[Volunteers] OVP Digest for 12/13/2007 to 1/9/2008

[Office of Volunteer Programs]

Thursday, December 13, 2007
OFFICE OF VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS WEEKLY LISTSERVE
Brought to you by CUVolunteer.org, the most comprehensive list of volunteer opportunities in Champaign County

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1.  Thanks for all the toys!
2.  Salvation Army’s Holiday Give Away
3.  Orpheum Children’s Museum Events
4.  Announcing PolitiCorps Summer Institute 2008
5.  Spring Break with Habitat (apps. due 12/15!)
6.  Community Stewardship through Environmental Education
7.  Reaching Out to Homeless Women
8.  The Illini 4000 for Cancer (May 2008)
9.  Volunteer Positions at the University YMCA


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If you think you’re too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito. (Bette Reese)
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(This is this year’s last weekly email from OVP.)

1.  THANKS FOR ALL THE TOYS!

This year’s Holiday Toy Drive was very successful!  We don’t have a total toy count as of yet, but there are a ton.  THANK YOU! for your generous donations and support; surely they will be well-received by the children of our community.



2.  SALVATION ARMY’S HOLIDAY GIVE AWAY

The Salvation Army is looking for volunteer(s) to do some sort of data entry for their Holiday Give Away for families this week or early next. If you’d like to help, contact lynn at uwayhelps.org.



3.  ORPHEUM CHILDREN’S MUSEUM EVENTS

I wanted to invite you to participate in some of the volunteer opportunities at the Orpheum that we have right now.  This weekend we will be hosting our Annual House-Walk and Dessert Delights this Sunday. This is a fundraiser for the Orpheum and we need a few more docents to attend the event. You can find more information on our website if you follow the following link: http://www.orpheumkids.com/special.html and scroll down.

Also you will find there information about our Drop and Shop event which will be December 15th. We would love it if you would like to participate in this. The first one was a tremendously fun and we hope that the next one will be just as much of a success. If you would like to volunteer for either of these events please let me know. Also, be sure to tell your friends, comrades, family, and foes about our events so that they can come to the Housewalk or bring their kids to the Drop and Shop.

If you’re interested in helping, contact Meadow Jones at 217-352-5895 or meadow.orpheum at gmail.com.



4.  ANNOUNCING POLITICORPS SUMMER INSTITUTE 2008

Applications available – online now at www.PolitiCorps.org

PolitiCorps Summer Institute is a 10-week boot camp consisting of hands-on campaign skills training, innovative public policy intensives, and real-world applications of leadership skills and campaign savvy. PolitiCorps strives to create the next generation of progressive leaders. The Summer Institute is based in Portland, Oregon.

Who Should Apply to PolitiCorps Summer Institute?

PolitiCorps Fellows are college seniors or recent graduates who have demonstrated a commitment to progressive values and a deep interest in forward-thinking public policy and the political process. PolitiCorps Fellows come from every state in the nation, and from a wide variety of experiential and cultural backgrounds. Extensive campaign experience is not a prerequisite for PolitiCorps - but an understanding of campaign lifestyle (long hours, close friendships, challenging and rewarding projects) does help Fellows make the most of the Summer experience. PolitiCorps is deeply committed to providing leadership experience and training to students of color.

What will applicants get out of the Summer Institute?

PolitiCorps fellows learn new ways to think about the world, but PolitiCorps is not just a school of thought.  It's a place where Fellows learn by doing, and make a real difference every day. PolitiCorps Summer Institute includes tutorials, trainings, mentorship, and field work that has tangible results: voters registered and educated, communities organized and mobilized, campaigns won and candidates elected. Fellows get the following from the Summer Institute:
•    A cleared path towards a career in serving the public interest
•    Close friendships with some of the brightest, most dedicated young people in the country
•    Introductions to progressive leaders, professionals, and change agents
•    Experiential trainings from nationally known politicos, wonks, strategists, and pundits activists, organizers, and political strategists
•    The skills and habits needed to pursue [a career in] progressive activism
•    Training in communications, community organizing, public policy analysis, networking, information systems, data management, fundraising, and project development.
•    Innovative policy intensives with regional and national policy experts
•    Mentored development of new ideas, project models, and campaign plans
•    $1000 stipend, plus housing in Portland throughout the program


Deadlines
To find out more about the program and to begin the application process, please visit www.politicorps.org.  You may also request an application by calling (503) 233-3018.

Early Admission Deadline:  December 19, 2007
Regular Admission Deadline:  March 3, 2008
Rolling Admission Deadline:  June 6, 2008
Note:  At least 50 percent of the class will be recruited from the application pool of the first two deadlines.



5.  SPRING BREAK WITH HABITAT

Come on Spring Break with Habitat!!!! This year we are going to Fort Smith, AR and Oak Ridge, TN. To apply, go to: http://habitat.union.uiuc.edu/H4H/default.aspx, register, then to documents. It is due by December 15th with a $75 deposit to the Habitat Office in the RSO Complex, Room 266. Any questions or just want more information? EMAIL BECKY at schield2 at uiuc.edu



6.  COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Enroll for a new service-learning course for Spring 2008! "NRES 285: Community Stewardship through Environmental Education" is an exciting new service-learning course that will be team-taught by three NRES faculty members, and supported by staff from Extension's Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program and the Center for Teaching Excellence. Students will have the opportunity to hear lectures from scientists on topics related to biodiversity, ecosystem health, and the effects of aquatic invasive species. They will work in teams to teach elementary and middle school youth about these topics, using the "Nab the Aquatic Invader" interactive website www.sgnis.org/kids. They will also develop community stewardship projects with the youth to teach the community about how to reduce the spread of invasive species. Community stewardship projects will be celebrated at U of I's Annual Environmental Horizons showcase in the Union. For questions, contact Valeri Werpetinski werpetin at uiuc.edu

There are eight sections of this course available (CS1-CS8). Please note that there are NO PREREQUISITES for these sections!! Visit http://courses.uiuc.edu/cis/schedule/urbana/2008/Spring/NRES/285.html for more class information.



7.  REACHING OUT TO HOMELESS WOMEN

Did you know that the City of Champaign has no emergency shelter for homeless women?  Think back to last January when our community was paralyzed from a blizzard so icy, snowy and cold that the University of Illinois closed its doors to students for two days for the first time since we can remember.  Now, imagine where a woman without a home would find shelter overnight from that storm.  Probably clothed in layers and surrounded by cardboard, she huddled over a warm air return behind a Laundromat in some unobtrusive part of our community.  Now, imagine instead that this homeless woman was able to find shelter-- a bed in a warm room -- in your community, at Champaign First United Methodist Church.

Beginning January 1, 2008 and running through mid-April, working in collaboration with the Center for Women in Transition and the TIMES Center, Champaign First United Methodist Church will answer the much-needed call to offer emergency overnight housing to homeless women in the CU community – to five or six homeless women per night.  While providing overnight shelter for six people may seem a small endeavor, the volunteer effort required will be enormous (needed will be: drivers, schedule makers, phone-callers, launderers, set-up and clean-uppers, prayer-partners, on-site volunteers, etc.)

You are invited to consider how you can be involved in this new program to those in our midst in need.  If you would like to learn more about the various volunteer opportunities related to this program, please contact Mary Brady at  mbrady at champaignfumc.org or  217 356-9078 or Cathy Koerber at ckoerber at uiuc.edu or 355-2589.



8.  THE ILLINI 4000 FOR CANCER

The Illini 4000 sends a team of 25 riders across the United States each summer to raise money for cancer research.  This summer they are riding from Seattle to Washington D.C; the ride will begin during the last week of May 2008 and end no later than August 2, 2008. This year they hope to raise $100,000 for the American Cancer Society and Camp Kesem. If you are interested in riding or helping out, please contact Jonathan Schlesinger at jschles2 at uiuc.edu and check out the following websites: www.Illini4000.org & www.filmsthatmove .com (see the trailer)!!!



9.  VOLUNTEER POSITIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY YMCA

Development Assistant (2-3 hours per week)
The University YMCA is looking for a volunteer to help price, post, sell, and ship items online to raise money for the University YMCA programs.

University YMCA Program Intern (6-8 hours per week)
Tasks may include, but are not limited to: * Assist with planning, marketing, and implementation of weekly lecture series * Help track program participants * Assist Program Director with the development and implementation of a comprehensive marketing plan for University YMCA programs * Assist Program Coordinator with the development of fundraising resources and the implementation of local business survey *
Develop content for quarterly newsletter publication (Y-book) * Assist with general office tasks, such as: mailings, filing, copies, etc.

If you’re interested in either of these positions, please send a resume and a short paragraph describing your interests to Kasey (kasey at universityymca.org OR (217) 337-1514).



Have a supercalifragilisticexpealodocious break!


Illini Union Office of Volunteer Programs
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
288 Illini Union
Phone: 217-333-7424
E-mail: ovp at uiuc.edu
Web: http://www.union.uiuc.edu/ovp/