Activistas

Join us to work for Meausres 66 & 67: Bring the kids!

We feel pretty passionately about supporting Measures 66 & 67 around here.  You've probably read our previous thoughts about this here and here.  Well, now it's time to quit talkin' and start walkin'!!  Along with our friends at Family Forward Oregon, we Activistas are organizing a short, kid-friendly volunteer event with the Yes on 66 & 67 campaign this MLK Day and we hope you will join us.

Details:

When?: Monday, January 18th at 9:30 am

Where/What?:  Meet at Urban Grind Coffeehouse (NE 22nd & Oregon St) for a quick meet-and-greet, then we'll walk a few blocks to the Yes on 66/67 campaign headquarters (at 19th & Sandy).  Once there, we'll get a quick training (along with their other volunteers) on the nuts and bolts of canvassing, then we'll head out for 60-90 minutes of get-out-the-vote activities.

Tips: Dress for the weather, wear comfortable shoes, bring a stroller or carrier for your kid(s) (whatever they're used to), and the usual snacks/juice/water.  Canvassing is most fun when done with a friend - so feel free bring one.  Otherwise, be prepared to meet some new ones!  Always fun.

What is canvassing?  Basically, the campaign will provide you with a list of houses within a couple-block radius.  You'll walk door-to-door politely asking folks to turn in their ballots.  If they're not home, you'll leave a little door-hanger reminding them where to turn in their ballots before Jan. 26th.  The campaign will send us to places where people are likely to vote Yes - so friendly houses.  You will not need to be an expert on these measures to do this - you can always encourage people to learn more by looking at campaign materials. 

This is a fun way to help protect funding for services to kids and families in our state, meet some new people, and engage our own children in the democratic process - all while walking around our lovely city. 

Please RSVP if you can join us by emailing Andrea at andrea@familyforwardoregon.org or by posting a comment.

Note: We will canvass again on Saturday, January 23rd from 10-noon.  Please also RSVP for that date.

Are you ready? PPS Community Cares Day is Sat., 8.29

Every year community volunteers spruce up Portland Public Schools (PPS) all over town right before school reopens in the fall  - with your help!  This year, volunteers are gathering from 9 till noon on Saturday, August 29th to beautify our more than 80 schools.

This type of "community care" is especially important since PPS has sharply reduced funding for maintenance services in an effort to protect classroom funding.  Six (6!!!) groundskeepers are responsible for cutting grass and trimming shrubs at schools during summer and two are responsible during winter, down from 14 employees year-round a decade ago.  Last year, more than 3,000 volunteers improved 76 PPS schools and sites. They collected almost 400,000 pounds of yard debris and about 14,000 pounds of trash, completing work valued at $482,000.  So if you're wondering what a measly 3 hours can accomplish - wonder no more!

I don't know about you, but drab school grounds do little to inspire me.  I recall as a student seeking places to read and study that inspired me - and, perhaps oddly, beauty had a lot to do with it. Beautiful grounds also send a clear message to kids that their school is valued, that adults care enough about it to make it nice. 

What will you do? You'll spread mulch and bark chips, trim bushes, edge grass, pick up litter and complete other tasks to make schools more welcoming for students. Volunteers can choose a school and register online. Organizers ask that they bring gloves, weeding tools, shovels or similar tools if they have them; water and snacks will be provided.

Find your 3-hour job.  You can see the full schedule of Community Care Day events - some of which occur on dates other than Aug. 29 in case you aren't available on the 29th, like me.

I bet other local districts do this, too.  Anyone know the plan for Washington and Clackamas Counties?

[Thanks to Flickr & Acnatta for the hard workin' pic]

Portland says: "Yes we do" to volunteering

We already knew that Portlanders like to be involved and help out their neighbors.  We 've got thriving non-profit organizations, neighborhood groups and grassroots movements to suit every opinion.  But now we've got evidence and it's official -- Portland is #2 in volunteering!  To the call to service, we say -- we're already doing it.

That's right, Portland ranks second among 51 large cities for the number of volunteers with 36.7% of residents volunteering in 2008.  And we rank 4th in hours of service per person at 41.6 per year.  The annual Volunteering in America report, released just this week, gives us the good news.  Read the Portland report.  In other good news, Oregon as a state ranks 13th in volunteering.  We've got over a million people volunteering!  Utah wins every year as their volunteers put in even more hours per year, but we kick their beehive butts on the number of volunteers.   See how we stack up against the best.

Besides tooting our own horn (which we probably need to do more often) this report gives us a chance to say we can do even more.  If your reading Activistas, you're probably already involved or looking to help.  But if you're not, there's no time like the present:

• Find a volunteer opportunity online with one of our favorite local organizations -- Hands on Greater Portland.  They even have family friendly projects.
• Find your neighborhood association to get involved where you live. 
• Help a friend or neighbor, lend a hand at your place of worship or just speak out on something that matters to you.

Oh, and keep reading Activistas to find more ways to help out.  We'll keep giving you ideas if you keep volunteering. Thanks Portland!

[photo courtesy Flickr CC -- Unlikely to Hesitate]

Community Cares Day 2008 is Saturday 8.23.08

Like clockwork, every year in late August, as we turn our thoughts to the school year (hard, I know, when it's like 500 degrees out and sweat is running down my back), it's time for Community Care Day.  This year, it falls on Saturday, 8.23 - yup, next Saturday.  Feel like pitching in?  Sprucing up your neighborhood school? 

Summer of Service for the 13-21 YO's Among Us

After a recent conversation about volunteering with our babes, I was glad to hear about a local program for teens to get involved in community service this summer.  Totally different concept, huh?  Thanks to ever-creative Hands on Portland for setting up the Summer of Service Program, which they 'sell' like this:

Are you 13 to 21 years old and...

   ...fulfilling community service graduation requirements?

   ...enhancing your resume or college application?

   ...looking to meet new people?

   ...interested in building a stronger community?

Volunteering is the answer!

The program kick-off is Saturday, 6.21.08 at Zenger Farm.  Sign up here.

Share Books with Children in Foster Care

My kids love books.  My one-year-old likes to hold them, turn the pages, look at the pictures and point at the things she recognizes.  My 3-YO is really starting to get into the stories.  He often references something from the stories in his day-to-day life.  He also enjoys the language and has developed an ear for new words or rhyming patterns.  Our nightly ritual is to cuddle up with a good book or two, and I think it is safe to say that their childhoods would not be nearly so rich without books.   

That's why I love the Books from the Heart program.  If you are like me and believe books should be a part of every child's life, you can donate some to children in foster care who may not have any of their own.    The donated books should be new and can be dropped at any Barnes & Noble store in town before the end of the day on May 31st (Saturday).   Pick out a few titles your kids loved and share them with a little one who is likely to love them, too.  Why not?

Can't do it before Saturday?  Post something in the comments and we'll contact you about picking them up and dropping them at the state Department of Human Services, which runs the Oregon foster care program.

Know of any other children's book donation programs? We'd love to know so we can help in the future, especially if we're too late with this one! 

Volunteer at PPS & Sign-up Online

Have a talent to share?  Want to help out one of the Portland Public Schools, even if your child doesn't go there?  Want to volunteer on an ongoing basis?  Maybe you want to help out in a one-time shot?

Portland Public Schools and Hands On Portland have joined forces to create Project Community Care: "to engage community members, parents and students in meaningful volunteer opportunities in schools."

Community volunteers make a world of difference to the more than 46,000 students in Portland Public Schools. Their work is wide-ranging: from tutoring in the classroom to pulling weeds at one of the district’s 85-plus schools.

So far, the site is just in pilot mode, accessible only to Cleveland- and Franklin- area schools.  Check it out HERE.  And, be on the lookout for the district-wide expansion in mid-May.

Volunteering & The Family: Kids Not Required

How to volunteer with your kids is a topic we've covered before here in Activista-land.  We've discussed Mercy Kits that kids pick out with you, where to distribute food on Thanksgiving, and how to locate that kid-friendly volunteer opportunity.  And while I like to think I'm the volunteering type (who doesn't?), what am I realistically going to do with two kids under 5 that's actually helpful?  My almost five-year-old son would do well at many volunteer activities, but adding a 21-month old into the mix sure reduces our options.  Which brings me to the recent events in our house.

Volunteering & The Family: Kids Not Required

How to volunteer with your kids is a topic we've covered before here in Activista-land.  We've discussed Mercy Kits that kids pick out with you, where to distribute food on Thanksgiving, and how to locate that kid-friendly volunteer opportunity.  And while I like to think I'm the volunteering type (who doesn't?), what am I realistically going to do with two kids under 5 that's actually helpful?  My almost five-year-old son would do well at many volunteer activities, but adding a 21-month old into the mix sure reduces our options.  Which brings me to the recent events in our house.

Volunteering & The Family: Kids Not Required

How to volunteer with your kids is a topic we've covered before here in Activista-land.  We've discussed Mercy Kits that kids pick out with you, where to distribute food on Thanksgiving, and how to locate that kid-friendly volunteer opportunity.  And while I like to think I'm the volunteering type (who doesn't?), what am I realistically going to do with two kids under 5 that's actually helpful?  My almost five-year-old son would do well at many volunteer activities, but adding a 21-month old into the mix sure reduces our options.  Which brings me to the recent events in our house.