Archive for November, 2010

50 Ideas for Family Volunteer Day

Friday, November 19th, 2010
  1. Organize a one-day adoption fair with your local animal shelter at a convenient in-town location.
  2. Collect pet food, rags, newspapers, pet toys, washable plastic pet carriers, paper towels, old towels and blankets for your local shelter.
  3. Collect money for the training of Seeing Eye dogs and shelter dogs.  Make an educational flyer to give to donors about these special animals.
  4. Make homemade dog biscuits and sell to earn money for an agency that rescues animals.
  5. Build a dog park on a vacant piece of town land (with permission).
  6. Perform a puppet show at a local library or senior citizen home.
  7. Organize a sing-along at the children’s hospital, hospice or nursing home.
  8. Organize a musical instrument drive and donate the instruments to a local school or community center.
  9. Collect art supplies for kids in shelters or hospitals.
  10. Make coloring books from downloadable web pages and spend a morning coloring or making a mural with homeless kids.
  11. Help newly arrived immigrant children and their families celebrate their “First Thanksgiving” by collecting food, kitchen supplies, toiletries, clothing, school supplies, and toys.
  12. Make backpacks of school supplies or toiletries for children and teens in foster care.
  13. Start a holiday collection of NEW toys for organizations that distribute gifts to children of incarcerated parents.
  14. Organize a collection of prom dresses and accessories for homecomings and proms.
  15. Spiff up children’s rooms at a group home with new pillows and comforters and a coat of paint.
  16. Clean up neighborhood streets, a playground, a beach, or a community garden.
  17. Clean and paint a family housing shelter or community center.
  18. Build barbecue pits, picnic tables or trails at local parks.
  19. Participate in a brush-clearing hiking trip to help keep park trails in good condition.
  20. Recycle!  Organize a drop off for clothes and coats, cans and bottles, bicycles, cell phones or computers.
  21. Organize a field day or health fair with traditional games about the importance of exercising.
  22. Buy or collect donated sports equipment for low-income schools, shelters, after school programs, park and recreation programs.
  23. Coordinate a healthy snack food drive for children in shelters or low-income after-school programs.
  24. Organize a dance or a sock hop.  Make the admission a pair of new socks or a healthy snack to give to a shelter.
  25. Organize a “beauty day” at a shelter with free haircuts and manicures.
  26. Collect food for your local soup kitchen or food pantry.
  27. Collect new sneakers, pajamas, underwear and socks, cleaning and paper items or whatever is needed most on your local shelter’s wish list.
  28. Decorate the dining hall or common area for the holidays; make centerpieces, bring fresh flowers and fresh fruit and vegetables.
  29. Collect books for low-income schools or after-school tutoring programs.
  30. Organize a used book, videos, DVD, cassette sale.
  31. Donate funds or purchase new books to an underserved school or library.
  32. Create a family story hour and read to children in your neighborhood or to residents of a senior home or group home.  If possible, leave the books with the residents.
  33. Volunteer with a local literacy council to help people learn to read.
  34. Organize a read-a-thon for an afternoon; involve kids from a community center.
  35. Donate funds to a library in need, an organization that promotes literacy, or Heifer International’s Read to Feed program.
  36. Visit the homebound.  Ask if you can garden, clean up the yard, make simple household repairs, or drive them to doctor appointments, to the grocery store or to visit friends.
  37. Partner with another family to repair or paint the home of an elderly couple or a needy family.
  38. Make cards or a simple crafts and bring to a local nursing home for them to put on their dinner trays.
  39. Play bingo, sing songs or host a birthday party for nursing home residents.
  40. Visit a veteran’s home or senior residence, offer to interview them about their lives, take pictures of them and post on a bulletin board in a common area.
  41. Make meals or buy groceries for a local Ronald McDonald House or Fisher House, homes that support families while their loved ones are being treated in hospitals.
  42. Collect phone cards, new stuffed animals, dolls and toys for chronically ill children in hospitals.
  43. Assemble activity kits for kids in hospitals.
  44. Collect new video games, computer games and DVD’s for hospital playrooms.
  45. Organize a “quilting bee” – make simple warm and cuddly quilts for sick babies or children.
  46. Buy tickets for a local sporting event (minor leagues) for children in-group homes or families in shelters.
  47. Organize a sports and sporting equipment tag sale.  Use the funds to install basketball hoops or playground equipment for shelters or group homes or neighborhood parks.
  48. Turn a vacant piece of land into a baseball or soccer field.
  49. Volunteer with your local Special Olympics committee or at a Special Olympics event.
  50. Organize a “celebrity game” in your town – i.e. a local radio station squares off with teachers to raise funds for a local need or to improve sporting facilities in your town.

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Get HandsOn Tag Challenge Update!

Yesterday’s Get HandsOn Tag Master was David Resnick!  David has won a pair of round trip tickets on JetBlue, $25 for himself, and $100 for his favorite charity!

Today’s Celebrity Tag is !  Tag Alicia for swag!

Are YOU up to the challenge?

Family Volunteering and Your Employee Volunteer Program

Friday, November 19th, 2010

National Family Volunteer Day is tomorrow, a day for families to go into the community to work together and make their communities better.  It’s also an opportunity for corporate volunteer programs to bring their employees and their families together to improve the community.  If you work for a company that doesn’t have a employee volunteer program, you can find out how to start program and learn some of the best practices here.

There is a lot to consider when planning a large volunteer event with your company’s families.  Be sure to plan the event carefully, make sure the project design contains tasks for all of the members of the families, and be sure to manage the project attentively.  Don’t forget about risk management when the project is being planned.

Here are some more tips for planning your employee and family volunteer project:

Planning

  • Verify all of the logistical information before sharing the information
  • Be sure to choose a task that doesn’t require any special skills, or plan time to train the employees before the event
  • Communicating with the partner agency is essential to a successful and enjoyable event

Project Design

  • Work with organizations that have projects where employees and their families can see and experience the impact of their work
  • Make sure the project meets a real community need and is seen as a benefit to the community
  • Don’t simply have the employees and their families do a task, turn the project into a learning experience

Management

  • Provide an orientation to the families prior to the project
  • Provide opportunities for the families to interact with one another
  • Explain to your volunteers the mission and goals for the organization and what is hoped to be accomplished as a result of the project

Risk Management

  • Assess the project site before the event for safety
  • Identify any equipment or areas of the project site that may be unsafe or a liability concern
  • Inform family members that they must report any accident or injury and to whom they should report

Most importantly, don’t forget to have fun!

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Get HandsOn Tag Challenge Update!

Yesterday’s Get HandsOn Tag Master was David Resnick!  David has won a pair of round trip tickets on JetBlue, $25 for himself, and $100 for his favorite charity!

Today’s Celebrity Tag is !  Tag Alicia for swag!

Are YOU up to the challenge?

10 Kid-Friendly Service Projects

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

Today’s post comes from Karen Bantuveris, founder and CEO of Volunteer Spot.  It originally appeared November 15, 2010 on the Volunteer Spot blog.

As the frenzy of the holiday getting season is ramping up and nonprofits and volunteer leaders are deep into the service season, National Family Volunteer Day presents the perfect opportunity to carve out quality family time and focus on Giving Back together in a very personal way.  This Saturday, November 20th, families across the country are encouraged to engage their children in service activities and support causes they care about in any way they choose.

Why involve the whole family?
Volunteering together as a family helps kids learn that they can make a positive difference in the lives of others – and that feels downright inspiring and good.  Family service also cultivates empathy and helps children learn to recognize their personal good fortune and blessings.  Volunteering together fosters positive communication and strengthens bonds in ways no other activity can.  As an added holiday bonus, family memories and traditions made while volunteering together will last long after their shiny new toys have passed into recycle bins.

Ready to get started?  Check in with your local HandsOnNetwork Volunteer Center to see volunteering activities planned for Saturday, November 20th.  Or start your own family service project and include friends and neighbors, too!

10 Simple service activities for kids of all ages:

Younger Kids

  • Decorate reusable grocery bags and fill them with their favorite non-perishable food items.  Feeding America offers a  , searchable by zip code.
  • Stuff new, warm socks with water bottles and granola bars to give to homeless men and women you pass on street corners.
  • Decorate holiday cards for soldiers overseas. Red Cross-sponsored Holiday Mail for Heroes will deliver letters postmarked before Dec. 10, 2010.
  • Box up their gently used clothing to donate to your local family shelter, refugee center or charity thrift store.

Older Kids

  • Donate their gently used books and DVDs to a local children’s hospital.
  • Make holiday decorations and cards and then sing carols for nursing home residents.  Call ahead to schedule a visit.
  • Engage a team of secret friends to clandestinely rake leaves or shovel snow for an elderly neighbor for a whole month.
  • Collect used towels and pet toys for the local animal shelter.
  • Host a hot chocolate or cider stand and donate the proceeds to a charity of their choosing.
  • Adopt a family for the Holidays through a local business or faith group, and have your kids help shop for that family.

Making it a Habit

Volunteering as a family while kids are young develops a positive service habit that sticks long into adulthood.  Use the following four tips to help ensure your kids understand the impact of their good deeds.

  • Celebrate your service!
  • If donating goods or money to a local charity, deliver the items with your kids in person so they can better internalize how they helped make a difference.
  • Be sure to talk about your family’s service experience.  Discuss what you did, why you did it, how it felt, and what you learned.
  • Build on your kids’ enthusiasm and right then choose your next service project together.

More Ways to Give Back

Family Friendly Volunteering: Ideas from A-Z — a free eBook by VolunteerSpot

GenerationOn — resources for kids, teens, parents and teachers.

Doing Good Together — project ideas for home and in the community.

Karen Bantuveris - VolunteerSpot CEOKaren Bantuveris is the founder & CEO of VolunteerSpot, a time and sanity-saving online coordination tool that empowers busy parents, teachers and grassroots community leaders by making it easier get involved.  VolunteerSpot’s free sign up sheets can be used for organizing anything – classroom volunteers, snack schedules, charity fun-runs, tournaments, community potlucks, holiday parties, Giving Trees and more.  Karen is passionate about increasing parent participation in schools, engaging parents to fund education technology, and using new media tools to inspire social action in the ‘real’ world.  Karen lives in Austin, TX with her husband and daughter.

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Get HandsOn Tag Challenge Update!

Yesterday’s Get HandsOn Tag Master was the Chicago Chapter of AmeriCorps Alums!  They’ve won a pair of round trip tickets on JetBlue, $25 for themselves, and $100 for their favorite charity!

Today’s Celebrity Tag is !  Tag Demi for swag!

Are YOU up to the challenge?

Family Volunteer Ideas

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

National Family Volunteer Day happens every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This year, it will take place on November 20, 2010. Now would be a good time to get ready for it by planning a project for your family. The following ideas for volunteering as a family come from our Tampa Bay affiliate, HandsOn Tampa Bay.

National Family Volunteer Day was created to inspire families with children young and old to give back, in any way they choose; volunteering with a local nonprofit, helping neighbors in need, or picking up litter at the local playground.

The growing movement makes it easy to nurture a tradition of family service and shows children that they can make a difference!

Think about organizing your own family volunteer project.

HandsOn Tampa Bay offers a few easy project ideas that can be done your own home or neighborhood since visiting an agency with small children can sometimes be overwhelming (for you and for them!)

  • Donate Clothes for School Age Children Contact friends and family about your project and set a date and time to collect clean, wearable clothing for children and teenagers of all sizes. Supplies needed: boxes to hold the clothes. Time needed: 10 hours to plan, promote, accept and deliver donations.
  • Knit Hats for the Homeless For ages 8-99. Supplies needed are: yarn. Time needed is up to you. Knit hats for people living in shelters or on the street.
  • Create Snack Packs for Ronald McDonald House Residents For ages 6-99. Supplies needed are 1-gallon food storage bags, snack items like fruit cups, granola bars, trail mix, chewing gum. Maybe add a puzzle book and a pen. Time needed is shopping time and 2 hours to assemble and deliver. Parents of children in the hospital spend their days at the hospital. Having a snack pack with them saves them a trip to the vending machine or cafeteria.
  • Toiletries for the Homeless For ages 6-99. Supplies needed are 1or 2-gallon size food storage bags, soap, washcloth, toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, emery board, safety pins, shampoo, lotion, sewing kit, razor, etc. Set up an assembly line to fill the bags and have each child place each item in the bags. Time needed is shopping time and 2 hours to assemble and deliver.
  • Conduct a School Supply Drive For ages 5-99. Supplies needed are backpacks, notebooks, pencils, folders, crayons, etc. Time needed is shopping, collecting, delivery time, (approximately 10 hours). Contact friends and family about your project and set a date and time to collect supplies.
  • Host a Pet Food/Pet Toy Drive For ages 5-99. Set up a collection point, promote with family and friends.
  • Create Greeting Cards For ages 5-99. Supplies needed are paper, markers, stickers, envelopes. Time needed is 2-3 hours to make cards and deliver to nursing homes, VA hospitals, Shriners.
  • Pick Up Litter at Your Neighborhood Park For ages 8-99 Supplies needed are trash bags, gloves, rakes. Time needed is 2 hours. Leave your tied, filled bags near trash receptacle at park.
  • “Adopt” a Neighborhood Senior or Disabled Person Help them with yard work, errands and meals.  For ages 10-99 Supplies needed are yard tools. Time needed is 1-3 hours.
  • Book Drive Gather new or gently used books for children staying in shelters For ages 5-99. Time needed is 10 hours.
  • Welcome to the Neighborhood When a new family moves into the neighborhood make a welcome card, list of fun places locally, school calendar, and library information. For ages 5-99. Supplies needed are construction paper, markers. Time needed is 3 hours. Deliver to your new neighbor.

Volunteering as a Family

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

Today’s post comes from Kate Hannigan Issa, co-author of The Good Fun! Book: 12 Months of Parties That Celebrate Service.

“What’s this stuff called again?”

“Mulch.”

“Mulsh? Well, I love it.”

That was an exchange I had a few times with my kindergartner last month as we worked together on a playground build with KaBoom, a nonprofit that provides play spaces in underserved communities around the country.

My kindergartner was beside himself with joy that he got to use a shovel and tackle an enormous pile of woodchips.  To him, the hard work of moving a 6-foot pile of mulch and spreading it under the bright red play equipment was all fun.  And he happily worked on that mulch pile for 90 minutes without a single complaint.

For his dad and me, we took joy in his excitement in wanting to help out.  His big brother and sister, a third-grader and fifth-grader, were delighted to grab some equipment and get to work too – showing enthusiasm unlike anything we see at home when it’s time to make the beds or pick up the abandoned Legos.

What made the Kaboom service day special was that our kids immediately recognized they were part of something bigger than themselves.  More than 400 volunteers had turned out – the build took place on Make a Difference Day – and there was a spirit in the air that was palpable, even for the youngest volunteers.

“This is so fun,” my daughter said as she tossed scoop after scoop of woodchips onto bright blue tarps. “I wish we could do this again next weekend.”

That sentiment rang true with me too, and I wondered about our typical Saturday schedule of soccer games and ballet lessons and puppy training classes. Sometimes life feels too busy for activities like this.

But once per month?  Or once each season?  That feels more realistic.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his daughter, Claire, work together at a KaBoom playground build on Oct. 23 in Washington, D.C.By volunteering as a family to work together on the Kaboom build, we offered our kids a break from the routine, showing them that a service activity was important enough that all five of us should be involved.  And we shared a day together as a family.  With our hectic schedules, that felt priceless.

As parents, working side by side with our kids on a volunteer project provided a rare opportunity to cultivate the intangibles in life: empathy, compassion, social justice, the power of the group, pride in a job well-done.

And for the kids, they took obvious pride in what they’d helped accomplish. In one afternoon, they saw an empty field transform into an enormous playground with tempting equipment.  It was clear in their comments and in their faces that they were genuinely happy for the kids who were going to get to enjoy this incredible new space. They were connecting the dots.

“These kids are so lucky,” my third-grade son said as he surveyed the shiny new slides and monkey bars.

And as I stood there beside my three kids, I thought, Yes, but they’re not the only lucky ones. With volunteering, the good goes both ways.

We headed for the parking lot after a long day of physical work, and the aches in our shoulders were satisfying in a way. All of us were still marveling at the playground we were leaving behind.

“What’s this stuff called?” my often forgetful kindergartner asked me again as we turned in our equipment.

“Mulch.”

“Right, mulsh. Can I keep the shovel?”

Kate Hannigan Issa is the co-author of “The Good Fun! Book: 12 Months of Parties That Celebrate Service” (Blue Marlin, 2010) along with Karen Duncan.  Learn more about the book at www.thegoodfunbook.com.

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Get HandsOn Tag Challenge Update!

Yesterday’s Get HandsOn Tag Master was Mei Zheng!  Mei has won a pair of round trip tickets on JetBlue, $25 for themself, and $100 for their favorite charity!

Today’s Celebrity Tag is !  Tag will.i.am for swag!

Are YOU up to the challenge?

Book of Revalation

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

by , HandsOn Network

Today is the one year anniversary of one of our colleague’s death.  I wrote this last year after her funeral, but wanted to share it here today so that her spirit might know that we are still thinking of her.

She didn’t show up for work, but I didn’t think anything of it.

I was surprised that she wasn’t there when I arrived because she usually beat me to the office, but I assumed she was traveling or working from home.

She was new, hired only a few weeks before.  Though our desks were right next to eachothers, I didn’t know her very well yet.

When I learned she had been killed, one of our few conversations stood out.

She and I were talking about cooking and she said,

“My husband was raised to be a strong, black, southern woman, so you KNOW I eat well.”

I remember wondering what she meant.

In my memory of the conversation, I imagine myself tilting my head to the side like a confused cocker spaniel.

That is when she told me that her husband was transgendered.

I remember taking the information in, processing it, understanding.

I remember feeling pleased that she told me this so casually, like she trusted me.

I also remember worrying about her too.  I hoped she would find acceptance in our workplace.

In the early afternoon of the day she didn’t come in, I learned that she died in a car accident on her way to work.

A beige sedan crossed oncoming, two-way traffic and caused an SUV to hit my colleague’s car head on.

The beige sedan sped away from the scene unharmed, but my colleague Errin died at the scene.

A group of us went to her funeral service where many of her friends and former colleagues shared stories and memories.

Almost everyone talked about the way Errin loved.

Her love, they said, was wide open, enormous and plentiful.

They said that she defended the weak and fought for social justice and equality, not with violence and anger, but with the mighty power of her humor, compassion and heart.

One storyteller recalled a time when Errin substituted for her as a childcare worker.

When the storyteller returned to the daycare center late in the day, she found Errin talking with the other teachers about her husband and the fact that he was transgendered.

“Aren’t you worried about what they might think?” the storyteller later asked Errin.

“Why would I be?” Errin replied with her signature laugh and gigantic smile. “I don’t want to be in a relationship with anyone who doesn’t accept the people I love.”

I left Errin’s service with a deep sense of loss.

I mourned not only her untimely death, but also my lost opportunity to know her well.

I also left understanding that when she told me about her husband, she wasn’t taking me into her confidence.

I admired her all the more for that.


8 Tips for a Successful Family Volunteering Day

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Family Volunteer Day 2010 will be celebrated November 20th.  Commemorated annually on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Family Volunteer Day kicks off the holiday season with the spirit of giving and service.

Volunteering as a family provides a fun way for families to make memories together while making significant contributions to their communities.

It also teaches children the values of kindness and giving back, ideas which complement the gift giving season.

Family members use their talents to work on an issue they feel passionate about.

Serving together builds problem solving skills and strengthens communication within the whole family.

Make your volunteering experience a success!

Check out these tips:

  1. Find a volunteer activity that fits your family’s interests, schedules and that the kids can help plan.
  2. Start small.  Consider a one-time event such as or a short-term activity, such as Family Volunteer Day, before making a long-term commitment.
  3. Find out what’s expected.   Ask about age requirements, safety considerations, and appropriate dress.  Attend orientation or training sessions if offered.
  4. Show up on time.  Be ready to do what is needed.
  5. Be patient with small children and keep them involved by praising their efforts.
  6. Talk about the experience on your drive home or during a family meal. Discuss what you did, why you did it, how it felt, and what you learned.  Celebrate your efforts.
  7. Get input from all family members in planning future activities.
  8. Encourage other families to participate with you.

Looking for an opportunity or project ideas?

Visit these websites:

  • generationOn can help you find project ideas for kids and families.
  • Kids Care Clubs show you how you can start a service club with your children and their peers.
  • Doing Good Together inspires, encourages and equips families to volunteer together.
  • Find a HandsOn Action Center for volunteer activities and other resources for family volunteering.

Check out Volunteer Spot‘s list of family-friendly volunteering ideas!

Related Posts

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Get HandsOn Tag Challenge Update!

Today’s Celebrity Tag is Matt Damon!  Tag Matt for swag!

Matt Damon

Are YOU up to the challenge?

Are you a Woman of Worth?

Monday, November 15th, 2010

Today’s post comes from Victoria James, Senior Marketing Manager for Points of Light Institute.

It is truly inspiring to work on a program where I get to engage with so many amazing, impactful women.  They are Resourceful!  They are Strong! They are making a Difference! And they truly make the world a better place.

They are Women of Worth. For over 5 year’s L’Oréal Paris and Points of Light Institute have recognized 50 Women who are catalyzing change and making a difference in their local communities.  This year’s 2010 Women of Worth bubbled to the top of over 2,100 nominations. They each saw a need and came up with a way to help.

So why do they do it?

Berni BartaBerni Barta was just ten years old when she realized the movies she no longer watched could bring happiness into sick children. Once she decided to donate her old DVDs to a pediatric oncology unit at a nearby hospital, she knew she had begun something powerful.  She founded Kid Flicks in 2002, and now oversees and the organization that receives donated DVDs from across the country.  Since its inception, Kid Flicks has donated 55,300 movies to 553 hospitals in all 50 United States and 5 hospitals in South Africa.

Sue Kutz Sue Kutz believes no child should have to leave school on Friday with the knowledge that they won’t be having another meal until they return to school on Monday. She created Back The Pack to make certain students in her region did not have to face poverty every weekend. What began as a personal mission has evolved into a program that serves more than 600 elementary and middle school students.

Ethel PaleyEthel Paley may be 90 years old, but in talking with her you might easily mistake her for a middle aged dynamo. Ethel uses her boundless energy volunteering for FRIA, a group dedicated to making certain seniors get proper care, services, and treatment from nursing homes in New York. Ethel founded the organization over thirty years ago, and still answers hotline calls received by FRIA. Her devotion has changed nursing home policy in New York and has touched the lives of thousands of seniors.

Click here to find out more about all of the 2010 Women of Worth:

Simone Bernstein – Seeing a gaping need in her community, Simone created stlouisvolunteen.com, a comprehensive website that connects teens with organization looking for volunteers.

Taryn Davis – As a young widow herself, Taryn began The American Widow Project (AWP) to reach out and provide much need support for other young women who have lost a husband in service.

Lynn Gaubatz started AdoptALibrary.org, an internet clearinghouse that facilitates and encourages the donations of books to libraries, prisons, Native American reservations and schools around the world, to promote world literacy and to keep books out of landfills.

Pauline Olsen – helped create the Malta House of Care (MHC) Mobile Free Medical Clinic which delivers totally free, primary health care to a diverse, multi-lingual, marginalized population with no other means of accessing the health care system.

Robin Steele – created Cheerful Givers to provide disadvantaged parents with birthday gifts for their children. Because of Robin’s work more than 340,000 children have received presents on their special day.

Jill Tappert – Jill’s formal actions to change policy in Colorado have allowed approximately 9,000 Coloradans affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder to access medical treatment through their private health insurance.

Lisa Williams opened Living Water for Girls to provide individual, group and family therapy, as well as educational and vocational services to sexually exploited American girls for up to two years.

Each of these women truly illustrates what ordinary people can do to create change in the lives of others and, in the process, create a community that unites us all.

You can play a part by voting for this year’s National Women of Worth! The National Honoree will receive an additional $25,000 donation to the non- profit of her choice.  Vote from November 8 – 24th to support the cause that means the most to you.

Help make a difference and support your Woman of Worth!

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Get HandsOn Tag Challenge Update!

Yesterday’s Get HandsOn Tag Master was Mei Zheng !   Mei has won a pair of round trip tickets on JetBlue, $25 for themself, and $100 for their favorite charity!

Today’s Celebrity Tag is the !  Tag them for swag!

Are YOU up to the challenge?

Cell Phones For Soldiers

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Robbie and Brittany get letters every day from the service members whose lives they’ve been able to touch.

Soldiers like Captain Steve Baunach, serving in Afghanistan.

I miss my family very very much but my children are grown, my son is entering the Marine Corp, my daughter a Purdue University Nursing student, and my wife a strong and independent Police Officer.

For those reasons I suspect it is easier for me than the younger soldiers but I can tell you it is still very difficult.

My guys here are my family and we’re very close because we protect each other but that’s a different kind of love and a different kind of family … I can go days without talking to my family and it doesn’t take long to feel depressed, disconnected, and alone.

On average your cards help families, marriages, and loved ones pull through these difficult times together. But you should also know that what you provide may also be the last phone call home a military person gets before he/she dies on the field of battle, a conversation those families with cherish forever.

Or like Private First Class George Morales, also serving in Afghanistan.

We all need to call home when we have down time to let our loved ones know that we are alive and well.

Our family and friends worry about our safety and it makes us all feel better to hear each others voices as much as possible during our deployment.

It is crucial to us soldiers and our families because it keeps our spirits high and it makes the time go so much better.

Brittany Bergquist and her brother Robbie, the founders of Cell Phones for Soldiers, are working to raise additional funds to continue providing soldiers a way to call their families and to provide prepaid video phones so soldiers can see their families on a regular basis.  Their work is a great example of an organization that is working to support soldiers and veterans.

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by Robbie and Brittany Bergquist with $21 of their own money. Since then, they have raised more than $7 million  in donations and distributed more than 90 million minutes of prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.  In honor of Veterans Day, we hope you’ll get involved.

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Get HandsOn Tag Challenge Update!

Yesterday’s Get HandsOn Tag Master was Lindsey Weissman!  Lindsey has won a pair of round trip tickets on JetBlue, $25 for themself, and $100 for their favorite charity!

Today’s Celebrity Tag is Miley Cyrus!  Tag Miley  for swag!


Are YOU up to the challenge?

A Soldier’s Service to His Community

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Today’s story of service is brought to you by Capt. Michael Greenberger, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

I have been in the military since I was 18 and life has not always been good.  I started my military career as a private and at one point had to work two extra jobs just to pay the bills.  I’ve watched my children grow and have spoiled them rotten, because I never really had much when I was growing up.  I thought I knew exactly what I wanted my life to be like – until I went to Afghanistan.

My job over there was a media relations specialist.  I found myself outside the base on numerous occasions meeting and greeting both Afghan and international media in order to escort them onto the base.  The gate we used was also the main truck route, where lines of trucks waited to enter the base carrying anything from gravel to mattresses.  A group of industrious children were always around, pushing wheel barrows full of drinks and snacks to sell to the truckers.

The first time I went out the gate a mob of these children ran to my transport van.  I was shocked to see them – they were ragged.  Most wore broken sandals and a few wore nothing at all – shoes were rare.  Their skin was bitten and tanned by the sun and their lips cracked and chapped.  Their faces were dirty and hard.  Their eyes though, were bright and inquisitive.  The always had a hand out for a “baksheesh” or gift.

On another occasion, we walked to a nearby village on a media escort.  I saw many children that day and nearly all of them resembled the kids at the gate.  One extremely joyous child was running around pushing the steel rim of a bicycle tire with a coat hanger.  As he ran, he pushed the wheel and the faster it rolled – the faster he ran and laughed.  I was simply amazed and thought of my son’s toy closet and the hundreds of dollars of toys he barely plays with.  I felt dirty and ashamed and wanted to do something for these kids.

I mobilized the family back home.  My grandmother talked with people in her church and soon I had boxes of clothes, shoes and toys arriving for me to dispense.  Also, there was a great pantry in my office that contained food items donated by various places – organizations and people back home.  It was all too much in my opinion.  People talk about the troops and supporting them.  Well that gets done and then some.  For some troops out in small bases, it’s a luxury.  For us, on the 2nd largest base in Afghanistan, it was gluttony.  Large containers of candies would sit uneaten.  I would bag them up and keep them in the van with me when I went out to the gate.  I would also bring cases of water, which were plentiful on the base.

I wasn’t the only one trying to do some good over there though.  One organization, Operation Care, is a non-profit, non-religious group made up of service members and civilians who try to provide basic necessities like shoes, clothing, and school supplies to local Afghan communities.  Every few weeks, the Egyptian hospital on the base would hold an open clinic for local Afghans.  After receiving care volunteers would hand out clothes, toys and many other items.  Operation Care also organizes donations and has done village visits to perform “humanitarian aid drops”.  To me, their actions epitomize community service – do what you can, when you can.  It doesn’t matter that there is a war going on.  People are in need and many of the providers recognize they are doing very well and can contribute to help someone in need.  I’ve never felt better than I did the day I put brand new sneakers and socks on the swollen, scarred feet of a 10-year-old Afghan boy and saw him smiling from ear to ear.

So when you’re putting that goody box together this Christmas you may ask yourself if the kid’s outgrown clothes could be better used elsewhere.  If so, see the folks at Operation Care at http://www.operation-care.net/, and see what can be done to help our neighbors in Afghanistan.

Michael Greenberger is a Captain in the U.S. Army.  He currently serves with the 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.  He has served in the military for 18 years, as a scout, signal, and public affairs officer and has been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

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An open letter to our military

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