Special Project: Cory Russell and the Tap Project

AmeriCorps member, Cory Russell along with the Santa Monica Red Cross youth and UNICEF have teamed up for the "Tap Project." The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and youth volunteers from the American Red Cross of Santa Monica are working together this year to promote the TAP Project which will help provide safe, potable, drinking water to children all over the world -- especially in lands where safe drinking water is in very short supply.

Under the direciton of Cory Russell, Red Cross youth are canvassing the city, signing up restaurants and helping to coordinate TAP activities. The TAP Project runs from Sunday, March 22 through Saturday, March 28, 2009.

Projects include:

" Dine Out and Donate"

The TAP Project asks people who are dining out in local restaurants to donate $1 or more to the TAP Project for every glass of free "tap" water they would enjoy during their meals. When dining in a participating TAP restaurant, one can have a meal with friends and learn more about UNICEF’s work in providing clean and safe drinking water to children around the world.

"TAP with a Beat" concert to raise money and awareness.

A benefit concert called, "TAP with a Beat" featured young performers including Teo Olivares, Melise Jow, Quincy Brown, 2008 BlastBeat, Battle of the Bands world title champion winners Somewhere Else, and the sensational crew from MTV's "America’s Best Dance Crew Season 3," Boxcuttahz, was held on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at the World Peace Ikeda Auditorium, 525 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. The "TAP with a Beat" concert aims to bring young people and their families together, educate them about the world water crisis and foster philanthropy at all ages.

Check out Cory Russell and the Tap Project on:
http://www.ktla.com/morningnews

Cesar Chavez Day: 3/28/2009

As described by his family, Cesar E. Chavez was an ordinary man with an extraordinary legacy of great accomplishment and service to humanity. Cesar was born March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona on a farm his grandfather homesteaded in the 1880s. At age 10, his life as a migrant farm worker began when his family lost their land during the Great Depression. These were bitterly poor years for the Chavez family as they, together with thousands of other displaced families, migrated throughout the Southwest to labor in the fields and vineyards.

Although he possessed a thirst for learning that he would exhibit throughout the course of his life, Cesar left school after the eighth grade to help support his family. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1945 and served in the Western Pacific in the aftermath of World War II. In 1948, he married Helen Febela, whom he met while working in the vineyards of Delano. The Chavez family settled in the East San Jose barrio of Sal Si Puedes from which he continued to work in the surrounding fields, orchards, and vineyards of the region.

It was in 1952 that Cesar's life as a community organizer began. While working in the apricot orchards outside San Jose, he became a full-time organizer with the Community Service Organization (CSO), a self-help group among Mexican-Americans. In this capacity he organized voter registration drives, battled racial and economic discrimination, and organized CSO chapters across California and Arizona. Following his dream to establish an organization dedicated to farm workers, Cesar moved his family to Delano, California in 1962 to establish the National Farm Workers Association.

Over the next 31 years, Cesar would forge a legacy of service, conviction and principled leadership that serves as a beacon for all Americans. As President of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), AFL-CIO, he founded and led the first successful farm workers union in U.S. history. Under his stewardship a broad coalition of unions, religious groups, students, minorities, and consumers joined together to pursue social justice.

The late Senator Robert Kennedy called Cesar E. Chavez, "One of the heroic figures of our time." As a testimony to his lifelong contributions to humanity, he received the highest civilian awards from the United States and Mexico, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Aguila Azteca, respectively.

This is the legacy that we celebrate and seek to share with our children and all Californians through the Cesar Chavez Day of Service and Learning.

-California Volunteers

Mid Year Service Retreat: My Catalina Experience

Having never been to Catalina Island before the mid-year retreat, not only was I excited to see such a beautiful island, but I was also excited to meet and work with the Catalina Island Conservancy and other AmeriCorps groups for a week. After a short drive through Avalon the group was given a tour of the Conservancy and an overview of the plans for our week on the island which included daily projects to restore and protect native plants on the island.

Though the evening cold kept the group huddled by the fire, the days were filled with digging, planting, hiking and teambuilding. Not only did we work with local AmeriCorps groups but we were given the opportunity to work with NCCC AmeriCorps members throughout the week, as well.

Even after the fire from the previous year the island and the Conservancy is flourishing. Being there together as a team and volunteering with the Conservancy was incredibly fulfilling. I have never been given such an opportunity and I am very thankful to have experienced the week spent on Catalina Island and the memories of working to help keep the island protected and beautiful.

-Cindy Sanchez, ARCLA

Special Project: Children of War Symposium

The special project is a component of a CSC member’s year of service; it gives members the opportunity to coordinate a significant event or project that fulfills an unmet need of the community. The special project allows the member to learn more about a topic in which s/he has an interest in.

On March 6th and 7th, Vaghn Klebig with the aid of his fellow AmeriCorps members organized and hosted the Children of War Symposium, a program designed to educate the public on the psychological and physical effects of war on children by five internationally renowned speakers. Over the course of four days, through four counties, and at six different venues including Stanford, Santa Clara University, the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and UC Santa Cruz, the Children of War Symposium educated nearly 1100 community members on the plight of children involved with war. Speakers included:

Michael Khambatta, International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), Deputy Head of Delegation, US & Canada.

Dr. Ashis Brahma, Sole Doctor for Darfur refugee camp in Chad, 2years

Dorothy Sewe, Tracing Specialist and former Refugee Camp Resident

Dr. Marc Sommers, Associate Research Professor of Humanitarian Studies, Institute of Human Security, The Fletcher School, Tufts University; and Research Fellow, African Studies Center, Boston University.

http://www.law.stanford.edu/calendar/details/2839/#related_information_and_recordings

-Vaughn Klebig, ARC of Silicon Valley