Anti- Bullying Campaign Brings Awareness Through Photography

Although anti- bully activism is a very prevalent issue in all levels of schooling, sometimes the reality of its overall awareness can make individuals scared to bring it up at all.

Both a mother and photographer in the Denver metro area, Katherine Blunt has made it a point to stand up to acts of bullying, especially when the consequences of it can lead to suicide. Her campaign is called Krusades for Kindness, and it all started when her own daughter was bullied,and right then, she knew that she wanted to do something about it.

Being the social activist & photographer that she is, she decided to take action and photograph a diverse groups of first through 12th graders; that were of all ages, ethnicities, both male and female,to raise awareness of bullying in local schools.

This has resulted in an photo exhibit that will be open to the public on Friday, April 29th at the First Universalist Church in Denver located at 4101 E. Hampden Ave ( at Colorado Blvd.) Her art show will be open through May 15th.



Thanks for reading!

Rachelle
Media/Events Assistant
Center for Urban Connections

National Conference on Volunteering and Service

Hello there Servistas!

Interested in doing something interesting and fun this summer? On June 6th-8th,embark in a weekend of learning about service and community engagement through workshops,service projects, and special events inspired by social action and community.

If you are a volunteer coordinator, non-profit professionals, AmeriCorps member and alum, social entrepreneurs and national philanthropists.

Speakers include: Elizabeth Blake ( Senior Vice President of Habitat for Humanity), James Carville ,civil rights activist Ruby Bridges and much more!

For more information about this conference or to learn more, click on this link: http://www.volunteeringandservice.org/


Thanks for reading!



Rachelle
Media/Events Assistant
Center for Urban Connections

Get Inspired by Your Youth: The Power Shift 2011

Just yesterday wrapped up a youth driven, grassroots conference on Climate Change to raise and awaken youth to stand up to protect our environment. This weekend's presentation in Washington D.C.,http://www.powershift2011.org/conference/powershift2011 marked an expectation for youth to take social action, by creating a think tank for creative ideas and solutions for clean energy.

As these individuals bring back positive action driven programs into their community, they are also giving a new birth of existence,hoping that someday soon this topic will be integrated into higher education, whether that be speakers or course selections.

This movement is all about using individual creativity to promote social justice and change in local communities.This idea, is one that I think will help young individuals be able to spread knowledge and be the change they wish to see in their own community. Attendees consisted of all career paths, including young entrepreneurs and folks who are socially and politically involved in their communities.

During the past couple of years, there has been a wonderful amount of advertising for products and communication that is locally grown and developed. Since communication has gone very global, the challenge for every one today is to spread that which is important locally, so that every community can be able to make change, which helps to fill up a cup of large social awareness.

Here is an interesting article http://tinyurl.com/3knzxoq that was posted by the New York Times, that talks about the concept of bringing local back.

Happy social action reading!


Rachelle
Media/Events Assistant
Center for Urban Connections

Earth Day 2011 Volunteer Opportunities and Events

Hello Servistas!

Here are two great events and volunteer opportunities to get involved in the community for Earth Day!

The first one, is here on campus. It is geared towards environmental workshops. Some of them include composting and energy saving tips and tools. It starts at 10:30 and ends at 3 on April 22nd aka earth day. If you are interested in volunteering/participating please contact Kyra Tarbell @ Kyra.Tarbell@ucdenver.edu. All students, faculty and staff are welcome to join!

The second event happening is a Take Charge volunteer event put on by Groundwork Denver. Volunteers will be helping the Skyline neighborhood, by providing them with free compact fluorescent bulbs and educating individuals about green friendly practices. This event will be on April 29th, from 9am -12. Please RSVP by April 25th to Stephanie at Stephanie@GroundworkColorado.org or call (303) 455-5600.

If you have any questions about these two events or would like to know more information, please come to our office Tiovli 243 or call us at (303) 352-7129.


Thanks for reading!


Rachelle
Media/Events Assistant
Center for Urban Connections

Volunteer at Roadrunners Give Back Day

The Center for Urban Connections invites you to volunteer on Saturday April 30th, for our second annual Roadrunners Give Back Day. This volunteer opportunity is all about giving back to the Denver metro community, by doing various projects to establish a sense of community between students,staff, and faculty of Metro State.

There will be free Red Cross CPR classes offered after your shift, a recycling drive hosted by Comcast,and clothing & food donations.

Volunteer participants are expected to volunteer for six hours during Give Back Day.
Check in starts at 8 am, and projects go until 3 pm.When you volunteer for Give Back Day you receive free parking, a t-shirt,and complementary breakfast and lunch.

Some of the projects include community beautification, campus landscaping, painting, and library projects.

For more information about how to register please go to: http://www.mscd.edu/volunteerday/


If you have specific questions about Volunteer Day, please contact Lauren Schwartz at schwarla@mscd.edu or call 303.556.2847.

Thanks for reading!


Rachelle
Media/Events Assistant
Center for Urban Connections

Deal Karma: Local coupon deals, Supporting local Non-Profits

A local socially aware business has emerged to give Denver, local deals and funding to 501 (c)(3) non profit organizations.It is called Deal Karma. Because they believe that being philanthropic is an essential value to their mission, they donate up to fifty percent of what they receive to numerous local Denver non-profits.

On their website, they have a couple of articles that are of relevance to our local community.Topics range from agriculture to animals, and all of these postings relate to how an individual can become engaged in the community through non-profit organizations. There is even an opportunity to donate your old cell phone and up-cycle it, to give to the Safehouse Denver.

If you have further interest in signing up for Deal Karma or learning more about it please go to their website,http://dealkarma.org.

Thanks for reading!

Rachelle
Media/Events Assistant
Center for Urban Connections