Around Town: July 7-12

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Julia Cain

Check out the range of events coming up this weekend (and week) at …

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

A 12-week public art celebration offering free cultural events and promoting creative expression, Artland Temporium events include exhibits, dance, concerts, poetry readings, and games and free to the public. Check out the full schedule for this weekend right here.

Anacostia Watershed Society (Northeast Branch Riverdale Road, Riverdale, MD)

At 10:00 this Saturday, water, weed, and mulch brand new trees that soon will grow to do great things for the River! RSVP info and directions right this way.

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Volunteer Engagement Report

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Marie LeBlanc

By Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator

This spring, the and Volunteer Frontier published the Volunteer Engagement Stars Report, which examined the ways in which nine nonprofits make the most of their volunteer resources. The Catalogue for Philanthropy provided the primary source for selecting nonprofits for the report, and we were excited to learn more about the ways in which this group of nonprofits “utilizes volunteers in dynamic ways and returns dramatic results.”

The agencies featured in Volunteer Engagement Stars represent a fair cross section of nonprofits, serving unique client bases under diverse budgets (from $500,000 to over $24 million). The techniques they used to engage volunteers also vary — from Arlington Free Clinic, who benefits from the pro bono services of trained medical professionals, to Little Lights Urban Ministries, whose volunteers provide tutoring and other youth programming.

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In Freedom

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Julia Cain

“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.”

– Albert Einstein (1938)

Have a good Fourth of July, friends! We’ll be back up on Thursday.

Agent Of Progress

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Julia Cain

WILDE: “… But the artist is the secret criminal in our midst. He is the agent of progress against authority [...]

I made art a philosophy that can look the twentieth century in the eye. I had genius, brilliancy, daring, I took charge of my own myth. I dipped my staff into the comb of wild honey. I tasted forbidden sweetness and drank the stolen waters. I lived at the turning point of the world where everything was waking up new.”

– The Invention of Love (1997) by British dramatist Tom Stoppard,
born today in 1937.

It’s Possible!

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Spur Local

By Sveta Wilkson, Development & Communications Manager at Horton’s Kids

Share the experience of a lifetime for a nonprofit (publicity on a national television show) but also the challenges that come with it. For more information about Hortons Kids on Restaurant Impossible, check out the show’s site.

This winter, Horton’s Kids received the phone call that every nonprofit fundraiser dreams about — a production company was scouting organizations for Restaurant: Impossible, a reality show on the Food Network. The show, which usually focuses on improving failing restaurants, wanted to renovate a nonprofit space in a special episode featuring First Lady Michelle Obama.

Two days after the phone call, our staff members met an associate producer and led her on a tour of our Community Resource Center, then a four-room apartment in the children’s neighborhood. Three weeks later, filming and construction began, and the completed episode finally aired this month. The past few months have been a whirlwind for everyone at Horton’s Kids. And our development team learned quite few lessons along the way!

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Around Town: June 29-July 1

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Julia Cain

Have a happy almost-fourth of July weekend, friends!

Smith Center for Healing and the Arts (1628 U St NW)

Pop-Up Boutique opens for a 2-day encore event and flash sale on Friday and Saturday: vintage, new, one-of-a-kind, and designer women’s clothing and accessories and 100% of sales will benefit Smith Farm’s programming.

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW)

Two in a row this Saturday night! The Head Doctor: Boy Meets Girl at 7:30 PM and The Head Doctor: Girls Know What Girls Like (an all-woman production for women who love women) at 10:00 PM.

Potomac Conservancy (River Center at Lock 8, 7906 Riverside Drive, Cabin John, MD)

Meet at 10:00 AM this Sunday to clean up the lockhouse area and the nearby towpath, then take a medicinal plant walk at noon or and experience Voices of the River: Stories of the Potomac right afterwards. More info this way!

17,000 Names

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Julia Cain

As we tweeted yesterday, Washington Examiner has reported that there are “More than 17,000 names on charter school waiting lists:”

Waiting lists for the city’s public charter schools are running a total 17,396 names deep, according to the DC Public Charter School Board.

That’s 51 percent of the total number of students successfully enrolling in the city’s public charter schools in the fall, or 33,699 children. This year, 31,562 students attended charter schools, while 45,630 attended DC Public Schools.

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In The News …

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Julia Cain

What’s Driving College Costs Higher? (WAMU): Just days before student loan rates are set to double for millions of Americans, President Obama and congressional leaders haven’t reached an agreement on legislation to keep those rates at 3.4 percent. The debate reflects the growing concern over the debt burden many take on to get a college education. About two-thirds of bachelor’s degree recipients borrow money to attend college, and collectively, student debt has topped $1 trillion [...] The average college senior in the U.S. now carries $25,000 in student loan debt at graduation. Those figures rise when graduate degrees are figured into the equation.” We’ve written about the briefing at the White House on College Affordability before and highlighted some of our nonprofits that are dedicated to college affordability. What needs to improve besides interest rates?

County officials, nonprofits fear domestic violence funding cut due to Congressional gridlock (Gazette): “Prince George’s County officials and advocates for domestic violence victims said they are worried that gridlock in Congress could jeopardize essential services to victims and their families [...] nonprofit and government organizations in Prince George’s County received $4 million in VAWA funding last year, through a total of 91 federal grants.” County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks says that “the largest impact will be to the outreach and support efforts for victims, particularly in the Latino community.” You can learn about, and support, nonprofits in Prince George’s right here.

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Immeasurably Rich

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Julia Cain

[...] I chose to be a lawyer and ultimately a judge because I find endless challenge in the complexities of the law. I firmly believe in the rule of law as the foundation for all of our basic rights.

For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired by the achievement of our founding fathers. They set forth principles that have endured for than more two centuries. Those principles are as meaningful and relevant in each generation as the generation before.

It would be a profound privilege for me to play a role in applying those principles to the questions and controversies we face today.

Although I grew up in very modest and challenging circumstances, I consider my life to be immeasurably rich.

– Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Sonia Sotomayor, born today in 1954

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