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Create Now! Thanks the
Yahoo! Employee Foundation

Thanks to former Create Now! Treasurer, Michael Egan, who is the Director of Content Strategy & Operations at Yahoo! Search Marketing, and to the Yahoo! Employee Foundation (YEF), as well as the Peninsula Community Foundation, Create Now! has received another generous grant toward our Sound Off! music program in 2006-2007.

In 2005, Yahoo! gave us a substantial donation to bring our music programs to at least 400 of the most troubled kids in our community between September and December 2005.

The Yahoo! Employee Foundation (YEF) provides a great opportunity for Yahoo! employees to help an organization they care about to apply for a grant. Here's what Michael had to say about why he joined the Create Now! Board of Directors:

"As I was deciding which nonprofit organization to become actively involved with, I felt that the organization needed to clearly demonstrate benefits to our educational system, specifically towards children that do not have the same opportunities that I have had. It also needed to stand out with its creativity and innovation. After speaking with a number of organizations, Create Now! was clearly the organization that embodied those criteria. Having witnessed the impact of the mentoring programs and special projects that Create Now! has put together, I fully support this grant proposal for Create Now!"

Create Now! is thrilled that both of these wonderful foundations have generously donated this money to us through an Advised Fund/Foundation at Peninsula Community Foundation. In 2005-2006, we arranged music programs for hundreds of incarcerated youth with Mark Schulman and Create Now! alumni K.L. (Michael Monroe) at Phoenix House, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and Camp David Gonzalez. In addition, we presented our inspirational drumming program at HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles) for dozens of at-risk elementary and middle-school children. Beth Sussman provided her special program, "Who's Afraid of Classical Music," at Vista Del Mar and Five Acres facilities.  And Josh Andrews taught a very popular Guitar Workshop to teenage boys at Gardner House. 

Ultimately, Create Now! surpassed our goal and brought music projects to more than 430 high-risk and at-risk youth in our community during the last four months of last year.  We're confident that we'll greatly exceed those numbers next year, thanks to Yahoo!