Food and Game Ideas for Game Night

games:

pictionary/taboo

twister

face painting

red rover

movie after activities if there are still kids hanging around (if access to tv and dvd player)

food:

ice cream sundaes

pizza

arts and crafts:

a string of snowflakes

snowman (styrofoam balls w/ toothpicks to hold it together)

coloring

gak

what we need:

balloons, streamers, cups, plates, napkins, utensils, table cloth, bowls, spoons, ice cream sundae foods, 2 ice cream scoops, arts and crafts materials, game materials, how many pizzas and sodas?

Pizza Night Friday, 12/4

Hello all! Okay, so we just got out of the meeting with Christine and we just wanted to sum it all up for you. We are planning on doing the event on Friday, Dec 4, the week after we all get back from turkey break. I'm pretty sure a few of my friends are going to want to help out, so we'll have a few extra hands which will be awesome. Christine suggested starting the event at 5:30 and ending it at 7ish, but we're thinking of making it a bit longer just to be with the kids (not because we need the hours ha). Anyways, she wants us to have games and activities so it'll be more interactive. Any ideas?? Ilana had a good idea of a game similar to musical chairs...but I can't quite remember the name. Whitney is going to make a really great advertisement flier to market and spread the word around the area where the walkathon was at. We were also thinking of having a movie playing before or after the activity segment of the night -- maybe a new disney or cartoon movie. I'll ask my younger brothers for movie and game ideas. Oh and please don't feel obligated to come if you've already completed your hours. BUT if you want to help kids who need your help and if you want to be a good person, then you BETTER be there!

Seriously just kidding!!! Have a great break everyone and see you tomorrow for the presentation!

Homelessness Facts for Trivia/T or F Questions

Hi all,

I've started gathering facts for the trivia T/F questions on homelessness.

I need help turing the facts into T/F questions. I also need help dumbing the qestions down. Some of them are too high level for little kids...

Does someone want to volunteer to help me work on this??? :)

Send me an email at emcbrian@comcast.net yo.

~Elaine

Notes from Last meeting w/Deborah at FACETS on 10/21

She’d like us to go check out the community center where we’ll be setting up on the day of the event so we know where we’re going to put the booths. It’s right near Mason at Robinson Square so go check it out when you’re in the area.

The walkers will go in groups every 20 minutes. We need to think about that when we plan how long the events are going to last.

The walk itself is 20 minutes long

They can only accept credit cards and checks at the registration booth. NO CASH!

Whitney and Elaine are painting the signs

Garrett and Louis are making the bean bag toss thing

We narrowed the events we’re doing down to 5 activities:
1. Bean bag toss
2. Soccer shoot out
3. Snack packs
4. Draw a mural
5. Decorate ribbons

There are some items we need to get. She’d like us to keep expenses to $100 or less total. Please update Whitney via email for your expenses - she will keep Deborah updated. Also, post your purchases to the blog so we all have an idea of where we are with the budget.

Our next meeting at FACETS is Wednesday November 4th at 1pm

EtherPad

Hey guys! Below is the link to Etherpad. Etherpad is basically like a group chat. It may help us if we need to have a group meeting but not everyone can make it. If we use Etherpad, we would just need to pick a time and day and log on. It's free if you click the 'public pad' link and it's really easy to use. The person who starts the chat then needs to email the link to everyone else to join. Just an option if we need to have a meeting digitally...

http://etherpad.com/

Notes from last meeting

Activities:

1. Bean Bag Toss:
Materials:
Wooden board (Garrett will make the holes)
Paint
Bean bags

2. Soccer Shoot Out:
Materials:
Mini soccer goals (provided by Sasha)
Soccer balls (provided by Sasha)
Cones (provided by Sasha)

3. Snack Packs:
Materials:
Brown paper bags
Markers
Craft supplies (provided by Elaine)
Snacks (possibly provided by the group)

4. Possible Ideas:
a. Draw a mural
b. Stomping balloons
c. Hangman
d. Decorate ribbons
e. Jeopardy
f. Drawing “What does home mean to you?”

General items we’ll may need:
a. Raffle tickets?
b. Prizes
c. Chalk
d. Hula Hoops
e. Tape (to tape off areas)
f. 2 x tables
g. 2 x tents
h. Event flyers

NEW IDEA FOR WALKATHON

Hey Guys!

Im really good friends with these guys. http://www.purevolume.com/geppettoswudva

The lead singer runs a non-profit called hands across that helps disadvantaged families in the Phillipines and Korea. They would come and perform for free at the walkathon and they perform really well live. They have all their own equipment and everything they'd need really. I think it would be a really good way to attract more people to sign up for the walk. Just waiting to hear about the drummer who goes to Mary Washington and he could possibly have problems getting to Fairfax that day. If you guys like the idea I think we should talk to whats her face about it.

team builder excersize

So i'm pretty sure our team builder is tomorrow...I guess we're just gonna do the one idea we had at the beginning of the year if thats ok with everybody...

the idea was to have everybody pair up (groups of 2) and have them sit back to back (maybe on the floor or turn their desks back to back.) Hand one person a picture, it should be pretty detailed, not super easy to duplicate. have the other person have a blank piece of paper and a pencil. The person with the picture has to try to describe to the other person how to draw the image without looking at the other person. The person with the blank piece of paper has to follow exactly what their partner says to try to duplicate the image. (depending on how much time this takes, if we need more time, we could have them switch roles and give them another drawing to duplicate.) In the end, we could compare to see who has the most closely duplicated image, and we could talk about how they communicated and what made them successful. Obviously the important lesson here is communicating and listening effectively to accomplish a common goal.

Sound good? Garrett, are you and sasha able to meet and make handouts for this teambuilder?
Louis said he would be able to print out copies of the images themselves.

next meeting???

hey guys are we supposed to be meeting on Tuesday this week? (10/13) because if we are meeting at 5:30 again I wont be able to make it, my class on monday is rescheduled for that time. Did we decide what was happening for our next meeting? somebody fill me in.

Part Two

Our group has two main focuses that intertwine into one. They are the issues of homelessness and its effects on the local area of Fairfax, and the raising of awareness of the earlier issue. We feel that the community does not have a full grasp of how big the issue stretches right here in our very city. FACETS have been able to decrease the number of homeless in Fairfax this year. From 2008 to 2009 respectively they counted 1,835 people to 1,730 homeless this year.

FACETS goal is to assist the homeless into a better living situation and out of their poverty stricken lives. They educate and allow people to feel empowered by creating their own improvements. This year FACETS assisted over four thousand people into a better life. The direct effect of their work touches the homeless that they help, but at the same time assists the common taxpayers. It benefits everyone in Fairfax and in its proximity as well by alleviating the monetary dependencies that the homeless may have on the government. FACETS tries to reconnect the impoverished people with family members and friends in the area. If you visit FACETS website you can read more on some of the stories http://facetscares.org/about_us/success_stories.htm. One quick brief of a story was of two children named Asma and Jarod, they lost their father, two of six children, no money, and FACETS has set up a competitive scholarship to allow the children to go to George Mason upon an A/B standing throughout high school. FACETS is making real connections that people can build a meaningful life off of.

There are a few barriers we want to overcome with helping the homeless, the first, of course, is money. As with anything money is the deciding factor of whether or not a project is put into action. But FACETS has plenty of fund raisers and other charitable events for that. Next will come the man power which is where our group is going to come in. We are taking the reins on one of the projects available right now, it is to educate and hold our own booth at the November Fairfax Walk-a-thon. We also have been and will be participating in many other volunteer positions throughout the semester building up to our final educational project. As of current events, FACETS has been successful in helping and meeting the criteria and needs of the impoverished. In 2008 FACETS was able to prepare and deliver over 35,000 nutritional meals and serve them at an average of 93 meals per night. They served over 100 families in a night. If you want more information on FACETS community impacts feel free to visit their website, http://www.facetscares.org/about_us/community_impact.htm. The success of FACETS is unmatched in Fairfax; they are the premiere non-profit organization addressing the issues of homelessness and explains why we chose them as our sponsor.

Our main contact for this project is going to be Ilana’s internship sponsor, Carrie Idol. She will extend to us the resources of FACETS; our capabilities will only be limited due to the resources extended to us. As long as we can have a venue, our group will be successful in expressing our message. The strengths of Fairfax that our group can build on exist within the organizations already doing the work. There are three churches doing meals nightly for the homeless, and there are other known establishments in which someone can sleep with a roof over their head for the night. This may not directly change someone over night and make them turn the corner, but it is a start, and lets the homeless know that someone somewhere cares, and that they themselves are not alone. This is a mission of ours, and the vision is something that FACETS itself holds.

Part One

Our group intends to connect with the organization FACETS to help raise awareness of homelessness and its effects on the local communities. Since 1988, FACETS has been a non-profit organization whose vision has been to break the cycle of homelessness in Fairfax County by building strong and safe communities. The organization’s mission has been to build strong families and safe communities by improving the quality of life for impoverished men, women and children through comprehensive programs addressing physical, spiritual and emotional needs. We plan on working directly alongside the organization by volunteering and helping FACETS provide programs, services, and supportive housing to the homeless precariously housed in Fairfax County to help develop safer communities and better living situation away from poverty.

According to the 2009 Point-in-Time survey, there are more than 1700 individuals who are homeless in Fairfax County. FACETS helps people identify the steps they need to take to achieve their personal goals for self-sufficiency and junks. We want to help responds to the needs of disadvantaged people with the dignity and understanding they deserve.

Carrie Idol, Llana’s internship sponsor, is our main contact for this project. She will provide us a venue and resources in order for us to successfully convey our message. She may be contacted via email at facets@facetscares.org or by telephone at (703) 352-5090. Our assessment will be evaluated based on her criteria on volunteering activities, how we interact and communicate with the homeless, and meetings with FACETS every other week.

Group Presentation notes

Whats up dudes and dudettes

The following are the notes we came up with in class for the group presentation assignment:

Part 1. Information about community partner

Facets mission is to build strong families and safe communities by improving the quality of life for impoverished men, women and children through comprehensive programs addressing physical, spiritual and emotional needs.

Vision is to break the cycle of homelessness in Fairfax County by building strong and safe communities since 1988.

Responds to the needs of disadvantaged people with the dignity and understanding they deserve.

According to the 2009 point in time survey, there are more than 1700 individuals who are literally homeless in Fairfax County.

Facets helps people identify the steps they need to take to achieve their personal goals for self_sufficiency and junks.

Part 2. Information about your group process.

Passionate about our cause.

Emailed several organizations and Facets responded promptly.

Focus on community building and preventing homelessness.

Learning goals include:
-Understand Facets, mission, values, how to prevent homelessness and support homeless people.
-learning about homelessness and non-profits
- how non-profits work together to achieve goals but how is Facets different from other non-profits and how can they improve?

Learning objectives include:
-How to interact and communicate efficiently and affectively with the homeless. (talking with AND about them)
-
Meetings: meet every other week with each other on tuesdays and Facets meetings on wednesdays.

The actual walk is our main focus including the planning activities leading up to it a
-timesheets

meetings with Facets

Smaller extra volunteering activities such as: auctions, octoberfest, and a fun night for kids

Part 3. connection to course content

Social change models AKA the 7 c's

MBTI

the "great groups" reading

Part 4. Presentation Effectiveness

Make sure to answer all learning objectives

Rate our successfullness of events

Homelessness test

Power point presentation with visuals such as film clips, pictures, etc.

Part 5. Classmates supportiveness

just show up

take the damn tests

pretend to be interested.


ADD WHATEVER ELSE YOU WANT BY COMMENTING!

EMAIL from Carrie about volunteering on Saturday

Hi Louis,

Thanks so much for being willing to help out with Oktoberfest this weekend! It's a new event for us, and we're hoping our booth will attract a lot of visitors! That would be perfect if you and one or two team members can come between 10:30 and 11.

I just wanted to give you a few more details for Saturday. First, the event is outside, and will be held rain or shine, so please dress accordingly to be outside! We will have a tent with our booth area, so there is some shelter. Right now they're calling for great weather on Saturday, so we'll cross our fingers that's the case! Second, I've attached a map of the event (on the second page of the PDF), and we're in section A. We're having a big banner printed, so hopefully we should be easy to spot! Finally, there is no designated parking area for the event. There is street parking around Vienna, which is probably your best option. If you're able to have a friend drop you off, that might be even easier! I should be at the booth in the morning when you arrive, so I'll be able to get you all settled and answer any questions.

Finally, if you have any other questions about the event, here is their website: http://www.vtrcc.org/oktoberfest/index.html, which can hopefully help!

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Carrie

Carrie Idol

Volunteer Manager

FACETS

10565 Fairfax Blvd., Suite 10

Fairfax, VA 22030

703-865-4251

703-352-5088 (fax)

www.facetscares.org

FACETS has been selected for the 2009/10 Catalogue for Philanthropy and is described as, “One of the best small charities in the Greater Washington region!”

Catalogue for Philanthropy website: http://www.catalogueforphilanthropy-dc.org/2008/index.html

what up

just checking to see if this works

Meeting Notes / Carrie and Deborah from FACETS 9/29/09

This is Elaine...Here’s what happened in the meeting with Carrie Idol cidol@facetscares.org and Deborah Heller dheller@facetscares.org from FACETS yesterday:

Group Project:
• Carrie’s idea for our group project is to come up with ideas for an educational booth for the Help the homeless “mini walk” (a local, smaller walk than the “big” one in DC) .
• Our main purpose would be to provide an interesting and interactive way to educate the public about homelessness in our area.
• It’s a family event and there will be a wide age range at the event. Carrie suggested we cater to the younger folks
• FACETS will provide the facts, figures, and statistics that we’ll need for content.
• We need to be respectful of FACETS clients when presenting information.
Watch out for stereotyping
• The event itself is 4 hours long with people arriving at different times…we need to remember this when planning

We came up with a tentative date for the next meeting - Next Wednesday at 1:30pm. FACETS is close to GMU. Let the group know if that time works for you...We're going to come up with a plan in the next meeting so please think of ideas (you can post them to the blog) for something fun and interactive at the booth.

She also said we can help out at the booth this Saturday at the Vienna Oktoberfest. This would be a good way to get more hours and also learn more about the homelessness problem. Try to make it if you can, not sure what the hours are though…Please let me know if you have any questions!
~Elaine

Elaine's Information for Presentation

Elaine, that's awesome information that will definitely help us on our presentation, thanks! For anyone who hasn't taken a look at them yet, they were attached in an email titled "NCLC375 - Homelessness Research". Did anyone go to the "What’s Happening in the Homelessness Community" event on Thursday, September 24?

I hope this blog helps us keep on track and better communicate with each other! I think it would be a good idea to meet up soon like Whitney suggested. Tuesday sounds like a good day to get together, but I have a three hour class starting at 10:30. I could definitely meet up anytime on Monday before 4:30 or Tuesday after 4:30 though. I know it's going to be tough finding a time that works best for everyone, so if we can't find a day, maybe we should just pick a time where most people can go and fill in the details to everyone else later...