Dear Community Members and Builders,

This month, we continued to focus on our core value of WE INNOVATE by hosting TRF Camp Build in Anaheim, Phoenix, and Austin. We graduated 20 returning campers and 57 first-time campers this month! Our returners shared with us what they built with the knowledge and tools they gained last year and many have expressed a strong desire to enter the construction industry. A few parents even shared how transformative camp was to their child. Read some of the survey responses in this month’s newsletter.

I hope you all subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch our TRF Camp Build daily highlight videos in Anaheim, Phoenix, and Austin in June as they premiered. The brand new returning camper curriculum launched, and our returners used the saws, sanders, and nailers to build step stools and bookcases, which they stained. They also welded, bent conduit into hearts, and wired a switch lab (virtually and IRL)! I had the opportunity to learn how to weld from our friends at the UA. I am thankful for the opportunity to try something new, but I will be the first to admit that I am much better with a mic or behind a laptop instead of wearing a welding hood. But just like our campers, I took advantage of the opportunity to try something new. I hope you also take advantage of the opportunity to push your boundaries and try something new.

Next month is our final camp of the summer. We could not host these transformative camps without our construction professional volunteers. Thank you for sharing your time, talents, knowledge, and skills with our campers.

We SHARED with the publication of our 2023 Annual Report this month. We were happy to release it a month earlier than last year, and we will continue to strive to share it as soon as it is readily available. Thank you to our auditors at CLA for their thorough review and to our marketing team, especially Anthony Bukovec, for preparing the report.

We plan to show how much we CARE by SHARING $1.3M in Annual Grants. If you know great local nonprofits positively impacting our community, please encourage them to apply for a grant. We want to support those 501c3 nonprofits making a difference. Annual Grant applications are due by July 1st.

The fundraising committee continues to EXCEL as we are 70 % to our fundraising goal. If you know a company or association interested in supporting our work, please encourage them to take advantage of our sponsorship opportunities. We continue to seek donations for our raffle and auction. Please reach out to Operations Manager Hope Piernick for more information.

Thank you to our field employee members for LISTENING to our monthly toolbox talks. This month we shared about the $1.3M we will share in Annual Grants and next month we’ll SHARE about our $50k in Emergency Grants available to support our nonprofits when unbudgeted repairs are needed.

Our volunteers demonstrated our We CARE core value. Our Anaheim volunteers participated in The Autism Community Action (TACA) Family Carnival. Our Prineville volunteers assembled and delivered flower baskets plus they helped with the Shepard’s House/Shower Truck for our nonprofit partner Peaceful Presence Project. Our Temple volunteers continued to deliver meals for Meals on Wheels Belton. In Hawaii, volunteers partnered with Layton Construction to build bunk beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace. There are more Service Days coming up. Make sure to sign up for any scheduled in your local area. I for one leave very happy and satisfied after volunteering in our community and helping others.

Thank you for continuing to support our mission. Please interact with us on socials, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and share this newsletter to amplify our positive impact as we build and empower people and inspire innovation.

Jolsna Thomas, President

Photos of me learning how to weld and the eagle I made at TRF Camp Build Phoenix!