Kristin Glenchur, Athletic Director 510 644-8723 |
Why BAF -- Over Twenty Years of Support for Berkeley High School Sports In 1985 public schools in California were reeling as the full impact of Proposition 13 hit local school budgets. At Berkeley High School the pre-Prop 13 athletic budget averaged $125,000 per year. In October, 1985 the BUSD announced that to meet its revised athletic budget of $50,000, nine teams would be dropped and all bus transportation eliminated for the spring season. A group of Berkeley High School parents vowed to prevent this catastrophe. A meeting was called on October 30, the hat was passed, and $2,000 was collected at that meeting. Parents wrote a fundraising letter and organized a raffle. Through the efforts of parent Barbara de Janvry, TRIPS OUT TRAVEL donated the grand prize of a trip to Hawaii. The fundraising campaign collected more than $22,000, enough to preserve the athletic program intact and to keep the buses rolling that spring. The group of parents who had averted the immediate crisis for the BHS athletic program: Pam Bartko, Laurie Capitelli, Alice Gruber, Becky Rice, Lee Bevis, Marion Chabot, Barbara de Janvry, Sue Self, Tom Burns, Betty Davis, Janice Lawrence, Elizabeth Sklut, Judy Calder, Jim Edgar & Sue Pownall decided that an on-going coummunity support group was needed for BHS Athletic Program and under the leadership of Jay Welsh, the Berkeley Athletic Fund was established. In addition to maintaining the scope of Berkeley High's athletic program, one of the group's early goals was to fund the resurfacing of the athletic field with Astroturf. Riddled with potholes and so heavily used that the grass could never be adequately maintained, many believed the field was a hazard for teams playing there. In 1995, after ten years of lobbying and under the guidance of then-Athletic Director Lloyd Higgins, the turf was finally installed with funds provided by Measure A funds. For over ten years the major BAF fundraising activity was a fundraising letter sent to all families at Berkeley High. In 1998 the Berkeley Athletic Fund initiated a new fundraising activity, the Celebrity Waiter Luncheon—a joint effort of Berkeley Athletic Fund and the Berkeley High Athletic Department. Held at Yoshi's in Jack London Square, the first luncheon raised $8,000. Our eigth luncheon, held at Hs. Lordship's in Berkeley, raised more than $21,000 for athletics at Berkeley High. Last year's success indicates a growing interest and support for this event from our community— particularly Berkeley High alumni and their friends. Traditionally, the money collected has been used to pay for uniforms and equipments for BHS teams. All teams were eligible to apply for grants and approvals were made on the recommendations of the Athletic Director. For the several years a majority of the funds ($8,100 per year) we've raised has gone to help pay the salary of an athletic trainer who is at school every afternoon to serve all athletes. Increasingly the focus for funding has been toward those items that support all the athletes rather than funding for individual team items. As of 2007, BAF has committed to raise over $40,000 per year to replace the budget cuts made in 2004. The funds are raised through our fall fund raising letter and the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame. Donations can be made to BAF by sending a check to: BAF, P.O. Box 11525, Berkeley, CA 94712. Non-profit ID #94-3006966. |
SPOTLIGHT |
| © 2008 Berkeley Athletic Fund Berkeley High School • 2223 MLK, Jr. Way • Berkeley, CA 94704 |
| 2007 was the first year for the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame. We are now accepting nominations for the 2008 celebration on May 2nd and 3rd 2008. |
| Support the Restaurants that supported the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame SOOPS Looney BBQ Doggie High |
| Looking for Parent Volunteers for 2008-2009 and Beyond The Berkeley Athletic Fund is an all volunteer, non-profit organization that has been supporting and raising funds for BHS Athletics since 1984. BHS has over 1000 student athletes participating in 28 different sports. For more details, see our website at www.BerkeleyAthleticFund.org As with each volunteer group at BHS, we need to replenish our volunteers each year. This year we have many graduating senior parents and we need more parents to help continue our efforts. Please let me know how you can help. Here is a list of our upcoming needs: 1. Treasurer - we have had one person filling this position, but could have 2 people share the responsibilities. Requires 3-4 hours per month. Includes depositing and writing checks and maintaining the ledger. 2. BHS Wearables Coordinator - yep, those PJ bottoms and other BHS wearables need another person to guide their future. It is totally open to the new person how to run this project in the future. 4-5 hours per month at most. 3. Parking Lot Coordinator - BHS teams staffing the BHS parking lot on Friday and Saturday nights as well as football weekends. The Coordinator processes the team requests and gives teams information on how to run the lot. 1-2 hours per month, mostly by email. 4. Graphic Designer - Pretty up the documents for BAF including the fall fund raising letters and Hall of Fame promotion material. 3-4 hours every 4 months. For more information, contact MK Murlas, murlas@sbcglobal.net. |