You can help get Austin kids to college. Here’s how.

Two new collaborations kicking off this month are determined to get more Austin kids ready for college, and they could use your help.
Mentoring Austin middle school students
The first is a mentoring project called 1 Hour for Kids, which was created by United Way Capital Area to forge the efforts of eight Austin nonprofits that serve children in [...]

JUNE 18: Vivir Unidos! …but what is it?

It’s a movement. It’s an opportunity. It’s an event.
It’s a lot of things. So to clarify, I talked to Armando Rayo of Hands On Central Texas (which is part of United Way Capital Area) about Vivir Unidos.
Q. So what is Vivir Unidos? 
Mando: It’s basically a volunteer fair for Hispanics. But it’s also a celebration of our culture and [...]

Thank goodness for Recognize Good, new Web site that lets you thank someone

See? I was just talking about this exact thing the other day: A public recognition site for volunteers. Except the RecognizeGood people have made a site with the potential for much more than that.
I’ve tried the site. First you register – name, city, etc – then you just fill out the thank you. You include [...]

FRI MARCH 27: Be a “real world” speaker to Travis High Students

Received this email from Linda Medina. I know there are lots of you out there who could expose a high school student to a career they might have never considered. This is a great opportunity to inspire Austin young people.
Dear Friends,
I hope this email finds you well.  Volunteers are needed to participate in the Travis High [...]

Click to get those food trucks out there!

You did it: 1,000 of you pledged to donate, volunteer, or spread the word about Pledge to End Hunger, and as a result, Tyson’s sending a semi-truck loaded with 140,000 meals to the Capital Area Food Bank on Monday, March 16. Way to go!
Now we have a chance to send two more Tyson food trucks to [...]

Team CIS runs and raises money for Communities in Schools

Monday was overwhelmingly positive and energizing.
I had my first meeting as part of Hands On Central Texas’ Advisory Council. It’s ridiculous how much volunteer manpower the people in that room represent, and it’s also inspiring to imagine how they can push a large number of people into actionwith just a couple of precisely composed e-mails and [...]

Network while you work … at the Food Bank

 
 
 
If you’re going to put yourself out there, try to meet new people, find new opportunities… you might as well wipe some  cans and sort some peanut butter.
Scott Ingram of NetworkIn Austin and Austin TopGuns came up with this pairing of networking and giving/volutneering, and they’ve chosen the Capital Area Food Bank as the recipient. [...]

The thrill of a fat tax return – even if it’s not for you

This number amazes me: Last year, Foundation Communities engaged 470 volunteers helping with 17,284 tax returns with $21 million in tax refunds!
This year, they are looking for 500 volunteers to prepare 20,000 returns – and aiming for $26 million. That’s $26 million for Austin in 2009. It’s not $700 billion, but it’s still a nice chunk [...]

SAT FEB 7: Looking for professionals to share their experience

Saw this on the Las Comadres listserv:
Feria Para Aprender is looking for enthusiastic professionals who want to share with the youth attending the event the path you had to take to reach your career goals.
Since the focus of this event is higher learning and the importance of graduating high school and moving on to college, we [...]

Donor fatigue, charity backlash, and other excuses

From Andrea Ball’s story in the Statesman yesterday: “Charities Suffering in an Ailing Economy”
The Christmas Bureau of Austin and Travis County — which gives holiday gifts to needy children — still has 2,300 unsponsored families, more than double the number it had by this time last year.
“There are families who aren’t going to get anything,” [...]