As a new year approaches, the Boyle Heights Beat news team is excited to embark on new projects, stories and journeys.
With the community’s support, we’ve already accomplished a great deal. Youth reporters just published the fifth edition of our quarterly bilingual newspaper. Meanwhile, our talented adult contributors are sharing their insights on community life on
BoyleHeightsBeat.com and PulsodeBoyleHeights.com. As this video by local journalist Steve Saldivar shows, Boyle Heights Beat transforms the lives of the young reporters and gives voice to a vibrant, community whose stories often go untold.
In this season of giving, please consider a donation to help sustain our work in 2013.
Boyle Heights Beat, a youth reporter and junior at Theodore Roosevelt High School, captures the spirit of Boyle Heights Beat well:
“People that care for the community are involved in writing for the community. It gives not a sense of family, but a sense of unity. You know who you are writing for.”
More about Boyle Heights Beat
La Opinión distributes Boyle Heights Beat’s print edition to 23,000 homes, and it is also available at schools, businesses, and community centers – reaching most of the nearly 90,000 community residents here.
With guidance from seasoned journalists at La Opinión and the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, teens from three local high schools work countless hours to report and tell the unique stories of our neighborhood. Dedicated community members also serve as sources and guides.
Jennifer Lam’s data-rich story on the proliferation of liquor stores in Boyle Heights made the front page of La Opinión and helped prompt state inspection visits here. That story, and Jennifer’s recent look at the lack of green space in Boyle Heights, came from discussions with concerned residents at our regular community meetings. Another youth reporter, Yazmin Núñez, responding to community concerns, recently wrote a thoughtful article on the lack of healthy food choices titled “Is Boyle Heights a food desert or a food swamp?”
Adult contributors, meanwhile, share their stories online. Teacher Gene Dean recently videotaped perspectives of his Roosevelt High students, and Jesús Hermosillo, who grew up in Wyvernwood Garden Apartments, wrote a thoughtful essay on the need for gun control, prompted by a recent shooting at a Food4Less and the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We also like to celebrate Boyle Heights’ cultural riches, including its traditions, art and music scene.
Please help us continue the work we do at Boyle Heights Beat through 2013! We will provide a Boyle Heights Beat t-shirt for gifts of $30 or more.
Your support will help provide the following essential services and equipment:
Voice recorder: $50
Camera: $200
Laptop: $400
Meals for 15 hungry youth reporters: $150
Roundtrip bus transportation to work with La Opinión: $300
Student stipend for one semester: $250
One month of intensive mentoring for up to 7 reporters: $360
Printing costs: $2,500
How to make a contribution:
Boyle Heights Beat is a project of La Opinión and the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. To make a tax-deductible contribution this year, please make your check out to “University of Southern California” and write “Boyle Heights Beat” in the memo field. If your letter is postmarked by December 31, it will be treated as a 2012 contribution. Please send your gift to:
Megan Buehler, Assistant Director of Development
USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
3502 Watt Way, Suite 304
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0281
You can also give a gift online by following these steps:
- Go to https://giveto.usc.edu
- Click on a choice: “I am making a new one-time gift” or “I am making a recurring gift.”
- Under Choose Where to Direct your Gift, select: Please direct my gift to a specific school or program.
- A long list of programs will appear. Scroll to the very bottom and check the box that says: Search all schools and funds.
- Type in USC Boyle Heights Beat Fund and then “Next.”
- Ensure that the phrase “USC Boyle Heights Beat Fund” appears on the next screen.
- Follow the instructions for a credit card payment.
- Questions or problems paying online? You can also leave a message with your name and number for the USC Annenberg Development Office at: 213-821-1660. That phone will be checked once a day during the holidays. Be sure to mention you want your gift to go to Boyle Heights Beat.
Thank you and Happy Holidays!!
Michelle Levander and Pedro Rojas
Co-Editors & Publishers
And the Boyle Heights Beat News Team
