project680.org

Thank you so much to the 35 riders for taking part in the Project 680 bike ride yesterday. We hope you enjoyed yourself, especially if it was your first time on the trails. Thank you for your generous donations of underwear and financial contributions too. Thank you for caring for homeless students in such a practical (and fun) way. A special thanks to Project 680 committee member Jennifer Tartaglia for planning the short ride yesterday. Big kudos to Councilmember Ken Cooley for stopping by as well as FCUSD Board Member Zak Ford and CRPD Board Member Rick Sloan.

We don’t yet have a tally of all that was collected during the underwear drive, but that should come soon this week on our website and Facebook page. All it takes to tackle community issues is for residents to get intentional and focused. Many times it’s just a matter of deciding to be a part of the solution, and then taking small steps in the direction of a solution. Thank you for doing that yesterday in a very practical way.

Let’s keep moving forward. We’ll be announcing good news about the underwear drive soon. And we’ll be gearing up for an emphasis in the Fall too.

Photo Credit: May is Bike Month Facebook Page

Thank you!!!

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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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We are so thankful for the California Department of Education for their support of Project 680 in the past and also during the current Underwear Drive. Thank you to Debbie who got things started by telling others in her office building about Project 680. All in all, 73 packages (not just pairs) of underwear were collected along with some financial contributions. Thank you employees of the California Department of Education.  You are a huge blessing to students!! Thank you so much for truly caring!! There will be students wearing new underwear because of you, which means students will be more readily equipped to focus on learning.

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We are looking for a dozen or so “drop-off” locations in the general area to serve as places where locals can drop by new underwear for the Undies Drive. These locations could be households, businesses, churches or organizations. Being a “drop-off” is a great opportunity to be available for the community and to network. Tell your contacts what you are doing so they can partner with you. We’ve found that to be one of the most important elements for finding success as a drop-off location. CLICK HERE FOR UNDERWEAR DRIVE DETAILS.

We only have a few drop-offs so far, so we really are hoping some folks step forward this week. We’d like to have 12 drop-offs by the end of the week.

Thank you.

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We wanted to give a heads-up that we plan to launch a Spring drive very soon. We have a committee meeting tomorrow to talk over the most pressing needs in the school district so we can make a decision about what to focus on.

Thoughts on Volunteering: Regarding volunteering, we are a 100% volunteer operation. If you are volunteering your time and energy to Project 680, you’re part of the family. Thank you!! As you know, we are more service-oriented and not so much event-oriented. This means usually we don’t have many large events needing big groups to pull things off. This doesn’t mean large groups cannot be involved of course, but only that our volunteering opportunities do not focus on big events usually. We encourage larger (or smaller groups) to find and invent ways to partner with us in their own unique way. For instance, if we were doing an underwear drive, we would ask the question: How would you like to be involved? We might give some ideas, but we also love to give groups space to be creative too. For instance, a large group might be able to be a drop-off location for the community, do a collection contest at the office, pull off a sporting event fundraiser or do a BBQ for the community or friends. All things considered, there is so much room for creative partnership and support and we are thrilled to see local individuals, businesses, churches and households step up to make a difference. We are open to your ideas and support.

Thank you everyone for your heart to serve homeless students and for being so intentional about being involved.

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What are you doing on Tuesday, December 20th between 5-9pm? Let’s eat some dinner together at Mama Sue’s Soul Food Kitchen in Rancho Cordova. Get some good grub and know that Mama Sue’s will be donating 25% of its dinner proceeds between 5-9pm to Project 680. Thank you to Aaron Redelsperger and youth from the Cordova Church of Christ who initiated this dinner. They’ve been working hard all month “elfing” to raise money for Project 680.

You coming? Let’s get our grub on.

Mama Sue’s Soul Food
10113 Folsom Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

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We wanted to post a message from the Kiwanis Club in Rancho Cordova since they do great work and they are actually donating food for our pancake finale dinner on November 9. This is a great cause and something we support. Let us know if you have any questions.

———————— message from Alan Withers ————————

Hello to the residents and supporters of the great City of Rancho Cordova:

I am pleased to have served you the for the past 40 years as an educator and community activist.   I am now calling upon you for help this year for many of our at-risk citizens.  The Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club has for over 20 years provided Thanksgiving Baskets to our families with the help of the City of Rancho Cordova and many other community organizations.  This year we are collecting turkeys or chickens and giving them to the Rancho Cordova Food Locker.

As you have read in The Grapevine, Walt Little and the crew at the Food Locker are short 1,000 turkeys for their annual giveaway on November 21st.   I have also talked to Charlene Hunt, the Folsom Cordova School District Homeless Advocate, and she has over 1,250 families in need in Rancho Cordova.   So our goal is to collect 2,000 turkeys or chickens to give to the Rancho Cordova Food Locker.

The Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club is donating $1,000 towards this project.  I have contacted Monica Ortiz at Grocery Outlet and, with the shortage of turkeys this year, we also ordered 250 – 5 pound chickens.  I challenge the other service clubs and community organizations to collect turkeys (10 pounders) or 5 pound chickens.

The turkeys and chickens will be stored at Grocery Outlet.   Linda Burkholder from Family Support Services is leading the school district effort.  We are asking the PTA’s and student council’s in our schools to collect funds or turkeys and chickens.   Dawn Hall is heading up the Chamber of Commerce effort.  She is sending out a flyer to all businesses in our area.  Shelly Blanchard is getting the word out to the Rancho Cordova Community Council, and Mayor Bob McGarvey is talking to the City Council.   The turkeys and chickens can be purchased at the Grocery Outlet and dropped off at their store for storage.

If you are going to Project 680′s dinner on November 9th, ( at City Hall) you can drop off your turkeys with Ryan Lunquist or Alan Withers.   If you are making a cash donation, please make the check out to THE RANCHO CORDOVA FOOD LOCKER.  Checks can be dropped off at City Hall to Shelly Blanchard, Dawn Hall,  Mayor McGarvey, or at the Grapevine.

Thank you,

Alan Withers, R.C.Kiwanis Club and retired educator

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Thank you to McPeak Design for making us a logo for the Foot Drive (pro bono work). We love it and we sincerely appreciate your hard work and creativity. Anyone is welcome to use the following logos on your blog, website, video, church bulletin, at the office or wherever you’d like. Make sure to link to the site at www.project680.org or directly at www.project680.org/foot.

Thank you again McPeak Design for your generosity in donating a logo for us to use.

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A brief message from the Liaison for Homeless Services to thank a few people who stepped forward recently to help homeless students in the FCUSD. There were two immediate needs posted on the Project 680 Facebook page to help provide several nights of dinner to families who did not have food for the night. Thank you to those who respodned immediately.

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Thank you so much to generous employees at Progressive Insurancein Rancho Cordova for a recent hygiene-item drive for Project 680. Employees collected a whopping total of 457 items such as toothpaste, deodorant, feminine products, band-aids, shampoo, soap and more. Items like this are highly relevant to the District Liaison’s caseload of homeless students. In fact, one of the ways homeless kids often get discovered is from teachers noticing hygiene issues.

We appreciate your generosity and focus on local kids in the FCUSD. This is an incredible blessing. Thank you Progressive Insurance and also Cathy Owen of Progressive for being a tremendous support for this project.

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This message is for Folsom High School students, Mrs. Devore, Allie, The Tom’s Club and the Good Karma Club. Thank you SO much for supporting Project 680. We are so grateful for your generous donation of $400 as well as the 786 pairs of socks that came from the Tom’s Club. This was an enormous blessing and a significant part of making the recent underwear drive a success. Keep growing in compassion. Thank you.

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You are invited!! Come to the Project 680 community finale BBQ on Wednesday May 11, 2011 from 5:00-7:00pm at Rancho Cordova City Hall at 2729 Prospect Park Drive Rancho Cordova CA 95670. Enjoy free chips, drinks and hot dogs for the first 100 attendees!!!

We’ll be counting underwear, having conversations and celebrating a successful underwear drive. Bring the whole family and some of your friends too. If anyone is available to help set up, manage some logistics or tear-down, feel free to let us know. Food for the first 100 only. If you have any donations of new underwear, please get them to us by tomorrow if possible.

You can RSVP on Facebook too if you wish. Call 916.595.3735 or email info@project680.org with any questions.

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