The Giving Season
Leave a CommentIt’s that time of year again. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Stress, Stuff, Consumerism, Affluenza.
We all know that’s not what this season is about, yet we still get caught up in the flurry of crazed gift giving. The state of the economy has been a great catalyst for bringing us back to simplicity. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves that we may not be able to afford the hot new item this year, try embracing the simple true spirit of the giving season.
Unlike the stress-induced holiday shopping and gift-giving pressure, true giving reaps some remarkable rewards. A recent NY Times article highlights a few of the benefits of giving, reporting that some of the greatest benefits resulted from direct acts of service.
Get in the spirit of the season. Give.
Volunteer Housing Options in New Orleans
Volunteer Housing Options
This list written and created by Habitat for Humanity New Orleans
CAMP HOPE
(Located in Arabi, St. Bernard Parish, 4 miles from the French Quarter)
For reservations email: camphope@sbpg.net
NEW ORLEANS REBIRTH VOLUNTEER CENTER
(Located in First Unitarian Universalist Church)
2903 Jefferson Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70115
Office: 504-866-4170
Fax: 504-866-4905
$25 per person, per night
MISSION HOUSE
Dar Rinehardt
3313 Marietta
Office: 504-309-0377
HANDS ON NEW ORLEANS BUNK HOUSE
Laura Crosby – Volunteer Housing Coordinator
Office: 504-483-7041
volunteer@handsonneworleans.org
- sleep 50 people in bunk beds
- there is a $25 per night housing fee for volunteers.
- volunteers can expect three meals a day to be served in house
- there is wireless and computer set up for general use.
- located in MidCity 3 blocks away from the Canal StreetCar.
- volunteers have be at least 18 years old (unless it is a group that books out the entire house and is properly chaperoned)
Rules:
- no drugs or alcohol on premises
- quiet hours from 10pm to 7am (this is not curfew or bedtime)
- showers are 4 minutes in length and only during designated shower hours
- volunteers are responsible for cleaning up after themselves and doing at least 1 kitchen duty during their stay.
Contact Jon
BLUE STONE MINISTRIES
Cindi Stone
Office: 504-473-7992
49 W Queens Ct.
Chalmette, LA 70043
CELEBRATION CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRIES & MISSIONS
Toni Collins, Director
1921 Airline Dr.
Metairie, LA 70001
Office: 504-324-9685
Fax: 504-218-5667
110 beds and have / Additional 60 cots
3 meals a day provided
Large dining room / central A/C and heat.
Restrooms have private showers.
Big room (with a stage) that is available for group meetings.
$30.00 per night per person.
Volunteers must be 13 and older.
Group check in on Sun., Mon. or Tues (between 3:00 PM – 6:00PM). All groups must check out by 9:00 AM on Sat. Morning.
No housing over Sat. night
UCC DISASTER RECOVERY/ LITTLE FARMS UCC
135 Sauve Rd.
River Ridge, LA 70123
Office: 504-258-7306
ucchurricanerecovery@yahoo.com
Little Farms, St.
Matthew/Central (sleeps 20) :1333 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans
St. Pauls UCC (sleeps 40):600 Eleonore St., New Orleans
Each church has washer and dryer, full use of kitchen, bunks beds, indoor showers and bathrooms. $50 donation per person for the week
Groups arrive on Sunday and leave the following Saturday. If groups need to arrive on Saturday we can check our calendar to make sure there is no overlap.
If a group is interested we need them to fill out an application on-line at:
www.ucc.org/volunteer/hurricane/hurricane-recovery-volunteer.html
MARQUETTE HOUSE NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL HOUSE
Steve Cross, Manager
2249 Carondelet St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
Office: 504-523-3014
Email: HINewOrlns@aol.com
Website: www.NewOrleansInternationalHostel.com
UNITED SAINTS 1ST STREET RECOVERY PROJECT
2309 Dryades Street
New Orleans, LA 70113
(504) 895-2922 ext. 108
· 18 years & up
· $25 per day/volunteer
· Non-Smoking
PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH-ELCA
1320 Gause Blvd., W
Slidell, LA 70460
Phone: 98-641-6400 ext. 3
Fax: 985-641-3994
· $25 per person/ per night
· 16 years & older
Happy Birthday to Us!
Happy Birthday to Me and to Full Circle!
Today is my 27th birthday. About this time last year, I remember sitting around a kitchen table with the Full Circle team proudly celebrating our launch. The moment when Full Circle stopped being just an idea, but a real organization with the pulse of potential.
This last year has resulted in tremendous growth both for the organization and for myself. It’s amazing what a person can learn when propelled into The Land of Ambiguity that is entrepreneurship. Some lessons from this past year…
It’s All Worth It. It is worth the expended energy, gut wrenching fear, hard work, frustrating mistakes, and personal sacrifices to know that you are working towards something you believe in. There is no trade-off for living your purpose.
Jump and the Net Will Appear. Don’t wait for the right time, the dream client, the perfect elevator pitch, the angel investor. Just go for it and the universe will conspire in your favor—the bills will get paid, friends will come through, mentors will appear, partnerships will develop, and clients will sign.
Take Care of Yourself. Remember that you are human. Basic survival needs must be taken care of in order to work toward higher order goals. Don’t neglect yourself or you won’t get very far.
Let It Go. Let things develop naturally, commit to only positive associations with your idea and your mission. When it feels forced or you become too identified with the successes and failures, stop and let it go. You’ll discover that the nonresistance expands the universe, attracts opportunity, and opens doors.
I am proud to say a year later, Full Circle is out there bringing people together through community service. We are connecting good people to good causes! Through the support and encouragement of friends and family we have developed a strong foundation and are committed to increasing our impact on individuals, groups, and the community.
With the first year behind us, I am happy to move forward and announce a few new initiatives…
—New Name
Full Circle (we dropped the “teambuilding”)
A special phenomenon occurs when groups come together in the service of others—minds open, barriers disappear, and individuals unite. Full Circle brings people together through service.
We make ordinary events extraordinary through community service. We infuse service into everything from kids’ birthday parties to corporate events. We are an altruistic update to the events you’ve always done.
—New Products
Strive4Sustainability: Teambuilding with a Purpose
In partnership with Bliss Training & Consulting, we started with a bold mission…to create meaningful experiences for your teams through community service. Your team builds skills. The community gets manpower and services that allow it to remain vital. Everyone wins. High performing teams are interwoven with high levels of care for our communities to:
- Acquire higher levels of individual skill and competency
- Sustain the collective performance of the team
- Improve and support the communities that serve us
It’s a symbiotic relationship. Build the team while building the community.
Full Circle Celebrations: Parties with a Purpose
Celebrate and have fun while making a difference! Full Circle Celebrations infuse fun and community service to create experiences that bring children Full Circle. Host a Party with a Purpose and see how teaching kids to give back fosters values of kindness and gratitude and promotes positive self-esteem!
—New URL
With the new name, comes the new, shorter, simpler url. Check us out… ServiceEvents.com and get in touch Patty@ServiceEvents.com
Sustainability Showcase Event at City Farm
Sustainability Showcase Event at City Farm
Full Circle and Bliss Training & Consulting have joined together with a bold mission…to create meaningful experiences for teams through community service. Teams build skills. The community gets manpower and services that allow it to remain vital. Everyone wins. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Build the team while building the community.
City Farm under the Chicago skyline
This past Saturday we hosted a special showcase event at City Farm. Participants built skills and and professional connections while serving the local community with a day of gardening to benefit City Farm. City Farm is Chicago’s sustainable vegetable farm that provides job training, urban beautification, and affordable organic vegetables. It operates as part of the Resource Center, the city’s first and largest non-profit recycling center.
weeding and networking
Matt (aka The Idea Man)
My Eight (plus two) Life Hacks
Friend, David Kadavy called me out to make a list of life hacks. No surprise to anyone who knows me, but here are a some of the simple things I do that make me feel like I’m “cheating the system”…
1. Bike Commute.
Not bike riding, bike commuting. This is not a pastime or hobby, bike commuting is a lifestyle with its own unique culture. The benefits are fairly obvious—fitness, mental health, environmental impact, connection to community—but nothing beats the feeling that you’re “cheating the system” and getting away with something like cruising past the cars jammed up on Lake Shore Drive.
2. Watch the Sunrise.
Sunsets are for couples. Sunrises are for individuals. The world is still asleep and there aren’t any competing time commitments in the early morning hours. Nothing makes me feel more centered than the natural beauty of a sunrise. The sunrise is about starting fresh and represents a new opportunity to create something of meaning. It’s about looking forward.
Sunrise over Lake Michigan after the Late Ride
- Sunrise over Lake Michigan
3. Make a Vision Board
I have a serious obsession with vision boards. It started a few years ago when I made one at a New Year’s Day party and by the Eve of the following year, EVERYTHING on the board came true. Now it’s a tradition of mine to make a board with each new year and make smaller specific boards to help create positive experiences in other areas of my life (starting a new job, planning a party, designing a wardrobe). What is a vision board? Short version (this deserves its own post): Vision boards utilize The Law of Attraction and are a functional tool to keep your affirmations and visions for the future present in your thoughts. The idea is to create a collage using words or pictures that evoke positive emotions associated with the future you want to live. It allows you to live the future *now* as if you are already there. Some people start with a list of goals they want to obtain and then look for images to capture those. I find it works better to sift through pictures in magazines and pull out what speaks to me and look for themes and patterns from there. This allows the subconcious to detect what the concious mind overlooks. There are times when I don’t even know what an item means when I add it on the board, but I always discover the meaning in the future experiences I have. Give it a try, with no expectations, the first timers often experience the best results.
Vision Board 2008
4. Get Crafty.
There is something incredibly gratifying about making something with your hands. For me, I like to make crafts, mostly paper crafts–cards, scrapbooks, collage (hence why I love vision boards). For you it may be painting a picture, making pottery, baking a cake, working on a home improvement project, or putting together Ikea furniture. The key element is to be able to look something and feel the finished product. When it doubles as a gift, inspiration piece, or is used to serve someone in need, then the positive effects and sense of gratification are amplified.
Craft station at One Brick Volunteer Event
5. Know When To Hire a Professional.
Typically, I am all about the bargain. I take advantage of sales, hunt through thrift stores, and troll Craigslist looking for deals on all goods and services. There are some areas, however, where you really need to draw the line and hire a professional. The one area I have learned not to go cheap is with hair. I have tried every deal out there–Craiglist ads, Aveda hair schools, the street-solicited-salon-packages-so-cheap-you-can’t-say-no-deals, “my friend the hair dresser”, and do-it-yourself kits. Amazingly after each botched job and the self-loathing that comes along with it, I would come across another deal and delude myself into thinking “this time will be different!” I have finally come to terms with it, *you get what you pay for* when it comes to hair. For you it may be something entirely different, but it is important to know your limits and accept that for some things a hiring a professional is the only way to go.
Looking at it from the cost-per-use analysis model, you wear your hair every day and at $200 for cut and highlights and tip every 3 months that’s just over $2/day. Small change to prevent this Goth Girl ‘do from every happening again…(luckily my nephew didn’t mind).
6. Dine as the Locals Do.
Wherever you are, experience the local culture through their cuisine. It doesn’t matter if you are in a European city or at a truck stop in Nebraska. Take the opportunity to eat as the locals do. Eating, unlike any other activity, allows you to participate on an intimate level in a way that visual observation could never duplicate. People laughed when I took pictures of all my meals while backpacking in Europe, but it is those images, more than the ones of the *Must-See-Sites* that bring me back to the specific moments that added significance and richness to my travels. Play the part and enjoy the experience the local culture through your taste buds. In NY have a bagel, in Philly have a cheese steak, in San Diego get a burrito, in the ‘burbs go to Applebees. In Amsterdam, get fries with all the dipping sauces mmmmmmmmm…
7. Behave Like a Tourist…in your own city.
Being engaged in the present moment is easy for people when they travel. We are intentional about taking in the surroundings fully and consciously, the agenda often is to just be there in the moment. This gets lost when we run around in our own cities and towns while trying to accomplish the day-to-day responsibilities of life. When we do this we lose the sense of awe for our surroundings. To reclaim the present, only a simple shift in perspective is required. Look for awe (or as the Ignatian Jesuits say, “find God“) in all things, you will be able to connect to that spirit that makes travel and new experiences so fulfilling. Behaving like a tourist, searching out new experiences and observations in familiar surroundings, will bring about a sense of presence and connection to your day-to-day. If you don’t have the motivation to do this for yourself, host a friend, or better yet a stranger in your city and explore through their eyes!
8. Reflect.
I have been accused of reflecting too much. This is possible and I have realized the limitations of process getting in the way of action, but I am a special case. There are great benefits to taking the time to reflect on our experiences in a *structured* intentional* way and it is my belief that most people don’t do it enough, if at all. Reflection can take place in shared group exercises or individual introspective practices. Sometimes the best answers are derived through sharing and feedback and other times internal reflection produces the most clarity. The best results come from applying multiple outlets for reflection. This can not be done passively, again–the key is to participate in activities that are structured and intentional.
- “Mail Box” from group reflection activity
9. Embrace the Mess.
Despite what some former roommates may have to say about the matter, I am not a messy person. I am a busy person who places organization and tidiness low on the list of priorities. Would I like a color coded sock drawer? Sure, but I’d rather spend my free time biking, crafting, volunteering, and reflecting. The decision to embrace the mess is more about not letting what you can’t (or choose not to) control bother you. Simply, let it go. Your metaphorical mess could be any situation that you are currently in that you don’t like, but can not or choose not to change. You don’t have to like it, but the only option to alliviate the negative resistance is to ACCEPT the situation for what it is. When you do this, you may even begin to enjoy and embrace the moment. Turns out there are many benefits to being A Perfect Mess.
Check me out…embracing my mess on the Today Show.
10. Intentional Diversity.
Intentional diversity means exposing oneself to people, places, and experiences that are outside one’s sphere of daily living. Look for opportunities to embrace these opportunities and appreciate how they contribute to the world. Work to appreciate the richness in the differences and understand the universal oneness that connects us all. Allow this gratitude to expand your perspective and enrich your life.
Afternoons with Char always helped with perspective. When all else fails, make fish faces…
11. Give….and Take.
First, get out there! Give, Help, and Serve.
Do it your own way–volunteer, share a passion, commit a random act of kindness. Just do something.
Many people stop there, thinking the job is done. Really, doing the act of service is only going half way. They’ve offered guidance, support, and care. What else is there?
To make giving a complete act of service, you must also find something to take. Not just for yourself, but for the people you serve. When you take something away from the experience, you allow the other person to give, bringing the experience FULL CIRCLE for everyone.
Instead of thinking of service and giving as something you do for people not as fortunate as yourself, begin to think of it as an exchange. (Susan Ellis)
