Week 47. Holiday Luncheon

November 20, 2018
with updates on December 14, 2018

For 40 years, on a special Friday in December, Lakehill Preparatory School continued a holiday tradition that remains in the hearts of attendees long after the pumpkin pie is finished.

This year’s Holiday Luncheon, held on December 14, brought 150 elderly residents from around east Dallas to the school’s main campus to share the spirit of the season with the Lakehill family.

The entire Upper School assisted in welcoming the seniors to the school. Each grade has progressively more complex responsibilities. Members of Lakehill’s senior class, along with their parents and class sponsors, joined forces with the entire Upper School to provide a memorable holiday experience for senior citizens. The senior class, along with their parents, hosted the luncheon feeding over 700 people throughout the day. While the senior citizens were eating, they were joined by Lower and Middle school students and entertained with various performances.

Juniors, dressed as elves, reindeer, and Santa and Mrs. Claus, visited with guests and posed for pictures. Sophomores served as photographers, giving guests a framed photo as they left the luncheon. Freshman decorated the Commons and hosted the guests for refreshments after their meal.

Students in all grade levels helped by donating the items that were used to fill the stockings that our Lower and Middle School Community Connections club members prepared for each guest. We spent several days organizing all the donations, sorting into categories, such as tissues, stationary, shampoo, and lotion, followed by several days stuffing each stocking with goodies. As each guest left the Luncheon, they received a poinsettia, the picture frame with their picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and a stocking full of goodies.

The Holiday Luncheon is a wonderful tradition that truly reinforces the meaning of the holidays. Many of these guests are regular attendees who look forward to the luncheon every year. Tasty food, good music, and enjoyable conversations with the students seemed to get everyone in the holiday spirit.

Week 45. First Aid Kits for Brady Senior Services Center

November 7, 2018

During my 45th week of service, I worked with my Lower School Community Connections members at Lakehill Preparatory School to create small first aid kits for senior citizens served by The Brady Program.

We first created “First Aid Kit” labels that volunteers attached to small Ziploc bags. They then fill edthe bags with antiseptic wipes, antibiotic cream, alcohol pads, gauze, and Band-Aids. We boxed up all the first aid kits – about 500 in total – and delivered them to Catholic Charities to distribute to those served by The Brady Program.

Catholic Charities Dallas (CCD) is a faith-based social service agency focused on improving the quality of life for people in need. Comprised of 17 individual programs serving the nine counties in North Texas, they help over 30,000 individuals annually to achieve stability and self-sufficiency through financial literacy, employment services, education, food programs, immigration legal services, refugee resettlement, disaster services, and permanent supportive housing.

Brady Senior Services aims to improve the health and wellness of senior citizens ages 60 and older. Services are designed to promote and support personal independence and emotional and physical well-being while recognizing individual dignity. The Brady Senior Services Center provides over 500 Dallas area seniors with daily meals, information and education, social activities, exercise classes, and access to medical care. With the Brady Program now housed at Marillac, seniors can take advantage of all of the services and activities available.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the new offices for Catholic Charities when I delivered the first aid kits, and to later visit the Marillac Campus which now houses the Brady Program, and the CCD’s newly opened St. Jude Center which provides long-term housing to the chronically homeless.

Week 42.Voice of Hope

October 15, 2018

Our Community Connections students at Lakehill Preparatory School and I have been volunteering with Voice of Hope for several years. Spending a day with the children they serve is always a highlight of our Middle School Community Connections camp. Our high school students involved with the Warrior Outreach Organization have participated as well. We love working in the classrooms on arts and crafts projects, or in the gym with physical activities and games. We have also cleaned closets and organized supplies when needed.

Voice of Hope is a wonderful community partner, and always attends our Volunteer Fair at Lakehill. This year, I asked those organizations in attendance to let us know if they ever had any projects we could complete on our campus, from stuffing envelopes to assembling packets.

Voice of Hope needed a group to stuff 2,000 invitations for their Voice of Hope Night at the Winspear Opera House, to be held on December 7. In addition to raising critical funds, the Sing an Irish Christmas event, featuring Keith and Kristyn Getty, also provides the opportunity for children and families to hear the message of Christmas and experience the blessings of the season.

We gathered in the Lakehill Library to form stations, preparing invitations, response cards, and envelopes for mailing. The students really took ownership of the project, and were determined to get all 2,000 invitations ready.The energy and focus the students put into the project was amazing. They completed the task, and felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

Voice of Hope has a rich history in the West Dallas community, giving children the resources and individual attention they need to grow into productive citizens and strong leaders. Founded in 1982, Voice of Hope has grown to serve over 300 children daily in their ASPIRE after-school program and Summer Day Camp. Their vision is to see inner-city families equipped with the resources and skills needed to overcome and break the poverty cycle.

Voice of Hope depends on volunteers to achieve their mission. Some volunteers work directly with children in the ASPIRE After-School Program or Summer Day Camp, while others serve behind the scenes in support roles and garnering in-kind donations. Find out how you can get involved.

Volunteering doesn’t have to mean traveling to another location. There are many things you can do to help local non-profits from your home or school. Just ask!

 

 

Week 40: Trick or Treat for UNICEF

October 1, 2018

Halloween is just around the corner, which means it’s time for Trick or Treat for UNICEF. Lakehill has been volunteering with UNICEF for more than 30 years, and is an Ambassador school.

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF provides children, along with their parents and teachers, the opportunity to learn about their peers worldwide who are truly in need. It also enables them to raise money to help reduce the number of daily preventable deaths of children. Even if a child doesn’t trick-or-treat or celebrate Halloween, there are still a lot of fun ways to participate and make a difference.

UNICEF is the number one children’s humanitarian organization, working in over 150 developing countries. The organization provides impoverished children and their families with lifesaving medicine, nutrition, clean water and sanitation, education, and emergency relief throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, and parts of Europe. Forbes and Charity Navigator list the U.S. Fund for UNICEF every year as one of the most efficient charities, with more than 90% of all money donated going directly to save and improve children’s lives.

We often invite a UNICEF staff member to school to give a presentation for our students. This year, several of our Middle School volunteers presented the program to the entire Lower School, sharing their personal experiences and encouraging the younger students to get involved. It really has become a cherished tradition, and students look forward to it every year.

While carrying the collection box door-to-door is one of the most popular ways to contribute, supporters can host an event, skip a snack or movie and donate the money, or contribute part of their allowance to UNICEF. The whole family can help by donating spare change at the end of each day into the UNICEF box. We even encourage them to look under the cushions on the sofa and under the seats in the car!

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is the original “Kids Helping Kids” campaign. It began in 1950 as a door-to-door collection effort by a small group of children in Philadelphia to help children who were suffering after World War II. For nearly 70 years, the annual tradition of Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF has helped raise nearly $177 million.

I believe that Trick or Treat for UNICEF helps our students as well, teaching them compassion and civic responsibility, giving them a chance to practice real-life math, speaking, and problem-solving skills, and empowering them to take action and work together.

This is my 11th year to be involved with UNICEF. What I love most is hearing the older students share their memories, ideas, and suggestions with the younger children. There is a special feeling when children join together to help other children. I love being a part of that.

Find out more and get involved with UNICEF here.

 

Week 39: Bye Bye Bags for Vogel Alcove

September 28, 2018

During my 39th week of service, I worked with my Community Connections members at Lakehill Preparatory School on a project for our friends at Vogel Alcove.

We prepared Bye-Bye Bags, which are snack bags that are distributed to the children served by Vogel Alcove at the end of the day, giving them additional nutrition when they are away from the facility.

Each volunteer decorated several paper lunch sacks with uplifting messages. We set out a variety of healthy snack items on tables, such as applesauce, cereal, fruit snacks, tuna, and crackers. After decorating a bag, volunteers moved through the line, selecting one item from each category to place in their bag. We boxed up all the bags – about 200 in total – and delivered to Vogel Alcove to distribute as needed.

Vogel Alcove serves as many as 200 homeless children each day, allowing them to learn and thrive in a place free from hunger or trauma. Parents – most of whom are single mothers – have the opportunity to work, look for work, or go to school, knowing that their children are in good hands. Since 1987, Vogel Alcove has served more than 15,000 children and their families.

I am always surprised to read that Dallas has the highest child poverty rate in the country among cities with more than a million people. Thirty percent of Dallas children grow up in poverty. While there are many reasons for family homelessness, poverty is an overriding factor.

By providing education and a broad array of therapeutic services, Vogel Alcove is dedicated to helping children who are experiencing homelessness cope with the physical, emotional, and mental trauma so that they might succeed in life despite their circumstances.

Preparing Bye Bye Bags is just one of the many ways to help children at Vogel Alcove.

Find out more ways to get involved here.

 

Week 37: Painting Bowls for The Stewpot

September 10, 2018

On January 17, 2019, The Stewpot Alliance will host its 11th annual Soup’s On! Luncheon at The Hilton Anatole Hotel benefiting The Stewpot.

Some of the best chefs in Dallas – under the direction of celebrity chef Brian Luscher, owner of The Grape – will prepare a variety of specialty soups for the first course of the luncheon. Each guest receives a soup bowl to take home, and others are sold as part of the fundraiser. Guests will also be able to view and purchase one-of-a-kind works from artists who are members of the Stewpot Art Program.

While decorating the bowls was once a project for the students in The Stewpot’s children and youth program, the project has grown and now requires the support of the community. The Stewpot’s goal this year was to complete 700 bowls by the end of October.

Lakehill’s Middle School Community Connections group originally signed on to complete 50 bowls, although, in the end, only 20 were needed. The Stewpot provided the glaze, bowls, and brushes, and coordinated the drop-off and pick-up of supplies. To keep the bowls cohesive, we were asked to paint a fruit or vegetable on the inside of the bowl and to paint the outside a solid color with a special sprinkle paint. Beyond that, we were given creative freedom.

This was a great project for both the students and adults. We worked together in teams and had a great time painting our bowls.

The Stewpot offers a safe haven for homeless and at-risk individuals of Dallas, providing resources for basic survival needs, as well as opportunities to start a new life.

At its main location on the corner of Park Avenue and Young Street in downtown Dallas, The Stewpot provides casework assistance and enrichment programs to individuals and families experiencing homelessness, as well as Children and Youth and Family Stabilization programs to at-risk children and their families.

Since May 2008, The Stewpot has been the sole meal provider at The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, serving 1,000 meals per day, seven days per week.

Find out more about The Stewpot, volunteer opportunities, and the Soup’s On! Luncheon.

 

Week 36: Dallas Animal Services

September 3, 2018

Volunteering with animals is always a favorite with my volunteer groups. While it is sometimes difficult to find opportunities for younger children, Dallas Animal Services (DAS) provides a variety of ways for volunteers of all ages to engage with animals.

Dallas Animal Services is dedicated to helping Dallas be a safe, compassionate, and healthy place for people and animals. They work to control the loose animal population as well as increasing the positive outcomes for homeless animals in the city.

There are many ways to get involved with Dallas Animal Services. Adults over the age of 18 may volunteer on an ongoing basis in the main shelter in West Dallas or Everyday Adoption Center in North Dallas. Tasks might include customer relations, walking dogs, or cuddling cats. Volunteers must attend a program orientation and hands-on training and are required to serve a minimum of four hours each month.

Other one-time experiences include events like Easter in the Park, Mayor’s Back to School Fair, and All Out Trinity’s Bark in the Park. There is no monthly service hour minimum for these activities.

Students in grades K-12 can practice their reading skills among an attentive audience of shelter animals and in return improve shelter animal behavioral development through youth socialization and engagement. This is a wonderful opportunity for school groups and families, and I plan to incorporate this in my Community Connections camp next summer.

Educational visits enable students to learn more about animal welfare and the impact DAS has in their communities. These include a tour, visits with shelter animals, and an enrichment activity such as making toys and treats for shelter animals

The foster program enables the community to save hundreds of animals each year that might otherwise take longer at being adopted. Fosters provide a safe place for a dog to decompress before reaching their forever home.

Donations are always needed. An alert recently went out in the community that Dallas Animal Services was in need of new and used blankets and towels. We tend to have a lot of blankets and towels at my house, and this seemed like a great opportunity to cull what we had and donate them to a good cause.

Donations can be dropped off at the main shelter at 1818 N. Westmoreland Road or the PetSmart Everyday Adoption Center on 16821 Coit Road. Flat sheets are also appreciated, but fitted sheets should not be donated.

Bedding wears out quickly at a shelter, and these items are much in need for the animals they serve. As they say at Dallas Animal Services, even if you can’t take one home, you can still come to the rescue.

Week 35: Peanut Butter Drive for North Texas Food Bank

September 2, 2018

Hunger can be a hidden issue in any community. It’s amazing to me that one in four children right here in North Texas may not know where they will get their next meal. There are more than 300,000 hungry children right here in our neighborhoods. Fortunately, there is something we can do to help.

September is Hunger Action Month, when people across the country work together to fight hunger. Every gift you share with the North Texas Food Bank makes a difference for families in North Texas.

The City of Plano hopes to raise awareness about the issue of food insecurity for children, families, and seniors and to get others get involved in the fight against hunger. The mayor and City Council have partnered with the North Texas Food Bank to help feed hungry children and families with the fifth Plano Peanut Butter Drive. Their goal is to collect 50,000 pounds of peanut butter. Donations of regular-sized (16 oz.) plastic jars of peanut butter or similar spreads like almond butter or sunflower butter are requested.

For the entire month of September, the North Texas Food Bank will be collecting regular-sized, plastic jars of peanut butter to help feed hungry children and their families. Your company or organization can register to host your own drive, or you can collect jars and drop them off at the five public drop-off sites throughout Plano.

Public Drop-off Sites:

Davis Library | 7501-B Independence Pkwy. | Plano, TX 75025

Plano Municipal Center | 1520 K Ave. | Plano, TX 75074

Carpenter Park Recreation Center | 6701 Coit Rd., | Plano, TX 75024

The Shops at Willow Bend (Lower-Level Court) | 6121 W. Park Blvd. | Plano, TX 75093

North Texas Food Bank’s Perot Family Campus | 3677 Mapleshade Ln. | Plano, TX 75075

My family and I dropped off several bags of peanut butter over Labor Day weekend. I plan to continue the drive with my Community Connections volunteers at Lakehill when we meet later this month by asking each of them to bring a jar of peanut butter to our meeting.

Find out other ways to donate healthy food, and learn bout hosting a canned food drive here.

Week 30: Community Connections Camp

July 23, 2018

This week was my second Community Connections Camp of the summer, during Lakehill Summer Camps. This one was for students in third grade through high school, and we had 32 students! Each day of the camp, we partner with two different organizations (one in the morning, one in the afternoon). Many of these organizations have already been covered in my blog (and are linked to my original posts), while a several others I am writing about for the first time.

I love returning to volunteer with favorite organizations, as well as introducing campers to new places to channel their altruistic energy. I was honored to have Sue Stretcher with me again for this camp, and Rob Vaughn and John Trout helping to get us around town in the big Lakehill bus. Many of our campers return every year to volunteer with us, and they often return with friends. This year, the camp sold out in 45 minutes. I really wish I could lead a camp every week of the summer!

In the morning, we visited The Brady Center, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of seniors through daily meals, information, exercise, and social activities. We visited with the seniors, played 30 rounds of highly competitive Bingo, and passed out prizes. We even did a little dancing at the end of our visit (picture a giant, slow-moving conga line with our 30 campers and more than 100 seniors!)

In the afternoon, we traveled to Crossroads Community Services, where our campers did an amazing job sorting shoes and clothing, organizing donations, stocking food, and packing produce. Crossroads provides much needed services to those living below the poverty line in Dallas. They are always needing donations of men’s and boys’ shoes and clothing – please think of them when clearing out closets! We also learned that as the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) makes its move to the Perot Family Campus in Plano, Crossroads Community Services has been chosen to operate a regional hub for Southern Dallas out of the Pollock Campus on Cockrell Hill Road.

On Tuesday, we began our day at Hope Supply Co., where our campers packed 2250 diapers and 475 bags of children’s paints to be distributed in back-to-school backpacks. Hope Supply distributes over 40,000 diapers each week to more than 65 partner organizations.

In the afternoon, we traveled to The Furniture Bank, an organization that helps families who are transitioning out of homelessness acquire furniture. Their clients actually purchase the furniture at a reduced cost in most cases, thus helping them in their process of becoming more self-sufficient. We vacuumed, dusted, and cleaned furniture. We also made Welcome Home cards for the families who would receive furniture.

On Wednesday, we traveled to Brother Bill’s Helping Hand in West Dallas, to help in their grocery store and with a special project. We bagged produce, sorted shopping bags, flattened boxes and crates, and prepared for the approximately 100 guests who visited the grocery store. We also sorted boxes and boxes of school supplies and helped prepare backpacks for children for a special event next week.

We spent the afternoon at White Rock Lake for a Shoreline Spruce-up at Lakehill’s adopted shoreline through For The Love of the Lake. It was definitely a day of interesting finds: one group found a wallet, complete with ID and credits cards (a phone call did not turn up the owner, so I will try to deliver to the owner’s home tomorrow); a second group unearthed a large traffic cone from the muddy water; and a third group hauled in a not-so-pristine Air Jordan sneaker and a china plate. You never know what you will find!

Our activities on Thursday really centered on hunger, from the “hidden hungry” served by Meals on Wheels, to the “food insecure” served by Hunger Busters.

In the morning, we headed to the VNA Meals on Wheels headquarters for an orientation and to pick up our food. We then traveled to Potter’s House/Primrose Oaks in South Dallas to deliver.

After lunch, we headed to Hunger Busters, where we made sandwiches and packed 280 sack lunches to be distributed to DISD children who are food insecure. This was my first time to work with this organization and I knew this year’s group was up to the challenge of trying out a new service partner. Our campers were amazing – making sandwiches, wrapping each in a special machine, and creating an impressive assembly line to prepare all the sack lunches.

At the end of the day, we voted to add a special project to our week. Dallas has been hit hard by the heat wave. The most vulnerable are the homeless men and women living on the streets. They have limited access to water and no air-conditioning. Staying out of the heat just isn’t an option if you are homeless. For the last several weeks, the SoupMobile has been pulling out all stops to collect bottled water for the homeless, but they need more. We decided to conduct an emergency water drive for the SoupMobile, to distribute to the homeless.

On Friday, we traveled to Bonton Farms. Located in a federally-recognized food desert, the farm grows and provides produce to this low income neighborhood. The farm extension, where we volunteered, is the larger of their two farms, where the eggs, meat, and produce is sold at the Dallas Farmers Market and to local restaurants to support their efforts in the community. We enjoyed a tour of the farm, picked Mad Hatter and Shishito peppers (sampling some along the way), and enjoyed the goats, pigs, hens, and the friendly farm dog. We learned how this community farm is turning lives around for the residents in this neighborhood.

We also visited the For the Love of the Lake (FTLOTL) office and participated in a focus group with the President of the organization. FTLOTL is starting an group called Kids Love the Lake (like a teen board, but for kids 9-13 years old) and wanted input from our volunteers. If your child is interested in becoming a charter member, attending monthly meetings and leaning more about the lake, they can write an email about why they would like to participate and send it to info@whiterocklake.org. If they prefer, they can write a letter and send it to PMB 281 – 381 Casa Linda Plaza, Dallas, TX 75218.

Our next stop was to the SoupMobile to deliver the nearly 2,000 bottles of water that we collected for the homeless. David Timothy, the “Soup Man” himself, came aboard our bus to thank the campers for their generosity.

We finished our week by writing thank you notes to our service partners throughout the week and debriefing on our experiences.

Together, we gave 1,225 combined hours of service to ten wonderful organizations dedicated to the environment and to those affected by poverty, homelessness, and hunger. I can hardly wait for my Community Connections camp next year. Registration opens in February.

 

Week 28: Ronald McDonald House

July 13, 2018

At Lakehill, our students have been collecting pull tabs for many years. Saving those little tabs that you pull to open soda, soup, or other aluminum cans, is a small project that can make a big difference for a non-profit organization. A couple of years ago, I took a group of Community Connections campers to visit the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas, take a tour, and deliver our pull tabs. Our collection bin at school filled up this summer, and I decided to visit the House again and deliver them.

The Ronald McDonald House of Dallas (RMHD) provides temporary housing in a caring home-like atmosphere to families whose children are receiving essential medical care. The goal is to lessen the burden, reduce stress, keep the family intact, and enhance the quality of life for the families they serve. The program is designed so that families can concentrate on helping their children heal, without having to worry about what they are going to eat or where they are going to sleep.

With approximately 60,000 square feet, RMHD offers 52 private bedrooms and six transplant apartments. There are several playrooms, a library, media room, craft room, chapel, meditation garden, and outdoor play areas. Communal kitchens and a dining room allow families to share a meal, which is provided three times a day by community volunteers, or to prepare their own food if they choose.

Families are asked to contribute $15 per family per night, but no one has ever been turned away because they couldn’t pay. The actual cost per night to house a family is about $130— a cost mostly covered by individual and corporate donors, community organizations, and special events. Since it opened in 1981, RMHD has served more than 38,000 families.

Hundreds of volunteers offer support by serving families, preparing meals, and hosting organized activities. Each month, it takes approximately 140 cooking groups to fulfill RMHD’s mission. Volunteer organizations and individuals host organized family activities on a regular basis, with most activities taking place in the evenings or on the weekends. Groups are typically limited to 12 people, and volunteers must be 15 years of age or older.

Individual volunteers must commit to volunteering at the House for at least three months. There are three main categories that are worked in weekly, three-hour shifts, including Front Desk, Kitchen, and Family Activity Volunteers. All individual volunteers must be 18 years of age or older.

Collecting pop tabs, like we did at Lakehill, is a great way for children, schools, and other large groups to get involved with RMHD. Children of all ages can participate in this easy and fun project. The funds generated from recycling the aluminum tabs help offset RMHD’s expenses.

On my recent visit, I discovered that there is a bin located right outside the entrance to the House, so that tabs can be dropped off any day. Staff members were also happy to give me a large cardboard collection container that was shaped like a house. This will be perfect to keep in our school cafeteria, where students can easily donate during their lunch period.

With 364 Ronald McDonald Houses, in 43 countries and regions, it should be easy to get involved in your area and make a difference!