Give 5

High Five! HandsOn Northeast Georgia is launching a Give Five campaign for the month of October. We are asking all of our volunteers to "lend a hand" and give $5 to support the work HandsOn does in the community.

Every year, HandsOn coordinates thousands of volunteers for projects to improve our community. Putting helping hands to work is what we do best. To keep putting those hands to work on worthy causes, we need your helping hand. Today, we are launching our Give 5 campaign. We're asking everyone who has volunteered with us to give just $5 to help us continue what we do.

Your donation will support the expense of our volunteer database, which is used by more than 140 area agencies to coordinate volunteers. It also helps us to provide the tools needed to complete projects - like loppers, rakes and shovels. We believe that many hands together make light work. A team of volunteers can accomplish so much together. And we're asking you to please give a little and help a lot. Give 5 to keep the hands helping in Northeast Georgia. Donate here!

You can also help us by:

- Sharing our cause on Facebook
- Tweeting and retweeting about the Give 5 campaign on Twitter
- If you're with an agency, share with your staff and volunteer base in your newsletter
- Blog about the Give 5 campaign on your personal blog
- Issue a challenge to your office to Give 5

Thanks! (High Five)

Hello everyone, my name is Cheryl and I am the new social media intern who’ll be captain of this blog for the upcoming months. If you've been following our Twitter and Facebook accounts you’ve probably seen some of my handy work. I look forward to continuing in the awesome steps of my predecessor Anne Marie with her Coffee and Community sessions. Also, I want to take you along with me on our journey of volunteering and social service within the Athens area community. Hopefully, you'll even join me in a couple of them! I look forward to our talks and service together.

Here’s a little background on myself and how I got into volunteering. I was born in Greensboro, Ga (yes, that Greensboro where Carrie Underwood had her wedding this past July. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail :)). I attended Georgia Southern University where I earned an undergraduate degree in Information Technology. I am currently working for the University of Georgia in their IT department. Honestly, I got started with volunteering by just doing it. One day during lunch I searched for opportunities to volunteer that sounded interesting and here I am working with HandsOn Northeast Georgia!

I was more than a little nervous, considering my social media experience was from a Facebook account that I had neglected upon graduating from college. However, the excitement of being a part of something new and so positive gave me the courage to plunge right in. Now that I am getting into, learning more and more each day, I remember why I was in love with it to begin with. It's a way of connecting and a way of expressing ourselves. What better thing to express than a love and respect of community.

I do hope that you'll follow me on this journey. Bringing comments, advice, and just plain goofiness is welcomed (even encouraged). Stay posted for my next entry and I look forward to our journey together.

"In the desert of life the wise person travels by caravan, while the fool prefers to travel alone." (taken from www.wisdomcommons.org )

AmeriCorps VISTA!

I hope you all enjoyed hearing from Anne Marie this summer! I think she did a great job of highlighting some of our partner agencies. As she mentioned, Cheryl, our social media intern, will be trying her hand at blogging very soon.

I wanted to share a little bit with all of you before she started. I spent the majority of this week with the HandsOn Network participating in the AmeriCorps VISTA Supervisor training. That's right - it's time for our AmeriCorps VISTA member, Caitlin, to start with us! She'll be here on Monday, so I'm spending the day preparing for her arrival.


While at training, I got to meet representatives from other HandsOn affiliates and partners around the country. It was excellent for networking and gaining a better understanding of how other affiliats do great work in their own communities! We even got to create a few posters. This one shows what my table thought were good qualities for a volunteer leader: a clear idea/interest/passion, ready to take "own"ership of projects (hence the key!), willing to work (with tools like hammers) alongside other volunteers, and understanding when to lead and when to step back and follow.

The best part of training was knowing that the great work Caitlin is about to embark on is starting on Monday! (The picture on the right is of all the HandsOn Network and Habitat for Humanity VISTAs for 2010-2011 being sworn in.)For those of you that don't know, Caitlin will be working in the four middle schools and two high schools in the Clarke County School District developing a structure and system for students to participate in service-learning. Service-learning has been shown to enhance engagement with and commitment to school, which we hope will contribute to greater graduation rates and the pursuit of higher education. Of course, even as amazing as we know Caitlin will be, this cannot happen without your help! So if you know of interested and motivated middle and high school students in any of the Clarke County School District middle and high schools, send them our way! And if you are one of those interested middle or high school students, then email me right away: info@handsonnortheastgeorgia.org. Also, high schoolers, be on the lookout for the application for the Athens Volunteer Fair, which will be on the UGA campus in September.

As always, don't forget to keep an eye on our facebook and twitter accounts for all news HandsOn!

In service,
Dawn

Good bye yellow brick road

Well, this concludes my tour of Coffee and Community. Thank you for going along on the ride with me. I hope you all and HandsOn Northeast Georgia continues to do great things! With one closing door, there is always an opening window. Our new social media intern will be taking over the blog and you should be hearing some very interesting things from her very soon.

Thanks again for your time and thanks to all the agencies that participated!

Coffee and Community session 3

Welcome to our third and last installment of Coffee and Community. I set down with Michelle Rabold at Jittery Joe's to discuss what True Love Canine Rescue is up to.

True Love Canine Rescue (TLCR) started in 2008 with Michelle and her husband taking in dogs that were abandoned or abused. As they started to take in more dogs, it began to get expensive to feed, shelter, and provide medical visits for the dogs. Soon after taking on a lot of dogs, TLCR joined the Nonprofit Development Alliance at Community Connections, where they were sponsored by Community Connections under their 501( c)3. A 501 (c )3 are the legal papers that establish a nonprofit. As TLCR has become more developed and established, the organization became our partner for TeamServe, an opportunity for businesses and groups to serve together.

So, what does TLCR do? Exactly what you think they would do. TLCR takes in dogs that have been in shelters for extensive periods or abandoned dogs. The TLCR organization trains special dogs to increase their adoptability and in the long run, ensure a permanent loving home. How do they do this, you may ask? Through a positive reinforcement training of basic skills like creating better reactions to a leash; then, eventually, walking on a leash will increase the social skills and adoptability of these particular dogs.

What the organization really needs, are sponsors. TLCR foots the bill (including a crate and supplies) for the well-being of the dog, but while that special dog is undergoing training he or she needs the comfort of a warm home. Sponsors have to fill out an application and go through a home check to make sure they are the right fit. Additionally, sponsors can help with behavior problems by reinforcing good behavior taught by the trainers.

It has been a busy summer for TLCR as they are going through the process of filing their own 501 (c) 3 –trust me it is no easy task! The TLCR is also having a garage sale on July 24 and all of the proceeds fund the rescue organizations. Donations for things to be sold are still under way and everything that is left over from the yard sale will be donated to the Potter house. This fall the TLCR is adopting a class at Clarke Middle School. The class will develop teamwork around a spay and neuter program. Additionally, Michelle’s next dream is to develop a therapy dog to take to hospitals. Not to mention the annual Pedal for Paws 5k, a doggone good time (I had to do it). TLCR is taking sponsors for the race and individuals can sponsor particular dogs, contact Michelle at or visit the TLCR website at


Ah, the audience participation portion of the evening– well afternoon. We need your help in developing our blog! What are your thoughts of the Coffee and Community sessions? Are there questions unanswered? Perhaps, an over looked organization? Post your answers and one winner will be chosen at random for a surprise gift!

Again, the food featured in the blog can be found on my website (socialjusticeandfood.blogspot.com) and the coffee featured is still the Honeysuckle Latte (If it is not broke; don’t fix it).

Coffee and Community session 2

This particular session of coffee and community took place at Butterfly Dreams Farm with Cat Thompson. The farm is the most visually stimulating, prettiest piece of land I have ever seen. The trail leading to the farm itself is decorated with beautiful painted butterflies with names of campers on it. Right away I was moved, I may be a complete sap, but I was very much moved.

Butterfly Dreams farm is a therapeutic ridding and Hippotherapy clinic for children and adolescents with severe physical, mental and emotional disabilities. Hippotherapy is a medical model that assists with teaching children 2 and older how to hold their head up, walking, and other basic life skills, while therapeutic ridding can provide more social skills and basic riding lessons.

I personally feel like this is such a fun agency because, as a volunteer, there are so many opportunities. You can do practically anything from working with kids to caring for the grounds. We did a family serve at Butterfly Dreams by clearing paths and removing branches. However, there is so much more to do than that. For every Hippotherapy session, the farm needs three volunteers to help the therapists: two to help support the child and one to lead the horse. In therapeutic riding, they need volunteers every time children go out in the ring to ride. It really is so varied what you can do as a volunteer. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer the next volunteer training session is September 10th.

The farm currently has seven horses in use for therapy and riding sessions with one more on the way. Butterfly dreams gets most of its horses on loan and a couple were donated. They get tons of offers for horses, which completely surprised me. However, these horses have to be completely gentle and not scared of anything so they only take 1 out of every 20 they get offered. Cat once had a tree fall right next to a riding ring with a child on a horse. The horse did not even blink -pretty amazing right? “It’s not because the farm is picky”, Cat said “It is because these horses have to deal with kids who will scream, stand behind the horse, and do everything a kid is not supposed to do around a horse.” The farm also tries all of these things when a horse is up for a job at Butterfly Dreams. They scream and have a therapist imitate a seizure to see if the horse can handle it around a child who might actually have a seizure. America’s Next Top Model has nothing on this job application!

So, what is new for Butterfly Dreams? A horse show! The Athens Area Hunters and Jumpers Association is another horse nonprofit and are hosting a horse show where all the proceeds provide scholarships for children who don’t have insurance or whose insurance will not cover the farm's treatments. The show will feature some of Butterfly Dreams own riders. Admission is free and there will be a raffle during the show. Some of the organization’s long term goals are to increase the amount of kids they can have at one time and to get a covered arena. “That is something that we would just love to have. So many of our kids are medically fragile and cannot ride in the extreme weather or rain. We lose so many sessions that way”, stated Cat.

The Horse show is July 10th at the Four Seasons Farm at 1350 Plantation Road in Madison, GA at 9 am. If you would like to inquire about receiving services at the farm please call 706-310-1600. Butterfly Dreams farm can also be found on the HandsOn Northeast Georgia website.





The coffee featured in this session was Jittery Joe's Honeysuckle Latte and any food feature on the blog can be found at my personal site: www.socialjusticeandfood.blogspot.com

Coffee and Community - Session 1

Last Friday, I sat down with Tracie Sanchez, Regina Graham, Courtney Aldrich and Dale Gauthreaux from the Institute of Leadership Advancement (ILA). Over Raisin Bran Muffins, we discussed what the ILA has been up to since last year. The Institute is based out of the Terry College of Business and develops students that have the potential to become future leaders in Athens and around the world. The Institute, and its students, participates in national days of service like Martin Luther King Jr Day, as well as many other forms of service through out the year. In one fall semester, the institute engages 90 to 100 students for service projects through out the area.

Where do Community Connections and HandsOn Northeast Georgia come into play with the institute? Through the use of our website, the ILA can send students to do service projects on those listed agencies. Not only do these students participate in much need service projects, but they come back in their senior year to help nonprofit organizations strengthen their infrastructure and business models. The ILA goals are to provide real world experience through this second, two semester project and have students gain skills in decision making, leadership and self awareness. Some of these projects include a Pen Pals program to help mentor students in local schools, the Cottage’s 5k, and building parameters for our own TeamServe. From the very start, the institute forms a cycle beginning with HandsOn Northeast Georgia posting opportunities to students from ILA fulfilling that need and expanding the agency who then posts new opportunities on the website, all with the objective to provide growth and development through students, programming and organization development.

So where does a program that has been so successful and has build such a name in the community go from here? According to Dale, stay the course of what has worked in the past and try to extend the experience to a wider student base. This year the ILA is expanding to MBA graduate students, which the organization seeks to produce the same driven, socially conscious business leaders that the undergraduate program has produced. The institute hopes to connect students to causes and projects that will keep them engaged as they become alumni. The ILA is also stepping up their media game to reach bigger audiences and raise awareness of their student programs and the Terry Leadership Speaker series. The main goal Dale says in a rough economy is to “do what we do better” without making the institute or its programming suffer due to budget constraints.

Indeed, Dale that seems a worth while goal for a program that provides much appreciated talent and volunteers for our nonprofit community. If you would like to become involved with the Institute of Leadership Advancement either as a mentor or as an agency, please contact Regina Graham, 706.542.8118, or Vikki Clawson, vclawson@uga.edu.

Exciting opportunities

Hello blogosphere,

There are some exciting things happening at HandsOn Northeast Georgia this week and the months to come. This Saturday, the 19th, is our last family service project for the year. HandsOn with Dad is scheduled at Sandy Creek Nature Center at 9 am. HandsOn with Dad is very similar to an alternative spring break idea, where you give back by spending time with your family and Dad through a service project. We will be gardening and beautifying the nature center. Lunch will be provided. Please go to our HandsOn website to learn more about this opportunity or to register:
https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/hng/volunteer/home/

Additionally, we are revamping our committee for FamilyServe this summer. We have three positions open. These positions focus on planning projects, coordinating resources for those projects and volunteer recruitment and PR. If you are interested in becoming involved or would like to submit suggestions for committee members, please email intern@communityconnection211.org.

Hope to see you all Saturday!

Hi, I will be your hostess for the summer.

Dawn mentioned her Masters of Social Work intern in her last entry. That would, in fact, be me. I will be your blog hostess. I have lots of adventures planned for us this summer, but more on that later.

My name is Anne Marie Catanzaro-King. I was born and raised by the mighty Mississippi river in Memphis, TN with strong family ties in Mississippi. I attended the University of Memphis and Auburn University, respectively, in my undergraduate career. Currently, I am a graduate student at the University of Georgia, a wife of a soldier, and the mother of a bouncing, red-headed three year-old boy named Conner.

This summer I am working extensively with HandsOn Northeast Georgia, the 211 call center, FamilyServe, and the Nonprofit Development Alliance. At this point, I hope you can tell that I enjoy having a lot on my plate :) . When I volunteered to manage the blog for the summer, I mentioned that I had a food blog of my very own (www.socialjusticeandfood.blogspot.com) and that I really enjoyed the blog experience. When it came time to actually follow through with the new responsibility of the HandsOn blog, I strived to achieve some harmony between the two blogs. I came up with the idea of "Coffee and Community", where over coffee and homemade treats I can sit down with the partner organizations from FamilyServe, SingleServe and TeamServe. These "coffee" sessions will be used to discuss what the organizations are up to now, what is going on in the community they serve and how those partnerships with HandsOn made a difference - with a side of Monkey bread! Sounds delectable, no?

I hope you join me and the HandsOn Northeast Georgia team for our "Coffee and Community" sessions.

See you soon!

There's a new gal in town

So after ten days on the job, I figured it was about time that I introduced myself. My name is Dawn Aiello and I am the new Program Director with Community Connection of Northeast Georgia, working with the 2-1-1 Helpline and HandsOn Northeast Georgia. More and more I'm realizing this job requires me to be a Jack-of-all-trades (or should I say Jill-of-all-trades) so whatever you need, I'm probably your gal!

I was born in New Jersey, moved to the Ft. Lauderdale area when I was in elementary school, and then worked on my undergraduate degree at the University of Central Florida. I decided to stay in Orlando for two years teaching high school math, before I realized that wasn't the right fit. So I headed to Athens for graduate school. I just graduated on May 8th (again! I think my parents are tired of sitting through graduation ceremonies ...) and happily started in this position on the 17th.

So why am I ecstatic to be in this position? Like many of you, I'm sure, I love helping people around me. In the past two years that I've lived in Athens, my volunteerism and involvement in the community has also helped me feel like Athens is my home. Transplanted from New Jersey and raised in Florida, I am not fully accustomed to southern living, but I'm learning. And loving every minute. I can't wait to facilitate bringing those same opportunities to all of you.

All this to say that I am looking forward to seeing your comments on our blog, chatting with you through Twitter or Facebook, or, dare I say it, even meeting you in person! If you're out and about in Athens, you can find me out dancing (swing, contra, ballroom), playing trivia, or eating at Yoguri (I've almost filled my punch card!).

As I take some time to adjust to the new position, one of our MSW interns will share with you some of her thoughts and wisdom. I hope you enjoy.

Happy summertime!

Art Appreciation

Today, we celebrate the extraordinary leadership that Art Ordoqui-Payton provided to Community Connection and HandsOn Northeast Georgia and bid him a fond farewell as he relocates with his family to San Antonio, TX. With more than 25,000 hours donated lin the last three years, it isn't hard to understand that Art has had an emormous impact on the community. His passion for volunteerism and service has inspired so many to give of their time and energy. And his selfless giving certainly set the example. HandsOn Northeast Georgia currently boasts a database of almost 8,000 volunteers - a veritable reservoir of potential community improvements.

Art joined the social media revolution and employed it as an outreach tool - to educate people about the programs offered; to recruit volunteers; to share ideas; to connect with the community. As a parting gift, please join Community Connection and HandsOn Northeast Georgia in making today, April 30, 2010, Art Appreciation Day. Post on our Facebook page what you appreciate about Art. Tweet your thanks using the hashtag #ArtAppreciation. Or blog what made Art special to you. Let's use the medium Art so loves to show him how much we love him.

Thank you, Art!

Got 5 minutes?

Every day we are asked for our most valuable commodity, time! Whether it's your boss, spouse/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend, friend, your body asking for a break, or HandsOn Northeast Georgia asking you to volunteer, we are all asking for some of your time.

As a volunteer center, the biggest challenge we have is overcoming the response, "well I just don't have time to volunteer or to make a regular commitment." While we are always working with our agency partners to develop one-time, beneficial projects to forward their mission, there are still those that feel they just don't have the time to give. Well thanks to the folks at The Extraordinaries, there are now more opportunities to change the world that just take a few minutes.

The Extraordinaries are helping to move forward the notion of micro-volunteering. By harnessing technology, they are providing opportunities for volunteers to help out in 5 minute- 30 minute increments, whatever time you've got whenever you've got it (they even an app for that).

Today I received a new weekly newsletter that contains current projects (join e-mail list here). The project involved Twitter and harnessing ideas regarding social media, two of my favorite things. So I thought I'd walk the walk and helped out. The following is what resulted.

The Project: Scan through over 1,300 tweets about crowdsourcing at SXSW panel and vote to see which ones had good information to help them rise above the general "wow the workshop is really filling up fast" and "@___________ that was a good point" tweets to find the tweets that had good points or good tips. The end result, hopefully when this project is completed then a Top 10 tips and resources for how nonprofits can use crowdsourcing.

What I accomplished: In 15 minutes of volunteering. I scanned through 15 pages of tweets and voted on 12 tweets as containing what I thought was helpful information.

So there you have it all it took was 15 minutes and I helped move the mark a little bit further. And this was just one of the 250+ projects available. A quick glance of their website shows that KaBoom needs help mapping playscapes in communities and the Smithonian needs photos tagged to help create a searchable photo archive.

So do you have 5,10, or 15 minutes that you can help out? Remember helping some is better than none!

What to help locally? BikeAthens has a way for cyclists to help through their "share your commute" efforts. (Btw, this is also a good example of crowdsourcing which I learned about through my extraordinaires project).

HandsOn NEGA partners- are there any projects that you could use a team of micro-volunteers to help tackle bit by bit? Let us know!

The Urgency of Now

I recently read a blog by Jessica Kirkwood at HandsOnBlog.org titled "Right Now Volunteerism." The blog posted detailed a situation when Jessica was approached to give a volunteer a ride to the local food bank because they had received a text message saying they were short on volunteers.

I responded to the blog with this:

"I think the challenge is getting the need out to the people. Just having an
open on-going call to volunteer at the food bank is great, but people get the
sense that someone else will do it.

As technology allows for more real-time needs/alerts to be sent out people
respond quicker. a few years ago the local homeless shelter was on the verge of
closing because funds weren't coming in. They put the word out on the paper and
within a few weeks collected enough donations to keep the doors open (and they
still are). Now why did those donors not come forward before and help prevent
the need in the first place- because there wasn't that sense of urgency or
feeling that a donation would really make a difference.

I'm glad this person responded to the call for the food bank, but the
bigger question might be- why wasn't he already planning on going to help or why
didn't he know about the need for volunteers in advance? "

What are your thoughts as to how nonprofits need to communicate their needs, whether for volunteers or donations? How in this day and age of constant communication can nonprofits better market their needs so that we're not having to send out "panic" calls for last minute volunteers.

reBlog from google.com: HandsOn Blog

I found this fascinating quote today:

“Volunteer,” “volunteerism,” and “volunteer service” are terms that are not easily understood by all groups of society.google.com, HandsOn Blog, Mar 2010

You should read the whole article.

Is volunteering on the rise?

Has there been a boom in volunteering over the past 18 months? According to USAToday and Parade magazine, there has and they have named it the "compassion boom."

USAToday reports that HandsOn's national project "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." has reached its goal of 1 million volunteers in three months. USAToday reported some of the other projects completed across America:

What types of projects have been completed so far? Here's a short list to give you an idea:

Boston: Volunteers served meals to people in need, knitted and crocheted scarves and mittens for children afflicted with life-threatening illnesses and helped as caregivers at an animal adoption center.
California: San Francisco Bay-area volunteers helped with basic English lessons, painted park benches and planted flowers.
Jacksonville, Fla.: Volunteers painted murals and spruced up rooms at a home for women and children, while in Pittsburgh they tookIn Athens, MLK Day and other projects were a part of the program. on construction tasks – tiling, sanding, staining and painting – to help create affordable housing.
Puerto Rico: 500 volunteers cleaned the beaches of Vaciatalega and La Perla located in the vicinity of Old San Juan.

Why are people volunteering more? Parade reported 60 percent of volunteers polled wanted to help other people, 57 percent wanted to make the world a better place, and 49 percent want to improve their local communities and neighborhoods. About 91 percent of poll participants have volunteered in the past 18 months and 87 percent have given financially. How have you given in the past 18 months? Are you still looking for the perfect volunteer opportunity? Check out our Web site to find the opportunity you are looking for. If you are a business owner, be sure to check out our Be the Change campaign to find out how you can give back to the community in a big way!

We are always looking for new projects. What has been your favorite project so far this year (or ever)? What projects would you like to see more of?

Be the Change

National Volunteer Week is Apr. 17-24, 2010, and HandsOn is launching the "Be the Change" campaign for that week.

What is "Be the Change?" To participate, your business would agree to ask your customers to add $1 or $5 to their purchase to be donated to HandsOn Northeast Georgia during National Volunteer Week, Apr. 17-24. Donor cards recognizing their donation would then be posted in your business, at no direct cost to you. In return, you will be given a poster recognizing your participation, and your name would be included in a minimum of 3 ads in the Athens Banner-Herald leading up to and during the week of the Be the Change campaign. If you agree to match donations made in your business (at least $100), your business name will be bolded in any listing and recognized as a matching participant. If you agree to match to a higher amount, then you will receive the benefits of the corresponding level of sponsorship (listed below):

$100– Name listed on “Be the Change” page of Hands On website
$250– Name listed on “Be the Change” page of Hands On website, poster, and any print advertisements
$500– Logo placed on “Be the Change” page of Hands On website and poster; small logo included in print advertisements
$1,000– Logo placed on Hands On homepage promoting the “Be the Change” campaign; logo on page of Hands On website and poster; logo placed on “Be the Change” donor cards; logo included in print advertisements

We need your help to "Be the Change!" Are you a local business or do you know a local business that would be interested in participating in this project? Let us know below!

New website

In case you missed it, we launched our new site a few weeks ago. What do you think?

http://volunteer.united-e-way.org/hng/volunteer/

Also, for those of you who attended the Social Media training program on March 1, how are your blogs, facebook pages and twitter pages doing?

Who volunteers?

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us how people from different age groups volunteered in 2009. In this cool infograph designed by GOOD Magazine, we can see what projects draw the most volunteers and which age group volunteers the most. The 45-54 age group seems to volunteer the most (overall), and religious and education projects seem to draw the most volunteers. Does this surprise anybody?

Let us know what you think!

Social MEdia Workshop a success

HandsOn Conducted a workshop today and it was a great success for teaching nonprofits about utilizing social media. :-)

Funbruary

Winter blues got you down? Don't worry; we have plenty of great February projects coming up! These still need volunteers:
-Groundhog Day at the Zoo!--Volunteers are needed to assist with live feedings, crafts and games. (Note: must have completed Natural Resources training) Sign up here.
-Bicycle Recycling Program--Volunteers are needed to help repair bicycles. Only one spot left! Sign up here.
-Habitat Weekday Builds--Habitat for Humanity is hosting weekday builds every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this month. Check them out.
-Brooklyn Cemetery Clean-up--Volunteers are needed for both clean-up and beautification of the cemetery. Sign up here.
-ESP Club--Volunteers are needed to help with the ESP Club. Check it out.
-Habitat Restoration and Invasive Species Control--Habitat needs volunteers to help remove invasive plants from Memorial Park or the Greenway every Saturday this month. Check them out.
-Clarke County Mentor Training--Want to work with children? Come to get trained as a mentor! Sign up here.
-Invasive Crafts!--Come use the weeds pulled from the Greenway to make beautiful crafts. Sign up here.
-Tikes, Trikes, and Strollers--Volunteers are needed to help preschoolers with crafts and navigating an obstacle course. (Note: must have completed Natural Resources training) Sign up here.
-Greenway Geocaching Adventure!--Volunteers are needed to help find cached minerals. Sign up here.
-Taste of Athens--Volunteers are needed for supportive roles at Community Connection's annual fundraiser. Sign up here.
-Extra Special People's Big Hearts Pageant--Volunteers are needed to help contestants get ready and sell items during the pageant. All volunteers must help with clean-up. Sign up here.


P.S. Be sure to check out the Taste of Athens blend from Jittery Joes.

MLK Day Wrap-up

First of all, we want to thank the over 1200 volunteers who participated at 30 different worksites for the MLK Day of Service 2010. Thank you to all those who came out to help!
Now, we want to hear from you. If you have a great story about this MLK Day or any MLK Day in the past, we want to hear it! Leave us a comment below, send us a message on Facebook, or drop us an email. Let us know about your experience volunteering. Check out these testimonials and pictures from two of our agency partners: BikeAthens and Habitat for Humanity. Also be sure to check our Picasa and our youtube pages for pictures and videos of the event. Again, thank you to all those who volunteered! Let us know about your MLK Day experience.

Upcoming events

First, MLK Day 2010 is next Monday, Jan. 18. This year, over 800 people are expected to volunteer! If you have not signed up for a project, follow this link to register. Volunteers will work at sites from 9-noon, then from noon-3 there will be food, live music and other activities to help celebrate the day of service.

MLK Day will also provide volunteers with the opportunity to participate in Disney's Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. program. Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. gives volunteers a FREE one-day pass to one of Disney's theme parks. Volunteers MUST register for their projects at DisneyParks.com in order to register for a ticket. For a list of approved projects, click here.

HandsOn is also encouraging everyone to pledge to volunteer in 2010. If you fill out the pledge form before Jan. 31, you will be entered to win two tickets to Taste of Athens and a free 12 oz. hand-made beverage from Jittery Joe's. Be sure to get your pledges in!

Remember: check out our calendar for ongoing projects and even more volunteer opportunities.