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Sorting with Room To Grow

25 Mar

What: sort through donated clothing, through New York Cares

Where: Room to Grow, East Midtown

When: Tuesday, 5:30-7:30pm

Room to Grow is a Manhattan-based non-profit supporting babies in poverty throughout their first three years of life, providing parents with one-on-one parenting support and essential baby items throughout their children’s critical stages of development. As such, they receive a LOT of donations from the generous public, large corporations, and retail stores; someone needs to go through everything and separate the good from the bad, and definitely get rid of the ugly. That’s where you come in, new volunteer!

When you first arrive at Room to Grow, you’ll take a seat on the couch and listen to some simple instructions. Since they have so many different offerings there (toys, clothing, books,etc), your instructions may be different than mine but the idea is the same: keep anything that looks new, get rid of anything you wouldn’t buy in a store yourself. Our task for the night was to do a preliminary sorting of clothing donations, separating everything by age and taking out anything that wasn’t wearable. It wasn’t difficult, and the time flew by as I picked through bag after bag of adorable baby clothing. Anything that I was unsure of, I held up and waited for one of the staff or head volunteers to give a thumbs up or thumbs down. The simple, repetitive task was actually one of the most calming activities I’ve participated in after a long day of work, second only to my brownie-stuffing experience at God’s Love We Deliver. My foot falling asleep every 5 minutes was the only reminder that I was, in fact, still conscious- otherwise, it was quite meditative.

The place itself was immaculate (get a 3D tour here), and I think I’d actually prefer to shop for clothing here than in a retail store; its a relaxed, organized environment with everything one would need to outfit a baby for a few years, all in one room. Also, its free (which is a pretty amazing deal). They are also VERY thorough; after our initial sort, the next group will give everything a second look before putting it on the rack. Anything that doesn’t make the cut moves further down the donation chain; Good Will and the Salvation Army for the less than perfect items, and those that can’t be salvaged? Their fate is to become insulation for houses. Other things to know:

  • Be prepared to sit on the floor for two hours, or at the very least, be hunched over a pile of donations for an extended period of time (read: bad back or bad knees-> call before going to see what the day’s project is).
  • If you’ve got baby fever but aren’t ready to have a baby, do not volunteer here. The power of tiny outfits on a woman is bizarre and the enigmatic force thrives here, so beware. I mean, have you seen how tiny those shoes are?!
  • If you donate, know that anything you give will in some way be used, by someone, or something. However, if your kid has a propensity for spaghetti flinging and drooling uncontrollably (pretty much sums up my childhood…and college), and now you’re looking to get rid of their “gently used” vomit-covered onesies, give it to someone else. Room to Grow only uses like-new donations, and for good reason.
  • This isn’t just a place for poverty-stricken women to pick out cute outfits; it’s a lot more than that. Its a support system made up social workers, providing information and necessities to parents who have been referred by a selected group of prenatal programs in the city. For more information, visit their website. And of course, you can volunteer directly with them.

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Creative Arts Workshops for Kids

24 Feb

What: work on educational art projects with kids, through New York Cares

Where: El Faro Beacon School, East Harlem

When: Saturdays, 11:30am-3:30pm

When you first get to the Beacon School, you’ll sign in and head downstairs to the basement cafeteria. Besides that one detail, I’m pretty sure what awaits you will be different every time you volunteer with the Creative Arts Workshop Saturday Art Works program. The project we had for the day I was volunteering was to make a giant-sized puppet of an iconic African-American, in honor of Black History Month. The volunteers spent the first 45 minutes or so sorting through scraps of fabric, markers, crayons, and putting together the wood bases that would serve as a skeleton of sorts for the puppet. We then got a brief introduction to the program and some guidelines on working with children (don’t go anywhere alone with a child, ask for help from a program staffer if a child is being difficult, etc.). While this was going on, about 30 kids filed in and waiting for the program to begin.

Averaging about 8 years old, the kids gathered in a circle to hear about the project for the day. We then broke into groups to read about 10 different historical figures from Black History. After this, each group had to pick one person to turn into a giant puppet; our group chose Frederick Douglass and got to work making the best-dressed puppet in the place, thanks an imaginative 7 year old with fashion sense beyond his years. At around 2:30, everyone gathered again in a circle to present their characters and put on a brief play using the knowledge they learned from the books we read earlier in the day.

According to their website, “CAW is a nonprofit organization that utilizes the visual and performing arts to teach life skills to children and teens while enriching communities.” Though I volunteered through New York Cares, you can volunteer directly with CAW, who offer the workshops three Saturdays out of every month in East Harlem and Washington Heights. The workshops use the arts to promote creativity through a variety of mediums, including painting, drawing, montage, sculpture, dance, singing/rap, theater, music, reading, writing, gardening and any other practices that allow for creation and self-expression. They also have a number of other programs that serve the community and it’s children: Summer Art Works, After School Art Works, and the Giraffe Path, which is an annual arts project taking place this June. For more information about the Creative Arts Workshops for Kids, visit their website.

When the day started, I was slightly nervous about being able to mentor a child and display a certain level of intelligence. For some reason, I find the honesty of children extremely intimidating; the disapproval or ridicule of a 9 year old I’ve never met has almost the same affect on me as the disapproval of my own parents.  I know its probably an unwarranted, ridiculous fear, but one I have none the less. And I’ve got to be honest: Black History is not a topic I’m an expert on. How do I teach kids about something I know nothing about? The books we read to them had some popular names of course, whose history I’m well aware of, but I wasn’t going to pretend that I knew where Frederick Douglass was born. If there was a quiz at the beginning of the day I would have undoubtedly failed with flying colors. But i digress…. As with every other time I volunteer with kids, it only takes about 5 minutes for me to realize that they are there to learn and have fun, and anything you do can only help them achieve that. They’re not nearly as judgmental as adults, which is a nice departure from reality if only for a few hours. One of the great things about mentoring kids is that you can both pick up a book and learn along side each other. Some other things to know:

  • Eat a big breakfast. You’ll be here for a while, and although you’re given the option of taking a juice-box and small snack,  6 mini pretzel sticks won’t cut it as a lunch for me personally, since I’m no longer 3 feet tall and 30 lbs.
  • The projects vary, but there’s a good chance markers, glue and/or paint will be involved. You’ll also be sitting on the floor and moving around a lot. Dress appropriately.
  • The Creative Arts Workshops students and volunteers have painted some pretty cool murals around Harlem in the past few years. After the project, take a stroll down 124th Street and see if you can find some; if you don’t  have time, check out the pictures I took above or head to the their online gallery.
  • This project seems to attract a lot of artistic volunteers; including myself, the group of volunteers I worked with were all employed in graphic design. It’s not a surprising fact- the project is called Creative Arts Workshop. I’m just saying…this is a good activity for artsy-fartsy volunteers like myself.
  • For those now wondering, Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland.

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January is National Mentoring Month!

10 Jan

January is National Mentoring Month, a time to recognize those who give generously of themselves by mentoring young Americans, and a time to focus the nation’s attention towards the cause in the hopes of gaining new mentors for our nation’s children in need. This month was officially proclaimed so by President Barack Obama earlier this week, as seen here on the White House website. Mentoring a child not only enriches their life, but your own as well. Regardless of whether you coach, teach, or just spend time hanging out, you’re exemplifying (hopefully) how to be a responsible adult and become a role model for kids who may not have an adult in their life to look up to.

On the Serve.gov website, they state that “Together, the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR, and the Corporation for National and Community Service are working to focus national attention on the need for mentors. If we – individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofits – can work together to increase the number of mentors, we assure brighter futures for our young people.”

If you need convincing on how impactful mentoring a child can be, take a look at some of the tributes written on the Harvard Mentoring Project website. The sixth annual ‘Thank Your Mentor Day’ is January 22nd, but the tributes have already begun pouring in from around the country from former and current mentees, young and old, expressing their gratitude.

In order to help you get started mentoring a child, I’ve listed some resources below that should help those in New York trying to find the right opportunity:

The Mentoring Partnership of Long Island (Hauppauge) – (631) 761-7800

The Mentoring Partnership of New York (New York) – (212) 953-0945

iMentor (NYC-focused online mentoring with weekly email correspondence and in-person meetings and events throughout the school year)

Administration for Children’s Services (NYC Gov. Site; includes links to Big Brothers Big Sisters, Mentoring USA, MPNY)

In2Books (online mentoring program that involves reading and discussion)

You should know that most mentoring programs require a background check and training, and then you will be paired with an appropriate mentee that perhaps shares some of the same interests as you. It is also a big commitment to make, as you are promising your time to child; don’t make the decision hastily or if you’re unsure of how much time you’ll be able to give on a regular basis. If you’re unsure of how you’ll be a one-on-one situation with a child, it may be a good idea to attend one of the many projects New York Cares offers that involve spending time reading with children or teaching them computer skills. It’s a great way to get your feet wet and see if this is something you really want to do. The online mentoring programs are a great alternative to the traditional programs (such as Big Brothers Big Sisters) for busy professionals, as they tend to involve significantly less time committal and little to no travel.

If you are an organization that has mentoring opportunities available, please email me or comment below to list them on this site!

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Christmas Party with ICSF

18 Dec

Last Saturday I was able to help out at the Inner City Scholarship Fund’s Christmas Party, put together every year by the Junior Committee. From the outside, Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Elementary School in East Harlem didn’t look too festive, but once I went inside and down to the basement, I immediately found the Christmas cheer. The basement had been transformed into a child’s wonderland, with tables covered in red and green, each one a different arts and crafts station. Towards the back of the room, I saw a big comfy chair surrounded by presents and decorations, clearly for Santa, which got me (and the kids) pretty excited.

Before the party got started, volunteers and members of the ICSF Junior Committee set up each table with a different activity: cookie and cupcake decorating, ornament making, decorations, and jewelry making. We also had to put together goodie bags for the kids (1st and 2nd graders) to take home after the party, which included coloring books, crayons, Radio City key chains, necklaces and pencils (all of which were generously donated).

As soon as the kids came in, it was every man and woman for themselves. The only thing us volunteers really had to do was have fun with the kids and help them if they had problems with any of the projects. Luckily, the projects were easy to explain and age-appropriate, so we mostly just got to have fun. The jewelry-making tables were a big hit with the girls, who made tons of cute bracelets for themselves and to give as presents. I started off at one of the ornament-making tables, where I helped some of the boys put together and paint miniature wooden sleds. I kept getting distracted by the giggles at the adjacent table, which was covered in candy. I hadn’t realized how much stuff was on the cookie decorating table: gum drops, swedish fish, sprinkles, icing, cookies, cupcakes. What kid wouldn’t want to sit at a table and do whatever they want with that stuff? I could hardly control myself and I’m 26.

After about two hours of crafts and sugar rushes, it was time to entice Santa with some carols. The Junior Committee made caroling books and everyone sang together until we heard the jingle bells: Santa and two elves made their way towards the kids, who were screaming and jumping and hugging each other. As an adult, somehow, I’ve never been in a room full of children when Santa arrives; it gave me chills (the good kind) to see how happy they were. Pure joy. Just by seeing a guy in a red suit. Ahh, to be young again.

After everyone calmed down, Santa sat in his chair and read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, which is amazing considering how many cookies those kids ate. After the story everyone lined up to take their picture with Santa and make their Christmas wishes. However, I feel I should mention that one girl chose not to take her picture with this particular Santa, because she knew he was a fake; no, she declared, she would be going to Sears to see the REAL Santa later that week. Kids…they say the darndest things…

Throughout the morning I heard more than one child say “this is the best day of my life”. I must admit-I may have had more fun than some of the kids. I love crafting. And cookies. The ICSF Junior Committee did a great job putting this together, sparing no details, and I can safely assume that everyone who showed up -young or old- left with a lot more holiday cheer than they came with. They were nice enough to share their photos from the day, taken by photographer Chris La Putt:

Photos courtesy of Chris La Putt

The Junior Committee supports ICSF students by organizing a variety of programs, including monthly trips to NYC cultural institutions, tutoring and athletics programs, annual parties and community-service initiatives. For more information about the programs and how to get involved, click here.

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New York Cares Day 2009

18 Oct

Yesterday, along with some friends and coworkers, I participated in New York Cares Day. It was a huge success: $235,000 was raised for New York Cares year-long programs, and 117 schools in NYC were given revitalizing makeovers. 8,000 volunteers painted bookcases, murals, fences and walls, organized libraries and classrooms. Our team was assigned to PS 11 K, the Purvis J. Behan Elementary School in Brooklyn, and our job for the day was to paint as many bookcases and shelves as we could. Following a list of classrooms that were registered for the day, we took to the halls with red, blue, purple, yellow and green paints, brushes in hand. For each room, we had to take out anything that was in the bookcases, lay down some butcher paper to protect the floors, and then decide how we wanted to paint each one: stripes? handprints? I like to think we did a pretty good job. We and everyone else wanted to add as much color and fun as we could. At the end of the day, we returned to each classroom we had dismantled, put everything back the way we found it, and admired our handy work.

Other teams at PS 11 K were painting murals that had been drawn out on walls and doors. Some were painting fences outside a bright yellow. The library also got a much needed re-organization. On Monday morning, 600 children will arrive at PS 11 to find bright new colors in their classrooms and new murals to enjoy. More importantly, they will hopefully see that there were a lot of people who cared enough about them and their education, to come to their school and make it more vibrant and fun place to learn.

To those that came out for Team Give and Get NYC, thank you: Alison Art, Dustin Growick, James Posner, Jason Kahan, Jonathan Essa, Massimo Pennisi, Marshall Weaver, McKenzie Mahoney, Meghan Dockery, Michael Bamford, Paul Costa, and Sasha Growick. It meant a lot to me that I was able to share something I love to do with friends. We had a lot of laughs, and got a lot of paint in places it didn’t belong (don’t worry, we cleaned up).

I’ve posted some pictures from our day at PS 11 below (click to enlarge). If you’re interested in seeing what went on at other schools on New York Cares Day, check out their blog by clicking here.

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