Last week , we participated in the Vivir Unidos volunteer fair for Hispanics produced by the overworked and underpaid folks from United Way and Hands on Central Texas. Between all the amazing food, the music, the socializing, the dancing… seriously, weren’t we supposed to have been there to “improve Hispanic engagement?” Blah blah blah, this was a party.

There were at least 30 nonprofits represented, and every time I strolled by them I heard some genuine conversations going on. Sebastian Puente, who also helped plan the event and was there last night, and I estimated that there we at least 400 people there. It was a packed house. And everyone seemed to get the message of the night: Dig in and get involved. Si se puede.

Congratulations to everyone who helped plan and support the event! Below are some links to coverage from news outlets. Are there more?

Statesman: United Way Reaches Out to Area Hispanics with Vivir Unidos

Ahora Si: Buscan a latinos con ganas de ayudar a su comunidad

Ahora Si: Photos from the event

P.S. We’ll have tons of photos of the Vivir Unidos event in our next issue. Don’t forget to sign up for a free subscription!

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 School “Real World Connections” Speaker Series on Friday, March 27th at 11:30 a.m. The time commitment for the event will likely be no more than 90 minutes. We would very much appreciate if you could serve as a special guest or help recruit speakers in Media, Engineering & Technology fields.
 
To prepare for the 21st Century, students need real-world experiences.   They need to hear first-hand from professionals about the skills that are needed to succeed in different career fields.   Most importantly, students need to understand the incremental steps it takes to prepare for careers.  This luncheon will provide students with a great opportunity to learn about Media, Engineering & Technology careers and what it takes to succeed in that field.
 
Friday, March 27th
Travis High School
1211 E. Oltorf
11:30 a.m.

If you are interested in participating or know people that would, please contact Courtney Bensch, School Improvement Facilitator for Travis High School, at 414-6355, cbensch@austinisd.org or Raul Alvarez, Grassroots Community Coordinator for the Office of Redesign, 414-8729, raul.alvarez@austinisd.org
 
 
Seguimos Adelante,
 
Linda Medina, M.Ed.
Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Education Foundation
512.462.4311 direct line
2800 South IH 35, Suite 260
lmedina@gahcc.org
www.gahcc.org

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. There are two ways to be a part of this effort:

1. First, you can make a donation. Between now and the end of the month, you can make a financial contribution (from $5 on up!) to the Virtual Fund Drive. Every little bit helps, and you’ll see that all dollars contributed to the Food Bank go a very long way. Please give generously!

2. Second, you can volunteer. They’ve set up 4 volunteer shifts (see below).  Their goal is to completely fill all 185 volunteer shifts, a contribution of 505 volunteer hours!

Thusday – 2/26: 6:00 – 9:00pm 
Friday – 2/27: 7:30 – 9:30am 
Friday – 2/27: 9:00am – Noon 
Friday – 2/27: 1:00 – 4:00pm

What a cool idea, huh? If you’ve never volunteered at the Food Bank before, you’re going to find it fascinating. They do a great job of training you, and eveyrone seems to enjoy the “Lucy Ricardo at the chocolate factory” atmosphere. Sign up, and bring a friend!

In thinking about povery today and what I might post for Blog Action Day, I wanted to focus on actions we could take to reverse the downward spiral occurring in Central Texas towards increasing poverty.

What I’m learning more about is this relationship between education and poverty. I think we all know high school graduates earn more over their lifetime than non-graudates, and the same holds true for college grads.

According to Communities in Schools:

“Dropouts make up nearly half the heads-of-households on welfare.”
“One in three Central Texas ninth graders is not enrolled in the twelfth grade three years later.”
“With this school year, 8,000 Austin ISD middle School students will be at risk of not graduating high school.” 
“The dropout statistics promise to grow worse each year as the demographics in Texas begin their dramatic shift.”

So if you want to effect Central Texas poverty going forward, one of the best ways to do that is to help some of these kids finish school. (And definitely make sure your kid finishes school.)

The relationship between a child and a mentor or tutor has proven to help keep that child in school and even do well in school.  Which is not a surprise.  Good news is, there are a lot of mentoring and tutoring opportunities out there. Here are a few to consider:
Any Baby Can, which has been helping Austin’s youngest, sickest and poorest children for 30 years

Volunteer at the Saturday Learning Center… or Family Literacy Program Tuesdays and Thursdays…
Help tutor children and parents in literacy, math and English.

The Arc of Capital Area, which helps adults and children with developmental disabilities attain self sufficiency.

Academic coaching – Volunteers are matched with a Special Education student to tutor on various subjects and help the student reach obtainable academic goals.
Parent matches – Parents of a child with a disability are paired to discuss various care-giving topics and for moral support.

Caritas of Austin, which fights hunger, homelessness, poverty and fear – a great mission

5 hours a week you can Work with low-income working parents making the transition to financial stability by talking about money management skills, job interview skills, etc.

Communities in Schools, whose sole purpose is to keep Austin kids in school.

Lots of tutoring opportunities here. You can sign up for 1 hour a week for the school year.
OR this one starts in January 2009 – be a Tech Tots Mentor, which is where you mentor low-income families in their homes on how to use computers, software, printers, the Internet.

Big Brothers and Big Sisters, which offers long and short-term opportunities for you to mentor a child.

From what I understand, these are serious commitments. There are applications to submit, background checks, maybe even some fingerprinting. But I also understand there are serious rewards. In our first issue we included a story by Eva Schone who told us about her experience as a Big Sister. She said, “It was awkward in the beginning. We had to find the rhythm that was appropriate for this relationship. It took us about half a year.” Later, though, she said,

“The most important part of building my relationship with Courtnie was to figure out how I could assist her – in the context of her life circumstances – most effectively. That takes a little bit of time and getting to know each other. In the beginning you have a set of expectations, but you just don’t know what each child’s situation is going to be. And you’re going to have to work with whatever it is.”

Does this sound like something you could do? To download the story and our first issue, click here.

Please feel free to send this link to a friend of colleague. Also, thanks for adding us to your media list – we’d love to hear more about your organization and cause.

To download your copy, just click on the cover or on the link below. Please let us know what you think. Feel free to send me any feedback or post a comment below.

(File size 5MB)

CLICK HERE TO OPEN

Central Texas Red Cross just sent out an email asking for volunteer help in their shelters. This is a great opportunity to go over there and spend some helping out. 

We need shelter workers. 

Are you available????? 

Volunteers are needed for the 6AM – 6PM shift and for the 6PM -6AM. Volunteers are needed Wednesday, September 3 – Sunday, September 7 (Must be at least 18 years old).

To volunteer, please call 512-929-1200 or 512-928- 4271. Or email rturner@centex.redcross.org. 

Thank you in advance for serving your community! 

Kim Landry, Director of Volunteer Services, American Red Cross of Central Texas

I just find this data on national volunteering rates so interesting. From the Corporation for National & Community Service report, Volunteering in America 2007:

• About 29% of women volunteered last year, compared with about 23% of men.
• Women with children have a higher rate of volunteering than those without.
• Women who work have the highest volunteer rate.
• Volunteers watch an average of 15 hours TV a week, non-volunteers watch an average of 23 hours a week.
• People who live in mid-size cities are more likely to volunteer than people who live in big cities.
• More people volutneer for religious causes than any other cause; runner-up is educational causes.
• About 6% of all volunteers did volunteer work at least 120 miles from their homes (think Hurricane Katrina volunteers)
• One out of every three people who volutneered in 2006 did not do so again in 2007.

And that last one is important. It’s great to bring new people to the volunteer crew, but if they don’t come back next year, maybe the experience wasn’t so great the first time. It’s all about having that satisfying volunteer experience, isn’t it?

Working women must have really satisfying volunteer experiences… I wonder where they’re volunteering?

This from the Las Comadres listserv: Folks, these kids need your help.

WHAT THEY NEED: Shorts, pants, shirts, shoes, T-shirts, (new or gently used) and school supplies

FOR WHOM: Kids 4 to 13 years old

WHERE: Manos de Cristo, 4911  Harmon Avenue, 78751 (near IH-35 and 51st street)

BY WHEN: NOW. LIKE, THIS WEEK. Handing out clothes this week and next week, through August 16

BEST TIMES TO TAKE DONATIONS: Between 1 pm and 5 pm during the week through August 15.

Subject: Gently Used Kids Clothes DESPERATELY Needed for Back to  School Drive 
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 09:51:14 -0500  
From: rrosales@swkey.org      

Hello Everyone,     

I stopped by the Manos de Cristo offices this morning, and it was a very sad situation. Hundreds of parents, along with their very small children, had been lined up at the Manos de Cristo sight since 4:00 am – that’s right, 4:00 in the MORNING. And all in the hopes of getting used clothing for  their children for back to school.

I was told that 250 families had to be turned away this morning because the line had already exceeded  capacity – and this was only the FIRST DAY of the clothing drive.  (NOTE: Manos can only take 100 families a day. Those other families were told to return the next day.)

So if you have any gently used clothing that you would like to donate to this very worthwhile cause, please let me know. And please feel free to forward this email and my contact information on to family or  friends that you think might have clothing donations. I will gladly accept  any donations here at the SWK (Southwest Key) corporate office. I can also pick up any donations after work hours (during the work week) or this weekend.  

Donations can also be dropped off at the Manos de Cristo offices at  4911  Harmon Avenue, 78751 (near IH-35 and 51st street).  

Unfortunately – we are pressed for time. The clothing drive is THIS WEEK 08/05 – 08/09 and NEXT WEEK 08/12 – 08/16. So the sooner I can get any clothing donations to Manos de Cristo, the better.     

http://www.manosdecristo.org/backtoschool.html  

The Young Leaders Society engages Austinites between 21 and 45 years old who give $1000 or more to United Way Capital Area. Unlike a typical professional society, membership in this group emphasizes education opportunities in philanthropy and civic engagement. YLS members are committed to a better Austin and often have second careers in philanthropy.

Which makes for some busy people. I met Kim Jowers at the Head Honcho pitch ‘n putt event earlier this year. She just had a baby, too – a boy named Rhys. We were talking about typical new mom things – sleeping, nannies, not sleeping, and adjusting to this new life – when I realized she not only had a full-time job but was also leader of YLS. Wow. Good on you, Kim.

1. Along with opportunities for professional development, YLS offers its members a chance to learn more about growing their philanthropic “careers.” That’s a little more than what other professional associations offer, which might be the reason people join. Tell me about the kinds of people who join YLS in general.

The group is well represented as the focus is first on giving and so our membership have “day” jobs that run the gamut of professions. I believe the people that join are those that want to network with other like-minded individuals who are concerned with ensuring our Central Texas area is addressing the parts of society where there is a critical need.

2. So do YLS members have previous experience in philanthropy?

It depends, although I think for the majority of the group they are very civic-minded and especially concerned with making sure Central Texas is a better place to live. But, even if they have not volunteered much, YLS provides those opportunities for their membership both through actual volunteer events, the inspiring monthly lunch with leaders series or the workshops where we partner with groups such as Greenlights and Leadership Austin.

3. What about particular concerns? Do they come in wanting to serve a particular need?

You’ll find a wide breadth of concerns among our membership and they want to be a catalyst for making positive changes in our community. One great thing about the YLS group is being a part of United Way, which serves so many needs in our community.

4. Right, that’s how you become a member, but donating $1000 or more a year to United Way. Did the recent funding changes at United Way sit well with YLS members in general?

It seems to be sitting well with our membership. We have a close relationship with the leadership at United Way and they have made themselves very accessible to our membership to get any questions answered. The United Way researched this new approach very thoroughly and looking at the three areas they are focused on (education financial stability and health), it is hard to argue that the need is not there and further, not want to be a part of helping make a difference. I think it is pretty exciting!

5. Change does make things interesting, that’s for sure. You’d think lots of young professionals would want to be a part of it.

We need to increase awareness of groups like ours, show them what we are doing, how our efforts make a difference and how exciting and good it feels to be a part of it. Additionally, we are all very busy and I think we need to continue to provide relevant events and workshops, like YLS does, to our membership…making it easy and fun to be a part of.

I think young professionals bring a lot to the table: energy, enthusiasm, fresh ideas, a different perspective from the other traditional areas of philanthropic giving. I think energy and a different perspective are the big ones.

Kim Jowers is a finance manager for Applied Materials, currently working in the Sarbanes-Oxley program management office. She also serves on Applied’s Education committee, which reviews and makes decisions on where Applied will spend their philanthropy dollars earmarked for education in the Austin community.

Kim’s been a YLS member for four years. “I enjoy participating in volunteer activities that YLS puts together, including volunteering at ARCH, Marathon water stop, helping kids get financial aid, etc.” She’s married and is a new mother to six-month-old Rhys.

It sounds like a great plan: To every college student who volunteers at least 100 hours a year give a $4000 tax credit that would be paid directly to that student’s college.

Having just had a student in college – my husband – I can say that a $4000 credit on the UT tuition bill would have been a tremendous help. In fact, that would have covered just about all his classes, leaving out parking, books, and other fees. He didn’t live on campus so there were no dorm expenses.

Because he was a more “mature” student, he didn’t quite fit into the role. While study groups met around dinner time, my husband was busy “meeting” with his wife and son. When he got injured and had to visit the campus doctor, they wouldn’t let me come in to the examining room due to a policy designed to protect a student’s privacy – no matter my husband was way older than 21 and I was his wife, not his mother. Also, professors would wait until the last minute to provide the dates and locations of overnight geological field trips, which was fine if you slept in your school clothes but more difficult if you were trying to arrange child care.

 So when I read about Obama’s proposal, I automatically thought, “Define student. Define volunteer . Define college.”

I know a surge of fresh, energetic volunteers would be a boon to nonprofits across the country. But I also start to think… wait. Who’s the nonprofit staff person who’s going to have to keep track and report those hours?

There would have to be a system, people! Is creating, maintaining, supporting, and standing up for that system worth the effort? Is this finally a sensible proposal to build volunteerism or would it be more burden than benefit?