project680.org

We are very excited about the Project 680 Community Bike Ride, and we want to invite you and your friends to join us. Even if you haven’t been on a bike for 25+ years, you can do this family-friendly ride, and raise some money for shoes for homeless students in the process.

The Ride: On Saturday, 11/07/09 at 11am, we will ride from Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova to River Bend Park (next to bridge). The entire ride along the paved American River trail will take 15-20 at the most. Riders can go at their own pace and enjoy the company of friends, family, co-workers and even a “Riding for Shoes” Team if you put one together (people at the office, a group of friends, your entire family, church or business maybe).

This is a short bike ride and we welcome all ages and backgrounds. We also welcome folks to meet us at River Bend Park if they wish to not bike at all.

Money Stuff: We suggest a $5.00 donation per rider or a $10 donation for households. You can offer more if you’d like. Riders are encouraged also to get sponsored to ride by family, friends, or co-workers. Involving the people you know and inviting them to participate is a great way to raise support for more shoes. You are also invited to put together a “Riding for Shoes” team for your business, organization or with a group of friends. Riders are welcome to find other creative ways to raise money too and then bring anything you’ve raised on the day of the community ride (whether that’s getting sponsored, selling something on Craigslist, doing a lemonade stand, garage sale, etc…). Our goal is to raise $1,500 during the Project 680 Shoe Drive in order to make 100 pairs of brand new shoes available to local homeless students.

Details: We’ll meet in the parking lot of Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova at 2197 Chase Drive (in the FREE parking lot next to Cordova High School). Come at 10:15am if you’d like some free coffee, orange juice and snacks. Bring a sack lunch if you’d like because we’ll hang out at the park for a while when we get there. When we’re done, we’ll head back to the parking lot at Hagan Park.

This is going to be great fun and a fantastic and creative way to get shoes on the feet of local homeless students. 100% of proceeds will go directly to shoes for homeless students. We accept cash, checks, and even Payless Shoe Source gift cards. Call 916-595-3735 or email info@project680.org for details.

See our Shoe Drive / Bike Ride video on YouTube.

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The Project 680 community meeting on September 22, 2009 (6:30-8:00pm) will be held at Gold River Carpet One Floors & Home at 11367 Pyrites Way- Suite A Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.

This meeting will be a time to brainstorm how we can best partner with the District Liaison for Homeless Services this Fall for a shoe drive and a boutique. Bring your creative ideas, a desire for teamwork, and consider how you might give a few minutes here and there between now and December 2009 (the shoe drive & boutique will take place then) to help local homeless students get new shoes and even be able to do some shopping at a boutique.

If you are able, let us know if you can make it so that we can plan best. You can visit Facebook HERE (temporary event link until the event is over) or call Ryan at 916-595-3735 or email us at info@project680.org.

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Okay everyone, get your calendars and a pen. We plan to meet on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 6:30pm at a location TBA (we already have a local business owner who has offered her place). We invite local community members to come to this meeting and be a part of the vision that is unfolding for the Project 680 family in the Fall.

At this meeting we are going to brainstorm some ideas and get creative about an opportunity we have to support a shoe drive for homeless students in the FCUSD. There is also a strong possibility of putting together a boutique where some of our target students can do some shopping for themselves (in December) after they get new shoes. What we do will really come down to the level of buy-in from community members and what we decide to move forward with.

Do any of these ideas resonate with you? There is so much potential, so let’s unpack the vision a little, kick around some thoughts and figure out what we can do as a team.

More details coming soon.

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Thank you again to all who came to the Project 680 Community Forum and to those who wanted to but were not able. I would say it was a definite success. Here are the highlights:

Informative presentation; Great interaction; Decision to do an “underwear drive” to unfold at some point soon when we obtain more information; The idea of a coat drive came up for October; The need for communication and networking was mentioned; Steven volunteered to help develop the blog and website for the sake of helping communication flow; Butch & Bonnie will host a “sorting party” at some point; Others had ideas for how they would like to get involved.

Thank you again to everyone who came. Your time is appreciated. I am sorry to see that our story did not play on the 11pm news. A camera crew from News 10 came out, but apparently we didn’t make the cut. If anyone happens to see them play the story this morning or another time, do let us know (and record it).

News 10 did give us a link from their website though as shown below in the screenshot. The link will likely be up for a few days.

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When reading through this website or any literature from Project 680, you may encounter the word “simple” quite a bit. This is no accident. This word is used frequently because it is in the core of our philosophy.

We believe that making a difference is about being available to the community in “simple” ways. You don’t need gray hair, experience, education, surplus time, or a certain income level. It’s all about responding to a local problem in ways that make sense for our busy lives and the needs of local students. It’s just a matter of saying, “I’m willing to be a part of the solution”. It’s about teaming up with other residents to get VERY practical about about assisting struggling students.

Mother Theresa has a very poignant quote that serves to fuel some of my philosophy in life. She said, “we can do no great things, only small things with great love.” The point is that more than the grandiose accomplishments we can have in life, the greatest thing we can do is love.

As discussion unfolds in just three days at the Project 680 Community Forum, my hope is that we will truly find “simple” responses to student homelessness and that we will love greatly in 2009.

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If anyone would like to help out with the Project 680 Community Forum next Wednesday, let us know. There are some simple logistics to take care of such as purchasing snacks before the meeting (and getting reimbursed), setting up chairs, and other minor details. Let us know if you’re interested. See the following link for event details: Project 680 Community Forum

The Community Forum will take place on Wednesday, March 11th at 6:30pm at 10600 Coloma Road in Rancho Cordova (thank you to Cordova Neighborhood Church for giving us free meeting space).

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