Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Notes for meeting 9/26/06

-Next week's meeting will also be Tuesday at 9:40 PM in Parrish Parlors. We only got one more person this week than last week (which was at 7:30), but we will try 9:40 for one more week. Please come next week at 9:40 if you can so we can really get a good idea of who can come at that time.

-Fall for Your Park, Sept. 30: All seats on the Lang Center van are full, so unless you can provide your own transportation , they can't take more volunteers. If you are signed up to go and haven't campus-mailed your two release forms to Teresa Kelley, please do now. Those who are going, see you Saturday at the Lang Center parking lot (by the train station) at 8:15 AM! We should get back by 1. There will be donuts, fruit, and drinks for breakfast as well as a free lunch.

-THE SAME DAY as Fall for Your Park (Sat., Sept. 30): Social Action Activities Fair for Discovery Weekend at 7pm at Kohlberg Coffee Bar. Lin and I will be there talking with specs. Anyone else who wants to come is welcome!

-Saturday, Oct. 7: Two projects:

1. Rotaract Conference: from 9 AM to 5 PM at the International House in Philly. We and other local Rotaract clubs will present our projects. There will be guest speakers including Rotarians who have done amazing service missions all over the world and people from Philadelphia Cares (a gigantic volunteer network). There will also be free breakfast and lunch. We'll take the train there. (I think the 8:31 AM train should work.) There really isn't a limit on the people who can go. I'd really like to have at least one other member who has been in Rotaract in previous years besides me go.

2. Habitat for Humanity. We can only take 5 people to this and we already have 5 people signed up. They are Rachel Adler, Lynn Connell-Price, Eric Kim, Helen (Hougen?), and Lin Gyi. Remember there are also Habitat days 10/21 and 10/28. Please tell us now if you are signed up and can't go, because other people might want to go that day. We will get back to you soon with the specific times.

-Oct. 14: CRC Watersheds Association Planting of 100 Trees at Little Crum Creek. This is the first Saturday of fall break, so a lot of you will be gone. I'll be here though and if anyone who wants to go with me please tell me now.

Oct. 21 and October 28: Other Habitat for Humanity dates. The 21st is during fall break, but two people have said they can go that day.

-Due lack of people who can go and timing issues, we will not be doing bingo with the elderly at a low-income apartment building for Little Brothers Fri., Nov. 3 (we would have had to be in Philly at 1 PM).

-If you are interested in visiting elderly people who live on their own and eating a meal with them on Thanksgiving day, contact Lin.

-Keep Gardening with Friends at Friends Hospital Nov. 18 from 10 AM to 2 PM. on your schedules.

-I and Pat James at the Lang Center are organizing a yard sale to raise money to send volunteers to New Orleans 3 times a year (fall, winter, and spring breaks). I'm going on the fall break trip. The sale will be on a day in late October/early December and possibly will be in the field house.

That's it! See you next week!

-Pierre

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Week 3 Meeting Recap --Tuesday Sept 19th, 2006

Hey--to everyone who came, thanks for putting up with the obnoxious cloud of mosquitoes in Parrish.

Meeting times:
This debacle will be figured out very soon. We're going to experiment with the 9:40 PM time slot for next Tuesday. Same place, Parrish East Parlor. If we get good results, we'll stick with 9:40 from now on--but if we don't, 7:30 it is. Make sure to come if you have a vested interest in this new meeting time.

Next Activity: Fall for your Park
Saturday, September 30th, 2006
8:15 AM – 1:00 PM
If you’re interested, e-mail one of us! (pfont1 or lgyi1@swarthmore.edu)
YOU MUST FILL OUT TWO FORMS AND SEND THEM TO TERESA KELLEY ’07 VIA CAMPUS MAIL IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. I will e-mail these forms--just make sure you print them out.

October Activities: Long list—but please have a look because we need to let the coordinators know how many people are interested in advance. Especially Habitat for Humanity…
*Note: Fall Break is from Oct 14th to the 22nd.

Habitat for Humanity: Saturdays 7th, 21st, or 28th. You don’t have to come to all three of the activities, just pick the best day that works for you.

Rotaraction Conference: Saturday 7th 9-5 PM

Little Brothers (Bingo): Fridays 13th, 20th, or November 3rd 1 PM

CRC Watershed in Little Crum Creek: Saturday 14th 9-11 AM

AIDS Walk Philly (Art Museum): 15th at 9 AM
www.aidsfundphilly.org
-------------------------------------------------------------
Gardening with Friends at Friends Hospital (NOVEMBER 18th)
10 AM – 2 PM

Finally the last thing we covered concerns the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House
The volunteer coordinator suggested:
Spring Cleaning
Cooking dinner (any weekday) or breakfast (Saturday or Sunday)
Bringing baked goods
Coordinating family activities at night

Enjoy the rest of your week!
Lin

PS -- I tried to create an online calendar to post on the site, but I accidentally deleted it. Oh well. I'll be sending around a word document with a calendar for September-October 2006.



HOSPITAL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES INFORMATIONAL MEETING

Wed, Sept 20th, 8 pm, Kohlberg 115

Are you a premed looking for clinical experience? Are you interested in a
career that involves working with children? The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
(HUP) both have highly rewarding volunteer programs open to college
students. An informational meeting will be held with current volunteers in
both programs on Wed, Sept 20th at 8 PM in Kohlberg 115.


If you can't come to the meeting, but would like more information about
the programs, e-mail sbarton1@swarthmore.edu.

Sunjay Barton


**This was in one of the Reserved Students Digest e-mails today. I'll keep an eye out for more opportunities, but it is best to scan through each one just incase you find something worthwhile.

Monday, September 18, 2006



Hey!
So--inspite of all the messages we sent you, we're having our next meeting TOMORROW, TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 19TH at 7:30 PM in Parrish East Parlor.

As for the 9:40 PM time--I think the best way to figure out which time is better is to try both at some point. More on that later...

If the TAB project flyers are starting to fill up, try to bring JUST THE TABS to the meeting. (Leave the collection envelope where it is). I have a few collection bins that we can fill up to take to the Ronald McDonald House.

Start thinking about your schedules in October--especially fall break. Just to give everyone an idea, here's the list:

Saturday October 7th -- Habitat for Humanity AND the Rotaract Conference
---Fall Break starts----
Saturday October 14th -- Planting trees at Little Crum Creek (CRC Watershed)
Saturday October 21st -- Habitat for Humanity AND Greater Philadelphia Cares Day
---Fall Break ends----
Saturday October 28th -- Habitat for Humanity

Remember: Anyone can go to the Rotaract Conference, BUT we can only take 5 people at a time for Habitat. If more than 5 people sign up, we can go in 2 shifts. We'll have a sign-up tomorrow since we should let the Habitat people know in advance.

Also--don't forget to e-mail tkelley1@swarthmore.edu if you are interested in Fall for your Park (Sat. September 30th).
Also, also--Does anyone live in Mertz, New Dorm or Danawell? I think we still need some TAB Project flyers in those buildings.

Take care!
Lin

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Recap of Meeting: Sept. 12

-Several people have conflicts with wind ensemble and other activities during the Tuesday 7:30 PM meeting time. However, many of the people who came to tonight's meeting expressed that Tuesday was a good day for them. Wind ensemble people and people with other conflicts - when does wind ensemble (or your Tuesday activity) begin and end? What half-hour block on Tuesday would you be able to come to a meeting at Parrish Parlors? After hearing back from you, Lin and I will send an e-mail to the listserv with next week's meeting time.

-PerriAnn Evanson came to talk about the Philadelphia Rotaract conference on Sat. Sept. 7th at the International House on 3701 Chestnut Street in Philly. It lasts from 9 AM to 4:45 PM and includes 8 local Rotaract clubs, professionals involved in international service projects through Rotary, and a very successful Philadelphia volunteer recruiter. It's a great chance to learn what other local Rotaract clubs are doing, about more local volunteering opportunities, and about the national and international aspects of Rotaract. Anyone, including people who haven't made it to any Rotaract meeting or project can come. Transportation is easy, since it's within walking distance from 30th Street station. We'll be e-mailing you with more information.

-The people at the meeting all agreed that October 28 is the best date among all the possible dates for volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in Chester. However, Oct. 7 (the same day as the Rotaract conference) and Oct. 21 (during fall break) are other possible dates. Habitat doesn't want more than 5 volunteers from us at a time, although we're going to ask them if we can do shifts of volunteers on the same day. Lots of people said they are interested in going the 28th, but 3 people who don't want to go to the Rotaract Conference said they might want to go Oct. 7th. If there is enough interest, we could send people to both the Rotaract conference and Habitat on the 7th in addition to doing Habitat on the 28th. Tell us (pfont1 or lgyi1) what you'd like to go to!

-This Thursday at 5:00 PM in Little Crum Creek Park (within walking distance from campus) the Chester-Crum-Ridley Watershed associtation is doing environmental maintenance/cleanup work. 3 people at the meeting expressed interest. E-mail pfont1 for information and directions.

-Philadelphia Little Brothers unites widows, widowers, and other elderly people living by themselves with young friends and helpers. They also organize bingo events at low-income apartment houses where isolated elderly people live. This is different from Bingo night at an assisted living home because the elderly people coming live on their own, want to play bingo, and aren't being herded by nurses. In addition, time is spent chatting, having refreshments, and having a real personal exchange with the elderly people involved before starting bingo. Since several people expressed interest, we're going to look into potential dates for this.

-Ayanna (ajohnson2) is still trying to get people to help as tutors. This is a more long-term commitment than many of our other projects. Pleae contact her for more information.

That's it! We'll e-mail you soon with next week's meeting time.

-Pierre

PS. We still have tons of chocolate to go through at meetings. :)

Sunday, September 10, 2006

LIVESTRONG PICTURES!
Sunday Sept 10th, 2006




















Thank you Nancy, Yimei, Ben and Michelle! We had a lot of fun!

Next meeting Tuesday 7:30 PM Parrish East Parlor

Take care, Lin and Pierre

Saturday, September 09, 2006



LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE REMINDER

When: 6:50 AM SUNDAY SEPT 10th
Where: Swarthmore Train Station
Bring money for your return ticket!

E-mail pfont1@swarthmore.edu OR lgyi1@swarthmore.edu if you can come! We still need more people!


There is more than enough work for everyone. We will be preparing sports drinks and snacks all morning as well as checking-in Livestrong bikers. It'll be tons of fun, and lots of fun.

Rest up, and enjoy your weekend if we don't see you there!
Lin

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

***MORE VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION: We will now be meeting at the Swarthmore train station at 6:50 AM (not at 7:15). We are no longer taking the train into Philly. Instead, Ed from the Livestrong Challenge staff will be driving us in his 15-person (including him) van into Philly. He is leaving from the Swarthmore train station at 7 AM sharp, hence the 6:50 meeting time.

In addition, I have been told that the very last rest stop closes at 4:45 PM, but that our rest stop will probably close considerably earlier. I will get back to you as soon as I have a more exact idea of when we will be coming back!

Sorry for all these hectic messages!

-Pierre

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Hi! Here is a recap of tonight's meeting, with a very important correction. I am so excited that all of you came! It looks like it's going to be a great year.

The first and most important issue is our first project: helping at a water aid station at the Livestrong Challenge bike race and walkathon THIS SUNDAY, SEPT 10.
***VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION: the earliest train into Philly Sunday leaves at 8:31 AM, not 7:31 AM. This might simply mean that we will meet at the train station at 8:15 to take the 8:31 train into Philly. Anyway, we will e-mail you when we know exactly how we are getting into Philly and when. I'm so sorry that I told you the wrong time at the meeting!

Thanks to those of you who took the soda tab flyers at the meeting. Please tape them to the wall near any recyling bin for aluminum cans, any trash can that people seem to use for aluminum cans, or any other good location you can think of. Later this year, we will gather all of the soda tabs we have collected and will take them to the Philly Ronald McDonald house.

The potential dates for going to a Habitat for Humanity house in Chester are Oct. 7, Oct. 21, and Oct. 28. Oct. 21 is over fall break, so we'll focus on the other two dates. Please start thinking if or when you can go! Note that habitat sometimes only wants 5 or so people in a group on a given day.

Other ideas we brainstormed:

"Gardening with Friends": helping to maintain the beautiful garden at the Friends Hospital in Philadelphia in November (Date TBA)

Schuylkill Environmental Center Land Restoration Day Nov. 28

Chester-Ridley-Crum Watershed Outdoor Projects (dates TBA)

Outreach to Elderly Widows and Widowers (we're looking into ways to do this)

Trevor's Place shelter for homeless mothers and their children (waiting to hear back from them)

Making meals for residents of Philly Ronald McDonald House (also waiting to hear back)

Helping at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) (also waiting to hear back)

Also, some members expressed interest in long-term projects where one or a few members can volunteer for at a regular time each week. Ayanna talked about tutoring at Morton School, and we're looking at other long-term projects for interested members.

Thanks for reading this long post. Here's looking forward to a great year!

-Pierre
Um, sorry, I sent out the e-mail to the listserve before Pierre had a chance to update the blog with minutes.
That's what extreme fatigue does to you. :-P

PLEASE check back later tomorrow--since I don't want to risk annoying everyone with yet another repetitive e-mail.

Take care, and goodnight!
Lin

PS -- Anyone can leave comments, just remember to sign with your name so that we know who you are!