Holiday Events in Austin
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
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
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Community Needs and Trends 15
Kerbey Lane Cafe Features Middle School Community Art Projects
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 MoreNovember’s Face 2 Face Recap with Dr. Richard Garriott de Cayeux
Forget the Dos Equis guy–Dr. Richard Garriott de Cayeux is Austin’s most interesting man, at the very least. He invented the gaming phrase “avatar,” spent nearly his entire net worth to visit the International Space Station and is the only single person to own part of the moon. He also helped found the Google Lunar X Prize, which will award any privately-funded spaceflight team that can successfully launch a robotic spacecraft that can land and travel across the surface of the Moon while sending back to Earth specified images and other data. He joked: “If you can land on the part of the moon I own, I’ll pay you $1 million for finding it–then charge you $1 million for trespassing.” He created his wealth through the multiple gaming companies he started, beginning in the 1970s. He says his games are different because he ties in real social issues, such as racism. “I like to make games that are worthy of your time to play on a personal level. As a society, we are still struggling with equality issues on every level. Games are inclusive, but most gamemakers are white males. It’s really hard to find a woman who is a programmer. In my whole life, I’ve interviewed three, maybe four. And it’s the anonymity of games that allow people to act in their worst ways.” He is extremely interested in a variety of topics, and has the collections to prove it. One of his interests guided some of his investments. […]
Read MoreFree November Holiday Meals in Austin
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 FREE and open to the public on a walk-in basis: 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 MoreVeterans Day 2015: Businesses Honoring Our Heroes
Veterans Day is an important day to reflect and honor the courage displayed by our nation’s military. These are the brave men and women who have made sacrifices and risked their lives to protect our liberties. America is a country of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and this would not be possible without these selfless military personnel. In honor of this significant day, below is a list of companies who are giving special recognition to our veterans by providing a free meal or special discounts: Starbucks All active duty service members, veterans and military spouses will receive a free tall (12 fl oz) hot brewed coffee from Starbucks. Lowe’s Lowe’s is honoring retired veterans, active military personnel and their immediate family, with a 10% discount. MOD Pizza All veterans and active duty military can stop by MOD pizza today to munch on a free pizza or salad! Ikea Ikea is offering a free entrée to active, reserve or retired service members. Entrée includes a sandwich, hot dish or entrée salad. Carl’s Jr When you purchase an Ultimate Care Package meal, 100% of the proceeds go towards the Call of Duty Endowment. The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit organization that helps service members transition to high quality civilian careers after their military service. JC Penney’s Current and former military personnel and family members get an extra 5% off discount — this offer can be combined with other coupons and special offers. Olive Garden Olive Garden invites veterans and active duty […]
Read MoreVolunteers Scaring for a Good Cause!
In celebration of the spookiest time of the year, UWATX’s Young Leaders Society (YLS) members volunteered at Decker Middle School’s Fright Night last week. Fright Night, one of Decker’s most popular student events, allows students to use their creativity while coordinating with YLS volunteers to transform the school into a “haunted house”. Volunteers helped set up, scared students as they moved through the haunted house and took photos of the students for souvenirs. Fright Night helps sponsor the AVID program at Decker Middle School, which gives students the opportunities to attend field trips to college campuses and provides in class activities around career and college readiness. We had the opportunity to talk with Julie Fisher, YLS Chair, about her volunteering experience the Fright Night event. What were some of the activities you were involved in during Fright Night? I was involved with set up, setting the kids in waves down the stairwell and cleanup/breakdown. Describe your favorite part of the night Watching the kids give each other pep talks before going into the Haunted House. The event itself is always a blast, but I love the set up and break down with the students. It is a great opportunity to interact with them and give them a chance to give us the orders on how to set up the different rooms and halls. It was encouraging to see how excited they were after they received such positive feedback from their peers on how “awesome” the experience was. What do you enjoy […]
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