September Student Leadership Update

Hi All-

Here is an SLB update from Joel, our Student Programming intern at the Center for Urban Connections.

Our first meeting and retreat with the past and new board members for the 2010/2011 school year, was on August 22 in Castlewood. The agenda consisted of setting goals for the year, including two major events for the fall and spring semester. For the fall, we decided to support Project Homeless Connect and this spring, we will start working on Alternative Spring Break. The board has decided to have monthly service projects where each individual on the board will have a chance to set up their own service project and the rest of the group will go to support the event. The day concluded with a team building exercise and rock repelling. We also decided to have bi- weekly meeting the first and third Friday of the month, in the conference room in Tivoli 243, from 9:30-11am.

A couple of interesting points that the board had decided to do is become a student organization on the Auraria campus. The leadership board decided to do this so that students who can only commit to a couple of hours a week can participate in service learning projects. Our first project was held this past Friday, the 24th 8am-12pm with the National Sports Center for the Disabled at Clear Creek Canyon near Golden. The board helped individuals who are blind rock climb; some of them did it for their first time. We helped them put their gear on, give directions to the location and assisted them with climbing.

Our October service project will be volunteering at the Komen Race for the Cure, at the Pepsi Center on Sunday, October 3rd, 2010. Our duties require a time commitment from 10:00am - 2:30pm. If individuals are interested in participating in this event , please register under http://www.komendenver.org/site/PageServer?pagename=rfcd_race_volunteers_overview

Once individuals have completed the registration process, please send an email to Alia Thobani at athobani@mscd.edu with your student I.D. number.

Thanks for reading!

Rachelle
Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections

Rock and Walk for Sudan!

Hi All-

Check out a benefit for Sudanese Refugees, this Saturday called Rock for Sudan! It is at the Meadowlark at 9pm. Its features local artists and is only seven dollars, so come and show your support!

This organization is also having a Walk for Sudan. The Walk for Sudan raises funds for projects supporting the people and country of Sudan to recover from 20 years of civil war. This walk symbolizes unity and coming together to help gain awareness and support for Sudan and the people of Sudan. To learn more about this event or how to be a part of it, please go to the website below and copy/paste this link:

http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2z4g3wj802914d1

Or Contact:

Martha Riley

mriley231@gmail.com

(303) 435-2073

Thanks for reading!

Rachelle

Sign Up To Volunteer for Project Homeless Connect Today!

Hi All!

We hope you guys are having a great semester. The Center for Urban Connections is co-hosting along with UC-Denver and CCD, Project Homeless Connect, an event to help those who are currently experiencing homelessness, by providing access to important services. We hope that you can sign-up to volunteer and learn more about this event!

Mile High United Way and Denver’s Road Home are excited to host the Tenth Project Homeless Connect (PHC 10) event during National Homeless Awareness Month. We are working with Metro State College in conjunction with Community College of Denver and University of Colorado at Denver to have the event on the Auraria campus, in Denver on Friday, October 29th.

Project Homeless Connect is a one day event that will provide individuals and families currently experiencing homelessness or at risk for becoming homeless with access to vital services such as: rapid re-housing, basic medical exams, food stamps, legal advice and much more. It’s a one-stop shop for assistance that will help families stop struggling and pave the way for success.

Volunteers are needed to fill variety of shifts and projects such as:

Provide Client Support: work one-on-one with individuals/families to navigate through the variety of services successfully during their visit.
Registration and Information &Referral
Clothing and Food Distribution

To Sign Up to Volunteer Please Copy/Paste and go to this link:

https://volunteer.truist.com/milehigh/user/events/one.tcl?event_id=10407973842&utime=-786045316

Thanks for reading!

Rachelle

Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections

Metro Athletes Build Community by Reaching Out to Kids

Our center is always doing its best to support and recognize Metro Students, Staff, Faculty and Organizations that implement service learning into their lives. The Metro State Women's Basketball team, was a recipient at our CUC Awards Ceremony Spring 2010 for the Student Exceptional Achievement for Community Based Learning. Browsing through Metro's website this morning, I found another great article about Metro Athletics being involved in service learning. In 2008 at RMAC, which is the Rocky Mountain Athletics Conference, Metro Athletes were recipients of the NCAA Division 2 Community Engagement Form, for doing a program called " Building Bridges to the Community". Metro Athletes participates in summer sport camps, that allow Metro Students to help kids from such non-profits like I Have A Dream Foundation, Denver Kids Inc., and Denver Children's Home and Sportswomen of Colorado.

Not only do kids from Denver Public Schools connect with other DPS kids and learn leadership skills to broaden their horizons, but they love to play the various sports offered during the summer and have a lot of fun!

To Check Out the Article from Metro's Website Copy/Paste the link below:

http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/athcamps_twv8072810.shtml

Thanks for reading!

Rachelle

Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections

Fresh Ideas for Fundraisers, Even in Hard Times

Hard times in a troubling economy cause many communities to come together as one. Many non-profits and philanthropists are overcoming challenges by creating affordable, creative and interesting fundraisers to get individuals to contribute to their organization. An example of a fundraiser that has been taken to the next level, is the Rangeview Library Friends Foundation annual event called, Sparkopolis. This event was taken to the next level by having all local food from Anythink Wright Farms including Madagascar Vanilla Sorbet and Whiskey Caviar Cream for cocktails. Money may be tight for your non-profit, but organizing a creative meeting can innovate fresh ideas for fundraising opportunities. From there, you could add up the costs and minimize a couple of items from that budget and charge a bit more for the ticket price. Please copy/paste this article to see the rest of it found in the Denver Post.

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_15943432

Thanks for reading!

Rachelle

Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections

This American Life

Podcasts are a fairly new decade invention after the iTunes craze went wild, and media broadcasts online became popular. While playing your I-pod is a great way to listen to all of your favorite music and watch cool videos, you might be missing out on Podcasts where you can learn about all kinds of stories and shows. One show,voted the most popular podcast in the country, This American offers a variety of interesting issues like Family Physics ( applying the law of physics to human relationships) and Inside Job ( a story about investigative journalists who follow one company that made lots of money for the business, while creating a pit of financial downfall for everyone else). Be sure to check out this podcast to stream for free or to purchase it on Itunes!

Here is the link:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

Thanks for reading!

Rachelle

Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections

Upcoming Run/Walks In the Denver Local Community

Hi Everyone-

Have some free time during the weekends? Have fun and help out in a race or walk to benefit a cause! Listed below are up and coming events that you could volunteer at or attend!

Memory Walk 2010 for Alzheimer Disease

Saturday September 18th, 2010 @ 8am

http://www.kintera.org/FAF/home/default.asp?ievent=335007&&memory=memorywalk

Rocky Mountain Run/Walk/Stroll for PKD(Poly cystic Kidney Disease)

Sunday, September 19th at 9am-12pm at Wash Park

http://www.pkdcure.org/

Race for the Cure Run/Walk for Breast Cancer

Sunday October 3rd, 2010 at 5am to 12pm

http://www.komendenver.org/site/PageServer?pagename=rfcd_race_volunteers_overview

Scream Scram- 5k Run/Walk

Benefits the Boy/Girls Clubs of Metro Denver

Friday, October 22nd at 6pm

http://www.bgcmd.org/index.cfm?page=Scream_Scram

Have a Great Weekend!

Rachelle

Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections

Support Grow Local By Eating Chipotle On September 18th.

What do eating burritos, Chipotle and local food, local community and local economy have in common? They are all associated with GrowLocal Colorado! Support GrowLocal Colorado and Transition Denver by eating burritos during 11am-10pm on Saturday, September 18th, 2010! The participating Chipotle's in Denver are: 16th & California, 32nd & Lowell and Alameda & Logan. When purchasing your burrito let them know you would like to support GrowLocal Colorado and Transition Denver and 50 percent of your purchase will go towards helping out these two organizations!

If you would like to know more about these two organizations or for more information on this event please go to:

www.transitiondenver.org

www.growlocalcolorado.org

Thanks for reading & Have A Great Short Week!

Rachelle

Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections

Green College Dorms!

Hi Everyone!

Please listen to this article from NPR about green friendly dorms. After listening ask yourself what am I doing to be environmentally friendly? If you do not live in what is considered, "dorm living", there are a lot of daily green things one can do at their house. Does your home have a recycling program? You could start out by implementing one in your building or asking about it to know why they don't have one and the reasons behind it . Energy efficient light bulbs are available at almost any place from grocery stores to a hardware or appliance shops. The benefits of having energy efficient light bulbs is that they have a longer shelf life. When getting ready to go out on the town or if a room is not in use, remember to turn off the lights and not only will you be green but your electricity bill will be a lot less,simply because of your awareness of your energy.

Please click below to be linked to this article.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14075155

Thanks for Reading & Have a Great Labor Day Weekend!

Rachelle

Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections

2010 CNA Non- Profit Fall Conference

Hi All!

There will be a Colorado Non-Profit Fall Conference held on September 30th and October 1st. The conference is held for all who have an interest in the Non-Profit Sector in Colorado. Those two days will be filled with sessions, plenaries and lots of networking among Non-Profit Professionals! In addition to all of that, a 20 minute free session of consulting will be available to those who have questions in the Consultant Corner.

The Conference will be a great place to stop and chat with individuals in the exhibit hall, where you will meet non-profits, foundations and other businesses. Lastly, panelists and break room discussions will be held discussing: Fundraising & Development, Executive Leadership, Board & Volunteers ( partnership with Metro Volunteers), Public Policy and Marketing & Communications.

If you register before this Friday you will save 60 dollars per person!

If you have any other questions please visit, http://www.coloradononprofits.org/FallConference/default.asp for more information.

Thanks for reading!

Rachelle

Media/Events Assistant

Center for Urban Connections