The City of Richmond, California’s RichmondBUILD program staff has received notice of a $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue training Richmond residents for environmental stewardship and cleanup careers. RichmondBUILD will receive one of the 16 grant awards made throughout the country. The funding will provide up to 60 Richmond residents with training and certifications in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), hazardous waste operations (HAZWOPPER), CPR and first aid, confined space entry, chemical safety, lead and asbestos abatement, and brownfields assessment and cleanup. The selection of RichmondBUILD’s application was due, in large part, to the successful … Continue reading →

On May 31, the Friends Foundation International will hold its second annual benefit concert at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, CA. The Friends Foundation International (“FFI”) was formed by a group of friends who met in 1975 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. FFI is about strengthening friendship through giving and fortifying fellowship through activism. Although it is built on friendship, the Foundation is not a social club. Rather, it is a vehicle for individuals who share the bond of friendship to use their collective commitment, resources, and dynamism to improve the human condition and protect the … Continue reading →

Yesterday, my daughter Sarah and I walked Boston’s Freedom Trail. She was nursing her aching muscles and I was grateful to be there with her, walking in the fresh air, seeing this beautiful and historic city for the first time, together. Along the way, we learned more about the roots of a nation that has allowed more of its citizens to reach their dreams than any other. People like some of my ancestors who fled the violence of the Russian pogroms to make it to these shores with little more than the clothes on their backs. Something magic started in … Continue reading →