Election Update, Volunteer Opportunity and Happy Hour Reminder

Good afternoon!

I hope the first couple weeks of the semester haven't been too crazy for everyone and that you can all make it out to Yogi's from 5-7pm for our January Happy Hour. Our 1st Year Representative meeting was set to close today, but we are going to extend the deadline for one more week. Thank you to those who have already submitted statements! Our next "e-board" meeting will be Tuesday at 7pm in the SPEA grad lounge. We meet every other Tuesday at 7pm. Anyone who is interested in being a part of AmeriCorps Alums Bloomington (community members included!) but would like more information is welcome to come to that meeting. We have built a lot of momentum over the past year and would like to find a good team of 1st years to continue that into the fall 2011/spring 2012 academic year. 

Below is a local volunteer opportunity. We hope to schedule an orientation soon, but this past week was difficult to coordinate. Please respond back to this email if you are interested in having something set up at SPEA, or contact Holly directly:

Since 2005, Area 10 has been helping local senior citizens and people with disabilities stay in their homes by improving the accessibility and maintaining the safety of their houses through the REPAIRS Team. That stands for Reliable Experts Providing Accessibility, Independence, Repairs, and Safety.

Our REPAIRS Team has done everything from building ramps to changing batteries in smoke detectors. One request that our current team cannot meet is snow removal. In fact, we know of no group that offers snow removal to the public in Monroe or Owen counties. We need a large crew to call upon this winter to shovel, sweep, and salt walkways to ensure all our neighbors are safe.

You are invited to call to schedule a volunteer orientation and hear the details of how the program works. After you’ve attended orientation, you will be “on-call” after a snowstorm to shovel/sweep/salt a client’s walkway. We ask that you commit to shoveling at least twice in the winter of 2011. You may also continue to volunteer with the REPAIRS Team after winter if you choose. Anyone can volunteer, although we ask people 13 and under to volunteer with an adult. If you have questions, please contact Holly athmclauchlin@area10agency.org or (812) 876-3383 extension 522.

Thank you all and hope to see you soon!

Stefanie