Give & Get Open Forum

On August 11th, Give and Get NYC hosted it’s second event to benefit a New York City non-profit. Homes for the Homeless was chosen for its child-centered, education-focused approach to all its programs and services. The turnout was great, with about 50 guests in attendance, and the donations were overwhelming. Literally- they took over half my office until the HfH Field team came to pick everything up the following Monday. The final tally came to 81 bookbags, 77 notebooks, over 150 pencils and pens, hundreds of crayons and markers, thousands of sheets of loose-leaf paper, and a lot of other back-to-school necessities.

Thanks to all who came out and congratulations to those who won show tickets to STOMP and La Cage Aux Folles. A special thank you to Wolfe Trahan & Co. for their generous donations.

If you took pictures at the event, feel free to send them to rachel@giveandgetnyc.com and they will be added to this site!

Stay tuned for updates about the next event, set for Fall 2010…

The Urban Girl Squad will be hosting a volunteer project in Riverside Park on Saturday, July 17th from 10am-1pm. A group of 30 or so volunteers will be weeding and gardening  on 116th Street to help beautify Riverside Park. The work done this day will contribute to the Woodland Restoration Project, a multi-year project to restore this historic woodland landscape as it was envisioned by Frederick Law Olmsted back in 1875.

I’ll be attending -I love a good ‘green’ project on a Saturday morning in summer- and there are still a few spots left for volunteers. You can RSVP by clicking here (ladies only-sorry fellas). Space is limited, so hurry up and RSVP now! Other things to know:

- As with any gardening project, be sure to dress comfortably and wear close-toed shoes. You’ll likely be standing or kneeling in dirt and mulch for hours. No one likes to see dirty toes on the subway…

- Bug spray may also be a good idea; given the humidity in NYC at the moment, I’ll surely be dousing myself in a healthy amount of OFF before leaving my apartment on the 17th.

-Riverside Park is my favorite NYC Park (I’m a West Sider myself, but still…I never said I was impartial). It’s made a few impressive cameos in some famous movies; my favorite, the promenade at 91st Street is where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan meet at the end of the 1998 movie You’ve Got Mail.

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About Urban Girl Squad:

Established in February 2008, Urban Girl Squad is a community-based social group for women in their 20s and 30s in New York City. It creates opportunities for these women to try new things, spend time with friends, and meet new people. Their events include food and wine tastings, beauty and fashion nights, dance and fitness classes, sports events, cocktail parties, volunteer events, and more. They provide special, discounted access to the city — you’ll meet store owners and designers, taste gourmet food and drinks, receive personal attention from popular venues, and score some amazing gift bags.

Are you ready to take your commitment to volunteerism and service to the next level?

NYC Civic Corps, an initiative of NYC Service and the Mayor’s Office, is now accepting applications for the 2010-2011 service year. Whether you’re a recent college graduate looking to break into the non-profit world, a community leader who wants to dedicate more of your time to the betterment of New York City, or if you’re just looking for a new, more meaningful career, NYC Civic Corps is ready to hear your plea. Selected Corps members will dedicate one year of service to the City, during which they will be dispatched in small teams to local non-profit organizations and City agencies with the charge of developing sustainable volunteer programs and expanding organizational capacity.

Last July, 193 inaugural members of the Civic Corps were sworn in at City Hall. The response was overwhelmingly positive and the program very well received, especially by the 57 public and nonprofit organizations that were able to benefit from the extra help. Though this first year of service has been referred to as an “experiment in social innovation”, a very flashy annual report shows that the initial results indicate that the program has already had some great successes. More than 33,500 volunteers were recruited by Civic Corps members for a variety of initiatives in several different areas, including: Economic Opportunity, Education, Environment and Clean Energy; and Health. This large influx of ready and willing volunteers contributed to the continued expansion of NYC Service into 2010.  Some of the highlights from the annual report include:

• The Police Auxiliary saw a 183% increase in the number of applicants.
• The Flu Flighters initiative recruited 1,381 New Yorkers to conduct outreach and awareness activities in their communities.
• In one day, 800 volunteers planted 20,000 trees as a part of the MillionTreesNYC initiative.
• The Financial Empowerment initiative resulted in 655 trained tax volunteers to assist full-time counselors at the City’s Financial Empowerment Centers.
• 13,852 adult volunteers participated in education-related volunteer programs through partnerships with local nonprofit organizations as part of the Serve Our Schools initiative.

By September of 2009, this idea of a localized service movement had caught on in cities across the country, leading to the creation of Cities of Service: a bi-partisan coalition of the mayors of large and small cities from across our country who have taken an oath to work together in engaging citizens to address the great challenges of our time. Founded by 16 mayors with our own Mayor Bloomberg at the forefront, this organization is now now 95 members strong and growing.

If the numbers don’t speak volumes enough, many organizations that have benefited from Civic Corps have gone on record with their gratification. In an April 20^th press release, Executive Director of New York Cares Gary Bagley said “I’m proud to announce today that because of the support we have received from NYC Service, New York Cares grew its programs by 20 percent and created 25,000 additional volunteer opportunities to meet higher demand for volunteer support as a result of the economic downturn. At a time when our capacity could have been limited, it was NYC Service’s Civic Corps that helped us rebuild our capacity and exceed our ambitious goals.”

So, are you ready to join?

In return for their service, Civic Corps members will be provided with a monthly stipend (about $1,163), health benefits, a NYC transit commuting stipend, and an end-of-service education award or post-service stipend. They’ll also receive professional development and support from NYC Service and the Office of the Mayor. To be eligible to join the NYC Civic Corps, individuals must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents with a Bachelor’s degree, and they must be willing to commit to a full-time (40 hours per week) position starting in late August, 2010.

Applications are available at http://www.nyc.gov/service and are only accepted online. You must apply by June 30th, 2010.

If you are a 2009/2010 Civic Corps member and would like to share your experience, email info@giveandgetnyc.com and have your story featured on Give and Get NYC!

What: Organizing supplies and general ‘housecleaning’

Where: Materials for the Arts, Long Island City

When: 6-8pm, 1st Wednesday of every month through  New York Cares

Inside of this very unassuming building lies the Materials for the Arts warehouse; a treasure trove of paints, office supplies, fabrics, paper, zippers, and more. For over 30 years, this program -part of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and funded by DCLA, the DSNY (Dept of Sanitation and the DOE (Dept of Education)- has provided thousands of New York City’s arts and cultural organizations, public schools and community arts programs with the supplies they need to run and expand their programs. In doing this, they are also reducing waste by promoting the reuse of these materials, keeping these supplies out of landfills and putting them into hands that need them.

When I got off the subway in Long Island City, it took a second for me to figure out where I was and which direction to walk. And by ‘second’, I mean I was 15 minutes late due to my complete lack of directional sense. So when I finally arrived on the third floor, where MFTA is located, no one was there to great me except for a sign that read “New York Cares Volunteers—>”. I followed the sign around the corner, through a doorway or two, and found myself entering a very large space that felt like the back storage of a Target or other large superstore. Tall shelving units filled with bins of donations organized by category (Office Supplies, Crafts, etc.). I found my group by the Trim and Notion section, and was happy to know I wasn’t alone.

There was an assembly line of sorts happening, with 4 volunteers washing, rinsing and drying the yellow bins that store the various wares available. The warehouse gathers a LOT of dust and grime, so the bins could use a good cleaning, and that’s what we were there for. I started out drying bins, but then got moved to the ‘organization’ group. There was a row of bins that had not yet been completely sorted; it was also in the craft section, where things are hard to identify and probably get moved around a lot when people are picking through for what they want. I was told to pick a  bin and find a place for everything in it. Easier said than done, for me at least.

Word of advice: If you have any obsessive compulsive tendencies, you may want to avoid volunteering here, or bring a sleeping bag because you’ll be in for a long night. For artists and creative people, who can see beauty and art in many things and find use for these items in future projects, this warehouse is a dream come true. A place to go for anything, even stuff you may not know you need or normally can’t afford, and that’s the whole point of this place. However, I found myself perpetually distracted by the disorganization I saw and had a hard time not being able to fix it. I would pick out a few buttons from my bin, and set out to the ‘Trim and Notion’ section to find their place. When I found a bin of miscellaneous buttons, I thought that it would be nice if all of THOSE buttons were organized by color. When I found some Christmas cards and went to put them in a ‘paper’ bin, I really wished I had time to empty the bin on the floor, and re-sort into ‘holiday and non-holiday’ paper. But alas, Rome wasn’t built in a day and I surely wasn’t going to reorganize an entire warehouse in two hours. After I got over that, things went much smoother; if I found a polaroid of a stuffed animal sitting with a plate of cookies (which I did), I found it a home. When I found a few model airplane kits for small children, I found a bin with similar items and tossed them in. By the end of the night, we had managed to put a dent in the bins, emptying out and condensing about 10-15 of them and reorganizing others. A few minutes before 8, we took the clean bins and swapped them with dirty ones, which will get washed next time the volunteers come to help.

For a creative mind, this is a goldmine of inspiration waiting to be picked apart and sifted for gems, which can be different for each person that walks in. I can imagine it being a great source of supplies for the teachers and organizations that take advantage of this service. It allows them to provide their clients, students, what have you, with more than they could have previously. Since a lot of the donations come from corporations or large organizations, it isnt uncommon to find a large amount of items lumped together, for example, there were two bins of burnt umber concentrated paint in the section I was working in. That could easily be used to complete a huge project or a lot of smaller projects. Basically, this place is awesome for people who can plan ahead and see a purpose for a variety of items.

If you can’t make it to the New York Cares volunteer project, don’t fret: you can volunteer directly with MFTA for a few hours based on your availability, helping to sort and fold fabric, label paint cans, straighten up framing supplies or make small repairs on furniture. Contact their volunteer coordinator at volunteer@mfta.nyc.gov for more information. Other things to know:

- Projects vary, but expect to be bending over, picking things up or just generally moving things. Dress for this, and keep in mind that there are paints and dust and other things that may get on your clothes.

- I wasn’t kidding about the OCD. If you’re the type of person that lines up soda cans in the fridge so the labels are all facing the same way, or you organize your book collection by color and size, this may not be the best place to volunteer. There won’t be enough time to organize everything, and it may frustrate you. OR, maybe you SHOULD volunteer here… I don’t know. I’m not a psychologist.

- I found some stuff that gave me a chuckle or made me wonder where it came from. For example, who got this Autobiography of Terry, the dog from the Wizard of Oz, and why in the world did they give it away? I’ll never know. This intrigues me. There are a lot of intriguing things here, and if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy finding these little treasures and imagining the person who owned it last (In this case, my vision was an old theater matron ala The Producers who drank martinis and wore lots of fur).

- Do you qualify to shop here? Possibly, if you are a not-for-profit arts and cultural group; NYC Department of Education art teacher; Social service, health, and environmental organization with an ongoing art program; or government agency, you might. Click here to find out more about becoming a recipient.

- There’s a whole lot more than supplies going on here. MFTA also offers workshops and other activities; visit their website to learn more.

Give and Get NYC will be hosting a Pantry Party on June 12th at 6:30pm. Bring at least 3 non-perishable food donations (from your pantry..or the supermarket-your choice). In return, you’ll get three tickets that are each good for $1 off any drink, or $3 off any pitcher of beer. You can’t combine the tickets, so stay for a while and have a few drinks on the back patio while you eat some fried pickles and tater tots. Yes, tater tots.
All donations will be going towards City Harvest’s ‘Feed the Kids’ food drive. It’s going to be a tough summer for hundreds of thousands of NYC kids who don’t always have enough to eat – a number that is growing. The food you bring on June 12th will help to ensure that emergency food programs are fully stocked this summer. Below are some suggestions of the most needed foods, but anything non-perishable will do.

* canned fruit
* canned vegetables
* peanut butter (plastic jars)
* mac and cheese (packaged)
* hot and cold cereal (packaged, family-sized)

Please RSVP on the Give and Get NYC Facebook Page, or by emailing info@giveandgetnyc.com (subject line PANTRY PARTY) so that I know how many awesome donations to expect. If you invite friends, pass along this link so they can RSVP individually too.. Hope to see you there!

Whiskey Tavern is located at 79 Baxter St. You can take the R, Q, N, W, or 6 to Canal or 4, 5, J, M, Z to Brooklyn Bridge.

I recently came across a brief article by Bill Jacobs called ‘Want to Attract Young Donors? Hire Younger People’, and felt like sharing it with my readers. I usually focus on volunteering, but I think that this article raises a really good point about the merits of using younger people to accomplish bigger goals within a large company or organization. Jacobs, who has years of experience in the area of direct response analytics pertaining to fundraising, describes that in discussions of acquiring new donors, especially young ones, the round-table usually consists of middle-aged white men. In thinking about new donors, this is not the target demographic; it’s that 20-something who’s probably shuffling papers in the copy room or doing some other type of administrative work. So how do you reach this audience? Jacobs suggests hiring them:

“Newsflash! Us old-timers aren’t going to crack the code for acquiring younger donors. Our playbook is too old and we do not speak the native language. Hire a sharp 20-something, give her a goal and a budget, and turn her loose.”

The current generation of 20-somethings is readily active in today’s non-profit world. We’re volunteering more hours now than ever before, and our numbers continue to grow. A lot of us participating in this movement towards a service nation are open to contributing to efforts larger than the typical Saturday afternoon commitment, planting in a community garden. It’s at the juncture where the simple volunteer realizes their potential to grow into a more integral part of an organization, where a donor is born. There are young people throughout the country hoping to make a difference, and it goes beyond volunteering. We may not have as much money as our philanthropic, elderly counterparts, but what we lack in our savings accounts is made up for in our numbers and willingness to help. If we’re not donating as often as we should be, it’s probably because we’re not being tapped into enough or being reached effectively.

This is where I feel Jacobs brings up a great point: us young people are more than just a volunteer pool. We know about the current technology available for connecting people to your organization, because we use it every day; social media is not a veteran sport- it was born in a college dorm around the same time we were getting our degrees. We are resourceful and smart, and have probably already thought about how to further the mission of your non-profit while we were volunteering on the frontlines or helping with the necessary legwork to get things done. We might already be in your office, waiting to be asked for our opinion.

So, my thanks to Bill Jacobs for writing this piece and taking the bold step of admitting that us 20-somethings may have the advantage when it comes to knowing how to reach younger donors.

On May 23rd, God’s Love We Deliver is holding the world’s largest potluck party- and you’re invited! It’s all about getting together with people to enjoy good food and better company, while embracing the mission of God’s Love: be there for others and spread the Love. They’ve made it really easy to get involved by creating an entire website dedicated to this one day. You can sign up to host your own potluck dinner and invite friends, keeping track of RSVPs and allowing your guests to donate right then and there. My good friend McKenzie over at the MMMGuide is hosting a potluck of her own in Brooklyn, and seeing as how she’s a culinary graduate and all, it would be silly of me to pass up the chance to eat her food while also doing some good for GLWD. It’s a win-win…

A few months ago I volunteered with GLWD, packaging dessert for deliveries to be made the next day, and I was really impressed with their organization. Literally-the kitchen runs like well-oiled machine! They provide essential food and nutritional education to men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and other serious illnesses, free of charge. This network of social services and support serves clients living throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Hudson County and Newark, New Jersey.

If you aren’t able to make it to a Potluck dinner on the 23rd, you can still help GLWD by volunteering; volunteers outnumber staff 18 to 1, making them an essential part of the organization. Visit their website for more information.

UPDATE: Just to clarify, this event can take place anywhere. Your house, your friend’s house, a neighbors, anywhere. It is not, literally, a huge potluck party at the GLWD headquarters. Visit the website for more information (link above).

On May 8th, the National Association of Letter Carriers will be holding a nationwide food drive, held in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service. Over the past 18 years, Stamp Out Hunger has become the largest one-day food drive in the nation, helping to feed families in all 50 states by collecting more than three-quarters of a billion pounds of food from generous Americans. The current tally is at is 982.7 million pounds-so close to a billion-let’s push it over this year!

You can do your part by leaving a bag of non-perishable food donations in a bag by your mailbox on May 8th, which will be picked up by your local mailman (or mail woman). Non-perishable pretty much means anything you can forget is in your pantry, find it a year later, and still eat; think oatmeal, canned vegetables and fruit, soup, cereal, etc. Also, check with your local post office to make sure they’re participating, before you leave a bag of food outside; if they’re not picking up in your area but you still want to donate, click here to find a food pantry near you that would love to have your donations!