Oakland’s “ShineOn Oakland Day” July 27 collected a busload of donated school snacks, bringing awareness to child food insecurity and the support needed for local families through Oakland school food pantries. The ShineOnCass Foundation again partnered with the Town of Oakland’s summer festival Oakfest, which featured three days of community events including an outdoor movie night, food and art vendors, local bands, a car show, triathlon and a “stuff the bus” event, where Oakfest attendees climbed aboard a school bus to donate snacks that will be distributed to local students in need this fall, according to a news release from the foundation.

The ShineOnCass Foundation organizes a kindness event to both support local families and give children the experience of giving back to the community as part of “ShineOn Oakland” Day at Oakfest. In addition to collecting hundreds of snacks, foundation volunteers also hosted a “Kindness Matters Bookmark Project,” where kids created positive messages on bookmarks to be placed anonymously in books in local libraries to help spread kindness. For information about the Kindness Matters Bookmark Project and other ShineOnCass initiatives, visit shineoncass.org.

The ShineOnCass Foundation was created to honor the spirit, continue the work, and encourage others to live the legacy of Cassidy Charette, whose kindness and passion for others Shines On. Cassidy was a 17-year-old Messalonskee scholar and athlete, and a devoted community volunteer, who died in a hayride accident in 2014.  The organization’s mission is to educate, inspire and empower youth to make their world a better place through volunteer charitable activities.