www.seattleworks.org

Election day is coming!!

Around this time I usually encourage you all to vote but not this year. This year I have spokespeople. Click on the link below and my authorized spokespeople will let you know how I feel about Tuesday's election.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/10/24/von.ga.kids.political.rap.cnn

~Ed

How do you make your voting decisions?

After six+ months of obsession with the Presidential Election, I was somewhat shocked when I opened by ballot and saw how many things were on there that I had NO CLUE were even up for election.

Hopefully you are a savvier citizen than I am, but my guess is my experience is pretty typical.

So I am wondering - how to you determine how to vote? What resources do you find helpful?

My formula is to take an evening and spend a few hours armed with the following tools:

- Voter's Guide (I use the paper version but you can use http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/)

- Newspaper endorsements (for me, that's Times, PI and The Stranger - big points for me when they all actually agree.)

- MuniLeague (http://munileague.org/)

- Voting for Judges (http://www.votingforjudges.org/)

- And of coure Seattle Works! (Candidate Guide -  http://www.seattleworks.org/AboutUs/index.php/candidateguide.html - and Comcast Conversations with Gregoire & Rossi - http://www.seattleworks.org/AboutUs/index.php/conversation.html

My friend Drew watched the videos on TVW's video Voter's Guide, which seems like a very good idea (http://tvw.org/Elections/VideoVotersGuide.cfm?CFID=165013&CFTOKEN=77999170&bhcp=1)

HOW ABOUT YOU?? Ideas? Suggestions?

- Tara

Feeling Anxious? Try Voting.

I will confess to being a bit of a stressed out nut the past week or so. (Perhaps this may be due to hosting our largest fundraising event of the year, taking one entire day off work, and then plunging into meeting the rest of our year-end budget goals in a semi-disaster of an economy? Good thing I'm going on a cruise come November and chill-out time is in sight.)

Despite all that, I'm feeling surprisingly good today. Projects feel manageable. I'm on top of things. Heck, I'm even taking time to BLOG.

Silly as it may sound, I think it's because I filled out my ballot last night and popped it in the mail today. In a swirl of uncertainties about the future of our region, state and nation, I had my say. This small act had a big effect on me.

So - are you filled with anxiety? Checking the polls like mad? Running numbers like the statistician you never were? Take a deep breath and (surprise!) - DO SOMETHING. You'll feel a whole lot better.

- Tara

Generation We!

As a Gen X-er, I've always hated the label. Still it's helpful to have a name to describe a shared generational experience. As I learn more from our younger volunteers and interns, I find myself calling them millenials. I like Generation We, much better. Check out this cool initiative.

http://gen-we.org/

-Alison

From our sister program in Central Texas

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Mando Rayo, Director of Hands On Central Texas, a program of United Way Capital Area, was one of over 12 thousand bloggers who recently participated in a global Blog Action Day. Instead of blogging for an hour or just one post, Mando ended up staying awake for 42 hours, blogging for 24 straight, writing 31 posts, posting 13 videos, and engaging hundreds of thousands of people in raising poverty awareness. Click here, to see all 31 posts! 

Wow!

-Alison

40 years ago, a few friends decided to change Seattle

And they did. The civic legacy of Forward Thrust has given us a city with parks, open space, money for neighborhood improvements, a Convention and Trade Center and Freeway Park.

Jim Ellis and friends believed they could make an impact on their community and set about to do just that. Tonight, Mayor Nickels and others will retire the bonds that helped fund these great Seattle initiatives.

For more information about Forward Thurst check out http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7833

-Alison

Photos from Speed Candidating-October 15th

Here are a couple pictures from last week's Speed Candidating and Debate Watching at the South Lake Union Discovery Center.
   

 

Testament from a Project Host!

Hi Kevin –

The Healing Center was able to raise more than $140,000 on Saturday night and we could not have done it without the help of you and your amazing group of volunteers!  Thanks so much for coming and being exactly where we needed you, exactly when we needed you there!  You all were great.  We hope you enjoyed yourselves – and learned a little bit about The Healing Center as well.  Seattle Works is such a great organization, truly empowering smaller organizations such as The Healing Center through their strong members.

Thank you for your commitment to your community.

All the best!

Wendy

Nice job Susanna. Q13 interview at Speed Candidating.

http://www.q13fox.com/pages/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3031617

Seattle Works Volunteer Extraordinaire, Susanna Williams was  "oh so quoteable" as she shared her impressions of the Presidential debate at last night's Speed Candidating and Presidential Debate Watching party. 

-Alison

Speed Candidating and Debate Watching: A Perfect Match

Yesterday I felt like a citizen of United States. Granted, I have been one my entire life (a whole 21 years). It started with a trip to the King County Voting Office in Renton, where if you haven’t registered to vote, a sweet lady will walk you through the process. I picked up a Voter’s Pamphlet and spent a good chunk of time reading through I-985, I-1000, Proposition 1 and all the profiles of the future leaders of our nation, state and city.

The day brought with it yet another opportunity to exert my citizenship with 120 other people for Speed Candidating and Debate Watching. Over a glass of wine and some delicious cheeses, I spoke casually with people about their stance, whether it was for or against I-1000, representatives for Dino Rossi, No on I-985, Proposition 1 and Randy Dorn, Superintendent on Public Instruction. We watched the presidential debate, which was sprinkled with claps and laughs from our audience and chatted about the issues our nation are facing. I left feeling a more informed, contributing member of this nation and ready to cast my vote this November!

-Rachel the SW Intern