Presidio

The Earth Service Corps Mission

The mission of YMCA Earth Service Corps is to empower students to become effective, responsible global citizens by providing opportunities for leadership development, environmental education & action and cross-cultural awareness.

The Presidio Community YMCA has been providing this youth enrichment programming in the Marina, North Beach and Inner Richmond neigborhoods for the past eight years at Marina Middle School, Roosevelt Middle School and Francisco Middle School. The youth served by these programs range from ages ten to thirteen years old and travel from neighborhoods throughout San Francisco to attend these public schools. The following percentages of youth attending these schools qualify for free or reduced lunch: 74% at Marina Middle School, 68% at Roosevelt Middle School and 72% at Francisco Middle School. Many of these youth would not have been able to have the accessiblity and resources to spend time in the outdoors and get outside the city without a program like the Earth Service Corps.

Author Richard Louv has argued that many youth are currently suffering from "nature-deficit disorder," as spending time outdoors is now secondary to TV and computer games. Some studies state that youth spend 44 hours per week plugged in to an electronic device. According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, "Growing evidence shows that today’s children are gravitating away from outdoor experiences and towards a virtual indoor reality. This disconnect from nature has serious long-term implications for the health and well-being of our nation’s children and the future stewardship of our public lands."

The Earth Service Corps directly addresses these statements and works to get urban youth outdoors. Not only does it help set the foundations for building tomorrows environmental activists it also is a great experience for youth to try something new, adventurous and fun in the outdoors!

Schedule

In past years, we’ve gone…

• Mountain biking in the Marin Headlands
• Canoeing the San Francisco Bay with Save the Bay
• Camping in Pescadero & visited an organic goat farm
• Rock climbing at Planet Granite
• Snowshoeing, skiing and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe
• Whitewater rafting with the Sierra Club

This Spring, we’re looking forward to…

• Sailing in the Bay
• Camping and habitat restoration at Angel Island
• Hiking and restoring a section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail
• Snow days in the Sierras
• Environmental and renewable energy education at Heron’s Head Park
• Ocean Beach Cleanup and geocaching!
• Kayaking in Sausalito

Volunteer

Come join our team, give back to the community and learn new skills. Volunteering is a rewarding and fun way to spend your time with youth. No prior experience is necessary. For an updated list of volunteer positions, click HERE. Contact Ivonne Garcia for more information.

The Presidio YMCA offers a range of bike programs and classes for the whole family. All classes are led by the experienced League of American Bicyclists- certified staff of thePresidio YBike Program. Visit www.ybike.org for more info.

YBike Enrichment Program

Since 2004, the Presidio Community YMCA Bicycle Program (YBike) has offered a growing range of professional bicycle safety education programs to youth, schools and the community-at-large. Over 70% of the youth we serve are low-income, over 80% are youth of color, and just under 50% are girls.

Our original after-school bike clubs began in 2004 at just four schools. We now operate at 11 San Francisco schools, and in 2009-10 served over 500 students. In 2008, we started a Bicycling and Bicycle Safety class for Physical Education (P.E.). The program has become hugely popular with students and teachers, and we served over 350 students at four middle schools and one high school in 2009-10. We brought our one-day Bicycle safety rodeos to nearly 900 students at 10 elementary schools across the city. YBike has also expanded into community events such as Sunday Streets, the NOPA neighborhood festival and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Family Day.

In the summer of 2010, we offered twice as many summer bike and mountain bike camps as last year. We’re getting more kids on bikes safely every year – but we cannot continue to do the work we do without strong financial support from members of the Presidio Community YMCA.

Please consider donating to our Annual Giving Campaign to support the YBike program and the thousands of San Francisco youth who get the chance to ride bikes every year through our bicycle safety education programs.