Stop Hunger Now ~ Hosted by Brittenford Systems & First VA Community Bank

Brittenford Systems, First Virginia Community Bank & Reston Association have joined forces to host their first Stop Hunger Now Food Packaging event!! 

Below is a flyer I made for the event with all of the details....feel free to distribute, and click HERE to sign up via Facebook!

To donate online visit our Online Webpage

What is Stop Hunger Now?

Stop Hunger Now is an international hunger relief organization that coordinates the distribution of food and other life-saving aid around the world. The organization is driven by a mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid to the world's most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources. 

What will we be doing?

Stop Hunger Now’s meal packaging program provides volunteers the opportunity to package dehydrated, high protein, and highly nutritious meals that are used in crisis situations and in school feeding programs for schools and orphanages in developing countries around the world. We'll be packaging food to be distributed to hungry people in third world countries.

Click *HERE* to watch a video explaining what we will be doing at this event.

What does each meal contain?

Stop Hunger Now meals pack a big punch. Each meal contains 6 servings! Every dehydrated rice/soy meal is fortified with 21 essential vitamins and nutrients. Research has shown that one in three people in developing countries are adversely affected by vitamin and mineral deficiencies. 

Meal Preparation Instructions (We will not be doing this but it's nice to know how the meals will be prepared)

For more information about Stop Hunger Now visit their website www.stophungernow.org

Doorways for Women & Families

http://www.doorwaysva.org/

This charity lies near and dear to one of my friend's hearts - she asked if I could make people aware of the needs of women and families and how they can show their support.

Doorways for Women & Families offers safe shelter and housing to those who have suffered from domestic violence and homelessness. The organization offers safe shelter and housing, life-changing support services and community advocacy. They also provide comprehensive, family-centered and strength-based services that target multiple life areas for adults and children.

Their mission:

We envision a community where all people live free of violence and have safe and stable housing.

Here are several areas Doorways specializes in:

• Child Welfare
• Family Preservation
• Family Violence Intervention
• Housing First
• Client Empowerment

There are several ways to serve ~ here are some suggestions:

If you would like to donate financially, there is a Doorways Wish List on Amazon.com that works like a bridal registry. It tells you the priority of the items, quantity desired, cost and you can add these items to your cart as shown below:

Or, you can sponsor a Dinner with Friends Event. This is a monthly dinner where families from Doorways' residential programs and the HomeStart Supportive Housing Program come together for a meal and an educational program. The sponsoring group prepares or buys dinner for the families.

Lastly, you can help stock Doorways' Pantry with a Grocery Store Drive! Help them get the items they need for families by coordinating a a drive with a local grocery store. It only takes a few hours to have a huge impact!  Grocery Store Collection Drive Guidelines

For questions regarding volunteering at Doorways, please contact:

Simone Schonenberger
Volunteer Coordinator
sschonenberger@DoorwaysVA.org
703-504-9400

To all (3) of my Knitting Friends out there - Put your skills to good use!

Care Wear
www.carewear.org

Care Wear is a nationwide group of volunteers who knit, crochet, and/or sew, providing handmade baby items to hospitals. All Care Wear items are given free to infants, children and their parents.

There are no membership rules, no dues, no quotas, or obligations. It is hoped that volunteers will contact local hospitals to learn what is needed. Or, send completed items to one of the Hospitals on the Hospital List. Care Wear items are given FREE to infants, children, and their parents. The families usually keep the items as a memento, especially those for tiny preemies. Below is a list of items that are accepted at these Hospitals:

Knitting and/or Crochet	Sewing/Crafts
hats booties mittens bedsocks shawls burial gowns sweater sacques/sweaters blankets (30" x 30" or larger) edgings on receiving blankets lap blankets finger puppets chemo hats w/braids	preemie & full term hats kimonos bibs hug-a-bears (large & small) diaper shirts burial gowns flannel mattress covers quilts burp cloths fabric toys finger puppets incubator covers booties medical dolls neck pillows walker caddies hand puppets

Some other good points or facts about this charity:

They gather twice a year for anyone in the tri-state area that would like to come and spend a few hours to see what others are making. In the spring they get about 50 to 60 women, men and college kids that come in, and in the winter about 100.  This event is hosted at Hood College. This spring they had 64 people and turned over 2,236 handmade items to Frederick Hospital in Maryland.

This charity is good for all ages and genders. You are not on a timeline and whatever you make can be mailed to the hospital of your choice with the Care Wear Labels.

One of my colleagues told me about Care Wear and how she has been actively participating for years. Below she shares her experience with the company:

Debi: I have be volunteering for CareWear for over 10 years now along with my daughter. My daughter was in college at the time and put together a group and taught them how to crochet. The great thing about Carewear is that you can send the items to any hospital on the list that needs what you are making. When going to the website you can view past newsletters, find patterns and many other links. If you think anyone would like to get the newsletter just send Bonnie an email with their address. When doing that ask that she send the current newsletter, hospital list and pattern book. She will mail all three to whomever you want. Please remember that you can use whatever pattern you like though and do not have to use the ones that they have.

List of Patterns

Contact Info:

Bonnie Hagerman
c/o Hood College
401 Rosemont Avenue
Frederick, MD 21701
Phone: 301-696-3550
Fax: 301-696-3952
hagerman@hood.edu

MORE RELATED OPPORTUNITIES:

Another Change ReACTion blog viewer responded to my post about Care Ware with another opportunity that is very similar.  The organization is called Project Linus http://www.projectlinus.org/

Project Linus is comprised of hundreds of local chapters and thousands of volunteers across the United States. Each volunteer and local chapter all work together to help us achieve our mission which is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer "blanketeers."

Together we have distributed over three million blankets to children in need since our inception in 1995.

Sally Jones: I've been a member for sevearl years now. We make blankets for kids in hospitals in our area. We support all the local hospitals in Nova and meet once a month at my neightbor's house. We welcome anyone who wants to join. The nice part of this group is you don't need to know how to crochet or knit, although several do. We make blankets out of felt and put different edging on them, so no skills are necessary.

Here is a useful link on how to Start Your Own Chapter!

Stop Hunger Now: Working Together to End World Hunger

When: Saturday, May 28th 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Mercer Middle School, South Riding, VA (My church)

Stop Hunger Now is an international hunger relief organization that coordinates the distribution of food and other life-saving aid around the world. The organization is driven by a mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid to the world's most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.

Click *HERE* to watch a video explaining what we will be doing at this event.

Stop Hunger Now’s meal packaging program provides volunteers the opportunity to package dehydrated, high protein, and highly nutritious meals that are used in crisis situations and in school feeding programs for schools and orphanages in developing countries around the world.

The Stop Hunger Now food packaging event is right around the corner! We'll be packaging food to be distributed to hungry people in third world countries. Our last event fed 13,849 people. Here's how you can participate:

• Volunteer to package food on May 28th
• Tell you friends, neighbors, and coworkers about the event and invite them to participate. Children as young as 4 yrs old are welcome and able to participate
• Donate money to buy meals. Each meal is only 25cents. A little money goes a long way. Check made out to "Daybreak Community Church" with the memo, "Stop Hunger Now," can be dropped off at church or put in the mail to PO Box 705, Ashburn, VA 20146

 If you are unable to attend, there is always the option to Host your own Event!!

As promised here are some photo's of the event!!

Homeless Shelter Bag Lunches * Next One June 27th!

We will be hosting the next Bag Lunch session for the Reston Homeless shelter Monday, June 27th at my mom's house in Herndon :)  The more the merrier, please contact me if you would like to participate. We are starting to do this the first Monday of every month so if you can't make it this Monday, then you are always more than welcome to attend another session. We'd love to have you!

Here's a little background information on what we will be doing:

My mom volunteers at the Embry Rucker Homeless Shelter in Reston, VA and mentioned an opportunity for us to get involved.  We use Giant's online grocery delivery option called PeaPod to deliver the groceries to our small group leader's house and each of us pays about $15 for the groceries.   We form an assembly line to put everything together, but don't worry it's very informal. We just like to have a chance to get together and have fun while serving others.

Each bag typically includes 2 sandwhiches, a bottled water and snacks. Last time we made 60 bagged lunches and delivered them to the Reston Homeless Shelter.  Anyone can take the items to the shelter, last time Jenny, Laura and I did which was 5 minutes from my mom's house.  There is someone at the door who will assist by giving you a cart and letting you into the building.  They take the lunches to the kitchen for storage. 

Here are some pictures from our last packing event (more to come):

Just a few of the lunches we made

Here is what we put into each bagged lunch

Here are some from the 27th:

Almost originals....

Or, if you can't attend our function, you can always start your own packing event!

Here are the details from Reston Interfaith if you are interested in starting your own group:

We distribute approximately 60 bagged meals a day to residents and drop-in clients, and welcome your support of this important service. You can purchase food, prepare the meals at an off-site location and deliver them to the shelter - why not ask your family and friends to pitch in? Click here to view our bagged meal preparation guidelines Shelter Bagged Meal Guidelines or for Catering guidelines click here Shelter Meal Catering Guidelines.
To sign up, contact Susan Alger at 571.323.1383 at least one week in advance of your desired drop-off date.

Bagged Meals Needed for Embry Rucker Community Shelter Reston Interfaith's Embry Rucker Community Shelter provides a safe place for families and individuals to stay as they overcome barriers and transition to stable housing.

Rucker Homeless Shelter - Reston Interfaith
http://www.restoninterfaith.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=15042#ERCS

Arlington Wreath Project - December 10, 2011

Wreaths Across America - Arlington National Cemetary

Volunteers are welcome to participate in the 19th annual Arlington Wreath Project beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10 . The welcome ceremony will take place at the intersection of Lincoln and L'Enfant drives in Arlington National Cemetary. Sections 28, 38, 43 and 60 will be decorated with more than 20,000 donated and sponsored holiday wreaths from the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine to honor our Veterans during the holidays.

Arlington Cemetary

With images of Arlington, family and friends - this is one visual way of saying thank you - to those who serve, to those we've lost, and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy the freedoms of this Country.

In 2010, I tagged along with my stepmom's company Ernst & Young, who sponsors a team to volunteer and help out with lying wreaths on graves.  We all received yellow company hats which were a huge success, especially because it was easy to spot our team members in the huge crowds.

Ernst & Young volunteers :)

This year the Arlington Wreath Project plans to provide enough wreaths to cover EVERY grave in Arlington Cemetary.  Come out this year and help!! 

For more information about the Arlington Wreath Project or Wreaths Across America, please click here: http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/Locations/Virginia/360-Arlington-National-Cemetery/View-details.html