Seattle Wednesday

What another great day. Today we worked with Operation Sack Lunch, an organization feeding Seattle's hungry for over 25 years. Their mission is "to provide dignity, care and compassion through action with the example the each person can make a difference. To education and advocate acceptance and understanding of each other's differences. To ultimately bring about the realization that we are all a vital part of this world and with extended effort put an end to homelessness, hunger and hatred." They carry out their mission by providing healthy, organic meals to the hungry of Seattle. Today we helped to prepare and serve meals to the people at the Compass Center and then took the meals on the road to site where anyone can come and get a good meal. We saw probably over 150 people come to get a meal. It was a wonderful and fulfilling day.

After we finished up with our service site we took advantage of being in downtown and went to the Seattle Center, Pike Place Market and everywhere in between. We closed day with a nice meal and reflection, and another beautiful sunset.

Seattle Tuesday

Today's theme was connecting to the earth! The day began at Pigeon point Park, part of the West Duwamish greenbelt, the largest urban forest in Seattle. We joined 30 other volunteers to work with the Nature Consortium, a grassroots, community based organization whose mission is to connect people, arts, and nature. Specifically the work we did was part of the Urban Forest Restoration program. We cleared a large patch of invasive Himalayan blackberry, while being careful to leave the native blackberry.  In time these areas will be replanted with native trees and bushes. Very difficult work, but a great team effort! Two local musicians played music to keep us motivated and entertained.

Afterwards we headed to Our Lady of Guadalope church where the PV's have worked the past 2 years in building a garden, called Lettuce Pray, that helps feed local food banks. Today we spread cedar chips to keep weed growth down.

Dinner consisted of soup made with sweet potato, spinach, and veggie sausage - hearty and delicious - just what we needed after a challenging day of physical labor!  For reflection we listened to a song about letting mystery be, and pondered where mystery was found in our day...

  

Seattle Monday

In the morning we (a group of half traveling PVs and half Seattlites) made our way to Frances House in the international district for a day of service. Frances House is a place where people can come to get food, housewares, clothes and other items they might need. They have been around for over 40 years serving anyone who walks through the doors with the help of a strong group of dedicated volunteers that we were able to work alongside and learn from. On a typical day they see about 100 people and help them with whatever they may need.

After we were done at Francis House, we drove north to drop off a volunteer and we made our way up to the Fremont Neighborhood to see the Troll who lives under the bridge, check out the Ballard Locks, see Mt.Rainer in all of it's glory and even make it back in time to catch a beautiful sunset over the water in West Seattle after reflection. All in all a wonderful day.

Seattle PVs Are Off and Running!

Today marks the beginning of the 2015 Seattle PV Program. Even though we usually don't do a service project on the first day, we were asked to step in and help out with a community dinner that the churches in West Seattle host once a month. Our Lady of Guadalupe parish hosts the event each month, but a different church steps up and prepares the the meal to serve to anyone in the community that wants to come. Today there were over a 100 people that came to enjoy the meal. The PVs helped out by serving and busing the tables when the guests were finished. It was a great experience to work side by side with the other volunteers and meet the wonderful people that came to eat.

Since this was the first day of the program we did do an orientation to the week and to Seattle and also did the PV commissioning ceremony to start the week off on a great note. We were able to finish up all the beginning of the week activities in time to partake in another Seattle tradition, watching a Seattle Sounders soccer game. While we couldn't be there in person, we still wore Sounders scarves and enjoyed the game, especially as they beat their long time rivals.

We look forward to a great week ahead and hope you will join us in the journey.

A Busy, Yet Fruitful Day for the PVs

This past Saturday in New Jersey was a busy, yet fruitful day for the PVs. Each spring we gather the PV Steering Committee together for a meeting, and this year we added the first meeting of our newly forming youth leadership team had a potluck for PVs in the area and in impromptu catch-up with a couple of young ladies from WEB, the empowerment group in Brooklyn. We left on Sunday energized and excited for what lies ahead.

The PV Steering Committee spent their time together looking over the commissioning service. The commissioning service is such an integral part of starting a PV week that we didn't want to change it completely, but definitely thought it could use a few changes here and there. We were very happy with the end result and look forward to its first run in Seattle.

Next on the agenda was the meeting with the youth wanting to be involved with the PV youth leadership team. The enthusiasm that they showed for this group was very energizing and we are looking forward to moving forward. We ended up with a rough draft of a mission statement, (we are still pondering names,) we have a project for the the group to work on, and many great ideas for fundraisers for the younger PVs. As all of this blossoms, we will keep you updated.

A couple of the young PVs that are interested in being a part of this group are also a part of WEB in Brooklyn. Being able to catch up with these young ladies, who we have known for 17 years, was amazing. To hear what wonderful things they have accomplished is inspiring. We are so proud of you all!!!

Finally, we finished the day with a potluck for any PVs in the area. We ended up having a great turnout of about 30 volunteers. As you can imagine wherever PVs gather, there was good food, wonderful company, a lot of laughs and even a little home repair! Thank you Kraytem family for hosting the day!!!!

The 8th Annual Live with Passion Is Upon Us

IT IS TIME FOR THE OFFICIAL KICK-OFF OF THE

8^TH ANNUAL LIVE WITH PASSION, AND…

 

What exactly is the Live With Passion, you ask? – Not only is the Live With Passion is our largest fundraising effort of the year, but an event to share your experiences as a PV and connect with your fellow PVs outside your volunteer week(s). It is a worldwide weekend of activities large and small, to support the work of the PV Volunteers and spread the word about who the PVs are and what we do. About 10% of our budget is covered by the funds raised by volunteers through the LWP and 100% of the money raised goes directly to the  PV Volunteers and its programs. Over the last couple of years the amounts raised via the LWP as been down which has also coincided with the program’s overall financial struggles. To turn this trend around, we are striving for 100% participation

Can you help us get sponsors? – This year we will have tote bags available to give your supporters. We thought these would be useful for people, perhaps to take the grocery store. You never know what conversation a PV tote bag might instigate.

We still need to have sponsors, but with less printable space, we will just be printing the names and not the logos of each sponsor. We are asking for all sponsor names and monies (starting at the very low cost of $50) to be in by April 4th. These sponsors help underwrite all the costs associated with the LWP (bags, mailings, materials), so all funds raised go 100% to the programs of the PVs. See attached LWP Sponsor sheet for more information. Besides the sponsors name on the tote bag, we mention their support on the “Live with Passion” blog and PV website.

When is it? – . The official Live with Passion Weekend is May 2-3, 2015. We are going back to targeting one weekend as the “Live with Passion” weekend, so we can really build on the idea that we are one community working together to support and spread the word of the volunteers. If this weekend doesn’t work for you, feel free to plan it when it will. As you know we are always flexible, we just would love your participation.

What can I do? – Be creative, pretty much anything can be turned into a fundraiser. Examples of past events:  wine tasting, bingo, raffles, potlucks, garage sales, bike rides, runs, walks, haircuts, hikes, music concerts, planting, soup suppers, dress down days at school, etc. The LWP is a great chance to gather your friends and family together and help support the PVs.

Where can I follow all the action? – Please let us know about your event, so we can include it on our LWP Blog (www.pvlivewithpassion.blogspot.com ) and website. Gathering all the information about the different events in one place not only shows the reach and diversity of the PVs, but also helps to legitimize the effort to our sponsors. Seeing people all over the country out in their own communities helping to raise awareness about the PVs in pictures and words is a  moving experience. The blog is also a great place to check out past events and get an idea of the rich history of the LWP. If you need any assistance in creating flyers or other marketing information, let us know we would be happy to help.

Do you need more information? – Attached is the sponsor information sheet, as well as a Live with Passion information sheet. If you have ANY questions about the LWP, please do not hesitate to ask.

PVs Lend Helping Hand to Northern Kentucky Agency

Today the PV Volunteers extended their scope of service to Carrollton, Kentucky.  Jill Wallace joined fellow PV Jenny Wiley to help distribute U.S.D.A. Commodities to residents of Carroll County Kentucky.  This federally funded program,  administered through two local agencies, provided food assistance to 112 families today.