Did Someone Say FREE Advertising?

So how can we expand outreach when our budgets are being cut? Did you know that many of the local papers offer free advertising for non-profit groups!

For example, the Washington Post Local Living Section:

"To submit an item E-mail fxliving@washpost.com, Mail: Volunteers, Fairfax Living, The Washington Post, 4020 University Dr., Suite 220, Fairfax, Va. 22030

Details: Items, published weekly on a space-available basis, are accepted from nonprofit groups."

To view comments on this, visit http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps

Fairfax is Ready thanks to MRC Volunteers! Is Your Community?

Community Emergency Preparedness Fairs

"The Fairfax Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and the Fairfax County Health Department’s Office of Emergency Preparedness will host a community preparedness fair called Get Ready Fairfax!

The Springfield Days family festival will be held concurrently in the mall parking lot. The goal of this family friendly event is to educate the public about the role individuals and their families play in all-hazards emergency preparedness and how to get ready!

The fair is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - part of the Urban Area Security Initiative program." (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/mrc/getready.htm)

Now Easier To Find on Facebook

Our page can now be found on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/citizencorps

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Volunteers Sharing With Volunteers

Disney Offers Free Ticket If You Volunteer

"It's an emergency, for Sara Ramirez, when she volunteers her time with the Muppets."

If you are a Citizen Corps volunteer, you will probably find the humor in this "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day" commercial.

Locally, there are many organizations participating in this program, including Volunteer Fairfax.

For additional information on the program, please visit the official Disney website.

Disney Parks not for you? Well, check this out and donate your ticket:

"We want to celebrate your good works in the community by giving you a 1-day, 1-theme park ticket to the Disneyland® Resort or Walt Disney World® Resort. After we receive verification that you've completed your service, we'll send you an email with a voucher redeemable for a 1-day, 1-theme park ticket for you to use, or you may donate it to a designated charitable organization"

What a great way to give back to the community... twice!

No Cost Outreach - Volunteer Police Programs in Washington Post

Another option to saving taxpayer and grant dollars for advertising volunteer programs is to have them featured in a story in the local newspaper.

The Fairfax County volunteer police programs were featured in the Washington Post Metro Section and also appeared in the Fairfax County Times.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors first discovered this article while riding the Metro, reading the free newspapers that are handed out every morning to thousands and thousands of riders.


The complete article about their program and benefits to the community, Officers in their off-hours: inside the police auxiliary is available online.

Not into reading about boating safety, check out this informative video

About.com parenting provides a video that provides simple tips for boating safety with families.

Spending a few minutes going through this video can save a life.

http://video.about.com/childparenting/Boating-Safety.htm

Free Child's Make It Yourself Go-Kit

Looking at the current state of the economy, you might not put a children's Go-Kit on the top of your priority list.

Now you have no excuse. Lowe's is offering a free "Ready-To-Go Kit" that the children get to make themselves. What a great no cost activity.

"Safety month starts in June. Get prepared by building this Ready 2 Go kit!"

Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic

Saturday May 23, 2009

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

For additional information, visit:

http://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com

Take Your Mind Off The News - Eat Ice Cream For A Good Cause

"Bring your friends and your camera to 31 Cent Scoop Night™ tonight at Baskin-Robbins®. Join us as we honor America's firefighters with a $100,000 donation to the National Volunteer Fire Council National Junior Firefighter Program."

How About A FREE Hot Coffee To Keep You Warm?

"What if you gave 5 hours to help your community?

What if we all did?

Your small commitment could add up to something BIG.

From January 21, 2009 through January 25, 2009, when you pledge 5 hours of volunteer time, Starbucks will salute you with a free Tall brewed cup of coffee in participating U.S. Starbucks stores.

Not valid at airports or Barnes & Noble locations.

YOU IN?

Visit http://pledge5.starbucks.com to learn more.

Not sure what to do with your 5 hours?

You could:
- support a local food bank
- provide skills to a nonprofit
- clean up your community
- walk or run for a cause
- mentor a child or teen
- help a local family in need" (Source: Facebook Event).

A Facebook Chance To Win Tickets to Official Youth Inaugural Ball

"Are you between the ages of 18 and 35 and a facebook user?

Would you like to go the Official Youth Inaugural Ball in Washington DC on Tuesday, January 20th, at the Washington & Towers, 1919 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington D.C.?

We thought so and we want to give one of you two tickets!

Here's how you can win: The person who is responsible for the most Declaration of Service signatures on facebook between right now and 5:00 pm on Sunday, January 18th, gets the tix! We can't offer travel or lodging, but these tickets are the hottest tickets in town!

All you have to do is sign our Declaration of Service facebook application and put it on your profile page, and invite your friends to sign. If you've already signed, you just need to add it to your profile and get your friends to sign it too. The application will keep track of how many people sign because of you, and whoever gets the most people to sign gets to go to the Ball.

Here's how:IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF SERVICE...Go sign at http://cts.vresp.com/c/?BetheChangeInc./8d615fd2ed/5af77566e2/3c4f8568d3 location near the top right hand corner.Then, follow the steps below to publicize the Declaration on your facebook profile to begin getting your friends to sign because of you:

1) Add Declaration of Service application to your profile.
2) The application will post an update to your newsfeed that you have signed the application. You can post this to your newsfeed repeatedly from the Declaration of Service application (we recommend you do this regularly)
3) From the invitations page (http://cts.vresp.com/c/?BetheChangeInc./8d615fd2ed/5af77566e2/5ede45d12c), you can send the Declaration of Service to your friends to sign (do this everyday)
4) Update your status frequently and tell your friends to sign from YOUR profile, and post on friends walls asking them to sign from YOUR profile.
5) Other creative ways we expect you will figure out!To invite more friends and to post that you've signed to your newsfeed again, simply click on the Declaration of Service app on your profile or go to http://apps.facebook.com/servicenation_pledge/invite.

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF SERVICE BUT HAVEN'T ADDED IT TO YOUR PROFILE YET...

Go to http://cts.vresp.com/c/?BetheChangeInc./8d615fd2ed/5af77566e2/cbeb91d887 and go through the five steps above.

AND IF YOU HAVE ALREADY SIGNED AND ALREADY ADDED THE APP TO YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE, CONGRATULATIONS, THANKS TO YOUR IDEALISM YOU HAVE A HEAD START!

Here is where this gets cool. The application is viral, so the way to really drive up your numbers is to get your friends to sign on the Declaration application that you added to your profile AND add the application to their page too. Anyone who subsequently signs the Declaration on their profile page will be credited back to you (as well as being credited to you friend). And if their friends also add the Declaration to their profile pages, signatures on those pages WILL ALSO be credited back to you. The bottom line: the more friends you get to sign on your page and add the Declaration to their pages, the more signatures you will accrue.

TO CHECK YOUR NUMBERS AND SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED "BECAUSE OF YOU" ...Go to your profile, and click on the Declaration of Service application (on the left beneath your friends). The number of signatures you have accrued will be displayed (Note: if you then click SIGN NOW it will take you to http://cts.vresp.com/c/?BetheChangeInc./8d615fd2ed/5af77566e2/8f9b291ead and you can sedn out another round of invites!).Good luck, and may the best facebooker win!

For full contest rule see: http://cts.vresp.com/c/?BetheChangeInc./8d615fd2ed/5af77566e2/6f649de2b6If you have any questions you can post them to the WIN TICKETS TO OBAMA'S OFFICIAL YOUTH BALL discussion.

Yours In Service,
The ServiceNation Team"

What does the National Weather Service really do?

If you are in the Washington, DC area this weekend and looking for something to do, why not check out

National Weather Service

Baltimore/Washington Forecast Office

Open House and Dedication

Saturday October 18th and Sunday October 19th

At the newly occcupied, brand new NWS Forecast Office

43858 Weather Service Road

Sterling, Virginia 20166

Free Parking On-Site

Directions to our new office can be found here


Things to do:
* Family Friendly with Demonstrations for the Kids
* Weather Balloon Launches every hour
* Get Registered as a NWS Spotter with our Basic Weather Spotter Class
* Tours of the NWS office
* Tours of NOAA's wind tunnel & environmental extreme chambers
* 4-5 pm each day: "Weather in Music and Prose" - A multimedia show combining computer imagery, poetry, and live music performance
* Watch Presentations by our Meteorologists to Learn About our Weather
* New Office Dedication Ceremony with Government Officials and NOAA/NWS Leadership at 1pm Saturday

SKYWARN™ Spotter classes will be offered at 2:00 PM Saturday, and 2:00 PM Sunday. Please click here to register! (Classes are limited to the first 75 participants for each day).

Representatives from the American Red Cross and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will also be on hand.

Additional information can be found here, http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/openhouse/

What's Your Connection? Newspaper Partners

Recently we have been included in discussions about outreach and getting citizens aware of Citizen Corps programs.

Our community partner discussions fit perfectly to this conversation.

What's Your

When asked, how did I get involved locally with disaster emergency response, the answer was simple. There was a small one paragraph article in the local newspaper. I was unable to attend the first round of classes, but when a similar paragraph appeared several months later, I responded. I had no idea this program existed.

Yesterday, we discussed an article in the Ellenville Journal, a local town newspaper.

It was the Connection Newspapers - The View and the Fairfax Times, were I first read about the CERT program. And through the CERT program learned about the many programs offered through the Citizen Corps.

Earlier in the year, we spoke with the local newspapers who were very interested in including this public information as a story. It is very similar to the paragraph articles, like child safety seat inspections, they include from the Police Department.

The next time you struggle how to balance funding issues with reaching out to new members of your community, consider having a conversation with your hometown newspaper. That no cost conversation can go a long way. Thing of the reach this could have, as many hometown papers are delivered to the driveways of most residents in the community.

This may just get others started on the path of emergency preparedness and volunteering in their own neighborhoods. And might not even cost your organization a dime.

In a disaster you might not have use of your car!

Thats right, can you live without your car?

What are the chances that in a disaster you will not be able to use your car?

What if the gas stations do not have gas? Like we saw at some stations last week.

Consider not using your car today!

http://www.carfreemetrodc.com/

Several readers of Neighbors Helping Neighbors signed the pledge.

Why not you?

Sign the pledge for a chance to win prizes and make a difference in the environment.

Prepare To Spend Time With Your Children

National Youth Preparedness Day?

On September 25, after sitting down for dinner with your family, why not watch the Sesame Street Ready video and then head over to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert for a good cause.

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street (Ready)?

Let's Get Ready! Planning Together for Emergencies

www.sesamestreet.org/ready

This initiative was launched today as part of National Preparedness Month. If you have children in your household or are a caregiver, teacher, administrator, etc. this is a must read!

As mentioned in the Ready.gov blog comment, in order to make a true impact, we need to start with today's youth.

And did someone say free?

Another example of a no cost resource available to our residents. Thank you to all the sponsors of the program.

Volunteer Rights and Responsibilities

The question also came up at the conference about volunteer rights and responsibilities.

You may hear that "volunteering is a privilege, not a right".

While that is true, it is important to address the rights and responsibilities of volunteers.

For a smaller organization, something as simple as a "Volunteer Rights and Responsibilities" document may be sufficient.

Here is a sample document:

http://www.unc.edu/depts/recreate/crds/POptions/vrr.html

Some jurisdictions incorporate volunteers directly into the regulations and procedures that govern the organization's employees.

The following website out of the Directgov in the United Kingdom, provides some good information, including a sample volunteer agreement.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Gettinginvolvedinyourcommunity/Volunteering/DG_10038499

It is important for the volunteers to:

- understand which policies they are required to follow,
- understand the limitations of their assignment,
- be provided with those policies,
- have access to those policies,
- sign off on those regulations, as being read and understood, and
- have a mechanism to be able to provide feedback and address concerns.

Recently, when working with a university, there was discussion on incorporating the university's ethics policy into the bylaws of the volunteer organization. There was a recommendation that a link to that policy be included in the revision. A staff member mentioned they had difficulty getting the document themselves.

If a volunteer (or employee) cannot easily access the policy, how can a volunteer be required to follow it???

It is important for the person coordinating the volunteers to:

- understand which policies apply to the volunteers,
- remember the people are volunteers and not employees,
- treat volunteers with respect, and
- take some time to listen to the volunteers.

And one thing to also keep in mind is that volunteers should not be treated as "free" employees/"free" labor.

Red Cross and Citizen Corps Council Team Up To Offer Free Mass Care and Shelter Operations Training

The American Red Cross of the National Capital Area and the Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council would like you to attend Mass Care Overview and Shelter Operations training that will be held:

Date: Saturday, April 5, 2008
Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm (8:30am Registration/Sign-in)
Location: American Red Cross of the National Capital Area
2nd Floor Boardroom
8550 Arlington Blvd., Fairfax, VA 22031

It’s FREE training.

Please email, Meirina Hutabarat, HutabaratM@redcrossnca.org or call 240.485.3022 if you are interested in attending this course. We need your name, your address and day-time phone number.

Mass Care Overview

Purpose

The purpose of this basic level Disaster Services training is to provide an overview of the activities performed by the Mass Care group in support of a disaster relief operation.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, participants will be able to—
• Describe the role of Mass Care workers on Red Cross disaster relief operations and services they provide.
• Explain how Mass Care workers deliver quality service to clients.
• Match their interests, abilities, and skills with those needed in each Mass Care group activity.
• Develop a plan of action for involvement in Mass Care activities at the local Red Cross chapter.

Shelter Operations

Purpose

The purpose of this basic level Disaster Services course is to prepare employees and volunteers of the Red Cross and other agencies to manage shelter operations effectively and sensitively as a team while meeting the needs of people displaced as a result of a disaster.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, participants will be able to–
• Describe the procedures for opening, operating and closing shelters.
• Explain ways to demonstrate quality service.
• Organize available human resources as a shelter operations team.
• Identify resources available to assist shelter workers.
• Organize the physical facility and material resources to meet the needs of the people in the shelter.