Be the Change...

Please Volunteer! (Volunteer Blogger Sydney Swearengin)

2011-01-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

Sydney Swearengin Volunteer Blogger

Hello! My name is Sydney Swearengin and I’m in sixth grade at Bullard TALENT. I’ve been volunteering since I started school this year, and I think you should too. This Martin Luther King Day, we are trying to have the largest service day in Fresno history, so we’re asking you to volunteer. It’s important to volunteer because it can help turn Fresno around. Volunteering helps get things done without the city having to spend money to get the task done. It can also help clean up our city. Here are some volunteering ideas that you can do:

Clean up a park
Help at an animal shelter
Plant Trees
Clean up a school
Collect items to donate to a homeless shelter
Have a food drive
Help at an office

Over my Christmas break, I went and helped at City Hall. At first I was nervous, but I actually had a lot of fun! Right now, I’m volunteering at the HandsOn Central California building. They asked me to work on this blog for them. So if you want to volunteer, you can look on the Serve Fresno website for volunteer opportunities. Please come and volunteer on Martin Luther King Day this year!

The Year Keeps Getting Better and Better

2010-11-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

We hope our readers had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend! It was definitely a nice mini-vacation for us here at HandsOn (November has been a busy month!) Volunteers helped kick off the Season of Giving on November 20th for Serving Fresno Day, giving back to local non-profit organizations by helping to beautify and organize offices, put together meal boxes, clean parks, and much more. Mother nature was not on our side, yet volunteers still met us in the cold morning rain, when we know they would much rather have stayed warm and dry in their beds. We cannot say enough what AMAZING and dedicated volunteers we have!

If you'd like to help, we are still taking sign-ups to help at our next event Hope for the Holidays on December 19th. One of our favorite and most memorable events, Hope for the Holidays gives homeless families the opportunity to celebrate the holiday season together with good food and cheer, and each child receives their very own gift from Santa Claus himself! You can visit www.handsoncentralcal.org or call us at 559-237-3101 to help. We also have a toy donation box located at the Santa Studio in River Park and the Serve Fresno Christmas tree up, where you can Give the Gift of Time by making a commitment to volunteer in your community. While you are there, make sure to visit our Art By Hand store!!!! We are so very excited to showcase the fantastic one-of-a-kind art pieces designed by local artists at our new holiday location! You can find art decor, warm accessories, and unique jewelry gifts for yourself or a loved one. Your purchases help to enable us in continuing to serve our community.

Have a Happy Holiday season and please remember to pop in and say "Hi" in-between your Christmas shopping at River Park.

Volunteers make a BIG IMPACT on Make A Difference Day

2010-11-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

The month of October flew by so quickly and we at HandsOn are excited to embrace Autumn, cold weather in the Central Valley, and the Holiday season! (We begin celebration today with our Thanksgiving potluck.) But before we move from ghouls to turkey, lets take a look at the amazing things volunteers have done in our community just this past month. October 23rd was Make A Difference Day and over 100 residents came out with us to do just that in Fresno, Merced, and Tulare counties. Volunteers helped to clean and beautify three neighborhood parks, provided the opportunity for home bound seniors to have mobility by building 2 wheelchair ramps, installed grab rails, provided running water to senior homes, provided yard upkeep and interior maintenance, and more.

See what Volunteers did here!

To learn more about volunteering,

visit www.handsoncentralcal.org or call 559-237-3101

Coming Together in Service and Remembrance on 9/11

2010-09-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we, along with the Community Food Bank, held Feed Hope: a massive food distribution in recognition of 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance and September being National Hunger Awareness Month. Feed Hope was an absolute success! Over 700 volunteers works hard to distribute 1.3 million pounds of food to over 27,000 families all under 6 hours! What an achievement! It was wonderful to see so many people of all ages come together, eager to serve their community. We surely do have the best volunteers.

Volunteers registered and ready!

Clients waiting to pick up meal boxes

View more photos HERE

Summer is here!

2010-06-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Summer is here. School is out! Don't want your kids becoming couch potatoes? Sign them up for our Summer of Service Program, 7 days of service-learning fun.

Beginning Thursday June 24th and going for 6 thursdays after that, youth ages 12-16 will learn about pressing community issues from hunger and homelessness to environmental issues and more.
Learn more and register HERE

Honor an AmeriCorps, its AmeriCorps Week!

2010-05-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

What an exciting week we've had! On Tuesday, we traveled up to Merced to celebrate the Grand Opening of our new Merced office (located at Bob Hart Square on the corner of Main and Canal) and to celebrate our AmeriCorps VIPs serving in Merced.

We enjoyed delicious food

ribbon cutting ceremony

Honoring the AmeriCorps VIPs serving in Merced

Tommorow we will be out at Mooney Grove Park in Tulare for the Fun and Fit 50+ Day hosted by our RSVP Team. Join us for food, fun, and more fun.

Congratulations to all the HATV 2010 Volunteers of the Year

2010-04-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Winners of Hands Across the Valley Volunteer of the Year awards.

Outstanding Adult Volunteer of the Year - Gabriel Hernandez
Outstanding College/Higher Education Volunteer of the Year - Daniella Valencia
Outstanding Service Organization of the Year - The Well Church
Outstanding Business Volunteer of the Year - PG&E
Outstanding Leadership Volunteer of the Year - Cary Catalano
Outstanding Senior Volunteer of the Year - Eva Gray
Outstanding Youth Volunteer of the Year - Carissa Bryant
Outstanding CSUF Volunteer of the Year - Celeste Pilegard
Outstanding School Volunteer of the Year - Connie Windsor

The Humanitarian Award - Scott Bennett
The Lifetime Achievement Award - Mike Smith
HandsOn Mission Award - Sujana De Almeida
Power of We Award - Kathryn Hamlin
Spirit of Caring Award - Cynthia Yeager

Thank you to all nominees and winners for being the change. You are an inspiration to all!

Serve Fresno: Mayor's Initiative

2010-04-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

Exciting Month!

2010-04-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

We've got some great things lined up for this month!

On April 13, Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearingen will be announcing Serve Fresno, the Mayor’s Initiative on Service and Volunteerism. This effort will challenge the residents of Fresno to serve our community and measure the hours they serve. The Volunteer-a-thon on April 20th will launch the Mayor's Initiative. Be sure to visit CBS 47 to find an organization you want to volunteer with.

April 21 is our annual Hands Across the Valley Volunteer of the Year award luncheon at Golden Palace to honor individuals, groups and partners who have made a difference by generously giving their time and talent in an effort to help bring about positive change in our community.

Lastly, in honor of Earth Day and National Youth Serve Day, Generation Green will be held on April 24th. Join us to take part in 20 projects ranging from tree planting, trail clean-up, and habitat enhancement. Visit http://www.handsoncentralcal.org/ to register.

National Fun at Work Day

2010-04-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

Today is National Fun at Work Day which coincidentallly rang true as we held our Easter egg hunt with the Lowell Community at Dickey Park. We had an awesome time with the families, especially with the excited and energetic children.

Here some HOCC staff play Ultimate Frisbee with the kids

WE Connect

2010-03-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

WE Connect coverage by KSEE24

We had a great time at the WE Connect event held this past weekend at the Fresno Fairgrounds. A huge Thank You to all of our fantastic volunteers who really helped to make the event a success from beginning to end.

We are wrapping up this event and eagerly preparing for our Safe Routes to School Safety Day coming up this Saturday.

See you there!

Erin Go Art

2010-03-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Don’t Miss: “Erin Go Art” – Celebrating inspirational Irish art
When: Thursday March 4, 5pm-8pm
Where: 732 North Van Ness Ave. Fresno, Between Belmont and Olive Ave. Just north of HWY 180 at the Van Ness exit.

Enjoy beer tasting by Sequoia Tioga Brewery, cheese tasting by Bravo Cheese, and more Irish goodies. We will be featuring whimsical characters by Ben Short, woodcrafts and Celtic crosses by Tim Munsey, ceramics by Amy Morgan and spirit dolls by Julie Mitchell. Event is free and open to the public. And remember, our Art By Hand store is open Monday-Friday 10-2pm. So if you absolutely can’t make it to Art Hop night, stop by during the day.

Ben’s Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bengaloh
Julie’s Blog: http://juliemitchellspiritfigures.blogspot.com/
More about Amy: http://www.stellargallery.com

Save the Date!
Look out for our following Art Hop on April 1st. Sponsored by Green Fresno, you will find intruiging Repurposed and Recycled Art. Come see our entire office turned into a Green gallery.

Want to help your community? Then Be Counted!

2010-02-25T14:50:00.000-08:00

Did you know, California looses $1,000+ per person per year for each person who is not counted in the Census? That is billions of dollars that can go to improved hospitals and healthcare, schools, roads, and many more resources for our communities. Remember, all information provided on the Census is confidential. You don't have to be a citizen to Be Counted. As a person living in the United States, it is your Constitutional Right to Be Counted!

Make a difference, Volunteer!

2010-02-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

Looking for volunteer opportunities? At http://www.handsoncentralcal.org/ you can find 100+ opportunities in almost any field you can think of. Here are a few current opportunities:

Book Bank
Description: Process books to be given to schools in low-income neighborhoods

Blue Ribbon Display Outreach
Description: Help paint the town Blue! Tie blue ribbons around the trees in Downtown Court House and the Tower District in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Spend Friday night with a special needs child
Description: Often families struggle emotionally and spiritually because of the effect disability can have on the family. Joni and Friends has started a program to provide temporary respite (relief) for parents of children with special needs. The purpose of the program is to give these parents free time to go on a date, grab coffee, or just run errands without interruption.

If neither of these interests you, remember we have plenty more opportunities available on our website. So drop on by; you never know what might catch your eye.

2010-02-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we put on a Thank You Reception and Art Hop in honor of the volunteers who helped in the drought food distribution of 2009. Volunteers were able to enjoy a variety of desserts; cupcakes, strawberry shortcake, brownies, and tarts to name a few, while melodic tunes and cheerful conversations wafted throughout the office. The Volunteer Connections beehive was transformed into a wine tasting area with wine graciously served by Twin Rivers Vintners of Fresno County. Our Art by Hand store was also open, showcasing magnificent art pieces: paintings, purses, and other creations by local artists for the public to browse and purchase.
We want to again thank those who volunteered in the drought disaster food distribution for the dedication of your time and service during the disaster, and for being the change in your community. Also, a big thanks to the Community Food Bank for partnering with us to serve our communities.

Others news:

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and we are currently selling Valentine's for Volunteers. Send your loved one a valentine and support volunteerism in the valley!
We are currently accepting nominations for the annual Hands Across the Valley Volunteer of the Year Awards. Nominate your amazing volunteers for this tremendous honor. Nomination packets are due no later than February 19, 2010.