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We still have room for volunteers for our Spring Day of Caring. So if you haven’t already signed-up for a project, now’s your chance! Hands On Central Texas, a program of United Way Capital Area, invites you to help us celebrate National Volunteer Week (April 27 – May 3, 2008) by participating in United Way Days of Caring, presented by Freescale Semiconductor. United Way Days of Caring are community-wide events that address critical social issues through meaningful volunteer action. Each year, more than 1,500 corporate & community volunteers lend a hand and tackle issues such as poverty, education, and health, while doing everything from building homes, to building community gardens, to beautifying local parks. On Friday, April 25, 2008, we will host various meaningful volunteer projects that will address Central Texas’ most pressing issues. We will start the day with United Way Days of Caring Kickoff at Alamo Park located at 2100 Alamo Street where volunteers will learn about the impact they are making in the community, and they will have an opportunity to eat some breakfast, meet other volunteers and guest speakers, and check-in for their projects.Volunteer check–in from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. The majority of the projects run from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Register to volunteer at http://www.handsoncentraltexas.org/.We look forward to seeing you there!

One of my favorite quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.” It’s not because it’s my job to get people involved but because it’s a part of who I am. You can say that volunteering or helping out is “my gospel” and I know it because it feels good and it feels right. I feel it almost everyday when I think about Dr. King’s legacy and when I talk to people like Julie “No Se Que” (Español for Nordskog), who has a million ideas a minute and calls me every time she has them, and Monica who wants to tell the stories of Central Texas’ shining stars – volunteers & nonprofits through her start up blog and magazine – GoodCauseMagazine and Gator, a young man who is using Hip Hop music as a vehicle to inspire hope and healing with other youth though The Cipher-Austin’s Hip Hop Project. These are the kinds of people that inspire me everyday and truly are keeping Dr. King’s dream alive! Will you help keep Dr. King’s dream alive? You can do your part by helping us build MLK Peace Benches at our MLK Day of Service. We’re going to build them, paint them, add MLK quotes on them and give them away to community centers in East Austin. We also have 8 other projects available so there’s plenty of room for everyone. Before we get started on doing some good in the community, we want […]

I know people are in the thick of the Holiday Season but the staff at Hands On Central Texas is staying busy, not only with the Holiday stuff but also with our upcoming service day – KING FOR A DAY – MLK DAY OF SERVICE. And we can’t do this by ourselves, we need projects from the community; they can be from nonprofits to civic and neighborhood groups to Volunteer Leaders. We’ll take them all as long as you preach the MLK gospel of service, nonviolence and social justice! You won’t want to miss out on “Reflecting on the Dream” either; we’ll have poets, singers, dancers, djs and volunteers living Dr. King’s dream! Stay tuned for more details.

As we get ready for today’s 18th Annual HEB Feast of Sharing Holiday Dinner, I keep thinking about the volunteers; over 800 of them and they keep coming back and of course, we love that. We’ve been recruiting volunteers for this event for years and every year, we get full within weeks and we even have people wanting to be added to our waiting list as early as March! Every year, we see a lot of the same groups coming back to volunteer and in a way, it’s now a tradition for our volunteers to help out; from serving pies to busing tables to helping in the kids area. So what about you? Do you have Thanksgiving or Holiday volunteer traditions? Something that you do with your friends and families during the holidays? Inquiring minds want to know: Tell us your story! In case you’re still wondering, yes, we are full but we have more ways to help out this holiday season. Go to http://www.handsoncentraltexas.org/ to volunteer, sponsor a family or help out with a blanket drive. Mando,Director, Hands On Central Texas