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This Friday, we’re hosting our Spring Day of Caring with special guests Mayoral Candidates Lee Leffingwell, Brewster McCracken & Carol Keeton Strayhorn. We asked the Mayoral Candidates to join us & help us answer President Obama’s Call to Service & they gladly stepped up! Join us this Friday at 8:30am at Alamo Park Pavilion in East Austin, learn about the impact of volunteerism & get your hands-on a good project! Sign up at www.handsoncentraltexas.org! United Way & Hands On Central Texas present “Spring Day of Caring” on April 24 Hundreds of volunteers heed President Obama’s call for service, will hear from Austin mayoral candidates before heading out to serve the community Austin, Texas – On Friday April 24, 2009, United Way Capital Area and Hands On Central Texas present the “Spring Day of Caring.” The Day of Caring embodies President Obama’s call for community service, by mobilizing hundreds of volunteers to build a stronger Austin by working on multiple volunteer projects across the city. More than 300 volunteers, including several teams from local corporations, will work at 20 plus project sites throughout Austin, helping many other nonprofits in the process—from upgrading childcare facilities, helping out food banks, graffiti removal and beautifying community gardens, parks to much more. The day starts with guest speakers including Austin mayoral candidates Lee Leffingwell, Brewster McCracken & Carole Keeton Strayhorn, rallying the volunteers and reinforcing how their efforts will make an impact on the greater Austin community. Lee Leffingwell stated “I believe there is very […]

April 16th was the Kick-off press conference for Financial Fitness week (April 20th- April 26th), a consortium of FREE financial literacy classes aimed at giving everyone from teens to seniors the tools to take control of their finances. The press conference was lead by Junior Achievement Board member and volunteer Mike Meroney. Other speakers included Austin City Council Member Brewster McCracken, who read Senator Kirk Watson’s financial fitness proclamation, and Junior Achievement Director of Program Services Christine Kempff. Capital One also presented 4 scholarships totaling $10,000 to middle school and high school students. Applicants were tasked with writing an essay describing the importance of financial literacy. United Way was present during the planning of this initiative and supports it through the 2-1-1 Texas program. To get all the information on the session and also the locations you can call 211 or you can go to financialfitnessaustin.org

Here’s another volunteer project that helps make our community stronger. Volunteers of different faiths are working together to make Austin a better place to live and to help families right now. What’s not to love about that? The Muslim Jewish Work Day is Sunday May 3, 2009 from 9am to 6pm. All faiths are welcome details follow. MUSLIM JEWISH WORK DAYALL FAITHS WELCOME!!SUNDAY MAY 3, 2009 9:00 – 6:00 WORK THE MORNING SHIFT OR AFTERNOON SHIFT OR BOTH WE WILL BE REPAIRING AND PAINTING A HOUSE IN EAST AUSTIN SIGN UP FOR YOUR SHIFT(S) AT; WWW.MYSIGNUP.COM/HANDSONHOUSINGJM • YOU CAN HELP BY SIGNING UP TO VOLUNTEER• HELPING WITH THE POT LUCK LUNCH• DONATING MONEY TO HELP PAY FOR MATERIALS• EVERYBODY IS WELCOME THIS PROJECT IS IN CONJUNCTION WITH AUSTIN AREA INTERRELIGIOUS MINISTRIES, HANDS ON HOUSING, SPRING BLUEBONNET BLITZ http://www.aaimaustin.org/housing.html QUESTIONS? AMANDA QURAISHI the_q@inbox.com CHUCK VORSPAN cvorspan@gmail.com JANE HARDIN jfeigenson@austin.rr.com SPONSORS; Austin Area Interreligious Ministries(to date) Austin Muslim Jewish Community Council Social Action Committee of Congregation Beth Israel Muslim Youth of North America

Proper funding of HB 130 requires an investment of at least $200 million. That level of financial support means that about 57,000 of the most at-risk children in our state would be given the opportunity to experience high-quality full-day pre-k. From our friends at TECEC: Because of your hard work, HB 130, relating to full-day high-quality pre-k, was voted favorably out of the House Committee on Public Education last night. There is still a tremendous amount of work to do, however, and little time to do it. Now that we have moved HB 130 out of committee, we must ensure that it is funded properly. Major decisions will be made TODAY and this weekend related to the House budget. This a critical moment in the legislative process and it is important that early education advocates get the message out that high-quality full-day pre-k deserves adequate funding. Please take a moment to email key decision makers to let them know that you support adequate funding for HB 130. Click here to take action.

Good news–we just received confirmation that Carole Keeton Strayhorn will be attending our Spring Day of Caring as one of our keynote speakers. She will also be staying after the kickoff to participate in one of the volunteering projects. If you haven’t signed up for a project yet, you’d better hurry–they are filling up fast! Click here to sign up. Mayoral Candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Lee Leffingwelland Brewster McCracken will be discussing the importance of volunteerism in our community.

We’re getting ready for our first class of our Natural Leaders training. Brandi Clark & I are leading the training but we know all the ideas, passion & ganas will come from the participants. I developed the idea last year knowing that many Austinites care so much about poverty & environmental issues. So why not marry them both! Natural Leaders focuses on building the skills of Volunteer Leaders while addressing environmental and yes, poverty issues. When you look at it, all these issues are connected.So early congratulations to our first class, some 40+ Volunteer Leaders but the reward will come after they organize their own projects out in the community. Many thanks to Austin Eco-Network for collaborating with us on this project! Good luck para todos! Mando

After nearly two years of successfully serving Central Texas non-profits with quality donated goods, the United Way Capital Area Gifts In Kind Resource Center located at 310 Comal St. in Austin will be closing on April 30, 2009. Through the Resource Center, United Way Capital Area’s Gifts In Kind program distributed more than $1 million in non-cash donations of new and gently used items such as digital projectors, office supplies, equipment, furniture, toys and books. We appreciate your support of the Resource Center over the last 2 years. United Way’s Gifts In Kind Program is not ending and will continue to operate and provide members: Free “Pass through” donated goods (new or used) with direct referral to the donor – last year nearly $150,000 worth of goods were distributed to members through this program; Managed “Wish List” posting needed items for direct referrals; Inclusion in Gifts In Kind special events, such as seasonal donation drives; Access to Gifts In Kind International, which includes the Retail Donation Partner Program where non-profits can be matched with a local business for available goods along with a Special Pricing Program.

The “2008 2-1-1 Texas Community Needs and Trends Report” is now published. Click on the preview below to view online, or download a copy of it here. Open publication – Free publishing

We recently published the following article in our monthly e-newsletter, Community Matters. To subscribe, click here. In an effort to highlight other nonprofit voices and viewpoints, we are honored to present this Q&A we had with David, President and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank. United Way Capital Area collaborates often with his organization in a variety of ways, including providing hundreds of volunteers and advocating around hunger and poverty in Central Texas. A little about David: he joined the Food Bank in March 2008 as President & CEO. David was born in Baltimore, Maryland and moved with his family to the Houston area in 1974. David went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University where he currently serves as a member of the Former Students Advisory Board for the Department of Political Science. In 2004, David became the Executive Director of End Hunger Network-then a small food rescue organization. Since 2004, End Hunger Network has received national acclaim as one of the most effective and innovative organizations of its type in the United States. Growing from seven employees in 2004 to thirty six in 2007, End Hunger Network serves as a national model for food rescue and human service serving the most vulnerable members of the greater Houston community. I. Your organization intentionally chose the word “nourish” over “feed.” How do your food distribution and hunger ending strategies ensure that people are not simply fed, but are nourished? And, how does nourishing someone […]