COLOR THEIR WORLD

Our 5th Annual Change The Stats event was one for the books! 420 invested community members came together to radically support kids from hard places, raising over $1.1 million dollars! Bakersfield truly showed up to bring hope and transformation to the youth and families experiencing foster care here in Kern County.

​EVERY SOLE MATTERS 2025

Take a peek at our 5th Annual Back to School event, with a special guest host interviewing all the participants! It’s not just about shoes and backpacks—it’s about creating normalcy and a caring community where every child is seen and valued.



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2025 ANGELS SCHOLARS GRADUATION CELEBRATION

Our graduates beat the odds, and we threw them a party worthy of it. It was an evening full of congratulations and inspiration from Mayor Goh, Congressman Fong, and our ED Allison McClain, and a story of hope from our very own Case Manager, Deveney Miller.

VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION 2025

Last year our volunteers collectively spent 12,646 hours walking alongside our youth and families--that's something to celebrate! So that's just what we did, inviting them to an evening at Luigi's filled with great food, music, a fun raffle, and our first Case Management Awards. "Color Their World" was the theme, and it's the perfect description of the transformation they're bringing about. It was a joy to honor their investment!

DANCING WITH THE ANGELS

We partnered once again with Kern Dance Alliance to bring a morning of artistic expression to our foster families. Our kids, ages 3-17, were able to practice curiosity with a hands-on art project, a hip-hop dance class and bucket percussion class, all culminating in a fun group performance on the stage of the historic Fox Theater.

A SEAT AT THE TABLE
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​At our 4th Annual Change the Stats Event, 429 attendees came together to prove that when a community shows up, hope follows. Because of their generosity, an astounding $801,300 was raised to ensure that more children and youth in Kern County can experience the stability and love that comes with belonging.

EVERY SOLE MATTERS 2024

This year's back-to-school event got a MAKEOVER! Our office neighbors, BBSI, loaned us their space to expand our Dare to Dream Shopping Day. AND our friends at The Bridge shared their campus so our families could "drop by" rather than "drive thru." One more opportunity to foster community with our families and help our youth start the school year with hope!

BEAUTIFUL BAKERSFIELD AWARDS 2024

We were humbled and honored when the Bakersfield Greater Chamber chose us as their 2024 Large Nonprofit of the Year. ​ In her thank you, ED Allison McClain gave a call to action: "In order for Bakersfield to be truly beautiful we need to be known as a community who prioritizes the lost, the last, and the least, NOT the found, the first, and the famous." 

2024 ANGELS SCHOLARS GRADUATION CELEBRATION

"Tough times never last, but tough people do." Dare to Dream mentor Myke Lucero empowers our 2024 grads with his inspiring story of transformation. We look forward in hopeful anticipation, watching as each of our graduates write the stories of their lives.

MAMA MIXER 2024

​"Friendship right here in this beautiful community might be just what your soul needs." Case Manager Kristen encouraged our foster mamas at the mixer on May 2, 2024 with these and other inspiring words. It's what our Mama Mixers are all about--creating a time of community to refresh and celebrate the amazing women who do the hard and holy work of fostering.

VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION 2024

We had 158 volunteers pull up "A Seat at the Table" for an evening of delicious food, and an evening of appreciation for the community they've become for the families and youth they walk alongside. This crew spent 10,809 hours in 2023 creating transformation and bringing hope, and it was a joy to honor them!

LIGHT THEIR WAY

On November 2, 2023, the 404 attendees of our 3rd Annual Change the Stats Fundraiser were offered the opportunity to be part of the transformative journey for the Kern County's  youth and families experiencing foster care. They chose to “Light Their Way” to the tune of $691,000, knowing that when you change a child’s life, you change your city’s future. 

EVERY SOLE MATTERS 2023

Our third Every Sole Matters was a BLAST!! We added a day for our youth to "shop" for some great back to school gear courtesy of Vans! Our Drive-thru got an update as well, with a DJ, Krispy Kreme donuts, back to school Love Boxes courtesy of the Wonderful Company, and a hangout spot for community and photo-ops with Barbie, Jack Sparrow and the Chick-fil-a cow!

2023 VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION EVENT

We LOVE our volunteers!! They are the boots on the ground and the hands and feet of all we do. In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month, we celebrated them with a night of encouragement & empowerment, delicious dinner, and dancing to dueling pianos. It was so fun for us to watch this group of volunteers interacting with each other, sharing their experiences & becoming a true community. 

GROWING THE GENIUS GENERATION

The 2022/23 Bank of Sierra Ford Dimension DreamBuilders Team asked to partner with us for their project--a STEM fair for our 8-to 15-year-olds. From start to finish, they took care of every detail, creating an interactive, informative, & FUN morning for our kiddos, concluding with lunch & a raffle. Youth empowering youth--that's hope in action!

GIVE 'EM WINGS
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We held our Second Annual Change the Stats Fundraiser, "Give 'Em Wings," on November 3, 2022. In addition to the great food, and the music provided by Eagles' tribute band "The Long Run," attendees experienced impact stories from a mentor & foster mom in our programs who spoke live, and 14 brave youth who told their stories via video. Our amazing community blew us away with their generosity and we couldn't be more grateful!

PUMPKIN PATCH DAY at WHITE HORSE RANCH

Lori Ovanessian of White Horse Ranch gave our Love Box families & Dare to Dream pairs the sweetest day at her ranch--complete with home-grown pumpkins, horse-petting, a photo-spot, and amazing fall decor. We added in some fresh kettle corn, apple cider, and a hayride provided by Cal De Jager, for a fun-filled, fall experience!!!

BAKERSFIELD ANGELS' 2nd BIRTHDAY PARTY

Bakersfield Angels turned 2, so we threw a party and invited all the youth and families in our programs! We had a day full of water rides, games, face and hair painting, yummy tacos, and La Rosa fruit bars. There's no way we rather celebrate than with the people that make up our Bakersfield Angels family!

EVERY SOLE MATTERS 2022

For Every Sole Matters 2022 we added a fun new stop--a "Pick a Pack" wall! Thanks to our generous sponsors this year, we were able to supply the kiddos in our programs & on our waitlist with a brand new backpack of their choice, in addition to their new pair of Vans, some cool Vans swag, Girls Scout cookies & a fun ice cream treat!

2022 ANGELS' SCHOLARS GRADUATION CELEBRATION

This is a must-watch! We had Mayor Goh, Assemblyman Vince Fong, and representatives from State Senator Shannon Grove and Congressman Kevin McCarthy, come to honor our first crew of Angels' Scholars. It was a sweet evening of encouragement and inspiration for these stats-changing high school grads and their families--and for us!

FATHER'S DAY MIXER

In honor of Father's Day, we gathered our dads for a fun-filled night of pizza & axe-throwing at BrainyActz! Blaine Richards gave a word of encouragement and thanks before the throwing action began. These guys jammed to '80s rock and enjoyed lots of friendly competition.

BEAUTIFUL BAKERSFIELD AWARDS 2022
 
We were honored to be nominated for a Beautiful Bakersfield award in the category of Humanitarian Group--recognizing personal volunteer efforts that have made a significant impact in the community--and doubly honored when we won! This award speaks to the impact our amazing volunteers are having on Bakersfield's foster care community, and we are so grateful for each and every one. 

MOTHER'S DAY MAMA MIXER 

In honor of Mother's Day we hosted an evening for our mamas complete with food, drinks, lots of socializing, and a fun succulent-planting class sponsored by the amazing crew at the Belle Rae. Huge thanks to Shannon Hough and her team for making our mamas feel so honored!

DANCING WITH THE ANGELS

Kern Dance Alliance reached out to partner with us to create a fun day for our families to kick off Spring Break. There were line dancing, hip hop and creative movement classes, an art station put on by Playful Space, and a bucket percussion class taught by Stephen Penner from the Shafter Symphony. Bolthouse supplied healthy snacks and Subway provided lunch to keep everyone energized!

Volunteer Appreciation Night

Our volunteers are the heart, hands and feet of our programs--without them Bakersfield Angels wouldn't exist. On February 16, 2022, we held an Appreciation Night to thank, honor, and encourage them. It was a night of delicious Coconut Joe's food, stories of impact, and dancing to awesome dueling pianos. 

COZY CHRISTMAS
DRIVE-THRU
After receiving and packing all the ingredients with help and donations from multiple community groups, we handed out our Cozy Christmas Baskets on December 12, 2021. We had hot chocolate and cookies, a list of Christmas light displays (along with a free pass to the CALM Christmas lights), and of course, Santa greeting every car! 

AN EVENING WITH CASH'D OUT 

We held our very first fundraiser on November 4, 2021. It was a beautiful evening of music, great food & drinks, and compelling impact stories. Over 130 attendees generously donated to help us change the stats surrounding foster care in Kern County.

BAKERSFIELD ANGELS' 1st BIRTHDAY PARTY
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​To celebrate our first birthday, we had a party in the park for our families and mentees. We enjoyed tacos, La Rosa Bars, face painting, a bounce house & obstacle course and lots of games. Over 150 of the amazing people we've gotten to know over the past year joined us for a really fun afternoon!

Every sole matters 2021

With the help of 3 generous sponsors, we were able to purchase 224 pairs of Vans sneakers for all the kiddos in our programs & on our waitlist. We hosted a back to school drive-thru event complete with Usborne books and Girl Scout cookies that were donated to us, and yummy ice cream treats for everyone who came through!

use your influence for impact

This event allowed us to share our mission to walk alongside our local foster care community with local influencers and ask them to help get the word out into our community. 

2020 Drive-Thru Christmas Event

Since we'd only be in operation for two months in December, we did an outreach event to let the local foster community know we were up & running and ready to wrap community around them.  We contacted our local FFAs to invite their families to our Holiday Basket Drive-Thru event and it was a HUGE success!