Join us for our 3rd Open Mic night on March 1, 2013. Anyone is welcome to perform. No entry or performance fee.

This Fall we launched the Gardening, Art, Mapping, and the Environment (GAME) Project, a partnership between West Bay, Crissy Field Center (CFC), and Intersection for the Arts (IFTA). West Bay youth participate in workshops on environmental justice that the South of Market community faces. The program also includes field trips to Heron’s Head Park and the Presidio. For their culminating project, students will work in groups to create atlases of San Francisco. Each atlas will highlight the green space in the city (e.g. parks and gardens) and juxtapose it with another feature of their choice (i.e. where they like to hang out, the location of great horned owls’ nests, the distribution of cypress trees, the number of liquor stores, etc.). Students will engage in environmental science studies that include outdoor experiences, hands on experiments, monitoring and restoration for the length of this fall semester program. IFTA will lead the gardening portion of the project in collaboration with the organizations Holy Stitch! and Kids in Parks. The students will create a hanging garden located next to the Chronicle Building on Mission Street. We are excited to work with these amazing organizations and create a unique approach to exploring the environment in The City.

Four of West Bay’s academic achievers who participate in the Gardening, Arts, Mapping, and the Environment (GAME) program were treated to the 49er vs. Seahawks game on October 18th. The students enjoyed the Mayor Ed Lee’s box seats with youth from the organization United Playaz and Mayor Ed Lee himself. It was a great experience and great win! Thanks Mayor Lee and to our favorite football team the San Francisco 49ers!

On October 7, 2012 West Bay participated in the Asian Art Museum’s Filipino-American Heritage Month event. Congrats to the Asian Art Museum, all the participating organizations, artists, and college student performers. The event was a huge success featuring cultural ceremonies, dances, art, and singing. West Bay hosted Sungka games which bridged generations through a traditional game. Read our write-up on the origins of Sungka.

On September 9, 2012 West Bay youth were treated to the SF Giants game vs. LA Dodgers. Thanks to a kind donation by the SF Giants Community Foundation, 25 of our staff and youth cheered on our favorite MLB team from the Timmy’s Giants Section. It was the perfect night and an amazing win!

10:20am. August 29, 2012. Two strangers sat beside each other at West Bay waiting for their respective appointments. When introduced to each other as WW2 Veterans, their immediate response was that of curiosity, followed by a flurry of questions about their battalion number, infantry division, rank, as if to check the veracity of their claims as WW2 soldiers. It was amazing to hear their recollections, and their outbursts as they discovered that they were in the same battalion and infantry division during the war. Even more remarkable was the bond that became evident after their shared experiences. Mr. Gregorio Ferrer (left) currently resides in San Jose, CA and Mr. Guillermo Corpuz in San Francisco. Two gentlemen separated by different religions, locations, and many decades, established their brotherhood as soldiers in one morning because there was a venue for them as Filipinos to meet. Because of your continued moral and financial support for West Bay, we are hoping that more stories like these can be inscribed as part of our community’s history. by Joyce Diloy