Pebble Tossers stands with our Asian and Asian American, Pacific Islander family members, friends, partners, volunteers, and members. We despise the violence and racism directed at them and are especially horrified by the murders of the Asian-American women on March 16th in our community.
The anti-Asian hate crimes, harassment, and discrimination that have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic are disturbing, but they are not new. The tragic loss of these lives should remind us that we, as Americans, have a long way to go towards true equality, inclusion, and justice.
No child, youth, or family can thrive or should live with the threat of violence. In honor of the lives lost to racist violence, Pebble Tossers recommits to the important work of developing youth who embrace a sense of civic responsibility to our community, and we strive to provide opportunities where this sense of responsibility leads to a feeling of inclusion and belonging.
When youth and teens volunteer at Pebble Tossers projects, they introduce themselves and meet those they serve with as well as those they serve. They work alongside people from a variety of cultures, races, genders, and ideologies, yet they all work towards a common goal of helping our community thrive. We strive to cultivate a welcoming environment at our projects, which leads to an inherent sense of belonging and desire to serve with us again.
We, at Pebble Tossers, will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. As an organization, we will provide intercultural assessments for our staff, board members, and advisory council in order to build and strengthen intercultural competency. We will continue to work with a wide variety of nonprofit organizations that serve the most marginalized of our brothers and sisters. We will continue to offer high-impact projects serving diverse populations. We will continue to develop educational curriculum based on social-emotional learning and positive psychology while incorporating leadership and social justice initiatives.
We hope you stand with us against this violence and work with us to equip and empower youth to lead through service. This summer, Pebble Tossers will host “Toss Up Dinners”, where we gather families together virtually (and hopefully in-person) for civic-minded conversations about relevant topics such as social justice, racial equality, gender equality, and our 12 service cause areas. If you are interested in serving on a planning committee or hosting a dinner, please contact us at outreach@pebbletossers.org.
Jennifer Guynn
Founder + Executive Director, Pebble Tossers
March 18, 2021