project680.org

We mentioned a few days ago that we’d have “Undies Ride” t-shirts for those interested. Well, a handful of riders ordered them and here is what they look like. You can still get one if you’d like, but it’ll have to wait until after the bike ride since our shirt contact cannot make any more on such last-minute notice. If we do a community ride again, we’ll see if we can have more advance notice for a shirt since it’s a nice touch. Whatever the case, check it out below. Cool, huh? See you Saturday at 9am at Hagan Park. For details on the Underwear Bike Ride, see this video and click HERE.

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Hi Everyone. The underwear drive is zooming by and we only have two weeks left. It’s not too late to get involved. Let’s make one last final push to really engage our networks and collect some new underwear for homeless students. On the last day of the underwear drive we’ll be doing a community bike ride called the “Undies Ride”. Check out the video below (or here) and share on Facebook, Twitter, etc… Thanks so much for your support.

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It’s come down to the last few days of the sock drive and we’re getting ready to celebrate in style as we do a community bike ride THIS Saturday (May 8, 2010). Thank you everyone for your support thus far. We sincerely appreciate involvement from local residents, churches, businesses, City Hall in Rancho Cordova, and organizations.

If you are available for last-minute involvement, let us know right away. We could use a few people to wrap up some loose ends for Saturday’s bike ride, and we could use many people to get last-minute word out to friends, co-workers, family, church members, etc… If you are looking for links to share, you might consider our website page (sock drive page), Facebook event sign-up for bike ride, or our Facebook Fan Page.

Thank so much for your support. Together we ARE making a difference. Nobody is getting paid here. We are all volunteers. We are all advocates for local homeless students. Isn’t it awesome to respond as a community to some of the felt needs of local kids?

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A story about Project 680 just aired on the news, and we wanted to welcome anyone who followed the KCRA story to our website. Please have a look around and let us know what you think. You can find information about the sock drive and community bike ride HERE, volunteering HERE, and any drop-off locations HERE.

Our main purpose as a volunteer community team is to advocate for local homeless students in relevant and practical ways. Let us know if you have any questions or creative ideas for getting involved. We’d love to hear from you too, whether by email (info@project680.org), phone (916-595-3735), Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks for visiting. We’re glad you’re here.

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We are elated to have The Golden 1 Credit Union on board as a partner in the Project 680 Sock Drive. Their Information Technology and Loss Prevention department staff are teaming up to collect socks as well as assemble a good number of bike riders for our community ride on May 8, 2010 (they hope to have as many as 20 riders). Isn’t this great news? Thank you Golden 1 for caring about local homeless students!!! Way to go!!! We are so excited to have you on board.

The Golden 1 Credit Union
8945 Cal Center Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826. 
www.golden1.com

If any other local businesses would like to get involved, just let us know. We welcome your creative partnership and ideas.

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We were excited to get together with Deirdre Fitzpatrick of KCRA news this morning and film our “sock raiding” party. A group of locals got together to empty the aisle of our local Target. The story will go live in a few weeks, and we’ll post links when it does. Thanks everyone for coming out and thanks Deirdre for your time. Let’s keep moving forward with the sock drive!!!!

See photos from today HERE and follow Deirdre on Twitter at @fitztweeter

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I’m so glad you asked. We will be riding on paved trails along the American River. The terrain is mostly flat, with a few very small inclines here and there. There are two rides – a short one and a longer one. On May 8, 2010, a group of riders will go from Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova to River Bend Park (formerly Goethe Park – about 20-25 minutes on the bike). This ride is a perfect beginner ride and doable for just about anyone. Riders are encouraged to bring a sack lunch too because there will be a time to rest and enjoy company of others before heading back to Hagan Park. Another group of riders will journey from Hagan Park to Folsom (to Bicycles Plus). This ride is the more experienced ride and will equal about 30 miles round trip.

The American River Trails are an absolutely amazing place to ride a bike. If you have not yet discovered the beauty and wonder of the trails, consider joining us. However, be careful because you might find something you really love!!!

The following was put together by me (Ryan) a year or so ago. Keep in mind these are photos I took of the trails while riding a bike. I thought it would be creative to make a little “video” of images of the parkway. This is what we’re going to be riding on May 8, 2010, and I wanted you to have a good sense in case you’ve never enjoyed the trails before.

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We’re very aware that our community bike ride on May 8, 2010 won’t appeal to everyone. That’s okay because there are so many non-biking ways you can be involved in with the Project 680 Sock Drive. You are absolutely invited to donate socks, be a drop-off location, help out in other specific ways (see HERE), or put some of your creative ideas into effect (we’d love to hear what you come up with).

Here’s the deal on money. If things are so tight for you right now and you really want to come on the bike ride, please don’t even worry about the $5.00 donation we have suggested per rider (or $10.00 per household). This economy is not an easy one, and money should not hold anyone back from participating. Seriously!!!

It’s very powerful when we get together and show our solidarity for a cause, so let’s flex some group muscle and pedal on May 8, 2010 together as a way to adovocate for homeless students in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District.

Together we can do it!!!

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We are very pleased to announce that Bicycle’s Plus in Folsom will be providing energy bars, cold water and bottles for all riders who make the trek to Folsom with us on the day of our bike ride on May 8, 2010. As we mentioned previously, there will be two separate rides for our community bike ride – a shorter one (20 minutes or so one way) and a longer one (30 miles round trip).

Thank you to Bicycle’s Plus for letting us meet at your shop for a little break before we turn around back to Hagan Park. Thank you for backing up this ride and quickly coming on board to support us like this.

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We are looking for about a dozen locations to be a “drop-off” for the Project 680 Sock Drive (“Biking for Socks”). Between now and the end of our sock drive on May 8, 2010 we’d love to see households, businesses and churches serve as locations where people in the community can drop off donations of new socks. If you’re interested, please contact us at 916-595-3735 or on the form below (please include your address).

We are planning to begin posting drop-off locations on our website next week, so let us know soon. Also, we’ve found that the best results usually occur at your location when you let friends, neighbors and co-workers know that you are serving as a drop-off place.

Thank you for your support.

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We are very excited about our upcoming “Biking for Socks” event on May 8, 2010. We are doing a community bike ride in order to accomplish three things: 1) Bring awareness to the problem of student homelessness in the FCUSD; 2) Collect socks for homeless kids in the FCUSD; and 3) Gather up a few bucks to be able to give to the District Liaison for Homeless Services so she can meet the needs of students on an “as needed” basis – meaning that when the neediest of students come to her, she can simply take care of some of the things they need – whether clothing, deodarant, shoes, study materials, etc….

There will be two bike rides – a short 20 minute ride (one way) and then a more experienced 30 mile ride. Anyone can participate. You can sign up below or on Facebook. Beyond the bike ride, there will be other ways to get involved (in case you are not a bike person). We invite you to consider some of the following. Or let us know an idea you have.

• Become a “drop off” location for socks. We’d like to see about a dozen locations in the community where socks can be collected and/or dropped off between now and the bike ride. We’ll keep a list online as volunteers step forward.
• Get a “Bike Team” togther. Maybe you could gather some friends, co-workers or people at your church to come out to the ride. If you are a business, then wear company shirts or get really creative somehow if you’d like.
• Help make signs and set out signage on the day of the bike ride (so that riders know where to stop).
• Work with Starbucks or another local coffee shop to get coffee provided for the morning of the ride. It would be great to have some bagles or OJ too.
• Volunteer at the sign-in table on the morning of the ride.
• Take photos or video on the day of the ride.
• Be a business sponsor.
• Pass on the word about this community emphasis on Facebook, Twitter, Email, YouTube or however you can. The more people that know, the better.
• Help get some media exposure for the event. Got media contacts?
• Other logistics.
• Maybe you have another creative idea or way to advocate for local homeless students. We are open ears and we’d love to see your creativity in motion.

Please comment on this post, email us, sign up on Facebook or fill in the form below to let us know how you’d like to get involved or if you have any questions or ideas. We’ll update the categories above as people volunteer so that you know what is available. Thank you so much.

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Next Wednesday, February 17, 2010, we will have a Project 680 brainstorming session at Starbucks in Rancho Cordova (off of Olson Drive & Zinfandel – across from Target). We’ll hash out some details for an upcoming “Riding for Leaders” emphasis. Our big idea is to do a community bike ride fundraiser at some point within the next few months to empower a couple local kids to attend a leadership camp. The idea of giving life and leadership tools to deserving students (who show promise), is really thrilling. If you have any resources that would be a benefit, we are open ears.

All are welcome, but if you can, let us know you’re coming so we can plan best. We’ll meet for 60-90 minutes. Thanks everyone!!!

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Fox 40 News came by and filmed us while we were at River Bend Park during our community bike ride. Thank you Fox 40. This video was recorded from a DVR and then converted to an AVI file optimal for a smaller screen – not a full screen (thank you Gary).  News 10 also filmed us, but they didn’t air the story for whatever reason.

NOTE: The video has one brief audio clip that seems to indicate that riding bikes solves student homelessness. It probably goes without saying, but this audio snipet was obviously part of a larger context of thoughts.

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