220,000 in scholarships over the years to students enrolled in Atherton schools.
By Angela Swartz and Kate Bradshaw
By Angela Swartz and Kate Bradshaw
By Angela Swartz and Kate Bradshaw
