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The Points of Light Blog
Help HandsOn Network respond to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
You can help HandsOn Network respond to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. In these first few days since the earthquake, we have connected with our HandsOn Tokyo affiliate in Japan and we are working with our international partners to determine support needed on the local level. We have set-up an account with MissionFish/Ebay and Paypal to collect donations to assist HandsOn Tokyo with relief efforts. Over the next few days we’ll continue to update you on current activities and ways you can help.
Until then, here’s what you can do right now: 1. Donate resources to support relief efforts Visit your Hands on Tokyo homepage on eBay (Please do not send goods, monetary resources are most useful in immediate relief) 2. Youth can become involved in the response from a distance! Lessons and other resources can be found at: http://learningtogive.org/lessons/disaster_relief/ 3. Follow up to date information related to HandsOn Network’s response on twitter “hondisaster” (this will only be updated when new information is available) 4. Register for a potential volunteer opportunity: If you have tech skills, Crisis Commons is seeking volunteers to monitor the situation in the Pacific Rim, gather data and identify needs stipulated by local agencies and humanitarian aid organizations that can be addressed through collaborative online software development.
PLEASE BE REMINDED AS WITH ALL DISASTERS PLEASE DO NOT SELF DEPLOY TO THE REGION IMPACTED BY THE DISASTER. PLEASE WAIT UNTIL VOLUNTEER ASSISTANCE IS REQUESTED.
For those seeking family or friends in the devastated areas: http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=ja
Connect with other US based organizations involved in the response: http://www1.networkforgood.org/help-survivors-pacific-quake-tsunami
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Until then, here’s what you can do right now: 1. Donate resources to support relief efforts Visit your Hands on Tokyo homepage on eBay (Please do not send goods, monetary resources are most useful in immediate relief) 2. Youth can become involved in the response from a distance! Lessons and other resources can be found at: http://learningtogive.org/lessons/disaster_relief/ 3. Follow up to date information related to HandsOn Network’s response on twitter “hondisaster” (this will only be updated when new information is available) 4. Register for a potential volunteer opportunity: If you have tech skills, Crisis Commons is seeking volunteers to monitor the situation in the Pacific Rim, gather data and identify needs stipulated by local agencies and humanitarian aid organizations that can be addressed through collaborative online software development.
PLEASE BE REMINDED AS WITH ALL DISASTERS PLEASE DO NOT SELF DEPLOY TO THE REGION IMPACTED BY THE DISASTER. PLEASE WAIT UNTIL VOLUNTEER ASSISTANCE IS REQUESTED.
For those seeking family or friends in the devastated areas: http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=ja
Connect with other US based organizations involved in the response: http://www1.networkforgood.org/help-survivors-pacific-quake-tsunami
####
President Obama and VP Biden join HandsOn in 9-11 Day of Remembrance and Service
This past weekend, Americans across the nation demonstrated the compassion, resilience, and unity that marks the way many of us commemorate that fateful September 11th nine
years ago. For HandsOn Network in particular, it was a day of service, bringing people together to create a better future. Here are a few of the many highlights:
President Obama, paint roller in hand, energetically joined 80 other volunteers at our affiliate, Greater DC Cares, as they refurbished Ron Brown Middle School and sewed quilts
for children whose parents are in the military overseas.
At our affiliate New York Cares, Vice President Joe Biden, his wife Dr. Jill Biden, and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks packed military care packages planned by MyGoodDeed, a nonprofit that organizes a myriad of service projects on 9-11.
At the Volunteer Center of Southern Nevada, the Helping Heroes Project focused on assisting at-risk and homeless veterans, partnering with U.S. Vets, a local nonprofit that provides housing, job training and counseling.
In Washington State, the Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason, and Thurston counties, along with hundreds of volunteers, hosted a giant potluck along the streets of the state capitol, where families shared a meal and reflected on their service and remembrance of those lost on 9-11.
HandsOn Charlotte, N.C., besides managing projects for shelters, schools, and parks, encouraged people to create their own personal ways of honoring the day and cemented their suggestions with an editorial in the local newspaper.
HandsOn Jacksonville partnered with a local university and sent 150 college students to participate in service projects focusing on the environment, education, and poverty.
Boston Cares used the anniversary to launch a new program that will train volunteers in disaster response and allow them to become key mobilizers if and when disaster strikes.
There were many more projects across our network, too numerous to list, but all honored and remembered the day in ways that make this country stronger.
At our affiliate New York Cares, Vice President Joe Biden, his wife Dr. Jill Biden, and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks packed military care packages planned by MyGoodDeed, a nonprofit that organizes a myriad of service projects on 9-11.
At the Volunteer Center of Southern Nevada, the Helping Heroes Project focused on assisting at-risk and homeless veterans, partnering with U.S. Vets, a local nonprofit that provides housing, job training and counseling.
In Washington State, the Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason, and Thurston counties, along with hundreds of volunteers, hosted a giant potluck along the streets of the state capitol, where families shared a meal and reflected on their service and remembrance of those lost on 9-11.
HandsOn Charlotte, N.C., besides managing projects for shelters, schools, and parks, encouraged people to create their own personal ways of honoring the day and cemented their suggestions with an editorial in the local newspaper.
HandsOn Jacksonville partnered with a local university and sent 150 college students to participate in service projects focusing on the environment, education, and poverty.
Boston Cares used the anniversary to launch a new program that will train volunteers in disaster response and allow them to become key mobilizers if and when disaster strikes.
There were many more projects across our network, too numerous to list, but all honored and remembered the day in ways that make this country stronger.
Thousands of 1st Time Volunteers Engaged by Disney's Program
Friday, August 27, 2010 - Give a Day. Get a Disney Day., the program providing a free day's pass to a Disney Park in exchange for a day of volunteering, was a resounding success at the American Red Cross.
Volunteers flocked to their local Red Cross to earn a Disney Day. Nearly 7,000 volunteers, many of them new to the organization, served as donor center greeters, sorted pamphlets and stuffed bags destined for military families. Red Cross volunteers also cleaned manikins, made thank you calls, painted walls, represented the Red Cross at community events, assisted with disaster shelter drills, supported Haiti earthquake fundraising, and much, much more.
More than a quarter of Red Cross chapters and Blood Services regions participated in the 10-week program which began January 1, 2010. Involvement mirrors the nationwide span of Red Cross service delivery—Disney passes were documented from Red Cross units in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
The Charleston, S.C. Region Experience
Special family-oriented programs at the Charleston, S.C. Region provided Disney passes for 728 volunteers, more than any other participating Red Cross unit.
Director of Volunteer and Youth Services Lisa Miller-Wills engaged hundreds of volunteers of all ages with a card program, Brightening the Dark Days of Winter for Our Local Service Men and Women. A chapter volunteer provided free space at which card preparers could meet and work. Over 2,000 cards were made by the project's end.
The chapter also turned to the measles program for family-friendly volunteer opportunities. A template was developed, and from that volunteers created a measles presentation and then presented it to a local library or school. In one case, an entire school saw the presentation and bought measles pins.
Miller-Wills has several heart warming stories from the effort. She talks about people coming from two and three hours away to volunteer, and of having more than 100 people sign up every weekend while the program was going on. Her favorite memory is the father who volunteered for the very first time in his life, because his kids wanted to help and they couldn't volunteer without an adult.
While at the chapter, every volunteer received information about disaster preparedness and how to become a registered volunteer. Miller-Wills and other chapter staff are following up, inviting new volunteers to help with other service delivery and fundraising events, and keeping them informed of Red Cross activities through the chapter e-newsletter.
Points of Light Institute to Add Significant Service-Learning Resources for Schools
Points of Light Institute is extremely pleased to announce that we intend to add the program resources of the LEAGUE to our portfolio, increasing our capacity to inspire, equip, and mobilize young people to take action that changes the world.
In particular, these resources will add to our ability to reach youth and to engage schools in creating a culture of service starting in the earliest grades. The LEAGUE is a school and online system for service learning, with Learning to Give as its curriculum for teaching K-12 philanthropy. Learning to Give is a leading program that meets education standards in all 50 states, and teaches kids the power of service and giving. It will be an extraordinary complement to the array of programs and resources offered by our generationOn, which is the largest youth volunteer service organization in the nation. Through generationOn we will scale access to service and civic engagement resources to teachers and education administrators, and mobilize the energy and compassion of young people to transform the world and themselves through service. The significant added resources of the LEAGUE programs in 700 schools, its service coach model, the Learning to Give curriculum, and its Parade All American High School Team Service Awards will help us realize a truly comprehensive approach to improving schools and leveraging service learning to improve the academic and life success of students.
Our increased abilities are particularly important given our commitment to the national Graduation Nation effort, as we empower young people to discover their potential as world citizens through service and equip teachers and families with the tools and resources to support them. Building upon the terrific assets and leadership of the LEAGUE, we look forward to creating communities and institutions where every young person realizes his/her power to make a difference. In late June at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in New York City, we will reveal our new and innovative plans to reach and transform youth and schools across the country. We will bring the best resources and models forward for schools to use and replicate across the nation.
2010 Employee Volunteer Program Reporting Standards
We are proud to present the newly revised Employee Volunteer Program (EVP) Reporting Standards 2010 (formerly known as the Corporate Reporting Standards). These standards were
developed by a group of key stakeholders under the guidance of the Corporate Service Council's ROI & Standards Committee. The new version of the standards aims to
continue the path of streamlining EVP reporting.
Download your copy today.
Download your copy today.
HandsOn Network has 250 Action Centers. Find one near you and start making a difference in your community.
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