The Trail of Lights at Zilker Park never ceases to put us in the holiday spirit, but there are many other holiday events around Austin to suit every taste and hobby. Let our holiday event guide lead the way to a cheerful good time–many of them also involve giving back to local charities! For the Pet Parent Austin Pets Alive! compiled a list of all kinds of pet-friendly and pet-centric holiday events in Austin, and you can support their organization while having fun. Events range from pet photos with Santa to decorating stockings for the shelter animals to a comedy show with 100% of proceeds benefitting the shelter. For the Shop-a-holic Find a gift for everyone on your list–including yourself!–at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar taking place December 15 – 24 at the Palmer Events Center. A day pass is $8, while a season pass for each day of the bazaar costs $60. For the Sports Lover Show off your athletism at Ice Skating on the Plaza at Whole Foods on Lamar. For $10, you get access to the ice and skates rental, and you can also rent the rink for private events. For the Kids Let the kids jump away their sugar comas with Springfree Trampoline! On December 8, stop by Springfree Trampoline at the Domain for cookie decorating, crafts and trampoline-jumping, of course, all for $5. All ticket proceeds will benefit Operation Blue Santa, which provides struggling families with a full holiday meal and wrapped gifts for their children. For the […]
Read MoreUWATX Supports Kerbey Lane Café
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
If you’ve watched the news in the last 24 hours, you’ve likely heard a media report about Kerbey Lane Café. Unfortunately, it’s not the typical positive story about Kerbey Lane’s mouthwatering pancakes and queso, or its good work in the community. Instead, it’s a disgusting story about one bigoted customer who made racist comments toward two Muslim customers at the restaurant’s Guadalupe Street location near UT. It’s a sickening situation. No one deserves to be treated the way these young women were treated. We know the manager who was at Kerbey Lane Café Sunday morning wishes she would have handled things differently. We also know Kerbey Lane Café CEO Mason Ayer is deeply saddened by what happened in his restaurant. You see, we really know Mason, and we really know and love Kerbey Lane Café. Kerbey Lane Café is a committed supporter of United Way for Greater Austin, and Mason is a trusted partner, board member and dedicated community servant. The company’s employees provide hundreds of hours of community service to United Way for Greater Austin and others each year. Kerbey Lane and its employees raise significant money for our community. The company is a model employer. Simply put, Kerbey Lane Café is an Austin original. It is part of the fabric of what makes Austin greater. Thank you, Mason, for your sincere statement of apology. We support you. http://www.kerbeylanecafe.com/an-apology-from-our-ceo/ Sincerely, Your friends at United Way for Greater Austin
Read MoreCommunity Service Austin
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
Community Needs and Trends 15
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
UWATX Hosts 2nd Annual Community Tree Lighting
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
We held our 2nd Annual Community Tree Lighting event for the St. John’s community on Giving Tuesday, December 1, 2015. Webb Middle School students and their families, as well as other community members, were invited to attend the free holiday party. The kids loved visiting with the bunnies, hedgehogs, ducklings and more that the Tiny Tails To You traveling petting zoo brought. Other activities included a cookies and cocoa station, card and ornament making, a balloon artist and face painters. One of our Webb Middle School volunteer project leader students had the idea to set up a reading corner and read holiday books to some of the younger children at the event. As the sun set, Principal “Santa” Sanchez spoke of the importance and positive impact that he has seen through United Way’s support of the Webb campus. 54% of students at Webb received at least one service coordinated through UWATX last year, including behavioral health, mentoring, tutoring and afterschool programs. Webb’s musical groups performed holiday classics and the audience counted down from five until the tree was lit up with blue and gold–Webb’s school colors. Young Leaders Society members passed out donated toys and books to the children who attended. Thank you to Capital Metro who once again sponsored the 15 foot tree that lit up the St. John’s neighborhood this year! Thank you also to ABC Home & Commercial for decorating the tree, DoubleTree Hotels who provided volunteers and cookies, H-E-B for donating the hot cocoa, Petsmart for […]
Read MoreFree December Holiday Meals in Austin
Posted on by Angelica Velazquez
Each year, our Navigation Center sees a spike of calls during the holiday season – people looking to help by donating food, toys, gifts or their time and also calls from people looking for a warm meal for the holidays. We’ve compiled this calendar of resources that are offering FREE warm meals and holiday events to the public: Click on the image above to see a larger version. Know someone looking for assistance? Tell them to give us a call at 2-1-1 to get connected to resources in our community.
Read MoreMendez Students Give Thanks By Sharing a Meal with Their Community
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
Mendez Middle School students held their second annual Thanksgiving Family Night on November 20th. Mendez’s free afterschool enrichment program is coordinated through Boys and Girls Club and ACE-Austin as part of our out-of-school time (OST curriculum), is open to any student at the school and hosts an annual Thanksgiving event for families of students to come meet afterschool staff and learn about what their kids do in the program. Before their community Thanksgiving feast, students created ornaments for community events, made holiday-themed bookmarks to be distributed with donated books and created cards as gifts for family and friends. Broadway Bank donated seven Thanksgiving meal kits that were raffled off to families who attended. Each kit included the makings of a delicious holiday meal, including a ham, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, an H-E-B gift card and more. Over 97% of students at Mendez are economically disadvantaged. “Broadway Bankers give with a thankful heart during the holiday season and throughout the year. We established Care Corps to honor the legacy of giving handed down from our founders Col. Charles E. Cheever Sr. and Betty Cheever. Care Corps serves 13,000 hours with more than a hundred projects throughout the year. For Broadway Bank being “here for good” means putting our community first because we live and work here too. Giving back is how we do our part to keep our local communities strong and thriving.” –Jackie Oliver, Broadway Bank Arthur Castillo, Director of Boys & Girls Club, sees this as an opportunity to […]
Read MoreTeaching Children to Give During the Holidays
Posted on by Angelica Velazquez
It’s that time of the year again, a time when stores are filled with shoppers prepping for various holiday festivities. The holidays are typically a time when children are used to receiving gifts from friends and loved ones. What tends to slip our minds during this time of the year is the importance of teaching children to give back as they receive. Encouraging your children to volunteer and give back helps foster a sense of philanthropy and generosity at a young age. Combining efforts as a family to help others means you are making a difference! Volunteering as a family is a special experience that gives your young ones the opportunity to think beyond themselves. If your child is old enough to have developed interests, it can also be a good idea to involve them in the decision-making process of what organizations and activities the family chooses to spend time doing. This allows your child to develop a deeper connection to what they are doing and makes them feel appreciated. On November 21st, UWATX celebrated National Family Volunteer Day by hosting our own Family Volunteer Day event. Forty-nine people (adults, children and teens) came together to decorate ornaments, drop off books for a book drive and write holiday cards to local teachers. We spoke to Crystal Cotti, UWATX Campaign Co-Chair, who attended the event with her two daughters: What made you sign your group up to volunteer today? “I’m always looking for ways to teach my girls the holidays are about giving, not getting.” What was your favorite […]
Read MoreKerbey Lane Cafe Features Middle School Community Art Projects
Posted on by Katherine Aus
It started with “community,” and the web grew to include “pride,” “diversity,” “friendship,” and “health.” Students at Decker Middle School drew a word web to show how ideas are connected in order to guide their planning for a community art project. Throughout the month of October, students at all three Middle School Matters campuses worked to complete 20 canvasses that illustrate varying perspectives on community. The project aimed to show students how art can be used to start a conversation or spark community change. The paintings, designed and created by Volunteer Project Leader (VPL) students will be on display at Kerbey Lane Café at the Southwest location starting on November 2nd. In VPL, students plan, implement and reflect on volunteer projects that match their interests, and the paintings show broad variations on the theme of making a positive contribution to your community. A bright nature scene reminds us to recycle, multi-colored handprints underpinning a Spanish phrase celebrate shared space, and cartoon animals promote self-acceptance with the phrase, “There’s nothing wrong with who you like. There’s nothing wrong with who you are”. By displaying student work, Kerbey Lane Café recognizes these middle school students as leaders in their community and creates an uncommon opportunity for middle school students to start a community-wide conversation. Make sure to stop by the Kerbey Lane Café on William Cannon to see the works of art for yourself, or attend our Big Game Superbowl party in February where we will auction off some of the pieces. Learn […]
Read MoreTwo-Generation Pilot Project Shows ESL As Biggest Need
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
Ascend is a policy program of The Aspen Institute, an educational and policy studies organization that aims to pass on economic security and educational success from one generation to another. They emphasize a two-generation approach in every thing they do, meaning that they want to create opportunities for both the parent and child living in disadvantaged situations. UWATX received a grant from The Aspen Institute Ascend Fund in order to develop and test a two-gen pilot project of our own. United Way for Greater Austin engaged two researchers from the University of Texas’s Ray Marshall Center to measure impact through an evaluation that used multiple methodologies, including participant focus groups, individual interviews, surveys and pre- and post-skill tests. At the onset of the pilot, UWATX met with community partners to discuss project strategies to test an adult education care model for parents with children already engaged in high-quality early education. With Austin Independent School District (AISD) and Uphaus Early Childhood Center, UWATX developed an outreach plan to reach potential participants. After several weeks of dedicated outreach, UWATX reached over 100 parents and learned some valuable lessons. Over half of respondents cited English as their primary need and interest. Those who were interested, qualified and eligible for job training had diverse interests, making it difficult to form a cohort. At the same time, UWATX learned most of the job training families had reliable transportation and could access the existing training centers, while the Spanish-speaking families struggled with isolation. All of this […]
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