February/March 2018 | sunflowerhill.org
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March 15, 2018 
Sunflower Hill at Irby Ranch Update













In late February, Sunflower Hill at Irby Ranch received another solid vote of support with approval of A-1 Bond Funds from the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. 

This special allocation, along with the continued commitment from the City of Pleasanton, enabled Sunflower Hill and partner Satellite Affordable Housing Associates to take the next step and submit our official application for tax credit financing with the State of California. If awarded, Sunflower Hill at Irby Ranch could break ground by December 2018.  

Meritage Homes has already started grading for their subdivision,  The Homestead at Irby Ranch which will surround the Sunflower Hill parcel.  Look for their first model homes in Fall 2018!

This Year's Moonlight in the Vines is Set!


Sunflower Hill's annual gala,  Moonlight in the Vines, is set for:  Saturday, July 28, 2018.  Once again, we will be holding this exciting event at the beautiful Wente Vineyards   in Livermore! 

To find out more information on our big event, as well as purchase sponsorships, tickets and tables, please go to  our website .

We hope you can join us for dinner, dancing, great food & wine, silent & live auctions, and more. Can't wait to celebrate with all of you under the stars!

Welcome Abby Lourenco!

Our Sunflower Hill Gardens Farmer, Lina Valenzuela, is currently on maternity leave. Helping to fill the gap in the interim, we would like to introduce our new Assistant Farmer, Abigail Lourenco. 

Abby is a recent graduate from UC Davis who is excited to get her hands dirty as Assistant Farmer at Sunflower Hill Gardens! She studied agricultural development, and has experience farming abroad in Ecuador and Uganda, and in garden-based education here in California. Abby loves photography, backpacking, cooking, and (of course) gardening! She is thrilled about the opportunity to grow with the Sunflower Hill team. We are excited to have Abby join the garden team!


Raising the Barre to Benefit Sunflower Hill!
Raising the Barre, ConDanza and the TDA Professional Company are presenting a  Dance Concert, Dessert Reception, and Silent Auction to benefit Sunflower Hill! Here are the details:

Dance for a Difference
Sunday, April 15 at 3:00 p.m. at The Bankhead Theater
Presented by Raising the Barre, ConDanza and the TDA Professional Company
Benefitting Sunflower Hill
Dance Concert, Desert Reception, Silent Auction
Tickets can be purchased here

Why Sunflower Hill was the chosen beneficiary:
"A member of our dance community lost their son suddenly earlier this year.  One of our dance instructors recently attended a Sunflower Hill event and brought the organization and its mission to the attention of Raising the Barre. The brave boy who we lost was a very special person, who one day could have benefitted from Sunflower Hill. Raising the Barre chose to partner with Sunflower Hill to honor his memory and celebrate his life."

We are incredibly honored to be the beneficiary for such a special event. We hope you can join us for a wonderful afternoon of dance!

Sunflower Hill Gardens Update
 
The Sunflower Hill Gardens programs and winter crops continue to thrive and we have begun to prepare for the spring planting!

The horticulture programs started up again with 11 High School Adult In Transition classes and 3 Adult Day Programs participating from the Tri-Valley area, and additional groups asking to visit.  In January we received great feedback from the participating groups which rated the garden program 4.67 out of 5!

The Danville Rotary helped to build a trellis for the raspberry plants and the  Cornerstone Fellowship International Group  helped to install a root barrier and transplant the plants. In addition, individuals from the Pleasanton Boys Team Charity and Pleasanton/Livermore National Charity Leagues have been volunteering regularly in the garden helping with a variety of projects. 

The winter crops have done well and are being harvested, with current produce available being: lettuce, spi nach, kale, kalette, beets, chard, radicchio, cabbage, broccoli, herbs, and coming soon-leeks. We have begun sowing seeds in the SFH Greenhouse as well as turning over the cover crop and rebuilding the beds for the spring planting.

The Sunflower Hill Gardens Team was honored as one of the community organizations to receive recognition from the Board of Education of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. This recognition was for the support and job training that our SFH 

Gardens Programs provide to the adults in their transition program!

We had a great turn out in the 'Winter in the Gardens' Family Workday. 
Our next Family Workday is the 'Spring Planting' on April 14, 9:30-11:30 a.m. If this will be your first visit to the garden, please please fill out and submit our online forms here
Sunflower Hill Gardens is located at  455 Olivina Avenue  in Livermore.


Las Positas Adaptive Horticulture Program is Back!

The next Adaptive Horticulture Program is coming up in Spring 2018! For information and applications, check out the flyer below and/or please contact Frances DeNisco at
fdenisco@laspositascollege.edu or (925) 424-1467.

Thank you Pleasanton Weekly and Holiday Fund Donors!
Recipients of the 2017 PW Holiday Fund, with Jeremy Walsh, Gina Channell & Jeb Bing from the Pleasanton Weekly

Thank you again to the Pleasanton Weekly, Jeb Bing, Gina Channell, and Jeremy Walsh for including Sunflower Hill in the PW Holiday Fund again this year! We are incredibly honored to be included alongside the other valuable nonprofits that continue do much needed work in our community. And thank you to all the donors to the Holiday Fund as well as to Rotary Club of Pleasanton, CA for hosting the luncheon again where the checks were distributed. 

Sunflower Hill | | info@sunflowerhill.org |
P.O. Box 11436
Pleasanton, CA 94588