Before the Next Storm Hits, Register to Help Your Neighbors
Snow can paralyze communities, causing food shortages, traffic accidents and exposing vulnerable populations to extreme cold.
Winter Storm Jonas caused havoc in cities and rural communities – affecting 102.8 million people and covering about 434,000 square miles in 26 states, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And, as CBS News reported, preliminary estimates say the economic impact of the storm may top $850 million.
While snow can be devastating, our world is more connected to community resilience resources. Points of Light’s HandsOn Network affiliates activated their communities to come to the rescue. Among them:
Long Island Volunteer Center (with support from disaster buddy Volunteer Knoxville) created a Jonas page to register volunteers in partnership with local disaster response officials to respond to immediate needs.
Volunteer Alexandria, in the D.C. area, had 28 “snow buddies” assisting 67 local residents. Each volunteer contributed approximately three hours during the storm. One grateful resident said, “I’m 92, and I was so scared about how I would get out. You are like angels.”
If you don’t have a HandsOn Network affiliate in your area, consider registering with other emergency disaster snow groups. SnowCrew.org provides a platform to connect community members with volunteers who shovel snow.
Neighbor-to-neighbor assistance supports local residents and taps into the American spirit. Before the next storm hits, register to help today!
Take Part in the Super Bowl of Service
This post is by Alison Doerfler, executive director of Points of Light’s HandsOn Network.
There is something about the Super Bowl that brings out the competitive spirit in many of us. I witnessed this first hand when I heard there was friendly competition taking place on Points of Light’s playing field.
As a result, this year, fans of the Broncos, the Panthers and of service can do more than cheer to show their support. They can volunteer! Inspired by the competition, we’re announcing the 2016 HandsOn Network Super Bowl Challenge.
The terms are simple: From today, Monday Feb. 1, through Sunday, Feb. 7, we will track the number of Hands On Charlotte’s volunteer hours and combine them with the Panthers’ Super Bowl score. We will also track the number of Metro Volunteers’ volunteer hours in this same time period and combine them with the Broncos’ score.
Winner takes the title and 2016 HandsOn Network Super Bowl Challenge grant of $500. The executive director of the losing affiliate, wearing the winner’s team jersey/affiliate T-shirt, will share a personalized song via video on Facebook to the Nationwide jingle by Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.
Anyone in the Charlotte and Denver areas can participate. Local changemakers can find and register for volunteer projects taking place this week in Charlotte and Denver.
Even if you don’t live in those areas, you can show your team and civic pride by finding a volunteer opportunity near you on All for Good. Share your volunteer experience online with the hashtag #SB50 and tag HandsOnNetwork, @PointsofLight, @HandsOnCLT or @MetroVolunteers.
May the best team (and community of local changemakers) win!
Tackling Hunger Through Volunteer Power
Because of committed volunteers, Connecticut residents like Aaron – who was laid off from his job – don’t have to go hungry.
“I’m speaking from the heart when I say that what you are doing is a wonderful thing,” he said in a message regarding the Danbury Food Collaborative, whose volunteers promote and support the program’s work. “Because of you, I never missed having fresh vegetables in my fridge and fresh food to feed my family.”
Danbury Food Collaborative volunteers at a food drive show some of the 3,100 pounds of food they collected to provide more than 2,600 meals to the community.
Food insecurity – the lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times due to lack of financial resources – has become an increasingly large concern.
While many often associate Connecticut with wealth, the demographic makeup of Fairfield County and the city of Danbury in particular paints a different picture. Danbury is a melting pot of immigrant groups where nearly 35 percent of residents struggle financially. In Danbury Public Schools, more than 46 percent of children receive free and reduced-priced lunch.
As the local economy has been slow to recover, many individuals and families have found it difficult to put healthy and fresh food on the table.
To reduce suffering from hunger, the United Way of Western Connecticut, an affiliate of Points of Light’s HandsOn Network, launched the Danbury Food Collaborative in 2013. One of its first projects was to publish a guide to inform residents where and when they can go to access food programs.
The collaborative currently has more than 20 member food pantries, soup kitchens and nonprofit partners – including a farmers’ market – and city and university resources. The collaborative is now sharing resources such as volunteers, food donations among agencies, additional grant funding and new options for distributing more fresh, healthy food to clients.
Volunteers have been critical to the success of the Danbury Food Collaborative. The United Way of Western Connecticut coordinates volunteers from different organizations to pick up and drop off food at grocery stores and restaurants, rescuing fresh food that would otherwise be discarded.
The collaborative has issued more than 8,000 food guides, raised more than $60,000 in grants and donations, rescued more than 48,000 pounds of food from becoming waste and provided more than 40,000 healthy meals to those in need.
“The Danbury Food Collaborative has allowed our emergency homeless shelter access to more fresh fruits and vegetables for our clients,” said Sue Zaborowski, the social service manager for Danbury’s Department of Health and Human Services. “Having the ability to serve all types of fruits will help our clients stay in better health.”
Winter Storm Jonas is expected to deliver up to 30 inches of snow to parts of the East Coast. If you live in the storm area, check on your neighbors, especially the elderly and disabled.
Forty-six percent of residents expect to rely on their neighbors for support during the first 72 hours after an emergency. Be ready to lend a hand.
Points of Light is coordinating with HandsOn Network affiliates in the affected areas and connecting with Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster chapters across the U.S. to assess the situation and offer support.
HandsOn Network is the local expert in volunteer engagement and often the lead in managing spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers throughout the response and recovery effort.
If you would like to support the recovery effort, here’s what you can do to help:
Please don’t:
Don’t self-deploy at this time. The situation is still critical and travel is extremely difficult or impossible throughout much of the affected area.
Don’t bring supplies or donations to fire stations, police departments, etc. First responders need to focus on immediate needs and emergency situations.
Please do:
Dodonate to help Points of Light and HandsOn Network affiliates support the mobilization of volunteers in ongoing response and recovery efforts.
Do be prepared! Please take steps now to help your family and community recover more quickly from disasters. Visit www.goodandready.org to download an emergency preparedness checklist and create a disaster readiness plan for your family.
For the latest, please follow us on Twitter and check out our updates on Facebook.
Millions of Americans will come together during the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, in a weekend of service and dialogue to honor his memory.
The civil rights movement taught us that when Americans are united in lending a hand, helping our neighbors and building better communities, our country lives out Dr. King’s ideals and can fully realize the American dream.
On this holiday, volunteers inspired by Dr. King serve each other in hopes of creating what he called the “beloved community.”
of Philadelphia will unite the tristate area (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware) for the 21st annual Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service, bringing together 135,000 volunteers at some 1,800 projects, including collecting, sorting and packing donated business attire for men and women in need.
will host an America’s Sunday Supper, including an audience conversation around the theme “The Cradle to Prison Pipeline.” The nonprofit is also offering service opportunities during which volunteers will help bridge the literacy gap by reading to underserved youth at Atlanta public schools.
in North Carolina will organize a Community Resource Fair with 25 nonprofits providing support services to low-income families as well as sharing financial resources available to them, with nearly 10,000 volunteers in action.
will host service projects across two locations in New York City, involving educational enrichment and recreation for students, socialization for seniors and the revitalization of public spaces.
will mobilize 700 volunteers in New York City with a Community Resource Fair, engaging in civic discussions and hands-on service projects, including painting inspirational murals and creating care packages for cancer patients.
will host a two-day MLK Empowerment Summit in Los Angeles, giving community members the ability to learn about local economic opportunities, while also enjoying community activities, dialogue and a film screening.
in San Francisco will train volunteers to read with students in an effort to develop enthusiasm for reading; meanwhile, parents will learn techniques to foster literacy at home.
in Buffalo will engage 400 AmeriCorps members, students and community volunteers in a large-scale community food drive in support of 1,000 local military families.
volunteers in California will assist veterans and people recently impacted by the justice system to develop resumes, prepare for job interviews and improve their financial literacy.
will conduct a Professional Development Day in Los Angeles – providing resources to help residents find jobs. An estimated 150 volunteers will support workshops ranging from resume writing to mock interviews.
will host the annual MLK Read-In – during which children are paired with volunteer “reading buddies” – sharing the importance of reading and building relationships across communities.
in Detroit will host the Dr. King Day Summit – Stepping Up to Fulfill the Dream, which includes a brunch creating dialogue among community leaders. Service projects will commence in the weeks following the summit.
Using Their Expertise, GE Volunteers Work to Clean Singapore’s Waterways
Singapore’s rivers and canals – though relatively clean – contend with litter and illegal disposal of waste, despite measures to curb both. Meanwhile, the invasive pink snail and rapidly multiplying algae destroys the aquatic plants that provide oxygen, food and shelter to fish and other underwater life.
A GE engineer collects a water sample from an algae-filled, man-made pond stemming from the Kallang River in Singapore.
On Dec. 4, during one of a host of volunteer projects happening across the globe as part of the GE Global Month of Service, GE volunteers came together in Singapore to clean area waterways. The event was an extension of recent visits from GE employees volunteering their time and expertise to devise and implement sustainable solutions to treat local pond waters.
Current measures to curb pollution in Singapore’s waterways include the installation of vertical gratings at drain outlets and placing floating barriers at strategic locations along the waterways. Despite these efforts, the pollution persists and steadily increases.
During visits in October and November, GE engineers – as volunteers – brainstormed ways to clean a pond the volunteer organization Waterways Watch Society created for an environmental education program.
GE volunteers used nets to remove litter and debris from Singapore’s Marina Reservoir.
The engineers inspected the site and tested the waters, devising a plan that includes adding a submersible pump, creating more outlets between the pond barrier and the adjoining Kallang River and introducing fish that eat algae and snails.
Opening the Dec. 4 events, Wouter Van Wersch, president and CEO of GE ASEAN; Amy Sheren, executive director of Points of Light Asia; and Eugene Heng, founder and chairman of Waterways Watch Society, released snail- and algae- eating yellow boxfish into the pond, a step toward implementing the GE engineers’ plan.
Another group of GE volunteers on hand that day then split into groups under cloudy skies to clean litter from the Marina Reservoir and along the Kallang River, by kayak, bike, boat and on foot.
Setting out on foot, GE volunteers picked up litter along the Kallang River in Singapore.
Much of the litter they found was comprised of the usual suspects – plastic bags and bottles. One volunteer who set out on a kayak said he had collected about more than 100 pounds of trash. While Christopher from Indonesia, a volunteer on the bicycle patrol, said of the outing, “It was an eye-opening experience.”
Throughout the GE Global Month of Service, which culminated on Dec. 5, International Volunteer Day, GE and Points of Light came together to support and encourage GE employees to address issues that matter most in their regions.
Peter Yang – founder and executive director of Empact, the organization that coordinated the Singapore waterways volunteer projects – said he hopes that having made a difference through their participation, “the volunteers will be inspired to do more.”
Doing Good Around the World
In Brazil, they’ve helped students reflect on their professional aspirations. In Pakistan, they’ve packed warm clothing, blankets and other necessities for people displaced by a recent earthquake. In the U.S., they’ve helped clean up a state park for everyone to enjoy.
GE volunteers in Pakistan pack necessities, such as warm clothing and blankets, for earthquake victims.
Leading up to International Volunteer Day, Dec. 5, GE volunteers around the world are showing their commitment to their communities during the GE Global Month of Service – for which GE and Points of Light have come together to support and encourage GE employees to address issues that matter most in their regions.
“Our prime purpose in life is to help others,” said Hassan Mahmood, a GE volunteer who participated in the Pakistan earthquake relief project. Added fellow volunteer Khalid Ejaz, “The spiritual satisfaction is unmatched.”
In the U.K., GE volunteers are bringing science, technology, engineering and math – collectively known as STEM – to life for girls through the GirlsGetSET program, often using everyday, household items. One example: a challenge to build a system to control the flow of balls from one point to another.
Using what they’ve learned from GE volunteers, female students in the U.K. take on a challenge to build a system to control the flow of balls from one point to another.
“GirlsGetSET is something which I am particularly passionate about, being a female leader within the engineering industry – being able to promote our industry, seeing the girls learn new skills and myth-busting some of the stereotypical views,” said Denise Lawson, a GE planning and production leader.
STEM education has been a popular choice for GE volunteers elsewhere across the globe, including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and the United States.
During a community service day at a high school in Bangalore, India, IT professionals volunteered to offer career advice to students and transform a ragged area of grass into a playground.
In the coming days, GE volunteers in six locations across the U.S. will assemble hundreds of care packages for military members stationed overseas.
Volunteers say the experience of helping others is one they treasure.
Kyle Jassoy, a project manager at GE, recounted volunteering with his colleagues at a community food program in Wisconsin called The Gathering.
“Our group was lucky enough to have some face time with Jim, the facility coordinator, who explained exactly what the program means to this community,” Jassoy said. “He had many stories that depicted daily groups of guests who were grateful to have warm conversations and shelter, which seemed to be just as important as the food. Honestly can’t wait to help this cause again.”
Through Unique Challenges, GE Volunteers Get Kids Excited About Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
Under the guidance of volunteers, a group of teens from Ghana developed a technological solution to tackle the improper disposal of waste. Their idea – create an app that would teach people how to sort trash and recycle waste.
Across the globe, outside Philadelphia, volunteers demonstrated hands-on projects to elementary school students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math – fields known collectively as STEM. Most of the activities involved materials the children could get from the grocery store, so they could experiment at home.
The need for STEM career counseling and job readiness training transcends political, geographic and socio-economic barriers, and these hands-on learning experiences provided early exposure of skills needed in STEM-related industries.
The recent activities in Africa and the United States were part of the ongoing GE Global Month of Service, for which GE and Points of Light have come together to support and encourage GE employees to address issues that matter most in their regions.
In Ghana, GE Ghana volunteers engaged 200 students, ages 13 to 17, from 10 schools in a STEM Careers Campaign, in partnership with JA Africa and Points of Light.
A GE volunteer urges students in Ghana to consider a wide variety of STEM careers.
The project raised student awareness of STEM career opportunities, created opportunities for students to interact through a challenge in a competitive – but safe – environment and also fostered public speaking, team building and problem-solving skills.
During the campaign, volunteers shared their job experiences and guided students in thinking about sustainable solutions to problems in their communities using STEM.
Students were given a STEM challenge to work on in teams and presented their solutions to a panel of judges. Flagstaff House Basic School took home the grand prize for their waste-disposal app idea. Similar STEM events were held in Nigeria and Kenya.
At Valley Elementary School in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, about 30 GE volunteers of the Greater Philadelphia Council hosted a STEM day. The volunteers interacted with 775 students participating in activities such as constructing “Towers of Pasta,” making lava lamps, using M&Ms to calculate probability, building paper structures to discover the strength of paper, making paper boats to float and move on water, discovering how a pendulum works in a grandfather clock, making objects on a computer and computer coding.
GE volunteers Vidya Sundaresan, center, and Patricia Popowich, left, use paper boats to teach the concepts of buoyancy and surface tension to Pennsylvania elementary school students.
“I enjoy seeing the excitement in the kids when we can teach them something fun and different from their regular curriculum,” said volunteer Cayle Hamman, a lead mechanical engineer from GE Water and Process Technologies in Trevose, Pennsylvania. “The one class of first graders almost all either wanted to be a scientist or teacher when asked what they wanted to be when they grow up. That makes the day worth all the effort.”
Fellow volunteer Wendy Segal, a specialist in waste water and membrane chemistry from GE Water and Process Technologies added, “It was amazing to see so many faces light up with understanding and excitement during the exercises. The enthusiasm for learning is strong in children, and we definitely sparked some young minds in the direction of science, technology, engineering and math.”
How to Respond to Tragic Events with Compassionate Parenting
This post is by Kathy Saulitis, senior vice president of external affairs at generationOn, Points of Light’s youth service division.
As parents, teachers and caring adults try to calm the fears of children and bring them comfort after the recent events in Paris and around the world, a particularly moving video of a dad explaining the attacks in Paris to his young son has flooded the Internet.
See how this father explains the Paris attacks to his young son in front of a Le Petit Journal reporter. Watch the video here.
French news outlet Le Petit Journal interviewed the unnamed child and asked if he understood what happened in his city and why the shootings happened.
“Yes, because they’re really, really mean,” the boy says. He then goes on to say, “But there’s bad guys, Daddy… they have guns, they can shoot us because they’re really, really mean.”
The dad remains reassuring and focused on the positive, which are both important in compassionate parenting.
He says, “They might have guns, but we have flowers.”
“But flowers don’t do anything,” the boy responds.
“Of course they do,” the father replies. “Look, everyone is putting flowers. It’s to fight against the guns.” (Watch the video here.)
It is not unusual for kids to feel scared and helpless after tragic incidents such as the recent events in Paris, Beirut and other parts of the world. Visit generationOn’s resources page to access a range of articles that offer advice for how parents, teachers and other caring adults can help youth process their thoughts and feelings during these times.
These articles suggest similar ways to help kids deal with tragic events – supporting kids to take action to help others, which can be as simple as a small act of kindness, to volunteering at a soup kitchen, or visiting with the elderly at a nursing home. Dr. Michele Borba, author and renowned parenting expert, gives this advice: “Empower kids with proactive ways to help and model compassion and involvement.”
And generationOn has two opportunities for parents, teachers and caring adults to put this advice to action:
Volunteer as a family on Family Volunteer Day, Nov. 21, and show the youth in your life that giving back to others and to their communities is one of the most important things you can do to help make our world a better place. With sponsorship from Disney Friends for Change, we have been able to organize 25 years of families volunteering together. Do our Seeds of Awareness project, specially designed to help kids work through recent events, or find more inspiring ideas at generationOn.org/fvd.
The Joy Maker Challenge, sponsored by Hasbro, Inc., encourages kids, teens and families to help those in need during the holiday season, from Nov. 23 to Dec. 23. Find projects like our Charity Bake Sale for Syrian refugees’ children or write kind cards to children in Paris with our Caring Cards project. Take action to make the world a better place at a time of the year when giving back is so important. Share your story and find more ideas at generationOn.org/joymaker.
Feeding Hungry Children Becomes a Family Affair for GE Volunteers
Steve Gustafson took a recent volunteer project as a teaching moment for his kids, Thomas and Andrew, ages 10 and 8. The family joined volunteers from the Schenectady, New York, GE Volunteers Council, their family and friends to pack 369 bags with food that will be provided to local school children in need.
From left, Thomas, Andrew and Steve Gustafson, show two of the bags they packed with food for the City Mission of Schenectady’s Weekend Backpack Program.
Gustafson, manager of the GE Global Research Knowledge Discovery Lab, remarked that seeing how much better behaved his sons are when they’ve eaten and slept well was a reminder that not every child has those same basic needs met, “and it’s important to give other children that same opportunity.”
The Gustafsons, helping the City Mission of Schenectady’s Weekend Backpack Program, were contributing to the good deeds GE employees are undertaking around the world this month as part of the GE Global Month of Service. GE and Points of Light have come together to support and encourage GE employees to address issues that matter most in their regions.
GE volunteers in Schenectady packed in each bag a box of rice mix, bag of pasta, drinks, can of chili, Nutrigrain bars, graham crackers and loaf of bread.
“The difference this program makes for children who are food insecure is clear,” said the City Mission’s Kathy Carney, program coordinator for the Weekend Backpack Program. “Their attendance is better at school; because they aren’t hungry from the weekend they are ready to settle down on Monday morning; their grades are up and they are less likely to get into trouble.”
Volunteers from the Schenectady GE Volunteer Council pack bags for local school children in need.
Even at 10 years old, Thomas Gustafson could appreciate the significance of the volunteers’ service.
“It’s important that children be able to eat well so they can do well in class and have a great future. I feel good about giving back to my community,” he said, while his younger brother said he liked knowing he was helping children whose parents couldn’t afford to buy them healthy foods.
Principal Engineer Adam Rasheed, who helped organize the backpack event, said he was thrilled that so many GE volunteers brought their families to participate, adding, “It’s important that GE, as a corporate citizen, help those in our community.”
Biologist Lisa Lowery was one of the volunteers who specifically was looking for an activity to which she could bring her son Dean, 7. “It’s important for him to see how lucky he is, and to have an opportunity to open his eyes to see what others don’t have,” she noted. “I’m hoping that by starting him volunteering young, he will continue to help others as he grows up.”
That she accomplished her goal that night was evident, as Dean reflected, “For children who don’t have food, it’s pretty sad, and when they get to see the food we packed, they’ll be happy.”
GE volunteers, such as Kent Sante (pictured above), helped sort shoes donated to the City Mission of Schenectady after they finished putting bags of food together.
For PR Subramanian, manager of the High Temperature Alloys & Processing Laboratory, packing food for impoverished children was personal. “I’ve seen children who don’t get a square meal a day, and I’ve always felt we should do more so children don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from,” he said.
For Senior Scientist Kareem Aggour, it was especially important for him, as a Muslim, to show that “we positively contribute to our community in the U.S.,” while his 8-year-old son Ayyoub said he wanted to help the poor have a better life, “not living by luck, but through people helping the poor. That’s what I thought about when I was packing the bags.”
“I’m amazed at the number of people who volunteered for this event,” said co-organizer Tahira Komal, manager, marketing and commercial operations for GE Ventures. “We needed only 20 people, had 35 sign up and even had to turn volunteers away. That people would choose to come here on a Tuesday night after work instead of going home demonstrates that there’s still good in this world.”
