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For Our City Day
Hundreds expected to participate in For Our City Day, volunteers welcome ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Approximately 600 people will volunteer their time to paint homes in the community and beautify an area of Chandler's Municipal Airport on Saturday, October 22 as part of Chandler's first annual For Our City Day. The City's Neighborhood Resources office is working with For Our City-Chandler, part of the civic non-profit corporation CARE Inc., and Rebuilding Together Valley of the Sun, a volunteer home rehabilitation organization, to paint the homes of low-income seniors, disabled individuals and military veterans. Twelve Chandler families will have their homes painted. In addition, volunteers will perform a variety of cleanup projects at Chandler's Municipal Airport, including painting, weed removal, storage sorting and other activities. Persons interested in helping at the Airport should gather at 7 a.m. at Airport Park located northwest of the air traffic control tower on the east side of Airport Boulevard, north of Queen Creek Road. Due to limited parking, volunteers are encouraged to carpool to the location. For Our City-Chandler is led by Chandler City Councilmember Kevin Hartke and coordinates service needs for the City and various non-profit organizations with the resources made available by churches, employers, business groups, and others in the Chandler area. For more information about For Our City Day, call or e-mail judy.ramos@chandleraz.gov. |
Report from the Backpack Drive
Back to School Success!
WoW! Another successful Back to School Program at CCCC thanks to you, our supporters. As we wrap up the back to school program, we celebrate that 479 children went back with a new backpack and school supplies to help start the year off right. As schools continue to suffer the effects of difficult economic times, the burden for many items is placed on the families. This program continues to meet the needs of the community we serve.
Thank you to Kimberly Guevara of the Chandler Unified School District, Pastor Rex Stokes of Without Wall Christian Center, and For Our City Chandler for the collaboration in making this year’s distribution a huge success, as we continue to work together to make a larger impact for those in need. Through First Things First, we were able to include backpacks for children going into Pre-School or Headstart, and every preschool and kinder student received a free book. Valley of the Sun United Way provided School Readiness kits that were distributed to all preschool, Kinder and 1st graders with activities for the home to help with school success. Chandler Service Club and Sun Lakes United Church of Christ provided funds to purchase backpacks. Other donors included Chandler Presbyterian Church, Arizona Bank and Trust, and ICAN.
Working together helps us to do so much more, so much better. We would be unable to make this happen if it were not for the generous contributions. Thank you to everyone who reached out to support a child, whether with one item or 100, you have made a difference. |
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For more information on upcoming events click here!
For Our City Host Committee Meetings
Thursday, August 4 at 8:30 a.m. - Chandler Fire Department Headquarters,151 E. Boston St. - 2nd Floor Meeting room
Thursday, October 6 at 8:30 a.m. - Chandler Fire Department Headquarters,151 E. Boston St. - 2nd Floor Meeting room
Thursday, December 1 at 8:30 a.m. - Chandler Fire Department Headquarters,151 E. Boston St.- 2nd Floor Meeting room
For Our City Breakfast Meeting
Thursday, September 15 - breakfast/checkin at 8 a.m., meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. - ChandlerBoys & Girls Club (Tentative)
Let’s Pull Together against nature’s ‘graffiti’
By Director, Kevin Hartke
Weeds
have been called nature’s graffiti. Pulling them can be a chore, but if
it helps the community as a whole, the work can even be fun. For Our
City and the City of Chandler’s Neighborhood Resources Department are
inviting members of the community to participate in the second annual
“Let’s Pull Together Week,” a Citywide effort to eradicate weeds in
residential areas, from May 6 until May 15.
Residents,
neighborhood organizations, churches and business groups are encouraged
to volunteer to identify properties with overgrown weeds and make
arrangements to pull them out. Weeds that are left unattended are not
only an eyesore, but they can also become a fire hazard. My hope is that
enough volunteers will come forward to cover all the areas of Chandler
that are most in need.
With
the increase in foreclosed properties, neighborhoods are continually
struggling to stabilize property values and maintain proper landscaping
standards. In some cases, the City’s Code Enforcement Unit may intervene
through administrative abatement. However, the process can be lengthy
and only applies to cases of extreme code violations. More and more we
recognize the need to rely on volunteers to achieve visible results.
This
is where “For Our City- Chandler” comes into play. As I have written in
previous columns, the intent of our local chapter is to share
resources, engage in dialogue and serve together to address the greatest
needs of our community. We match volunteers with service opportunities
and post announcements, needs and success stories in our email
newsletter and electronic bulletin board at www.forourcity.org/Chandler.html.
In
the case of the “Let’s Pull Together Week”, For Our City is partnering
with the City of Chandler’s Neighborhood Resources office to track
volunteers and assist those in need. Individuals or groups interested in
taking an active role in this project are asked to register with Judy
Ramos, Neighborhood Program Coordinator, by calling 480-782-4348, or
sending an e-mail to judy.ramos@chandleraz.gov.
Here
are some guidelines we recommend volunteers follow: If a property with
weeds is currently occupied, volunteers need to notify the occupant and
receive permission prior to doing any work. If a property is vacant,
you’ll be asked to contact the listed real estate agent, bank, property
management company or the owner on record with the Maricopa County
Assessor’s Office to report the weeds and receive permission to remove
them.
In
the case of homes located in a homeowner association (HOA), it is also
recommended to contact the HOA Board or management company in advance.
“Let’s
Pull Together Week” is an opportunity for us to demonstrate that we
care about our community and that together we are ready and willing to
serve and accomplish great results. Last year, I was part of a team that
cleaned a few yards. I drive by one of the houses daily; it is still in
better condition than it was a year ago! We worked on another house
that was occupied by a man struggling with asthma. Both opportunities
were unique and rewarding. I look forward to meeting new faces through
this initiative and hearing about more success stories.
For Our City - Chandler June 2010 Update!
On May 25th approximately 100 leaders attended a very informative For Our City - Chandler breakfast meeting at the Boys and Girls Club - Compadre Branch. At this meeting, presenters spoke on three different opportunities to volunteer beginning this summer and into the fall. In an effort to communicate to those who might not have been able to attend, below is a small recap of the three topics discussed at the meeting.
1. Live Love Day
Live Love Day 2010 set for October 23rd. We are looking for churches and other community groups who want to volunteer or help in the planning of the day. Please contact Melinda Gunther atinfo@whatislivelove.com
Opportunity for Non-Profits serving Chandler- if your non-profit has a project that can be completed in 1 day by a group of volunteers that you would otherwise be unable to accomplish, please submit a Project Request application to be considered for Live Love Day by June 30th. For application or questions, please contact Judy Ramos at 480-782-4348 or judy.ramos@chandleraz.gov.
2. Drives
In the fall drives breakout group, we discussed back to school drives and other fall drives. If anyone is currently doing or is interested in helping with back to school efforts, please fill out the form from the City and also let me know about your interest. If anyone is planning on doing or is interested in helping with other drives for the fall, please email trinity@chandlerfoodbank.org and let us know further details so we can better coordinate.
(See attached file: May 25 Drives Survey.pdf)
3. Education/Mentoring
The For Our City-Chandler Education Task Force discussed needs at Galveston Elementary School and Chief Hill Academy. Opportunities for volunteers were also presented by both schools. Another meeting at Chief Hill Academy on Thursday followed this meeting. The YMCA is offering a mentor training program that serves children between the ages of 9 and 16. Information will be sent out to all For Our City Organizations. The mentoring program will serve the mentioned schools as well as organizations such as YMCA, ICAN and the Boys and Girls Club and Live Love that engage mentors with students. Please contact Khartke@aol.com if you are interested in more information about volunteering at Galveston Elementary or Chief Hill Academy.
Thank you for your continued interest and participation in For Our City - Chandler!
For Our City - Chandler "Bringing our community together through volunteerism."
This fall has been a busy time with getting things organized for “For Our City, Chandler”. Great things happen when great people are part of the vision. Thank you, Mayor Dunn, for your vision to bring our community together to make Chandler better through volunteerism. Thank you Chandler resident, John Power, for developing our webpage, www.forourcity.org. Thank you Chandler city staff, Leah Powell, Niki Tapia, Judy Register and Judy Ramos for your enthusiasm to mobilize our community. Thank you, Host Committee and Focus Committee for the passion, ideas and skills that you bring to the table. Thank you, Melinda Gunther and Live Love Volunteers, for organizing Live Love Day on October 24th. Thank you, Don Anderson and Chandler Christian Church, for partnering with Project Homeless Connect on October 29th. Thank you, Richard Montando and the YMCA, for organizing and hosting the November 5th Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast. Thank you, Channel 3, for your Passion to Action program and for partnering with Care-Inc and For Our City to communicate and track hours in volunteer efforts. For Our City,Chandler has several opportunities exploding onto the calendar during the latter half of October and the beginning of November. (All this information is available at http://www.forourcity.org/Volunteer_Opportunities.html): Live Love Day, October 24, 2009 Four neighborhoods in downtown Chandler will be renovated as home owners work alongside of volunteers to improve their neighborhoods. To find out more contact Melinda Gunther at: melindagunther@whatislivelove.com . For more information and the history of Live Love Day check out http://www.whatislivelove.com . Rock & Roll Paint-a-Thon, Saturday, October 24, 2009 A Paint-a-Thon is a community-based effort designed to paint the homes of low-income elderly and disabled homeowners who are unable to do the work themselves. The Rock & Roll Paint-a-Thon depends on the support of many community organizations and the time and effort of kind-hearted volunteers. Information is available at http://www.rebuildingtogetherphx.org/programs-events/display.aspx?EventI... GAIN, Saturday, October 24, 2009 GAIN - Neighborhoods with registered block watch programs are encouraged to participate in Arizona's Night Out program. Project Homeless Connect, October 29, 2009 Be part of the solution to end homelessness. Volunteer for Project Homeless Connect Where: Chandler Christian Church, 1825 S Alma School Rd, Chandler, Az 85286 Time: 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. — shifts available REGISTER TODAY AT: www.vsuw.org/volunteer For group registrations, please contact: Amy Schwabenlender at 602.631.4841 or via email ataschwabenlender@vsuw.org For Our City–Steering Committee Meeting, November 3, 2009 8:00 a.m. in the Police Department's Community Room at the main station, 250 E Chicago St. The focus of this meeting will be on implementing best practices in organizing and not duplicating each others efforts with holiday events surrounding November and December holiday projects. We will also discuss the website, www.forourcity.org . Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, November 5, 2009 Seating is limited at this annual event, so if you are interested in attending you should buy your tickets soon. More information is available at http://www.forourcity.org/uploads/2009_Prayer_Breakfast_Flyer.pdf
