Service and Learning May 20

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A WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF



Published for the Service and Service-Learning Field Since 1994


May 20, 2010 - Volume 17 #20 - Circulation: 37,000


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Six Presentations from TEDxCapital Event With "Ideas Worth Spreading" About Youth Engagement Now Available Online



In April, Youth Service America launched Global Youth Service Day with TEDxCapital - Change the Equation.


TEDxCapital - Change the Equation!, an officially licensed TEDx event, featured six outstanding speakers, representing different sectors, offering inspired talks focused on youth engagement, positive youth development, and service to community.


Speakers included
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus and university professor at The George Washington Universit
Lisa Frank, Georgetown University student and youth activist
Roberto Rodriguez, special assistant to President Obama for Education
Ryan Scott, entrepreneur and founder of Causecast.org
Dr. Ed Gragert, executive director of iEARN
Kwame Johnson, national director of the Violence Free Zone program for the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise.
Watch videos of their inspiring presentations at:
www.TEDxCapital.org/speakers




NEWS FROM THE FIELD


Miley Cyrus Gets Her "Good On" for Global Youth Service Day
Miley Cyrus got her good on for Global Youth Service Day by participating in Make a Wish Foundation's very first World Wish Day celebration at the Grove in Los Angeles.
Miley met with 30 kids and offered a special performance of "The Climb." Miley posted a blog and video of her experience at www.GetUrGoodOn.org. To watch the video, visit http://bit.ly/ccek1Y. To read the blog, visit http://bit.ly/a0blWA




Rick Stengel Named 2010 Citizen of the Year
The National Conference on Citizenship announced Rick Stengel will be honored as the 2010 Citizen of the Year at their Annual Conference on September 17 in Washington DC. Stengel is managing editor of TIME Magazine and has played an integral role in elevating America's dialogue on national and community service by integrating messages of service and volunteerism throughout the magazine and in three cover story features. The award recognizes a private citizen who has made exemplary contributions in championing civic participation. www.ncoc.net



Make a Difference with We Care Act
We Care Act, founded by Grace Li, a winner of the 2010 Harris Wofford Award, launched "a month for making a difference" on Global Youth Service Day. The mission of We Care Act is to help school children recover from disasters and to engage youth around the world to help others in need. During this "month for making a difference" youth are encouraged to join We Care Act as a Team Leader or Member and to participate in We Care Act projects. Learn more at www.wecareact.org




First Lady Michelle Obama Delivers The George Washington University Commencement Address
At the beginning of the school year, First Lady Michelle Obama challenged the students, faculty, staff, and trustees of The George Washington University that if they performed 100,000 hours of service to the greater Washington community this school year, she should deliver the commencement address. Students far surpassed that goal and last weekend, she delivered the commencement address. Read it at: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-first-lady-george-washington-university-commencement

The First Lady made similar remarks about service last month at a Youth Forum at Universidad Iberoamericana during her visit to Mexico City. Read those remarks at: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-first-lady-youth-forum-universidad-iberoamericana-mexico-city-mexico



PepsiCo and Walmart Announce New Commitments to Increase Nation's Graduation Rate Through Service
The PepsiCo Foundation announced an increased commitment to Diplomas Now, a collaborative effort that combines the respective strengths, expertise and resources of three non-profit organizations - City Year, Communities In Schools, and Johns Hopkins Talent Development - to address the staggering high school dropout rate in select cities across the U.S. Announced at City Year's National Leadership Summit in Los Angeles, the PepsiCo Foundation will invest $6 million in the program over the next three years. The new investment will support expansion within the program's current locations of Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans and San Antonio, as well as provide for the addition of new cities, including Detroit.

The Walmart Foundation also announced a $1.2 million grant to City Year to provide state-of-the-art training to City Year's national corps of young adults who dedicate a year of full-time service to help students in high-poverty schools stay on track - or get back on track - to high school graduation. The grant is designed to increase adolescent literacy and math proficiency in high-poverty middle schools by establishing a comprehensive new national training program for City Year corps members serving in those schools. Learn more at www.cityyear.org


GRANTS & AWARDS

Nature's Path Gardens for Good Grant (Deadline: May 31)
With the mission to increase organic acreage nationwide and provide every American with access to high quality, healthy and organic food, Nature's Path is launching the "Gardens for Good Grant" organic garden contest with the help of Organic Gardening magazine in which two communities will receive $25,000 value grant package toward starting organic gardens that includes: a $10,000 cash grant to be used to plant an organic garden; $5,000 worth of technical assistance from Organic Gardening magazine; and an organic breakfast fundraising event and garden dedication worth $10,000. This is a one question, 500 words or less, application process. In your essay, please clearly answer the following question: "Tell us about your program, who you serve, and how a garden grant will help you to serve more people." www.justmeans.com/take-action/GardenGrantContest



Garden Crusader Awards (Deadline: June 1)

The annual Garden Crusader Awards program was established to honor individuals who improve the world through gardening and make a difference in their community. Youth are eligible to receive this award. Categories for 2010 are: Education, Feeding the Hungry, Urban Renewal and Restoration. There are five winners for each category: first, second, third, plus two honorable mentions and one grand prize winner, for a total of 21 winners overall. The grand prize winner receives $2,500 in cash + $2,500 gift certificate from Gardener's Supply. First placers receive a $1,000 gift certificate; second placers receive a $750 gift certificate; third placers receive a $500 gift certificate; honorable mentions receive a $200 gift certificate. All prizes are awarded to the winner's organization in his/her name. www.gardeners.com/gardening/content.asp?Copyid=5549 or http://press.gardeners.com/crusaderform.aspx





MetLife-NASSP Breakthrough Schools Project (Deadline: June 11)
The MetLife-NASSP Breakthrough Schools project, initiated in 2007, is sponsored by MetLife Foundation. The goal of the project is to identify, recognize, and showcase middle level and high schools that serve large numbers of students living in poverty and are high achieving or dramatically improving student achievement. Selected schools will receive a $5,000 grant and be featured in the association's monthly magazine, Principal Leadership. Principals of Breakthrough Schools participate in dissemination activities at the NASSP Annual Convention and other venues throughout the year. NASSP invites middle level and high schools, including K-8 and K-12 schools, that serve economically disadvantaged students to apply for this award. Schools must have 40% or more students eligible for free and reduced-price meals. www.principals.org/AwardsandRecognition/BreakthroughSchools/HowtoApply.aspx





For Previously Featured Grants & Awards, visit:
www.servicewire.org/nsb/Grants-and-Awards


PROFILES IN SERVICE
NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE AWARD WINNERS


Youth Service America asked Members of Congress to recognize youth volunteers on Global Youth Service Day with the National Youth Service Award (NYSA). We'll feature several NYSA winners each week.

Billy Landis, 17
Jimmy Landis, 14
Matt Landis, 17
Melissa Mahoney, 15
Michael Mahoney, 17
Lauren Payne, 14
Tommy Payne, 11
Woodland, CA
Nominated by Representative Mike Thompson
This group of youth founded R.E.A.C.H. 4 Books, a non-profit organization with the sole purpose of providing Spanish books to the children along the Amazon River who are in great need of resources to promote literacy. In addition to collecting over 2,000 books, the youth raised enough money to build and sustain a new library.

Sophie Bandlow, 17
Doylestown, PA
Nominated by Representative Patrick Murphy
Sophie was nominated because of her exceptional commitment to community service in Bucks County and beyond. She has worked extensively with her church to assist at Special Olympics events, soup kitchens, and runs to raise money for breast cancer research.

Jarrett Ellis Johnson, 16
Miramar, FL
Nominated by Senator Bill Nelson
Working with Camillus House, a nonprofit organization that provides services to the homeless and needy in Miami, Florida, Jarrett served breakfast and provided holiday gifts for the children of homeless families for the 6th Annual Breakfast with Santa event. In addition, he is a mentor and role model to younger students in his church.

Garrett Grindstaff, 18
Old Fort, NC
Nominated by Senator Kay Hagan
Garrett is the founder of Student Serve, a club dedicated to community service. During this school year, he organized the Manna Food Bank Student Food Drive at his school, collecting over 3,440 pounds of food.


Maria Miranda, 18
Nashua, NH
Nominated by Representative Paul Hodes
Maria has been an active volunteer with St. Joseph Community Services-Congregate Dining and Meals on Wheels for the past seven years, packaging and serving meals to clients who rely on the program to feed themselves.


TOOLS, TRAINING, RESOURCES & RESEARCH

Virtual Volunteering Resources from ServiceLeader.org

Serviceleader.org offers specialized resources for Volunteers, Leaders and Managers of Volunteers, and Instructors and Thought Leaders. Virtual volunteering means volunteer tasks completed, in whole or in part, via the Internet and a home or work computer. It's also known as online volunteering, cyber service, online mentoring, teletutoring and various other names. Virtual volunteering allows agencies to expand the benefits of their volunteer programs, by allowing for more volunteers to participate, and by utilizing volunteers in new areas The information in this section of ServiceLeader.org will benefit volunteers as well as volunteer managers and service leaders who are interested in utilizing technology to benefit their organizations. www.utexas.edu/lbj/rgk/serviceleader/virtual/





Service-Learning Featured in Diversity & Democracy Newsletter
The Spring 2010 issue of AAC&U's Diversity & Democracy newsletter examines how colleges and universities can help students explore "big questions" related to issues of personal identity and implications of these questions for advancing the public good in a diverse democracy. The issue as available at www.diversityweb.org/DiversityDemocracy

The article "Critical Service Learning as a Tool for Identity Exploration" can be accessed at http://www.diversityweb.org/DiversityDemocracy/vol13no2/donahue.cfm?utm_source=news&utm_medium=blast&utm_campaign=divdemvol13no2





Free Webcast: Farm to Table to Kid
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation is producing a live webcast, Farm to Table to Kid: Increasing Access to Health & Affordable Food, on Saturday, May 22, 2010 (10:30 am. - 12:30 p.m. ET). Please tune in the webcast to learn about the latest innovations schools and communities can use to increase access to healthy foods. View the webcast live at http://blankfoundation.org/news/SpeakerSeries.html


SERVICE CALENDARS

Conferences & Events


2010 Independent Sector National Conference
Forging a Stronger Future Together

October 20-22, 2010
Atlanta, Georgia

Join more than 800 leaders from across the nonprofit community for the dynamic, innovative 2010 Independent Sector Annual Conference. This year's dynamic program conference will examine how people from organizations of all sizes and missions can collaborate to fulfill the conference theme, "Forging a Stronger Future Together."

At the heart the conference will be the committed, diverse, and knowledgeable group of attendees. Their experience and expertise will power nearly two dozen breakout sessions and four plenaries, as well as the invaluable exchanges taking place before, between, and after the sessions. Innovative formats drawing on the energy and ideas of attendees will encourage participant contributions.

www.independentsector.org/annual_conference_event



Conference Calendar: www.servicewire.org/conferences

If you'd like your 2010 conference or event to be included, please e-mail the name, date, and location (city, state) of the conference to dmiranda@ysa.org with the subject line "NSB Conference." Include a short blurb/description of the conference and the website you want people to be directed to.



Seasons of Service


May 2010

National Foster Care Month - May

Older Americans Month - May

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month - May

National Youth Traffic Safety Month - May

National Preservation Month - May

National Family Month - May 9-June 20 (Motherʼs Day-Fatherʼs Day)

World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development - May 21

National Missing Children's Day - May 25

World No Tobacco Day - May 31



Seasons of Service Calendar: www.servicewire.org/seasonsofservice

If you'd like your annual campaign/awareness event to be included, please e-mail the name, date, and location (city, state) of the event to dmiranda@ysa.org with the subject line "Seasons of Service." Include a short blurb/description of the event and the website you want people to be directed to.



QUOTE OF THE WEEK



"You have fully joined a generation of activists and doers. And when you think about how your generation has come of age, that's pretty astounding. I mean, you all have seen so much. Just since you were in middle school, you've witnessed terrorism touch our soil, you've seen the cost of war reach into our communities. You've watched unimaginable devastation and suffering in the aftermath of a tsunami; a hurricane; an earthquake. You've felt the wrath of a recession that's changed your towns and even your families.

Now, that's a whole lot to bear for any generation. So, no one would have blamed you had you chosen to hunker down and turn inward; if you had simply focused on making sure that your own lives were secure. But so many of you have done the exact opposite. Instead, you've dived in. You've reached out. ...

So for every ill of this interconnected world, you've tried to find a way to make good. Where there's hate, you've tried to heal it. Where there's need, you've tried to fill it. Where there's devastation, you've tried to rebuild it."

- First Lady Michelle Obama
The George Washington University Commencement Address - May 16, 2010



Best,


Michael Minks, Editor-in-Chief
Director of Outreach
Youth Service America


Danielle Miranda, Associate Editor
Manager of Outreach
Youth Service America

nsbinfo@ysa.org

Deadline: All submissions to the NSB must be emailed to the above email no later than 5pm EST on Monday for that week's NSB.

Disclaimer: Youth Service America offers the National Service Briefing as a resource to the field for information purposes and does not necessarily endorse or support, in any way, the views, opinions, goals of organizations, or sources of grants.


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