I am a SLACKER. Here are updates.

Ugh, I have had some CRAZY weeks. I want you all to see the Civic Leadership Series link we've been developing!

http://www.usm.maine.edu/studentlife/communityservice/leadership.html

These workshops are for students who are leaders or who are interested in leadership. We ran them last semester and had some quality conversations, so we invite YOU to join us this semester!

You can be a student leader of ANY kind, or ANYONE interested in boosting their own leadership skills! (Can I get that across any more blatantly?)

Hope to see you there!


In other news:

Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund has been giving inner-city children the joy of a summer vacation with volunteer host families and at Fund camps, creating unforgettable memories and fresh possibilities.

They are now accepting applications for counselors for this coming summer of '09! The Fresh Air Fund islooking for college-aged men and women who love to work with children to fill a wide variety of fields.

For more information, please see
www.freshair.org and http://freshairfundcounselors.smnr.us/

Positions fill VERY quickly, so get your application in ASAP!


As always, we are looking for people to staff STRIVE's Friday night socials, and dinner will be served at the Ronald McDonald House on the 23rd.

Amanda

Mentor Celebration Rescheduled

Due to MASSIVE amounts of snow and ice, the Mentor Celebration has been rescheduled to next Wednesday, February 4th. It will still be 4-6pm in the Woodbury Ampitheatre.

Please come and share your story!

:)
Amanda

Mentor Celebration!

The Greater Portland Mentoring Partnership and I are inviting you to a Mentor Celebration to be held in the Woodbury Campus Center on Wednesday, January 28th from 4-6pm. I am inviting you to come for part or all of this time. There will be light refreshments and a few USM students will be talking about their experiences as mentors. In addition, Sue Steele from the Portland Public Schools will speak about the wonderful connection between USM and the local schools.

This celebration is intended to recognize the fantastic work mentors do within USM and the Greater Portland community. January is National Mentoring Month, and I think you all deserve a big thank you!

If any mentors are compelled to share a mentoring experience at the event, they are welcome to do so! Parking is available in the garage across the street from the Campus Center, and I will have vouchers available if you need them.

Please forward this information to anyone you see fit, and I hope to see you Wednesday!

Amanda

MLK Day!

Martin Luther King, Jr Day is fast approaching! To read our event description and sign up, go here:

http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/weekendeventsjanuary17or18/wc2

Happy January!

BREAK!

Looking for service opportunities over the break? It will be slow, but not void of opportunities!

The Boys & Girls Club in Riverton is looking for volunteers to help with dinner set up and break down, gift wrapping and PLAYING! It's 3-6pm this Friday night, but if you can come for just one hour, that would be great! Call Tiffanie at 797-9048 or email her: tpanagakos@bgcmaine.org.

Monday, December 29th will be USM guest chef night at Ronald McDonald House.

The Wayside Soup Kitchen always needs people to help serve breakfasts or dinner. Let me know if you want to do this with some friends!

In January, we will be having a big Martin Luther King, Jr event on Saturday, the 17th. During this event, we'll be working with kids at the three Portland Housing Authority education centers to make art about dreams. FMI: rachel.church@maine.edu.

STRIVE will still be having their Friday night social dances, and you are more than welcome to come get dowwwn! FMI: courtney.babbidge@maine.edu.

Enjoy some time off and stay warm!

Amanda

PortSports + Wassail = <3

You are cordially invited to PortSports First Annual Holiday Wassailing Party!!

Please check out the link for event information and help spread the word!

http://www.portsportsmaine.com/events/portsports-first-annual

The Wayside Soup Kitchen has provided some facts about the local hunger problem:

• The typical American eats an average of one dinner per week at a restaurant at an average cost of $25.00 per meal.
• The average cost per meal at the Wayside Soup Kitchen is $1.77.
• Almost one in ten people in Maine is either hungry or worried about going hungry.
• From 2000 to 2005, Maine had had the highest increase in the country in the percentage of people who go hungry.
• One third of people in Maine on food stamps are working.
• A third of Maine workers do not earn a living wage.
• To avoid having to accept handouts, adults in many families go without food so their children can eat.
• 94,000 children in Maine are living in homes at risk of hunger.

Can’t attend but would like to donate food/money? Just contact Dave & Morgan Surkin:

Dave- dave@portsportsmaine.com

Morgan- morgan@portsportsmaine.com

Say It Loud!

Portland's Popular Youth Hip Hop Group is back on stage!

Say it Loud performing December 5th!

When: Friday, December 5th at 7pm

Where: Casco Bay High School

3rd Floor Dance Studio

196 Allen Avenue, Portland, ME

Over the past two months, students from Casco Bay High School have been writing their own lyrics to create original raps, songs and poetry as well as learning new dance moves and routines with help from Add Verb Productions' facilitating local artists, Chiara Liberatore, Saiyid Brent and Bruce Tracy.

Please come see all of their hard work and amazing talent showcased in a final performance reflecting this year's themes of “Relationships...Being Who I Am...Politics...and World Issues!”

Say it Loud! Is produced by Add Verb Productions Arts & Education - a Portland based organization that awakens community-based action and understanding of social issues through theatre, creative expression and dialogue. At the students' request, Casco Bay High School and Add Verb collaborated this summer and created the Say it Loud Hip Hop Club-to help young people express what matters to them most in a unique, positive and powerful way.