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About Food for Thought

Food for Thought is back for 2023 and this year WE’RE ON A MISSION to raise $100,000 to continue to make access to higher education and prosperous careers the norm for Black, Asian, Latinx, and low-income children, youth, and families in San Francisco.

Join Mission Graduates as we kick off our annual fundraising efforts with Food For Thought. From Oct. 13th – Oct. 27th, we’re partnering with community restaurants to celebrate and support the local restaurants that bring flavor and diversity to our community while fundraising to continue our mission to to serve nearly 5,000 children, youth, and families – from low-income, Latinx, Black, Asian, and immigrant communities in San Francisco – on their path to and through higher education.

Every dollar you donate will directly impact our day-to-day operations and support of students, parents, and the community of San Francisco.

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Double Your Impact When you donate to Mission Graduates during Food For Thought, your contribution will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a matching gift!

Win Gift & Prizes! For every donation of $10 or more, you’ll be entered to win exclusive donor prizes! Prizes have been graciously donated by our dedicated partners and include a trip for two to San Miguel de Allende, a three-night escape in Park City, Utah and prizes from local businesses, including Dandelion Chocolate and Proclamation Goods!

Winners will be selected, notified, and announced in December 2023

How does it work? 

There’s more than one way to help Mission Graduates. Here’s three ways to get involved with us during Food for Thought and beyond:

  1. Dine Out: Bring the whole family and head over to one of our restaurant partners for dinner! Each of our restaurant partners have agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds or dedicated the proceeds from a featured dish to Mission Graduates.                                                                                                          Chalos San FranciscoForeign Cinema San FranciscoThorough Bread & Pastry San FranciscoMission Bowling Club San FranciscoSalty's San Francisco Restaurant
  2. Fundraise on Our Behalf: Activate your friends, family, and community for Mission Graduates. You can set up your own peer-to-peer fundraiser!
    1. Create a peer-to-peer fundraising page and learn how to advocate for Mission Graduates students and families
  3. Share Mission Graduates With Your Friends: Introduce Mission Graduates to your friends by sharing a post on social media, emailing your friends, etc.

Join Our Email List

Mission Graduates delivered directly to your inbox! Sign up to receive the latest news, updates, and calls for support. And during Food for Thought, every new newsletter subscriber will be entered to win one of our prizes.

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A Special Thanks to Our 2023 Sponsors and Restaurant Partners:

2023 Restaurant Partners: In addition to supporting our organization, Food for Thought aims to increase the patronage of local restaurants in the name of supporting educational equity for San Francisco students of color.

During Food for Thought, each of these restaurants have pledged a percentage of their sales or the sales of a special Mission Graduates dish to our organization!

Foreign Cinema San Francisco   Chalos San Francisco   Thorough Bread & Pastry San FranciscoMission Bowling Club San Francisco   Salty's San Francisco Restaurant

2023 Corporate Sponsors: The Food for Thought Fundraiser wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of these community-minded businesses:
Advisors for Change    Mutual of America        Mission Housing Dev. Corp

How We Support San Francisco Students & Families:

Mission Graduates is dedicated to establishing higher education as an expectation and goal for every child, thereby allowing them to find a fulfilling career and call San Francisco home. Each year, Mission Graduates reaches over 5,000 low-income children, youth, and families in San Francisco, emphasizing higher education  as a means to achieve economic equity and strengthen the fabric of our community.

Mission Graduates programs support literacy, academic success, and social-emotional learning for students from kindergarten through the beginning of their careers.

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K-12 Programs:

Extended Day Programs (EDP) and Beacon Sites

Our Extended Day Programs (EDP) and Beacon sites provide award-winning after school academic, social, and emotional enrichment for 2,500 K-12 youth and their families.

Learn More

High School Programs:

ASAP @ Mission High School

ASAP has joined the Mission Graduates family! ASAP is a student-centered college access and persistence program based at Mission High School, focused on getting students to and through college.

Learn More

College Programs:

College Access & Success

This dedicated team provides college awareness, readiness, and success strategies to students and their families through structured, personalized support from high school to college graduation.

Learn More

Career Support Programs:

Career Linkage 

Join a community by first-generation professionals for first-generation professionals. Impact Gen connects recent college graduates and young professionals (who graduated from SFUSD schools) to local companies and cultivates skills necessary to thrive in internship-to-job pipelines.

Learn More

Parent Support Programs:

Parent Engagement

The Parent Partner Program is designed to increase parent engagement and empower them to take more active roles in the educational experiences of their children.

Learn More

The Impact of Your Donation

When you donate to Mission Graduates, you’re helping us send students to college. We use your funds to support our organization and the programming that keeps our students headed towards higher education.

To learn more about how your donation supports Mission Graduates, click here.

Sponsorship Levels

Join Food for Thought as a sponsor at one of the following levels.

Presenting: $10,000

Make it ALL happen – from the volunteers to the marketing materials, we couldn’t do this without you. 

• Event advertised as Food for Thought 2021, presented by [Your Company] – Category exclusivity on all materials
• Dedicated thank you post with logo on Mission Graduates’ blog
• All benefits from lower tiers

Platinum Plate: $5,000

Let San Francisco know – every Food for Thought poster advertising local businesses doing good in the Mission, Excelsior, and SOMA Districts will be because of you!

• Sponsor names and logos included in all press releases, news coverage, and event-related marketing materials
• Sponsorship highlighted in two e-newsletters, in September and October 2021, reaching over 5,000 subscribers
• Sponsor logo and name featured by level on all restaurant signage and table tents, included on Mission Graduates’ social media and event pages (10,000+ impressions), and shown on all printed materials (3,000 posters and postcards)
• All benefits from lower tiers

Gold Fork: $2,500

Spread the word – ensure every diner knows the impact of Mission Graduates’ programming through impact messages on every table.

• Individualized sponsor callout and thank you message including sponsor logo and name on Mission Graduates’ social media and blog post
• Sponsor name featured by level on all restaurant signage and table tents, included on Mission Graduates’ social media and event pages (10,000+ impressions), and shown on all printed materials (3,000 posters and postcards)
All benefits from lower tiers

Silver Spoon: $1,000

Save the date – help us let the Bay Area know that dining out sends San Francisco youth to college with postcard invitations to our donors.

• Sponsor logo on Mission Graduates’ website
• Sponsor name featured by level on all restaurant signage and table tents, included on Mission Graduates’ social media and event pages (10,000+ impressions), and shown on all printed materials (3,000 posters and postcards)
• All benefits from lower tiers

More Ways You Can Help

Volunteering for Food for Thought

There are so many ways to give! We’re currently looking for volunteer ambassadors for Mission Graduates’ Night, October 26. Ambassadors speak to restaurant patrons, spreading the word about Mission Graduates’ work in expanding access to higher education. Contact Trina Ramsey at tramsey@missiongraduates.org for more information!

Join us in supporting San Francisco youth by becoming a participating restaurant or Food for Thought event sponsor.

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