Youth Jobs Program accepting applications

Kern Community Foundation is accepting applications for the city of Bakersfield’s 2022-23 Youth Jobs Program City Hall Fellowship.

The City Hall Fellowship Program is an 11-month paid fellowship. Eligible participants must be at least 18 years of age by Sept. 6, and no older than 30 years of age by Aug. 6, 2023.

The fellowship pays $23 per hour and participants will work and learn alongside staff at various city departments. Fellows will work approximately 20 hours per week. Fellows will shadow staff and help with administrative duties and analyses; assist in the compilation, analysis and control of departmental budgets; prepare and present reports; and participate in regular workshops focusing on personal, professional and civic development.

The Kern Community Foundation administers the program in partnership with the city. The Kern Community Foundation will accept and review applications and place successful candidates in available positions in consultation with the city. These pathways will provide both hands-on and technical training to equip each fellow with experience and know-how to qualify for future permanent employment.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. July 22. For the application and more information, visit https:// www.kernfoundation.org/bakersfield-youthjobs-program or call Kern Community Foundation at 661-616-2610.

The City Hall Fellowship is a component of the Bakersfield Youth Jobs Program, which is run by a $5.39 million grant from California Volunteers and the state. The city will hire approximately 400 individuals aged 16 to 30 years old over a fouryear period. The program includes a paid high school summer internship, a paid college-level fellowship program and partnerships with nonprofits to employ at-risk youth.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County will host free COVID-19 vaccine clinics in July for children ages 5 and up in Bakersfield and Lamont through a partnership with the California Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs.

The CDC has expanded the eligibility of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to everyone 5 years of age and older, recommending that children ages 5 to 11 should receive a booster shot five months after their initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination series.

The CDC has also strengthened its recommendation that those 12 and older who are immunocompromised and those 50 and older should receive a second booster dose at least four months after their first.

The COVID clinics are in collaboration with the Bakersfield College Student Health and Wellness Center and Kern County Public Health.

In the Armstrong Youth Center at 801 Niles St. in Bakersfield, the vaccines will be available from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday; from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Monday; from 4 to 7 p.m. July 13; from 4:30 to 7 p.m. July 18; from 4 to 7 p.m. July 20; from 4:30 to 7 p.m. July 25; and from 4 to 7 p.m. July 27.

At the Lamont Boys & Girls Club at 8301 Segrue Road, vaccines are available from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday; from 4:30 to 7 p.m. July 12; from 3:30 to 6 p.m. July 14; from 4:30 to 7 p.m. July 19; and from 3:30 to 6 p.m. July 21.

The executive director of Cal State Bakersfield’s new Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will provide an online preview today of the center’s upcoming 10-week boot camp.

Seung Bach, speaking during an hourlong webinar put on weekly by CSUB’s Small Business Development Center, will talk about how to apply for what’s called the Venture Accelerator, a free program for which applications are now being accepted from residents of Kern County.

Bach, associate dean of CSUB’s School of Business and Public Administration, will join the webinar’s host, SBDC Director Kelly Bearden, who will share updates on the economy, capital resources and remaining pandemic relief programs.

Questions will be taken live during the webinar set to start at noon today. Sign up online at www.tinyurl.com/BusinessRelief121.

The Grimm Family Education Foundation announced Monday a $100,000 grant from Bank of America.

The gift, made through the Kern Community Foundation as part of Bank of America’s 100th anniversary celebration, will be used to fund construction of a new greenhouse at the Edible Schoolyard Kern County’s Buena Vista location in southwest Bakersfield, according to a Grimm Family news release.

The new, larger greenhouse will provide additional space for students to explore and experience plant life cycles, as well support ESYKC’s community outreach programs.

The new, nearly 1,000-square-foot greenhouse will replace an existing 160-square-foot greenhouse built in 2011. It will include 480 interior square feet and an additional 480 square feet of covered outdoor space with tables and space for planting and education programs, tripling ESYKC’s capacity for year-round indoor seedling germination.

The greenhouse will incorporate a 250-gallon rainwater catchment system for irrigation use in the greenhouse and ESYKC’s garden. Automated, precision irrigation will help reduce water use, and solar panels on campus will help provide for the facility’s climate control, irrigation and lighting power needs.