We all gathered together in June to welcome the new group of Fellows into the Hope Fund Community. It was a learning experience for us all. Fellows met their Supervisors, and many of us met the Summer Fellows for the first time.

Christian Sanoguel, one of the five 2014 Summer Fellows, writes that “Knowledge is what matters” during one of our ice breaker exercises. Dena Adriance (Girl Be Heard) listens in.

2014 Summer Fellow Sadasia McCutchen writes, “Compassion is what matters.” Edgar Monasterio (Legal Aid Society), Benedict Joson (Summer 2012 Fellow), and Ellen Meyers (Hope Fund) listen in.

2014 Summer Fellows Fatima Sacko and Daniel Aiken (left to right).

2014 Summer Fellow Janet Ceron.

Ellen Meyers (Hope Fund) and Benedict Joson (Summer 2012 Fellow) helped us understand Civic Engagement and Social Justice on a deeper level.

Photographed left to right: Sadasia McCutchen, Christian Sanoguel, Daniel Aiken, Kristina Reintamm (Brooklyn Community Services), Fatima Sacko, Dena Adriance (Girl Be Heard), Janet Ceron, and Edgar Monasterio (Legal Aid Society)

And no Hope Fund gathering is complete without our mascot Wally.

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with our 2014 Summer Fellows:

Dani Aiken has been placed at Brooklyn Community Services
Janet Ceron is interning at Legal Aid Society
Sadasia McCutchen is an intern for Crown Heights Community Mediation Center at Youth Save Our Streets
Fatima Sacko has been interning at Girl Be Heard
Christian Sanoguel has been placed at Brooklyn Community Pride Center

All of us at The Hope Fund would like to thank everyone that attended our events last week. And if you could not attend, your presence was felt.

We invited our friends and family to gather at Hope’s tree to commemorate her three years later, and although the winter was hard on the baby tree, we were able to join together on a beautiful April afternoon.

Our 5K Run/Walk was a great success, with over 130 participants in attendance.

Congratulations to our two winners: Skyler Mosenthal and Mariela Quintana!

     We’ll see you at next year’s run!

Our application period is now closed.

Congratulations to all the applicants who submitted their applications for the 2014 Summer Fellowship. Our Selection Committee is hard at work reading all of your applications.

We are very excited to meet our next group of Fellows in the coming months. Good luck to all who applied!

If you missed it this time around, don’t worry, we will keep you posted about the next application period in January 2015.

In the meantime, start getting excited about our annual Run for Hope 5K Run/Walk in April.

See you all there!

Please join us for our second annual concert on November 24th at 4 PM at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn NY. Thanks to the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music, and the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra all proceeds will be donated to the Hope Reichbach Fund.

Purchase tickets for you and your many friends and family HERE.

On Sunday afternoon, August 4th, we celebrated the completion of the second summer of the Hope Reichbach Fund. The five stellar class of 2013 interns shared memorable moments from their internships around Brooklyn, while Board Members and friends of the Fund looked (and cheered) on. We even had two HRF alumni in the house. From surprises and challenges, to lessons learned, and at least one fear of public speaking overcome, these past 10 weeks seemed to be incredibly fruitful experiences for all. We are honored to welcome Natasha, Shirley, Clair, Janelle and Nana into the Circle of Hope and can’t wait to hear about their future accomplishments. Special thanks to Rucola for generously donating space and snacks.

From left to right: Giselle (HRF member), Clair, Janelle

Janelle, Nana, Daniela (HRF member)

Interns Natasha, Shirley, Clair, Janelle

Interns Shirley, Clair, Janelle, Nana

Meet our interns: From the left: Janelle Anderson, Clair Beltran, Natasha Pena, Shirley Urena, and Nana Amponsah!

June 2nd was the orientation for this year’s class of Hope Reichbach Fund interns. Our interns (Nana, Janelle, Clair, Natasha, and Shirley) and several friends of Hope gathered for an afternoon of fun and learning at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, together with representatives from four of this year’s internship organizations: STREB, Legal Aid, Gowanus Canal Conservancy, and Brooklyn Community Services. We thank all four representatives for being so generous with their time and for helping us to prepare the interns for a very exciting summer.

The participants in the 2013 Hope Fund Orientation. Bottom row, from left: Friends of Hope Katie Roscher, Rebecca Karasik, and Ellen Meyers; Interns Clair Beltran, Natasha Peña and Shirley Ureña; STREB Director of Education and Community Relations Ashley Walters; Friends of Hope Lily Mandlin and Daniela Quiroz. Top row, from left: Brooklyn Community Services XXX; Friends of Hope Clare Richardson and Diane Martins; Intern Janelle Anderson; Friend of Hope Sanda Balaban; Intern Nana Amponsah; Gowanus Canal Conservancy board member Ben Jones; Legal Aid attorney Peter Mitchell; Friend of Hope Dylan Suher.

We started off with a lunch, at which the internship organization representatives got to meet with the interns in a casual setting, talk to them about their plans for the summer, and discuss the work that their organization does with all of the orientation participants.

Lunch with the internship organizations

After lunch, Ellen Meyers, Hope’s mother and a long-time activist and organizer, led a social justice workshop, in which we learned a little bit about history and practiced devising creative solutions to pressing social problems. Lily Mandlin, our program and outreach chair, led the group through a “Work on Purpose” workshop, which prompted us to think about what is most important to us, what skills and capacities we have, and how we can best work towards what we want through the strengths we have. To close out the afternoon, our special guest Didier Sylvain led a leadership workshop and discussion program.

What matters.

As an icebreaker, everyone at orientation thought of one word that represents what matters the most to them. For Clair, inclusion is what matters.

Happy birthday, Becky! Pictured, from left to right: Friends of Hope Lily Mandlin, Sanda Balaban, and Giselle Marie Leon; Interns Janelle Anderson and Clair Beltran.

We also wished Hope Reichbach Fund chair Becky Karasik a happy birthday!

Above all, we were all impressed by the intelligence and motivation of this year’s five terrific interns. We hope the afternoon prepared them for what we are sure they will accomplish in the coming summer, accomplishments made possible in part through your generous donations.

Thank you all so much for participating in the first annual Run for Hope 5K Run/Walk. We beat our goal of raising $10,000 and had a great time with friends and family. Check out some photos from the race and the meeting at Hope’s tree in Borough Hall after the run. (More photos by Colin Thomson available here.)

See you next year!

Dear friends,

Everyone who knew Hope knows that, whether it was softball or boxing, athletics, physical achievement, and the spirit of competition were always an important part of Hope’s life. For that reason, what could be a more appropriate way to raise money for the Hope Reichbach Fund than a 5K walk/run?

On April 28th at 9 AM, please join the friends of Hope for a 5K (3.1 mile) walk/run around Prospect Park. For the $27 registration fee, which will go directly to the Hope Reichbach Fund, you will get a spot in the race, receive an official individual race time, and be provided with refreshments. For $35, you will receive all of the above and a t-shirt. Even if you don’t quite feel up to running, we encourage you to join us for the walk: it takes only about an hour to walk 3.1 miles at a regular pace. Or you can donate and then join us at 12 PM, at Hope’s Tree in Borough Hall Park (in front of the State Supreme Court, near the Christopher Columbus statue; take the 2/3/4/5 to Borough Hall, N/R to Court Street ar A/C/F to Jay St/Metrotech) to celebrate the fund and to commemorate Hope and Gus on the second anniversary of Hope’s death.

To register, simply sign up on the Run for Hope Crowdrise site.

Also, be sure to join the Run for Hope Facebook Event!

The friends of Hope believe that together, through dedication and hard work, we can achieve something great: we can work to achieve a more equitable, more just NYC. If you share that common goal, be sure to run with us on the 28th!