Sierra Nevada #730 - Welcomes Its 2010-2011 Board of Directors!
President: Megan Pieters
Vice President: Leslie Batistich
Secratary: Jennifer Cameron
Treasurer: Nicole Seguin-Riley
Membership Director: Rita Roberts
PR Director: Jacquie Manoukian
Looking forward To A Fabulous New Term!
Summer Lovin’ Speed Dating
July 31, 2010 - 6pm
Venue: Two Guys from Italy
1488 Us Highway 395, Gardnerville, NV
Date & Time: July 31st, 2010 ~ 6pm
$20.00 Registration Includes:
~ One Well Drink
~ Your Potential Soul Mate!
Benefiting Special Needs Children of Douglas County
Now accepting registrations for ages 21 & up: http://www.sierranv2030.org
Summer Lovin
A Letter From Your National President
Active 20-30ians,
I am honored to be serving as your national president for 2010-11. Thank you again for a terrific installation in Santa Rosa, as well as the opportunity to lead this great organization.
Over the last year, our Active 20-30 national association board of directors, officers and the national office have worked hard to begin building a long-term strategy for growth in the number of clubs, members, foundation revenue, grants and planning. For this year, 2010-11, we have an opportunity to continue to build on our successes from last year, and build on our future.
I want to thank Immediate past president Evan Hershey for his leadership in promoting ideas and plans that promote growth in our organization. Last year, Active 20-30 United States and Canada was able to charter four clubs in Sebastopol, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, VacaValley, California and Petaluma, California. Additionally, there was a net increase in the national association by 250 members, and for the first time in many years, our national foundation was able to send funding to help the children of Haiti, who were devastated by the earthquake in January 2010. We saw our trademarking issues being resolved which will benefit the local clubs in how Active 20-30 United States and Canada gets trademarked.
This year, our approach is going to be very similar to last year’s but with a more aggressive approach in chartering clubs and adding and retaining new members. The growth plan for clubs in 2010-11 is chartering 13 clubs, ranging from Boston on the east coast to Monterey Bay on the west coast. Gioia Hershey, president-elect of Redwood Empire #1029 has agreed to lead the New Charter Committee again for 2010-11, and she has an experienced and diverse committee assisting her in realizing this goal.
For new and retaining members, Keith Engel of Eugene #920 has agreed to lead this committee. Keith will have a committee who will be dedicated in working with the Past Active Liaison Chair Tony Cervo, a past president of Sacramento No.1, to identify members who went past active to try and generate interest in the organization, as well as work with existing clubs to proactively work to retain members.
Work to generate revenue for the foundation will take a long-term approach and immediate past president Evan Hershey has been, and will continue to work to find national corporate entities who can assist in providing funding for our foundation. The long term goal of the foundation is to provide funding for special projects and unanticipated events, as well as be used as a mechanism for matching funds for projects with local clubs.
During the national convention in Santa Rosa, a President’s Council was held to discuss with the current clubs presidents ideas and methods for chartering clubs, adding and retaining members, growing the foundation, and developing a strategic plan for the next five to ten years. It is my intent to hold another President’s Council next summer at the national convention in Albuquerque, and also work with several key stakeholders in the national organization to develop a strategic plan that can be discussed and adapted at the next President’s Council.
I am very excited by the opportunities Active 20-30 United States and Canada will encounter over the next year. We have a very enthusiastic group of individuals in the national organization who understand the importance of growing our organization, and also understand our dependence on each other to serve one another, as well as the children of our communities. I look forward to visiting your clubs this year, to gather ideas and share in our common experiences. We are a unique organization with a unique purpose and I hope you will put into the organization, as much as the organization can give you.
If you have an interest in serving on a national committee for 2010-11, please do not hesitate to contact me. We are in need for members who can bring forth great ideas and experience to better the organization. Specifically, we still need a chairperson for national project and grants, as well as members for the sponsorship committee. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you for putting your trust in me to serve the greatest service organization in the world.
Win $10,000 to Improve Your Local Park
Does your community have a park that needs some sprucing up so kids can play in it? Read on!
kaBOOM! is a national nonprofit whose mission is to create great playspaces through the participation and leadership of communities. Their ultimate goal is that there be places to play within walking distance of every child in America. Pretty awesome, huh?
During this year’s Play Day 2010 (September 18-26), kaBOOM! is encouraging communities to host Play Days that include games, activities, and volunteer projects to improve local playgrounds. In conjunction with this year’s Play Day, kaBOOM! is partnering with the National Environmental Education Foundation to promote National Public Lands Day (September 25), the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve public lands.
The National Environmental Education Foundation will help KaBOOM! Play Day sites integrate park improvement volunteer activities, and KaBOOM! will help National Public Lands Day participants engage the community with fun outdoor recreational activities.
Here’s the part you’ve been waiting for: groups that participate in both programs are eligible for grants of up to $10,000 to further improve their local park, courtesy of Mott’s and NFL PLAY 60. From what I could see, there is limited information up on the site about the grant at the moment, but you might as well get a jump on things and begin planning! To start a kaBOOM! Play Day, project go to playday.kaboom.org.
You can learn more about kaBOOM! by checking out kaboom.org, reading The kaBOOM! Blog: News for Playful People, following them on Twitter at @kaBOOM!, and liking their Facebook Page at facebook.com/kaboom.
You can learn more about National Public Lands Day by going to publiclandsday.org, following them on Twitter at @publiclandsday, and liking their Facebook Page at facebook.com/nationalpubliclandsday.
Thanks to WeVolunteer for the scoop.
Volunteers from Sierra Nevada No. 730 and Carson Valley No. 85 Active 20-30 Clubs take more than 60 school-aged children shopping for basic clothes and fashions, 6:30-8:30 a.m. Aug. 7 at Walmart on Topsy Lane. Each child is accompanied by an adult volunteer to select $100 worth of shoes and clothes to help prepare them for the upcoming school year.
This is the first year that children will also receive haircuts donated by local hair salons. Active 20-30 members will also provide each child with a hot breakfast from McDonald’s.
Information, Jennifer Motti, president of Sierra Nevada Active 20-30 Club No. 730, 267-5741, jenjenz71@yahoo.com or www.sierranv2030.org
National Involvement
The following post is courtesy of Region 3 Director, Jason Deshayes.
It was right before I was going to make my regional director speech that I realized that two years ago, I stood in front of the delegates at WOCO 2008 at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, asking for the opportunity to serve them as a regional director. I had never been involved nationally before this, and here I was asking to serve as a director! Looking back, the experience and engaging in the national association helped our club (and myself) more than I could possibly imagined.
In early 2008, Albuquerque #103 was in the midst of a major change. Our senior members all disappeared, leaving behind a club that was young, understaffed and uncertain of its future. We had contemplated going co-ed, or perhaps just closing up shop. The sense of dedication you could feel in the air at the national convention sparked a renewed and more purposeful flame within me for Active 20/30. Since then, our club is stronger than ever. Our core membership is a tight-knit group; we started a second fundraising event; and we have a stronger sense of purpose than we have had in a long time.
This is not intended to say that going to one national convention will fix all of the woes of your club. It is saying that active participation in your club, as well as the national association, can and will help strength and grow you and your club, as well as further enhance the lives of the children we impact through our work. Some ways you can get involved are:
Serve on a national committee – these are the guts of the national association. They are not overly time consuming and don’t require any traveling (i.e. cost effective!). You get a chance to work with other engaged individuals throughout the country and start building relationships with other members. You can provide important and irreplaceable value by bringing to the table your specific skills and talents. Are you a PR professional? Sign up for the Public Relations committee! Do you have a knack for membership issues? Help with the Membership Growth & Retention group!
Check out an event outside of your own club – If you happen to live in California, you are fortunate in that there are Active 20/30 Clubs all over the place. If you don’t (like myself), it takes a little more time/energy/cost, but it’s still doable. Don’t just go to the parties and events
Sit in on a conference call – the national board has a monthly conference call that you can sit in on and see what is happening in the big picture. These run about two hours and are very informative.
Go to a midterm or national conference/meeting – There are typically 2 midterm meetings a year in different geographic areas to draw all sorts of people. The national convention, held usually in July, is a 4 day event, where you get to learn from other clubs through breakouts and workshops, see what your national board is doing for you, and also have a great time socializing with your 20/30 cohorts. The next convention is in Albuquerque, NM at the Hard Rock Casino from July 13th – 17th, 2011.
We’re a part of something way bigger than our individual local clubs. Embracing that will not only help your local club, but clubs and children throughout the country!
Positive Things Are Happening
A non-profit client of mine was talking about success breeding success and said, “people want to invest where they see positive things happening.”
It’s such a true statement and many of us have seen it in action. Your club pulls off a phenomenal event, hitting your fundraising goal or serving more kids than you expected, and you watch as the momentum builds within your membership. Am I right? Success does breed success.
Why does this happen? One reason is that people like to be a part of something that is going well, that is exciting and that is likely to continue being successful. Sure, it takes away some of the most challenging work and the greatest risks. Why not choose to build on successes rather than start from scratch?
The key, though, is ensuring that people know about them - both inside and outside of your club. Donors will be more inclined to give to a group that has demonstrated consistent successes. Potential members will be more likely to check you out and join if they are able to see what you have done with the member resources at hand. Existing members will become more involved and be willing to step up if they can build on successes rather than creating them from scratch.
What is your club doing to talk about the positive things that are happening? Are you limiting this chatter to specific audiences (i.e., your existing membership) or are you taking advantage of every outlet available to you?
Don’t hesitate to brag on yourselves. No one else will. How will you tell your community of prospects and donors that positive things are happening within Active 20-30?
The Kindness of Strangers
This is a totally random post, but one that we can have some fun* with. This didn’t happen to me, but rather to one of the writers for mental_floss (my absolute favorite magazine in the whole wide world).
Ransom Riggs wrote:
I was out of town at a wedding last weekend, and when I got back, I found a strange thing on my doorstep — a bag with a bottle of wine in it, on which was written: ‘I parked and blocked your driveway. Thanks for not towing me.’
Leaving aside the fact that I wasn’t around to be annoyed by whatever driveway-blocking may have taken place over the weekend, I’d say that’s pretty much the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for me. A bottle of wine? I have to assume that the three other apartments in my building, who all share my driveway, found similar goodie bags on their doorsteps. What a gentleman (or woman)!
Let’s start the week off with some feel-good vibes: what’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
* This is only fun if everyone plays along. Please post in the comments. Pleeease!
The Other Wes Moore
The Other Wes Moore is book about two young men who share the same name, come from the same low-income neighborhood, who are both raised by single mothers, whose lives have so many similarities, but whose outcomes are polar opposites. I had to pick it up and will gladly pass it along to anyone who wants to read it.
What turned me onto the book was an interview with the author on NPR. One quote from the interview stuck in my head: (the author asks this of the jailed Wes Moore who has been incarcerated for murder) “Do you think we’re all just products of our environment?” the response: “Maybe products of our expectations, or others’ expectations that you take on as your own.”
It got me thinking - do we do everything possible through our words and actions to set our children (our co-workers, our fellow members) up for the greatest successes? The jailed Wes Moore was expected to achieve very little - he came from a poor neighborhood, had been abandoned by his father and was surrounded by thugs. So, naturally, his community expected very little of him and he therefore expected little of himself - and he lived up to those expectations.
The author Wes Moore, although placed in the same environment initially, had a different set of expectations placed on him by his mother and a few special mentors. The outcome was day and night different, although it seems to have taken a force of nature at times to keep him focused on where he needed to be.
The question I have for you - how can we push each other and the kids we interact with to understand that we have higher expectations for them? We expect that our members will be successful leading committees, generating ideas and developing the members who come behind them. We expect the kids of our communities - regardless their circumstances - to be high school or college graduates and young adults who rise above what is handed to them.
Even though some of the kids we work with only meet us once or for a few hours a month, we have the ability to reset the expectations they and their communities hold.
Summer Lovin’ Speed Dating
July 31, 2010 - 6pm
Venue: Two Guys from Italy
1488 Us Highway 395, Gardnerville, NV
Date & Time: July 31st, 2010 ~ 6pm
$20.00 Registration Includes:
~ One Well Drink
~ Your Potential Soul Mate!
Benefiting Special Needs Children of Douglas County
Now accepting registrations for ages 21 & up: http://www.sierranv2030.org