I need some help...

 

Dear Blog,

Hope you're doing well :). If you remember, last year I sent out a fund-raising request to help send a child to The Austin Sunshine Camps. Summer is upon us again and I'd like to get a couple more kids into the program. I've committed to raise at least $500 to help ensure that these deserving, yet underprivileged kids have a happy place to spend a week this summer. Because we make the Camps free to all the kids, raising money is the only way we can provide them with this great summer camp experience.

In order to make it as easy as possible, I have a personal fundraising page setup where you can donate online with your credit/debit card. Just go to http://www.ymblgiving.org/Eric-Hemati and follow the instructions. If you prefer to send a check, please make it payable to the Austin Sunshine Camps (and include my name in the memo line) and mail it to:

YMBL
PO Box 5702
Austin, TX 78763

I know there's a recession on, and I'm not asking for any specific amount, but every dollar you can spare will be put to great use; if all you can give right now is $25, that's awesome. On the other hand, we're going to send 900+ kids to camp, so if you can afford more, please be as generous as you can.

For every $330 that we raise, you send one more kid to camp for a week, and for every $2,195, you fund a kid for a whole year in our Leadership Mentoring program, which has graduated 100% of its seniors from high school for the last eight years and of those seniors, all attended higher education classes in 2008. Because the Camp's overhead is covered almost entirely by volunteers, 96% of every dollar you donate will be spent directly on the kids.

I really appreciate your generosity - it means a lot to the kids and the city.

Respectfully,

Eric

P.S. I've also attached some statistics on the Austin Sunshine Camps below. If you're in town and you'd like to visit one of the facilities, let me know and I'll arrange for a personal tour.

• Nearly 1,000 ethnically diverse youth ages 7-18 are served per year.
• 60% are from households with annual incomes of less than $21,000.
• 34% of those annual household incomes fall below $12,000.
• 100% qualify for summer food service which is administered through the camps.
• 71% of campers are from single-parent or foster homes.
• Nearly 50% come from homes with two or more siblings.
• We serve a near equal number of boys and girls.
• Camps are offered free of charge to disadvantaged youth and children from low-income homes.
• Zilker Park Camps are for ages 7-11.
• Lake Travis Camps are for ages 12-15.
• Programs are volunteer-driven—by Young Men's Business League members and others from the community at-large.
• $400,000+ annual budget is comprised of contributions from private sources—individuals, foundations, and businesses.
• More than 96% of the budget is applied directly to the programs.
• Since 2001, all Leadership participants have earned a high school diploma.
• Since 2001, 100 percent of Leadership participants have attended either a 2-year technical college or a 4-year professional college.
• Presently, there are 11 Sunrise Leadership program graduates in college.

Austin Sunshine Camps at Zilker Park
The YMBL Sunshine Camp Zilker facility serves children from ages seven to eleven and provides these children with a 7 day, overnight camping experience. While the ultimate goal of the summer camp experience is to have fun through traditional camping activities such as swimming, hiking, and sports, the camp also provides opportunities for the campers to experience new things. Campers engage in hands-on activities and games designed around themes such as trust, communication, and teamwork. The camp also provides campers with the opportunity to develop self-esteem and personal growth through activities on our challenge (or ropes) course. Campers must work together as a team to solve problems and accomplish tasks.

Austin Sunshine Camps at Lake Travis
In 1988, the YMBL Sunshine Camps expanded with the Sunshine Camps at Lake Travis to meet the growing needs of adolescents from ages twelve to fifteen with a week long, overnight camping experience. The Lake Travis facility builds on the concepts offered at the Zilker Park facility to children familiar with the Sunshine Camp program and provides new campers with new, challenging outdoor activities. These activities include social skills building such as trust, communication, and teamwork through the use of rope courses and experiential activities. In addition, the YMBL Sunshine Camp at Lake Travis facility strives to cultivate self-awareness and instill self-confidence. The Sunshine Camp Lake Travis facility also provides adolescents with the opportunity and support to reach beyond comfort levels and realize their full potential through counselor and peer relationships, team building, and sophisticated high-ropes course activities.

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Breakfast Tacos

I have to give some kudos to my friend Holly for knowing the absolute
coolest places to eat in Austin. Yes, the wait is worth these
breakfast tacos - holy crap are they tasty! I'm learning that the
search for the most amazing breakfast taco is something of a local
pastime and El Chilito on the East Side is my new favorite taco stand.

For now ;)

Flashbacks

I just landed in DC and emerged from Union Station. Wow! Seeing the
buses and the traffic and the architecture really brings back the
memories. On one hand it's difficult to believe I've been gone for 5
months. On the other hand it feels like a lifetime ago...

It strikes me that my lifestyle now is so different than it was here -
I ride a motorcycle, work in a bar, wear shorts and tshirts all the
time, steal an hour or two a week at my favorite swimming holes, take
life and myself much less seriously, work longer hours yet feel
ridiculously younger, weigh less, laugh more, and live in the present.

What I miss the most are my friends and that's what I'm here for this
weekend. I was blessed with an extraordinary set of people around me
and am excited to share some cocktails with them and hear their stories.

More Personal Developments

I just moved into my sweet new downtown pad! You can check it out by googling this address: 1007 S. Congress Ave., Austin, TX. I've got an amazing skyline view from the living room windows and the balcony, a pool, and a great roommate in my buddy Dan who I run the restaurant with and basically hang with most of the time anyway. I've signed a year lease, so it looks like I'm going to be staying for awhile ;)

Yes, I'm still single - I've met a handful of interesting ladies since I've been down here, but I just have a hard time getting back into a relationship mindset. I really kinda like waking up every morning and making my own decisions about how to live and spend my time. Architecting my own lifestyle seems to suit me so well - I'm just not sure how another person fits into that right now.

The restaurant is doing well - we just discontinued lunches during the summer months and lengthened our Happy Hour (who can argue with that?). I'm still bartending a couple of shows a week and spending the rest of my work time selling catering deals and booking big groups into the restaurant. I also still have my insurance business and am continuing to find new clients for that as well.

I've also discovered a couple of new swimming holes around town. One of them, Sculpture Falls, is probably one of the most fun places I take people when they come to town. Check out this link for more wet spots around town.

I also had some great news from my brother Russell. He and his wife were able to land teaching jobs at Houston Baptist University - they're going to be helping to start the Philosophy department there and are extremely excited. It's a huge opportunity and we're all really happy to have them staying in Texas. For now, the family is together and we're enjoying it while we can.

One last note - I've decided to stay here in Austin for July 4th, so if any of you want to steal some time on the lake, let me know!

Motorcycle

I've been reprimanded quite sternly for not blogging in several months - MY BAD everyone! I've had several developments and some funny stories to put out there - look for some more posts to follow .

I finally bought my motorcycle! It's a 2002 Suzuki Bandit - 1200cc's of engine; it's huge.



How it all came about it actually quite funny. A few weeks ago, we had a massive tornado sweep through north Austin and it unleashed a hailstorm in my neighborhood. While I expected some hail damage on my car, I did NOT expect a tree to fall on my car and total it out. It was a total blessing in disguise, since it totally wiped out my note to VW and I now have no more car payment.

It just so happened, that my roommate who owned the bike above (that I had been coveting for months) had just gotten married and had to unload the bike to pay some wedding bills, so we cut a deal on a Saturday for me to buy it from him. THAT VERY NEXT THURSDAY, I was at Katz's Deli eating those bad-ass fried pickles they have there, when a Ford F250 backed into my new bike, knocking it over on its side.

Now, there was absolutely no serious damage to the bike - mechanically or with its performance - the only damage was some scuff marks on the sides, a dent in the gas tank and a crack around the tail light. Nevertheless, the Ford's insurance policy had to pay out as if I was going to return the bike to showroom condition and cut me a check FOR MORE THAN I PAID FOR THE BIKE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Personally, I feel like the scuff marks only give the bike some much-needed street cred and have no problem leaving them right where they are. Thanks for the free motorcycle.