www.seattleworks.org

Go Cougs--our very own WSU selected to research volunteering!

The Corporation for National and Community Service today announced it will engage five leading universities to expand scholarly and policy research and deepen understanding about volunteering, national and community service, and civic engagement in America.

 

The federal agency will award nearly $1 million to five institutions of higher education to conduct research on volunteering and civic engagement; the impact of national service on service participants, and trends in the nonprofit sector that either impact or are created by national service.

 

The recipients of the first-ever Expanding Research on Volunteerism and National Service grants are Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government; the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies; Washington State University in conjunction with Duke University; Pennsylvania State University; and Tufts University/CIRCLE/ Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service.

 

Washington State University, Pullman, WA; $190,560:

Washington State, working with Duke University, will examine how social contexts influence individual decisions to volunteer.  Researchers will build on existing work by using the findings of Volunteering in America to explain the reasons for geographical difference in volunteering rates and intensity.

 

Good job Cougs!

-Alison

I just want to share the pictures.

After a week of facilitating orientations and trainings I almost forgot about my own orientation and training – Seattle Works first international trip to Peru! We started in July with a Peruvian potluck at my place. Laura, Thomas, Megan and Chris cooked excellent Lomo Saltado, Gretchen made a mean Leche Asada and I attempted to make authentic Cebiche de Pescado but opted for using cooked shrimp instead. Everyone brought lots of good stuff and 11 members of our 14 person team (plus Frederick’s dad) ate, talked about learning Spanish and whether or not we should worry about Malaria. We entertained the idea of trying to acclimate to higher altitudes before the trip and settled for a moderate, but beautiful hike to Mt. Rainier last weekend. We oohed and ahhed, I got bit by a chipmunk (I’m not kidding, they are aggressive little buggers) and stopped for coffee in Bonney Lake on the way home only to discover that we were in THE Bonney Lake drive-through. You know, the one we’ve all seen on the news where women of questionable ages wear questionable outfits? Yeah, moving right along . . . I’m excited about Peru, excited about the team and excited about the lessons, stories and pictures we’ll all have to share!

- Jan

(Sharla Halvorson, Jan Burrell, Kevin Burrell, Patrick Stewart, Amy Lange, Jessica McDougal, Gretchen DeDecker)

(View of Mt. Rainier from Tolmie Peak)

My whirlwind trip to NYC-The Presidential Forum

Last week I had a great opportunity to join with community and elected leaders from around the country to discuss  strategies for increasing volunteerism. This 2 day Service Nation Summit started with a Presidential Forum (yes, the one on Fox, CNN and MSNBC) at Columbia University.

As you may have gathered from previous posts-- I love politics--so I was beside myself seeing a presidential event in person. I especially love politics, when candidates call on us to be our best selves.  In this case volunteering, the candidates were asking the 60 million Americans to keep up the good work and for the rest of the nation, let's get going.

Overall, I believe that both McCain and Obama's plans to increase volunteer service will inspire more people to do more things. Service has been critical to each of their journeys and I think they will call on each of us to serve our country.

Each candidate said that it is the ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things that is the spirit of America. We need to harness this spirit to do more.

Here are a few more highlights:

• The warm up act for the Forum included NY Governor David Patterson. He announced that he's recently promoted (is that what happens in govt?) his Czar of Volunteering to be a cabinet level position. He was very charming and super funny for a Governor. I could've listened to him all day--it was clear he didn't take himself too seriously.

• Also getting the crowd warmed up was Spider Man-Tobey Maguire. I thought he was an odd choice, but apparently he's quite a fan of volunteering. I am always surprised how physically small actors are-- I think I could take Spider Man in hand to hand combat.  He was less inspiring, but very cute.

• Then the main attraction was the hour long discussion moderated by Judy Woodruff(PBS) and Richard Stengel (Time)  with Obama and McCain. Each candidate focused on the need for ordinary citizens to reclaim their country--I guess this is the "change" mantra--and noted that it's the average people who do the most work in our communities. 

• McCain repeated several themes. He's pleased with the efforts of volunteers, he admires the people who volunteer and he doesn't think the answer to solving our community problems is more government.  He cited the likes of City Year and Habitat as good models for public:private partnerships. I would agree. The government shouldn't be running our volunteer efforts, but rather strategically investing in this work and allowing those of us on the ground to direct resources in the most impactful way. I found McCain to be very charming--funny at times (at one point, he pretended to fall asleep) and extremely knowledgeable about the issues.  I also like that he raised concern about Columbia University not allowing ROTC on campus. Admittedly, it's been awhile since I've been on a college campus and not tracking ROTC issues very closely, but I think service is service, everyone should find their own way to engage.

• Then it was Obama's turn. You could tell that we were at Obama's alma mater and many of the people in the room were inclined to think community organizing is important.  The energy in the room was noticeably higher when he walked in. Obama spoke in broad terms about how to increase volunteer service and the importance of more people being engaged. He noted that he has a detailed plan for increasing national service on his website and confirmed that the price tag for his program is about 3.5 Billion over 10 years. This is a lot of money, however, I believe his premise is also to push this investment out into the community. He too made the point that the country thinks government is broken and needs to be reformed.(This got a big applause).

If you missed the forum, I hope you'll get a chance to watch it on :

http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation

Or read this week's Time magazine dedicated to National Service.

I'll write more tomorrow about the Summit, that included highlights with Jon Bon Jovi, Usher, Alicia Keys, Sen. Orin Hatch and Sen. Hillary Clinton.

-Alison 

Seattle #4 in the Country for Volunteerism--good job Seattle Works peeps!

On Monday,  the Corporation for National and Community Service released their annual Trends and Highlights in volunteering.

Seattle ranked 4th in the 50 largest cities in the countries. We rocked! Watch out Minneapolis, we're coming after you.

By the numbers:

• Seattle has an average annual volunteer rate of 35.5%
• 932,000 volunteers served 123.2 million hours per year.
• Seattle's volunteers make an estimated annual economic contribution of $2.4 billion.
• Average Volunteer Hours per Resident: 46.9 hours

Factors that influence Volunteer Rates The Corporation for National and Community Service has found that areas with higher homeownership rates and education levels tend to have higher volunteering rates. However, long average commuting times and high poverty rates can adversely affect volunteering rates. See how it breaks down. http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/state.cfm?state=WA

Good job Seattle!

-Alison

First Words from a Hot Project!

Goodwill Hot Project – July 16

Last Saturday, I was fortunate to coordinate a group of twelve volunteers at Goodwill in Seattle. From the beginning of the project, the diverse group merged together as if they were all long time friends and diligently worked side by side to sort, label, and package over $10,000 worth of donations, including clothing, housewares, and other various items. At the end of the day, we took some time to reflect on the project and each volunteer wrote a brief note about their experience. Below are some of the notes that I thought were special and wanted to share with Seattle Works.

“What's better than being outside on a very hot summer day?  Well, volunteering at the Seattle Goodwill of course.  Not only were we able to help the community, meet new volunteers and network amongst each other but it also gave us the opportunity to meet the people who work at Seattle Goodwill. The knowledge we gained about Goodwill's production process and how it transforms into funds to help with job training and education programs was very valuable.  At the end of the day, the coordinators were able to tally up the amount of work we did.  Our efforts increased the facilities daily output, which meant more potential sales going towards Goodwill's wonderful programs to help change people's lives.  This is definitely a volunteering project that I look forward to doing again.”    –Kimsan

“Thank you for letting us help! Everyone at Goodwill was really nice and great trainers. They really kept us busy and having fun.” –Nancy

“This was my first time volunteering with Seattle Works. I had a great time and couldn’t believe the volume of donations that we sorted ($10,000).” – Alison

Frederick
(uber great Hot Project Coordinator)

Not so New to Seattle is off and running!

This past Saturday we awoke to glorious sunshine. Oh, how I've missed thee... As the new, or the not-so-new, to Seattle come to learn there are few places more beautiful than the Pacific Northwest in the summer. And if this last Saturday was any indication of things to come, we can count on a great one this year!

Not-So-New-To-Seattle met and were greeted by our project hosts, Friends of Madrona Woods. Everyone on the team either carpooled or biked to the location (I think...). We had a quick round of introductions and then were given our tasks for the day. We split up into four (?) teams each led by a project host. Juliet and I teamed up with Prabhu, Goldie, Melanie and our host Anne. We were stationed along a little road leading down towards Lake Washington Blvd. where we pulled out invasive morning glory, ivy, archangel (sounds way more intimidating than it was --at least from my perspective) and other sorts of weeds. We then scraped back over-growth on the curb dividing the street from the woods, and spread mulch to help feed the native plants. Where we were was in the shade so as the day heated up we were able to keep cool.

Around noon, Jules and I took a little break and ate some tasty rhubarb cobbler and what I've heard were the best peanuts in Virginia --if not the world! We also enjoyed some chilled orange slices and some great cherries. Kinda gettin' hungry thinkin' about it...

After our "snack" (feast?) we went back to the weeding. I found a cool beetle --named him John (best one by far), a couple of cool black and yellow centipedes and a baby grasshopper -- I think Melanie was pretty darn impressed with my zoological skills. Juliet, as always, found a cat. Also on the wildlife front I hear that Prabhu and Goldie may have fed some of our pulled weeds to a local goat or two.

All in all it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning. We got a little dirty, a little sweaty, had a great time and improved one of our many green spaces in the city. This was really fun. Juliet and I are excited to be on the new team and are looking forward to many more volunteer days to come.

Thanks to everyone for making us feel welcome!

Nick

SUMMER was in full effect for this awesome team!

Well, summer was definitely here on The Not So New to Seattle’s first event - doing awesome restoration work with the Friends of Madrona Woods. All team members, both returning and new, were excited for the sunshine and ready to get our hands dirty helping clear 3500 sq ft of invasive-infested land and spreading mulch to prepare for irrigation. Just about everyone on our team pulled together to carpool or ride bike to Madrona and it was great to have so many team members eager to work on such a nice sunny day. We were divided into different groups based on which areas needed the most work: along the main road, down by the shoreline, along the ridge of the hill, down in ravines in the woods - no locale was too challenging for this hardworking group! We were pulling various invasive weeds and ivy plants that were damaging the Madrona woods - and it felt great to help maintain the beauty of this area. The Friends of Madrona Woods were super helpful and appreciative of our contribution - which just made the entire even more worthwhile. Being new to Seattle and new to Seattle Works, it was a really great experience to be able to help the community to achieve their goals. I must say about my team, as a new member, I was completely impressed with how organized our team was - snacks, t-shirts, sign in sheets, carpool coordinating - everything was totally seamless and I was really proud to be on this team. The Friends of Madrona Woods were really prepared and organized too - which only helped us get more work done. The other major learning point of the day for me was how truly invasive ivy and morning glory can really be! I had no idea that these plants would be something you would want to get rid of - mainly because of how functional and hearty they are, but that’s exactly why they’re causing a problem - because they grow all over and tangled up in everything. Thanks to The Not So New to Seattle team, the Madrona Woods/Park looks amazing now and I’m looking forward to the next event!

MJ

Three cheers for the Thirties!

The Thirty Somethings team kicked some serious booty Saturday working on the gardens at the MultiFaith Works office in Central Seattle. We removed overgrown grasses, weeded, added compost to the soil and planted new flowers and shrubs. The gardens were transformed and the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction by the team was high. We felt good for helping to beautify an area that would be enjoyed by the staff, volunteers and those receiving support from Multifaith Works. We had a delicious potluck lunch that was topped off with a homemade strawberry cheesecake made by Robin Tharakan. A great experience overall!

Team Captain
Julie Simon

Seattle Works Day Pictures!

From these pictures, it looks like the volunteers were once again incredibly effective. Here is the FedEx team at Gatewood Elementary pulling out English ivy and blackberries and laying down over 30 yards of mulch:

You can see the change the Gates Foundation team made at Seattle Center:
Before:                                            After:

We were even joined by some special guests at the AfterParty.

AfterParty photos by Kevin Gifford.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to make Seattle Works Day so great! You can check out more pictures in the album on the right, and if you have some you'd like to contribute, send them to info@seattleworks.org.

You came, you saw, you pulled ivy

A big huge WAHOO and THANKS to everyone who joined us for Seattle Works Day!

How did your day go? What was your favorite Seattle Works Day moment?

Me: neither a high point nor low point but defintely a stand-out - CROW ATTACK! I got dive-bombed by a bird while setting up for the party and had to run away screaming. That was a Seattle Works Day first.

How about you?

- Tara