The afternoon started with a picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, and cookies. Our most exciting special guests and co-leaders of the meetUP, Tracy and Tara from the Women for Wolves, along with Aria, a wolf-dog, were a special part of the adventure. A wolf-dog is exactly as it sounds, an animal resulting from breeding a domestic dog with a pure wolf or some combination of breeding within the types.

Aria has the appearance of a very large shepherd husky mix, yet despite her great size, she brought a calm and grounding presence. At first, Mentoring Matches observed her while Tracy and Tara shared about their work with wolves and wolf-dogs. They offered insight into their experiences and the importance of wildlife education and conservation. Matches also enjoyed time talking, laughing and engaging with one another in a relaxed outdoor setting. All the while, Aria sat patiently and was then rewarded with treats.

With full tummies and refilled water bottles, the group set out to walk the trails with Aria on a leash. Along the various paths, the environment shifted from flat open spaces to shaded paths or small banks near the water. The group tapped into quieter rhythms as nearby people fished and others rested in hammocks. There were also louder, funnier moments talking about the hardships of job hunting or their favorite animals.

At nine years old, Aria is considered an elder wolf-dog, yet she walked the path with graceful energy and trotted a bit into the water. Due to quality care and patient training, Aria is comfortable around people and quickly acclimated to our group. With Tracy and Tara nearby, the youth and mentors engaged Aria with careful touches.

Unique events like this help build real connections through shared positive experiences and learning. It’s very important for us to create opportunities for our youth to enjoy outdoor settings and activities. Not only does it offer a break from everyday routines, but nature also helps the body de-stress and self-regulate, which is a tool all people need, but especially important for people who have experienced trauma, like youth in foster care.

Before our time was over, mentees posed next to Aria for an impromptu photoshoot. Everyone appeared to leave feeling refreshed, inspired, connected and grateful. We love partnering with other nonprofits and are so grateful to Women for Wolves for this unique opportunity. It’s moments like this that remind us that growth happens when we are present, engaged and open to something new.

This FUNdraiser started with a lively happy hour, including drinks and hors d’oeuvres, networking, perusing fantastic raffle packages and taking pics at the photo station. It also included a delicious BBQ dinner, Topgolf play with an onsite golf pro, contests and more. Of course, the best part was celebrating our mission and hearing from Mentor Michael about his past 4 years of mentoring his mentee, Elijah— now a young adult.

Our special thanks to sponsors: The iFish Group (IFG), Fitness Machine Technicians Sacramento and Northern California, and Capitol Advisors Group, LLC. A huge shoutout to Ann Spade, Team My58, Event Reporter with KCRA/KQCA, for bringing her energy and excitement as our emcee. We also thank Accenture for providing a team of hardworking volunteers, all the local businesses (listed below) who contributed to our raffle packages, along with Sacramento Top10 for highlighting our event.

Proceeds from Play to Empower help connect youth from foster care with supportive mentors, essential resources, and positive experiences so they can thrive as adults. Everyone who attended, whether a player or spectator, those who gave a special donation or purchased an Empower Flag, and those who bought raffle tickets or took part in the wine pull, made an impact that directly empowers the young people we serve.

Thank you again to everyone who attended, supported, and made Play to Empower 2024 such a fantastic event!

Local support thanks to:

90 Plus Wine Club

Alchemy Salon & Spa

Article Consignment Boutique

Asha Urban Baths

Bailarin Cellars Winery & Tasting Room

Camden Spit & Larder

Carvalho Family Winery

Fairytale Town

Heringer Estates Family Vineyards and Winery

Kimmie Candy

Leatherby’s Family Creamery, Elk Grove

Nothing Bundt Cakes, Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento

Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar

Rendez-vous Winery

The Sophia, Home of B Street Theatre

Sacramento Republic FC

Seka Hills Winery

Tipsy Putt, Sacramento

Todd Taylor Wines

Total Wine & More

Trader Joe’s, Elk Grove

Various individual donors: A. Dickinson, J. Domoto, D. Sakazaki, and I. Johnson

It was a blast to have so many people from the Aging UP community together. This year’s Play to Empower was extra special because it included former and current board members and mentors as well as longtime and new supporters and volunteers. It also featured our special guests of honor Mentee Star and Mentor Kristin. They have both been in our program for 5 years — since our beginning — and brought a fun and meaningful element as they spoke about their mentoring relationship.

Play to Empower is a unique fundraiser that allows guests to feel what it’s like to be at a Group meetUP. Our goal is that, just like our teens, guests enjoy a supportive, stigma-free environment where they engage in a fun activity and enjoy tasty food. We’re proud to say this was accomplished!

Topgolf provided the perfect venue to recreate the meetUP vibe. The event was a success before it began thanks to our sponsors IFG (the iFish Group), a Sacramento-based IT consulting firm, Tidy Revival, a decluttering and home organizing company, and Capitol Advisors, LLP, California political consultants in education policy and finance.

The event included happy hour with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, more than 20 raffle baskets, a photo station and a putting challenge. Many guests entered our wine pull thanks to support from 90 Plus Wine Club and took home a surprise bottle of wine.

Guests were also able to purchase Adventures (exciting activities or needed items) that our youth requested. The youth’s requests were displayed on flags that attendees could grab and then donate to make that adventure happen. An anonymous donor matched $5,000 of Adventure funds raised — thank you, Adventure Makers!

Our friend Freddie Silveria of FSA Auctions was the event emcee with our Co-founder April. After brief remarks, guests enjoyed a delicious fajita dinner and 2 hours of Topgolf play and contests. The Closest to the Pin contest winner won 2 tickets to see Jay Leno with dinner at Red Lantern at Thunder Valley Casino Resort. The new Lucky Draw contest was a hit. Guests purchased a card from one playing deck. The suspense built as Freddie pulled a card from a new deck and invited 4 potential winners to the stage. One held the matching card and won lower-level Sacramento Kings tickets and a Mikuni gift card!

We are so grateful to everyone who came out to make this event fun and successful. We extended gratitude to our energetic volunteer team, who made the event possible.

But you don’t have to wait for this special 24-hour period—YOU can give now through 11:59 pm on May 2 at bigdayofgiving.org/agingup! Thanks to our friends Brent Gove Team eXp Realty, the first $2,500 donated will be matched!

Sacramento is among the cities with the highest rates of human trafficking in the nation. Too many of its citizens are experiencing homelessness, drug or alcohol addiction and mental health challenges. Unfortunately, former foster youth disproportionately face such outcomes. But YOU can empower change!

Our research-based services of one-to-one mentoring, positive recreation, and life skills education offer a preventative approach to such adverse outcomes. Your investment in our mission empowers youth who deserve it most.

Your tax-deductible generosity equips 13-to-21-year-old youth from foster care with the skills and resources needed to thrive into adulthood.

There are 820 nonprofits participating in Big Day of Giving this year, and we are rooting for all of them. We also know we are not the only organization reaching out for your support, and we appreciate your thoughtful consideration of investing in our mission. Not only will your gift immediately impact a young person who deserves it most, it will also improve the overall community as we empower youth from foster care to grow into happy, healthy, self-sufficient adults.

Give today at bigdayofgiving.org/agingup!

Big Day of Giving is a program of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation to raise unrestricted funds for nonprofit organizations that strengthen the capital region. It is an inspiring day of philanthropy that began in 2013 and we are proud to participate.