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Forty motorcycle clubs from all over the Bay Area drove their muscular Harley Davidson bikes to Newark last weekend, bringing toys and other gifts to low-income families.

“The children are more excited about the bikers, more than anything” said Union City resident and mother of two, Alisha McPheeters.

After the bikers’ grand entrance, the kids lined up to take a picture with the “Santa Biker.”

Next – kids visited a room stuffed with toys.

Each kid entered the room with a biker, who helped pick out whatever gift that the boy or girl wanted to bring home.

The toy drive was held along Ruschin Drive in Newark on Sunday, December 12. It was organized by the Tri-Cities League of Volunteers different bikers associations in the Bay Area.

The families from Newark, Union City, Fremont and other neighboring cities attended the toy drive.

Patch.com Reporter Richgail Enriquez  interviewed the bikers, the kids, and the families who enjoyed the festivities.

If you want more information, or if you like to donate or volunteer, you may contact the Tri-Cities League of Volunteers at 510-793-5683, or visit their website at www.lov.org

NewPark Mall officials want to help everyone keep an eye on their toys, clothes and presents as well as their personal items as they navigate the holiday shopping season.

Officers around the Bay Area are investigating a number of robberies. Authorities in Walnut Creek want to know if an attempted robbery at a Lafayette jewelry store Friday was connected to another robbery spree in the area.

The Newark Police Department reported at least seven arrests linked to attempted thefts at Sears, the Burlington Coat Factory and other department stores for the period covering December 4-13.

According to general manager Kelly Gardner, there are signs at NewPark Mall entrances that remind shoppers to lock their cars, take their keys and hide their belongings.

Watch this video to find out more ways to keep your belongings safe while taking advantage of the biggest deals inside the mall.

If you have questions or need help, call NewPark Mall Security at 510-284-1690.

Nothing makes the holiday season more heart warming than witnessing children perform timeless holiday music.

On Dec. 8, the students of Kitayama Elementary School performed in their school’s annual winter concert.

This year, two groups of kids went on stage: a recorder ensemble and a group choir.

The students showcased classic holiday songs such as “Deck the Halls,” “Jingle Bells,” and many more.

Jeff Weissman, Kitayama’s music teacher, said he used to have the music department all to himself and is delighted to collaborate with a new teacher, Amanda Kairys. Weissman has been teaching at Kitayama for about ten years and each year he picks up something new from his diverse students, he said. His job the night of the showcase was to make sure the kids feel at ease because for most of them, the show was their first time to be in front of an audience.

And though most of the kids did admit to be nervous, everyone put their best foot forward to impress their families in the crowd. The school’s multi-purpose room was packed with relatives and friends with cameras in hand, ready to capture the moment their little ones first stepped on stage.

The parents say children should be encouraged to explore music and arts to develop skills that would complement not only the kids’ academics but their life skills as well.

Meanwhile, Kairys said having the kids celebrate the holidays through music brings the community together and delivers the holiday spirit no other form can.

And deliver the kids did.

Reporter Richgail Enriquez was at the concert with the sights and sounds of the Kitayama Winter Showcase.

California voters will have big, historical decisions to make on Election Day, including whether or not to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Proposition 19, if passed, will regulate, control and tax the purchase and use of marijuana in the state of California.

Proponents say the tax money will help alleviate the state’s budget crisis. They also say Prop 19 will take marijuana out of the hands of minors because only people age 21 or older could carry up to an ounce.

Opponents say if Prop 19 passes, marjiuana use will only become more attractive among minors because it sends the message that using the substance is no big deal.

Reporter Richgail Enriquez spoke to both sides of the debate in Castro Valley.

Trick-or-treaters: Be afraid, be very afraid, because you are in for a thrill this year.

Filled with ghoulish decor, tombstones and sound effects, the front yard of the Gonzalez family home along Tulane Street catches the attention of everyone who passes by, especially the young ones.

“The smaller kids get really scared,” says Kristal Gonzalez, homeowner of the spooky house on Tulane Street.

Gonzales’ family also decorates for Christmas, but it’s not as fun as it is during Halloween–they can be more creative with being scary. She says her kids especially love to brainstorm and see their ideas come alive, or undead, so to speak.

Just a couple of blocks away from the Gonzales home, another house aims to give you a chill.

Along Colgate Drive, realistic-looking monsters hang, and crawl, on the Sanchez’s front yard. You’ll find a giant tarantula, an evil-looking clown and a zombie on the grass, among other creepy creatures.

Fernando Sanchez says he is not too fond of the decorations, not because they’re scary, but because he’s in charge of installing them.

“As long as my wife and kids are happy though, I don’t mind,” Sanchez says.

Colgate Drive is a popular area among trick-or-treaters because it’s close to James Logan High School. Most high school kids spread the word once they’ve seen the decorative houses in the neighborhood, Sanchez says.

I dared to check out both the Gonzales and Sanchez’s Halloween homes to give you a video tour. Click on the video above to see the full report.

Dancing to the music of Usher, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, Tri-City residents with special needs showed they, too, can turn the party up.

They brought their good spirits and best costumes to the 5th Annual Halloween Social at the Ralph and Mary Ruggieri Senior Center on Oct. 22.

Along with dancing, guests also enjoyed food, refreshments and prizes. The highlight of the night was the costume competition, which consisted of three categories: scariest, funniest and best overall costume.

Green Oak Development Center, a day program for those with special needs, organized the social with the assistance of Union City Leisure Services and The ARC of Alameda.

Gina Rivera, executive director of Green Oak, said guests come from separate caring homes and seldom have an opportunity to interact with their peers. The Halloween social is a nice way to get them together to mingle and have a good time, she said.

Reporter Richgail Enriquez was at the Halloween social to learn more about the celebration.

Green Oak Development Center can be reached at 510-441-8300. It has two locations: The Main Campus at 2949 Whipple Road, Union City, CA, and the Cypress Campus at 2827 Whipple Road, Union City, CA. A third location is opening soon in San Jose.

Clasping their carts and baskets in hand, dozens of Union City residents line up and patiently wait outside of Centro de Servicios, a nonprofit community resource center.

Around 9 a.m., a food truck arrives at the center. The driver unloads boxes of fruits and vegetables, while the staff and volunteers of Centro de Servicios prepare themselves for the task ahead: distributing all that food to the patiently waiting crowd.

Every Wednesday morning, Centro de Servicios holds a free food distribution, providing low-income residents with fresh, organic produce for healthy and nutritious meals.

The weekly food distribution is just one of the center’s many services. Established in the 1970s to assist low-income residents of Union City, Centro de Servicios also provides legal aide, immigration and naturalization services, parenting and literacy classes, job placement assistance and more. The center recently held a school supply drive, giving away free backpacks, notebooks, writing materials and other school necessities to Union City elementary school students.

At the food distribution, the crowd consists of diverse ethnicities, ages and walks of life. Some have been going to the center for as long as twenty years, while others have started only three months ago.

Deputy Director Carlos Vejar said they plan to extend the meaning of food distribution by building a community garden, hoping they would attract more people to get involved.

Reporter Richgail Enriquez was at the food distribution to learn more about the center and its role in the community.

After my hiatus from video journalism (I have been doing some theater acting), I felt the itch to dust off my camera and get back to the journalism hustle again. This time, I found an opportunity at Patch.com.

Patch.com is owned by AOL, and apparently the giant company built numerous hyper local sites across the nation. I applied for the one in Castro Valley called Castro Valley Patch.com. I actually looked everywhere for a new gig and a lady named Angela Bass got back to me and said that she had been looking for a freelance reporter for the upcoming site. I of course jumped into this opportunity.

My first assignments were not as exciting as the Oscar Grant trial or the San Bruno fire explosion. Instead, I was assigned to do a story on the town’s Farmers’ Market, exhilarating (cough* sarcasm cough*). Also, Angela told me to do a “man on the street” video piece about what makes Castro Valley unique, which is actually a challenge considering I don’t know the answer myself.

Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed filming the Farmers Market piece, and I did not run out of things to mention in the story. I got some really good visuals from those colorful vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. Plus, the people I interviewed were engaging, charming and compelling- they did not answer the typical “I like to go here because of the community”. Not that there’s anything wrong with supporting your community, but that’s predictable and for a video piece, you would want to watch it because it’s something different and intriguing.

I underestimated both stories (Farmers Market and Unique Castro Valley) as “fluff”. But you know what? I realize both were quite refreshing compared to the heavy serious stories I have covered in the past. They served as a nice warm up as I gradually return to the video journalism world. Besides, we could allneed some good news.

STORY 1: FARMER’S MARKET STORY

STORY 2: “WHAT MAKES CASTRO VALLEY UNIQUE? “(I LIKE THE VIMEO QUALITY BETTER THAN THE PATCH VERSION)

And for the 2nd Round, the Grand Finals, the assignment is to cover something that the mainstream media has not covered yet, or often overlooked. No doubt I know the kids in Oakland are always overlooked. Sure, I would see and hear their stories in the news, but it was never in-depth, especially recently, when three Oakland high schools are being threatened to shut down because of low test scores and high drop out rates. In fact those three schools ranked some of the lowest performing in the state. I thought to myself, no one has really asked what’s behind those poor results.

Finding the right topic came easy, but finding the right people to be in it, is probably the most challenging endeavor I have ever done. Understandably, the topic is complicated and senstive, so parents, educators and social workers would be over protective of their youth. But damn, it was really hard to get somebody, especially a youth, and without a youth, there’s no story because it’s about them. I was almost ready to give up and ready to find another topic, but I decided to stay persistent.

The easiest person to approach was a volunteer teacher in East Oakland, but aside from that, I had to scout and pay my dues. I was at the mercy of my subjects and potential subjects. Some of them would entertain the idea of being interviewed, and the next thing you know, they’ll pull out, the last minute. Then there were those you thought would never call back and would go for it, yes, the last minute. It was like a rollercoaster ride, one day I was beaming with excited, the next heartbroken, then excited again.

And not only I was having the hardest time to find a subject, I scheduled a trip to New York, which would rob me five days off my production schedule. I had planned for the New York trip way before I joined the contest, plus it has always been my dream to go there. But because I might not finish producing my piece on time, I prepared myself to cancel my trip. Then like a miracle, I got a youth to do an interview with me, the day of my flight. In fact, I got everybody I need (and more) right before my flight that evening. It’s funny how things worked out in the end (pre-production and production that is).

Post production of course is a different story.  All sorts of technical difficulties as I am still getting to used to editing on HD. The organizers of the competition said the video needs to be on HD and under 5minutes. Good thing, the good people of The Pulitzer Center, and Youtube, helped me out.  And once I finally uploaded, I noticed that some parts have audio syncing problems.

Anyway, I am truly proud of what I came up with. No regrets. Violence among Urban Youth needed to be told and I am so glad I stayed persistent to tell it.

In the end, I did not get enough votes to win. The organizers determine the winner based on the popularity of the video and I guess I was not agressive enough with my campaign. But my goal from the start is to not only win a prize, but to tell this undercovered story, and to tell it accurately. I believe I have achieved that goal, and that makes me feel like I won.