GRID Alternatives eNewsletter
Volunteers at Solarthon 2009
Letter from Erica Mackie, Executive Director
November has been the month of milestones here at GRID. We completed our biggest solar installation ever. We trained our 3,000th volunteer. And we completed our 300th solar installation, in the City of Lynwood (LA County). In just five years we've built an impressive army of renewable energy volunteers, steadily building a distributed solar "power plant" for low-income families throughout California.

We've decided we're ready to focus this army on a big but achievable goal - 300 more systems in 2010. The time is right - we have the pieces in place statewide, and in the current economy the need is bigger than ever to help folks pay the bills while greening our world. But we'll need all of your help to make this happen. If you can, please help us fill in the funding gaps with a cash donation, or donate used or new construction or office equipment. Bring your friends in the Bay Area to our holiday Friendraiser to enlist them in the cause. Become a Team Leader, or share other technical skills that you have. Next year let's double the size of this solar power plant, double our impact, and double our momentum towards environmental and economic sustainability for all of our communities. -Erica

Hazel King and Leah PimentelClient/Staff Profile - Hazel King/Leah Pimentel
Behind the scenes of every GRID Alternatives project is a relationship, which starts with our Outreach Coordinators. Hazel King was introduced to Outreach Coordinator Leah Pimentel by community activist Espanola Jackson, who knew they both were longtime Bayview/Hunter's Point residents committed to helping others. Hazel and her husband care for a disabled son who lives with them and needs round-the-clock care, while Leah volunteers delivering meals to the sick and elderly, and helping local youth at YCD with resume writing and interview preparation.

When Hazel got her first utility bill after her solar installation, she called Leah to see if it was a mistake, saying "I haven't seen my bill this low since the 1950s!" She was so grateful that she nominated Leah for an Good Morning America award for people who are doing something extraordinary for their communities. Leah was recently selected for this honor and will be interviewed live on national television on November 20th, and later locally on ABC-7! Congratulations Leah and thank you Hazel!

Volunteers on Scaffolding at SolarthonVolunteer Projects Update
This was our biggest quarter ever, with 52 solar electric systems installed in Clovis, Compton, Concord, Escondido, Fremont, Fresno, Los Angeles, Lynwood, Marin City, Oakland, Oakley, Pittsburg, Pleasanton, Richmond, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Jose. This included the first solo installation from our new Central Valley office, sponsored by Pelco; our biggest system ever, 4.8 kW in the City of Fresno, in partnership with IBEW Local 100 and Habitat for Humanity Fresno County; installations with job training groups like LA CAUSA Youthbuild and Richmond Build/Solar Richmond; and Solarthon 2009, where we installed 16 solar electric systems in one day while raising over $100,000 for community solar power. Check out this great Solarthon video from our friends at RND Creative!

As always, to participate in our upcoming volunteer opportunities, visit our website and sign up for our mailing list. We do have more projects and opportunities these days, but we still have thousands of volunteers interested in participating in our projects, so you may be put on the waiting list more than once for both volunteer trainings and installations. Thank you!
Volunteers on the roofFriendraiser volunteer appreciation party 12/12
Celebrate with us! It's time again to honor our amazing volunteers and other supporters in the Bay Area at our annual Friendraiser holiday party. Join us on Saturday, December 12th from 3-6 p.m. at our offices in North Oakland for food, drink, and celebration as we thank all of you for another successful year bringing renewable energy to communities in need. This is a great opportunity to bring friends who may be interested in solar power, volunteering, or donating to the cause. This is a family friendly event with activities for all ages, including a raffle with great prizes, solar demos, and lots of great people. RSVP's are recommended by email at friendraiser@gridalternatives.org. We're looking forward to seeing you and your friends there!

Thank You!
We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to the funders who are enabling us to weather these economic times and continue to bring solar power to low-income families. Thank you to the Wells Fargo Foundation for their generous support, to the Sempra Energy Foundation for recognizing GRID Alternatives as one of the winners of their inaugural Environmental Champions Awards. We also want to thank our corporate sponsors for this quarter, Applied Materials, IBEW Local 100, Pelco, Ratcliff Architects, Arup, and the Prudential Realty Foundation, and our Solarthon 2009 corporate sponsors PG&E, Salesforce.com, Google, CleanTechies.com, Walmart, WorldCentric, IBEW Local 595, Recurrent Energy, Atomic PR, Renewable Ventures, Accenture, and Seguin Woodworks. We'd also like to thank all of our individual Solarthon fundraisers who made this our most successful event ever, including our top fundraisers Steve Mohr, Ian Thomson, Ann Torres, Mari Collings, and Van Hausman.

We'd like to thank our in-kind supporters, including ClifBar for continuing to provide free bars for our volunteers statewide; Bakesale Betty, Bear Naked Granola, Berkeley Bowl, Fenton's Creamery, Noah's Claremont, Noah's Lakeshore, Noah's Montclair, Noah's Solano, Nob Hill Foods, Peet's Coffee & Tea Oakland, Pizza Pazza, Rainbow Grocery, Safeway Rockridge, Semifreddis Bakery, Starbucks Coffee Piedmont Avenue, Starbucks Coffee Emeryville, Sweet Adeline Bakery, Trader Joe's Alameda, Trader Joe's Lakeshore, and Whole Foods Oakland for providing food for Solarthon 2009; Coles Fine Flooring for donating carpet tiles for our roof volunteers in San Diego; Clovis Pizza Hut, Pizza Fusion, La Boulangerie and Little Caesar's for donating food for our Fresno-area installations and trainings; and Pure Digital Inc., Cook's Gathering Catering, Sun Night Solar, Wild Earth Circle, Element Las Vegas Summerlin, Gerard's Paella, Trump National Golf Course, Clorox Green Works - The Clorox Company, Applespice Junction, Walters Wholesale Electric Company, Chivas USA, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, and Kirsten Gum for supporting our Los Angeles Friendraiser event.

We also want to welcome our new Solar Installation Supervisors Koralie Hill and Jeffrey Quackenbush, and thank volunteers Dao-liang Chou, Bill Page, Katia Sussman, and Donna Thomas for their extra volunteer help at our Oakland office. Last but not least, we also want to thank all the great folks at the Corporation for National and Community Service, and to express our deep gratitude to Natasha Cridler, Laurel Crump, and Steve Fernandez, who have volunteered the last year with us as part of the AmeriCorps*VISTA program. On behalf of everyone at GRID Alternatives, and on behalf of our clients, thank you for your incredible gift of service.

GRID Alternatives eNewsletter - Fall 2009
Bay Area Office/Headquarters: 3833 Manila Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609, (510) 652-4730
Greater Los Angeles Office: 969 Sandhill Avenue, Carson, CA 90746, (310) 324-8146
San Diego Office: 1827 Main St. Suite #200 San Diego, CA 92113, (619) 239-4743
Central Valley Office: 3260 W. Lansing Way, Fresno, CA 93722, (559) 261-4743
www.gridalternatives.org