Volunteer GROUPS

Welcome to Day 3 of National Volunteer Appreciation Week!

If you missed out on Monday’s introduction to National Volunteer Appreciation Week, make sure you pop over and check it out HERE.  Yesterday, we discussed community volunteers; if you missed that post make sure you check it out HERE.   

Each month Eastside Baby Corner welcomes a number of groups through the hub doors.  These groups range from corporate groups, girl, boy and cub scout troops, school groups and many different churches.  We love getting groups in to volunteer because they bring great camaraderie and fun to the volunteer shift!

Unlike our community volunteers who mainly sort and organize the clothing donations, our groups that come in often get a special project!  Recent favorites include: reorganizing our clothing inventory, cleaning out storage units, checking and labeling expiration dates on baby food, moving inventory and much, much more!

Volunteers from Sagemont Church, sorting and labeling expiration dates on baby food jars.

Students from Eastside Prep came to volunteer during their Service Learning Day!

This Cub Scout Troop helped us pick-up donations from the Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage Unit and deliver them to the EBC hub!

We were so thankful to have a group from Expeditors and a group from the University of Washington help us tear up carpet!

Microsoft employees came to volunteer during the Microsoft Day of Caring! These guys are helping us sort, organize and edit our excess clothing inventory!

As was mentioned yesterday for safety and task accuracy reasons, we cannot have children under the age of 7 working in the warehouse.  (Remember 7-13 with direct adult supervision and 14+ can come alone!).  However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have special projects for them to do at home and then bring us their final product!

For instance, we get a lot of Daisy and Brownie Girl Scout Troops who want to volunteer at EBC, but because they’re too young they often either host a community drive or put together hair accessories or toothbrush & toothpaste kits.  We will welcome the younger kids into the warehouse to deliver their goods and for a tour!  So if you have a younger one who is interested in helping at EBC, you might think about one of these ideas!

The Kindergarten classes from St. Louise School collected items for EBC and then brought them to the Hub for a tour!

This young girl scout troop helped EBC by sorting socks!

If you are interested in bringing a group in to volunteer, please contact our Program/Volunteer Manager Madeline Fish (madelinef@babycorner.org).

If you are interested in hosting a community drive or participating in another activity with younger children, please contact Cori Benson (corib@babycorner.org).

 

Core Volunteer Shout-Outs!

• 14 YEARS of volunteering
  • Tracy Bury
  • Joy McMains
• 13 YEARS of volunteering
  • Teresa Lindo
  • Nancy Tochko
• 12 YEARS of volunteering
  • Tom Koeneman
• 11 YEARS of volunteering
  • Karen Rubin
  • Steve Tochko
• 10 YEARS of volunteering
  • Dave Herb
  • Edie Herb
  • Lanni Litsjo
  • Dick Scott

Thanks again to all of our awesome volunteers!

EBC Selected as Moyer Foundation Grant Recipient

The Moyer Foundation, founded in 2000 by MLB pitcher Jamie Moyer and his wife, Karen, with offices in Seattle and Philadelphia announced grants totaling $50,000 to 14 organizations in Washington State and Pennsylvania. All grant recipients serve children in various capacities that align with The Moyer Foundation’s mission of empowering children in distress by providing education and support – helping them to live healthy and inspired lives.

Eastside Baby Corner is excited to announce our selection as 1 of the 9 Washington State recipients of the Foundation’s Community Grants.

Proposals were reviewed by a select group of business, foundation and community leaders from Seattle and Philadelphia, according to Kevin Sullivan, national executive director at The Moyer Foundation.

Community Grants are open to nonprofits in Washington State and Pennsylvania that provide assistance to children in distress from infants to 18 years of age.

“Since the Foundation’s inception, we have donated $1.1 million through our Community Grants Program to incredible organizations that are profoundly impacting the lives of children in distress,” said Karen Moyer.

Jamie Moyer comments, “Karen and I are really proud that The Moyer Foundation is able to help grassroots organizations. It’s those smaller organizations that we always need to remember. It’s wonderful to see these funds go such a long way in support of their great work in the community as well as furthering our Foundation’s overall mission.”

About The Moyer Foundation

The Moyer Foundation is a public, 501(c)(3) organization with offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Seattle, Washington. The organization was founded in 2000 by World Series champion pitcher, Jamie Moyer and his wife, Karen. The Foundation’s mission is to empower children in distress by providing education and support – helping them to live healthy and inspired lives. In addition to community-funded grants, The Moyer Foundation also created and funds Camp Erin®, the largest network of free bereavement camps in the country for grieving children and teens with nearly 40 camp locations in every Major League Baseball city; and Camp Mariposa®, a free camp program for children impacted by addiction/substance abuse in their families with locations in Washington, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Florida. For more information, visit http://www.moyerfoundation.org.

 

It’s a busy time of year at the EBC…

It’s a busy time of year here at the EBC hub, and if you have been wondering when a good time would be to get involved, the answer is…NOW! We’ve got some of the highest orders we’ve ever seen, and we need volunteers to help us fill those orders to ensure that as kids head back to school, they’ve got the shoes, school supplies, coats and full tummies they need to ensure success. Sign up here to volunteer: http://babycorner.org/volunteer-time/ http://ow.ly/i/Zdx3

Lost a watch?

If this is you, contact Madelinef@babycorner.org! We found a watch amongst donations the other day and are quite certain it belongs to one of our wonderful volunteer! http://ow.ly/i/Yzlc

Thanks for voting!

Thanks for voting!

A big thanks to everyone who voted for us in the Chase Community Giving campaign! We were incredibly lucky to have been nominated by community members, and to receive dozens of votes from EBC supporters who believe in our work of providing basic necessities for local kids in need. While we did not move on to the next voting round, we are still eligible for funding due to your nominations, so thank you all for voting! http://ow.ly/i/Yc2N

V-O-T-E

By now, you should have received your ballot for the August 16th King County Primary Election. The proposed renewal of the King County Veterans & Human Services Levy is Proposition 1 on that ballot. We urge you to vote APPROVE on Proposition 1, and to tell your friends, family and neighbors to do the same.

Over the past 5 years, the current Veterans & Human Services Levy has helped more than 82,000 veterans, their families and others all across King County. The current Levy was passed by nearly 58% of the voters in 2005, but it will expire at the end of this year if Proposition 1 is not approved. The proposed measure would continue the existing levy for six years at the current tax rate.

This is not a tax increase. If the levy is renewed, the typical homeowner would continue to invest around $17 annually. Half of the proceeds would be dedicated exclusively to programs to assist veterans and their families. The other half would support general human service programs, available to all King County residents.

The Veterans and Human Services Levy funds essential services like:

• Employment training for those struggling to find work
• Services for new mothers and infants
•  Mental health services for people of low income
• Treatment for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The Veterans & Human Services Levy also supports programs to end homelessness. By the end of 2010, $34 million in Levy funding had supported 25 affordable housing projects, creating more than 1,200 new units — many of these exclusively for veterans. This housing is often accompanied by the supportive services like counseling and health care that help people leaving homelessness to effectively regroup.

Vital work like this will end on December 31, 2011 if Proposition 1 is not approved.

Don’t forget to mail in your ballot by August 16th.

More information about the Vets and Human Services Levy can also be found here.