Written by Elena Kadvany, published by Palo Alto Online on Sat. Feb. 21, 2015. Three-year grant to fund 'Students With Amazing Goal' launching this Spring! SWAG Program to serve 80 students in East Palo Alto and the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park. Using 10 program areas ranging from athletics to substance abuse to reduce the truancy rate by 75 percent for middle and high school students on probation, drop the rate among their non-probationary at-risk counterparts by 50 percent and see a 50 percent high school graduation rate among fifth-year seniors.

Leaders from the City of East Palo Alto and the County of San Mateo along with about a 100 community leaders celebrated the Grand (re)Opening of the David E. Lewis Reentry Center. 

Superbowl 50 Fund is the signature philanthropic initiative of Super Bowl 50. Its goal is to help close the opportunity gap that exists for Bay Area children, youth and young adults living in low-income communities. Learn more about their plans to make a difference!

Redwood City, CA – Over 8,000 individuals owing child support to San Mateo County residents have another convenient option to make their cash payments. Thanks to a collaboration between the State of California and Moneygram, those owing child support can now go to any of the thousands of locations nationwide to send payments.

The slowdown at the Port of Oakland is wreaking havoc on South Bay Recycling (SBR) in San Carlos, the contractor that provides recycling operations for the South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA). The slowdown at the Port of Oakland is due to a labor dispute between Pacific Maritime Association and the longshoremen (ILWU) who have been working without a contract since July 1. The result is a pileup of containers on the docks, a flotilla of container ships anchored in San Francisco Bay and a warehousing issue for SBR.

Belmont, CA – In the early morning hours of January 22, 2015, San Mateo County will participate in the National Homeless One Day Count by conducting a tract-by-tract count of homeless individuals, families and encampments. 

Supervisor Carole Groom will serve as president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in 2015. She was elected president by her four colleagues at a meeting Tuesday morning at the Board of Supervisors Chambers in Redwood City.

Kudos to CalTrain and SamTrans for providing safe and free transportation on New Years Eve to revelers who get caught up celebrating the New Year! Your open invitation to drivers and party goers alike to use mass transit, to give up the car keys, to be safe and worry free AND to travel for FREE on New Years Eve was magnanimous and smart.

On December 18, at the last regular meeting of 2014, our Board of Supervisors presented outgoing San Mateo County Controller Bob Adler, an excellent Controller, a longtime public servant in the finest sense of the word, and an all around great guy, with a resolution acknowledging his 19 years of outstanding service to the County as he will retire at the beginning of January. We will miss him!

On December 17th, Kaiser Permanente opened its newest hospital in the HMO chain right here in Redwood City. While we've been watching the progress of construction for a couple of years, the building is now ready to serve patients in the area. It's a major investment of time, money and expertise to open a new hospital - congratulations to all at Kaiser who helped achieve this accomplishment! As a patient, I am grateful for myself, my family, and the greater community...

San Mateo Credit Union, under the leadership of President/CEO Barry Jolette has been providing generous support to the community of North Fair Oaks since 1999. The credit union provides not only monetary contributions but staff resources to the Sheriff’s Office Community Alliance to Revitalize Our Neighborhood (CARON) program, The NFO Community Festival, Art Contest, and the NFO Be Seen Keepin' it Clean event. They are ever present in the community's programs and festivities, giving freely of time, energy, ideas and financial support.