What’s Going On?

The San Francisco 49ers hosted Family Day at Candlestick Park. Free to all fans, the 49ers offered many workshops for the kids, activities for all ages (field goal kick, 40 yard dash, obstacle course, etc), and even autograph signings.

This was my first year at Family Day ever. As a native San Franciscan, I’ve never had the opportunity to come to one Family Day. Having the opportunity with two friends, I decided to tag along for the journey. It was quite a crazy experience. I’ve never seen so many kids running around wearing 49ers memorabilia. Lines were long for free autographs. There were even lines for food and free giveaways. The kids had probably one of the best giveaways ever. They got a free ticket if they completed several workshops at the stadium. The tickets were for upper reserve seats. Their face value was $81.

My favorite moment at Family Day was being able to see the five Super Bowl Vince Lombardi trophies. I can’t believe that San Francisco was home to so many awesome players. It’s kind of sad to see the end of an era. I just hope with the new pick up of Michael Crabtree that the team will pick up a little pace on the many years of drought. I remember the days of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. That was when I had a deep appreciation for the game. I played in high school and I followed the team, but ever since the team started going down hill it was hard for me to want to stay home and watch the game.

One sad thing to note is that there was this one booth that showed fans the new stadium plans for Santa Clara in 2014. I was so sad seeing this because Candlestick Park will be only a memory. The Giants have left the building to AT&T Park and now the 49ers are soon to leave for a different city altogether. If there was something I could change about the move, I would have the 49ers play in Oakland for a few years as Candlestick Park is rebuilt, but that is only a dream. I hope that I will have the same passion for football as I once did when I was younger.

Overall, Family Day was a great time to see how much fans still appreciate the team. I’m glad I went because that’s what sports is all about, it’s about family coming together to take part and watch the game together.

Edgewood Center for Children and Families is a non-profit organization that seeks assistance for kids that struggle through social, mental, abuse, neglect or family problems.

Several of my friends wanted to meet and help out the children of Edgewood. We all agreed to schedule a date where we could all commit to helping the needs of this organization. What we signed up for was fun, but not only that it was rewarding.

This is my second time at Edgewood and the program that we were involved with is called Breakfast Club. The volunteer session with Edgewood is a two and a half hour time commitment. The breakfast session is on a Saturday mornings from 8:30-11am. Volunteers for Breakfast Club are there to cook for the kids. There are three cottages and groups are divided up into teams of four. If there happens to be no volunteers the staff there would have to prepare the meal for the children. Thankfully, most of their Saturdays are booked in advanced and volunteer groups are more than welcomed to serving the children through this program or other various programs (dinner club, gardening club, fundraising events, etc).

I love cooking so this was on my number one things to do for the community. It’s been probably a few years since the last time I was here, but being back brought back so many fun memories. The memories were both of being able to cook alongside my friends and being able to cook for the kids that seem so happy to see new people. Some are quiet and some are very talkative, but in the end all the kids really want is love. I’m glad that I was able to be a part of it and I really do hope to book another session with them.

If you would like to find out more information, please visit their website at http://www.edgewood.org