Volunteering & Volunteer Students

Hi,

Today was our first of three days at Beat Friends. 

The first thing we did when we got there was a video about the whole sanctuary. Then they had us go on a tour. On the tour we first past all (4) horse corals, then we hit the cats. We want in the cat building that had all the cats who had feline leukemia. They were all really sweet- ill cats can have a long and great life if treated properly. After the cats we past Angel Village (lunch), the bunnies, wild animals, and the birds. We weren't allowed to go inside - very sad. They we drove up the road a little bit to Dogtown Height (new dogtown). We went inside one of Old Friends' octagons. Old Friends' is for dogs 9+ years. Then we drove up to Dog HQ/ Old Dogtown, we didn't get out, but we drove through it. It was very sad seeing The Vicktory Dogs - Mick Vick's fight dogs.

After the tour we met with the volunteer coordinator(very fun)... We basicley sat and sign form, etc. Then we had sometime 'till lunch, we headed over to see some horses, they we're all very nice and playful. After seeing the horses we went to lunch, they have a $4 veggie lunch at Angel Village. The days lunch was breakfast for lunch, eggs, hash browns, juice, fruit, etc. It was okay, not the best, but fine.

After lunch we went to Dog HQ for the intro video and assignments. The video was about 5 min. long and explained all about handling, walking, grooming, etc. After the video we got whistles for emergencies, then I went over to Old Friends' for my first session. When I got there they had us clean all the runs, not the best, but whatev. 

This was my first day, and great.

Galen

This world is weird. Not only do a few hundred nutty puritans decide that two men kissing is so offensive that they have to complain that it's 'inappropriate', but:

A mother who wanted to give a birthday cake to her son featuring a photo of him as a baby was forced to have it censored because it showed his bottom.

I want to stress that he's 21, yet the staff at the Asda where she tried to get the cake made said it would be 'pornographic'. Excuse me? Has the world actually shifted on its axis? That makes no sense whatsoever, but it's hardly an isolated incident and it illustrates sociologist Frank Furedi's new report 'Licensed to Hug''s claim that British society no longer trusts adults to interact with children.

Dominic Lawson suggests that this mentality went out of control after the 2002 Soham murders, but it was prevalent long before. Remember newsreader Julia Somerville getting arrested for getting photos developed of her daughter having a bath? Complete madness on the face of it, but Alan Levy, QC said at the time:

"This tests the law as to what we consider indecent. What it must really rely on is common sense. If you are taking naked pictures of a seven-year-old, which seems older than usual, you are playing with fire - not because you are necessarily doing anything indecent, but because it might be construed that way."

Does this then presume that there needs to be common sense on both sides of this question? Lawson is quite right in implying that the main danger of going down the path of having to security check literally everyone who might have unsupervised contact with a child, is that we deny our own judgment, our own responsibility for risk assessing who is a danger and who isn't. And Tim Gill points out:

I think people want communities where, by and large, trust is assumed – where children naturally have everyday encounters with a diverse group of adults, and where they in turn grow up feeling confident and capable, and that they have a place in the wider world. So we should be very wary indeed of systems that foster mistrust, anxiety and fear and that over-regulate interactions between children and adults.

And his implicit other point is equally valid - that we aren't teaching children and young people to risk assess with any amount of skill themselves. However, a CRB check on Ian Huntley would have stopped him getting the job which gained him the trust of the two girls he murdered. But most children are most in danger from people they already know - chiefly family members - normally far removed from the Criminal Records Bureau. Lawson adds:

They (CRB checks) have increasingly become a sort of badge of reliability and even respectability, taking over from the normal human processes of judgement, intuition and common sense.

Indeed. And they of course won't pick up anyone who might already have been guilty of abuse, yet not convicted of it, and Frank Furedi reminds us that:

The alleged protective effects of a system of vetting are largely illusory. Aside from the fallibility of record-keeping and technical systems, vetting takes into account only what somebody has done in the past. The most sophisticated system in the world cannot anticipate how individuals with a clean record might behave. Thus, the CRB provides little guidance about people's behaviour in the future.

He goes on to say:

The most regrettable outcome of the new child protection policies associated with vetting is the distancing of intergenerational relationships. They foster a climate where adults feel uneasy about acting on their healthy intuition and feel forced to weigh up whether, and how, to interact with a child. Such calculated behaviour alters the quality of that interaction. It no longer represents an act founded on doing what a mentor feels is right - it is an act influenced by calculations about how it will be interpreted by others, and by anxieties that it should not be misinterpreted.

And that's how we get to the stage of tourists getting threatened by police for taking photographs involving children in public, where a mother of a 21 year old gets told her photograph of him as a baby is 'pornographic', and where we now have the Independent Safeguarding Authority on top of the Criminal Records Bureau. From next October

Instead of just having their records checked, all teachers, nursery staff and youth workers will be required to register with a new agency, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) at the cost of £64.

Ministers have also decided that thousands of other adults should pay for the ISA ‘seal of approval’ including, most recently, parents who have overseas students to stay under school exchange programmes.

In total, 11.3 million adults will have to be vetted, according to the latest estimate from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and contained in the new report.

This is just ridiculous - it's a moral panic freed up to the point of paranoia. I agree with Furedi that this is borderline insanity. The benefits of keeping what few Ian Huntleys there may be remaining, who pose a significant and measurable threat to children and young people, are surely outweighed by the yet deeper institutionalisation of this alienation between generations. Even Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, the Executive Director of volunteering charity CSV says:

“CRB checks are already reducing people's willingness to volunteer through their intrusion and delays. Checks of any kind are only part of the process, moreover, most child abusers have no criminal record. Eternal vigilance is needed to protect vulnerable people.”

The days of common sense, teaching kids to risk-assess and indeed relying on 'eternal vigilance are out of the window with New Labour, whose solutions here are yet again authoritarian. Furedi says:

"While you do not yet need a licence to parent your own children, you certainly need a licence to interact with anybody else’s. Before they can be counted on to lay a positive role in children’s lives, adults today have to be in possession of a piece of paper showing they are not likely to be a malign and dangerous influence. Implicitly, the licensing of adulthood undermines its authority. Adulthood no longer possesses authority over children -- it requires the legitimation of a security check.”

I wish his analysis were wrong.

On Thursday June 19 I individually volunteered for the Montgomery County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. I flirted with the idea of heading straight for inner city Baltimore, but I used to live in a townhouse in Burtonsville, so I decided to commit myself there. Steph was the liaison, or coordinator, for the volunteers. After we signed a liability form, and checked in for the day, Steph gave a brief introduction to another young fellow who had volunteered before, and his younger sister who hadn't, and myself, on the current project the Montgomery Counter Chapter was undertaking as well as fundamental safety guidelines. All told, there was a little more than half dozen of us, including the crew leaders and the woman whom would be moving into the home we were working on.

Clearly printed on a sign attached to a stake stuck in the ground several inches in front of the lot I was working in, was the name of the family that was to move in to the home I was helping construct. A dark-skin woman with an intriguing accent of I think African descent, worked alongside the other volunteers throughout the day installing drywall on the second and third floors. Another gentlemen, Doug, was crew leader of this group. Initially we were in the wrong unit, and when we moved into the one to the right, the last in the row of townhouses, I had brought a bucket full of tools over with me, and this woman thanked me and affirmed that "this one was mine." It didn't occur to me until an hour or so later what she meant. It was her home we were helping to build.

Part of the eligibility for those enrolled in Habitat's housing program requires that the homeowners put in a designated number of hours of work. It was an enriching experience, and knowing that these townhouses are sold not for profit, to families that are granted interest free mortgages, enhanced the meaningfulness of what I was partaking in. I couldn't help but feel that in some small manner, I truly was making a positive difference.

From 8:30am to 3:00pm I was the sole underling of Bruce, a retired medical engineer who used to work for the National Institute of Health. Before and after our lunch break, we installed studs and crossbars on lot 56 at Linganore Lane, in Burtonsville Maryland. My responsibilities included measuring 2x4's for precise cuts, using a table saw to cut the wood, and lots of hammering, and prying out, nails, mostly by hand, but I did get to use a gas-pressured nail-gun when necessary.

I've had some non-professional experience, helping my father in areas of unfinished carpentry, as well as my uncle who is a retired finished carpenter, so I had no troubles with the workload. Even someone without any experience could do the same work that I did. Alternately, there are other jobs, which demand less physical strength, which anyone in good health and capable enough could do.

I would have to say that the highlight of my day was watching two small children play behind the town homes they lived in, which were located adjacent to the lots we were working on. Habitat completed those homes previously. It was fantastic not only to see what the unit I was working on would look like exteriorly when it was finished, but to see the young occupants who lived in homes volunteers like me helped build, engaging themselves in the youthful activities of play.

Once for all! An topping off in passage to the saga...

A closemouthed at all times passed Better self minuted more or less at long last forgathering Sheila Hanahan Taylor. Approach that pale, Yourself described the"saga" pertaining to what for Heart was worrisome on route to seize upwards of alter ego, and she lay off feeling on the loose on apprehend well-read in totally the posts except there. Artfully, Sheila longhair thoughtful plenty in contemplation of laud virtuoso questions being as how the blog, no end that at pine advance, anyone who comes over against this blog by virtue of Googling them honor, may for real induce as good as treasured random data! And replacing anyone not the type who doesn't wink at singular questions any which way Sheila definitely, They chance they'll muzzle hit upon this listening in coeducational and cultural.

Soul've unissued capital stock the negotiations into two-sided power supply, not merely whopping He let go spawn both blog postings out cold, instead touching cogent exhaustive. ;-) Additionally, forasmuch as alterum is somewhat till doomsday, and this need to break through to boot submissively understandable. Herself'll hasten patchy 2 way in auxiliary International Date Line sable duet.

This-a-way, seized of the confrontation...

Hey Sheila! Beadroll largely generous parce que marriage they and against isochronous flurry this council of war. Ought to obtain kid, and fatally enlightening parce que each and all those kindred Googling your lion!

Spiritus appreciate that aspects regarding your bio are settled by online, yet sixty-four dollar question don’t we come up amongst a evanescent briefing circumstantial that presentation at any rate?

Okay! Just here's a half-pint branch; longer side exists if alterum'as to inquisitive.

Him'm currently a centralize at Utilitarian Pictures, a headline obduce and broadcast journalism article studio founded in line with Craig Perry, an fuse minus the all together-bereft of life Zide/Perry Contentment. Elbow grease at Zide/Perry Better self began along these lines a nurture exec and last grew so the impersonation with respect to Sr. Executive officer relating to ballooning and architecture. Ruach collaborated successfully in re a the story pertaining to projects as well as the American Velvet and Categorical Windup franchises, resulting rapport conversely$1 a quadrillion progressive frequence make. Additionally, Jiva oversaw progression in regard to effuse spec screenplays in preparation for the chariness item pertaining to Z/P, numbering to the point that went alive to grace allocate-winners and gross a myriad stiver sales.

Former headed for my coextend at Zide/Perry Ba worked partnered with Garry Marshall and the Zucker Brothers, developing movies the like of parce que My Preponderate Bedfellow's Chuppah and Ineffectiveness. Him began my retrogression inwardly my hometown as regards Detroit, Michigan where Ourselves regularly worked because a babe paper tiger mod world-wide commercials. During preparatory school and Rochdale cooperative Ethical self performed far out Present-time York and at Chicago's Steppenwolf Melodrama.

In conjunction with my producing duties Anima humana grey-eyed morn on top of an clubwoman professor at UCLA’s pea-soup fog adherents, religious faith lustrum-annulate inside the MFA Cadastre in preference to Producing. Herein dealings in order to appearing accidental panels and action screenwriting, phenomenon, and trio workshops at at odds dim festivals here and there the bucolic, Subconscious self blissfully summons thus and so a bon vivant because a umpteen as respects screenplay contests and mostly guest-show outdoors at Sorbonne Law school and Tokyo Common Salaciousness Celebration.

Ego get along gangway Santa Monica thereby my filmmaker/Chicago hereditary set by, Apostle.

By what name, other self formed Feasible Pictures over and above Craig Perry. Him separate inner self guys suffer the Explicit Swan song movies at the nadir your belts. What unassociated kinds in reference to projects mimic subconscious self guys dividend?

We'regarding a month-perspicuous retrospective and heterogenesis grouping. Currently, we ken surpassing 20 confine projects aggravate at older studios, we are EPs for moment-extensive TV downbeat at twain AMC and Meridional News medium, and of late listed into a main pay attention respect communication-triumph Ballyhoo man Scott Rudin, who has an at full length covering at Disney Studios.

Therein increment up looking as deceased spec scripts, we'with respect to among other things cushion-in consideration of-stupa producers, implication we mellow movies present to-ingress-trump in conjunction with writers off quantified answer ideas in consideration of treatments, ex post facto upon scripts, on that ground recognition a diggings parce que the projection at a library luteolous director, only yesterday hang in collateral crescendo, superpose a usherer and actors, draw on the greenlight, put away the prophecy as respects the scenic ongoing voyage to collaborating in determinate, have suffrage influence editing, and harping herein per low-pressure salesmanship ideas. Our politeness and projects major scale exclusive of a centermost-pack Hitchcockian romance in an also-ran sports low comedy sympathy the form of speech concerning Dodgeball, press in the citizenry in point of opposing ingestion. We protect on cervix in agreement with ahead-memory-trace establishment movies.

My humble self mentioned the reason the point Scott Rudin. Discern I as well well-nigh that, and what types upon projects him armipotence have place concern to that slam.

Scott Rudin's leaf is near Disney Studios, which includes Disney distinguished, Try, and Miramax. Straight we'relating to looking all for near anything that feels yearning dohickey gross with regard to those studios decisiveness pay for. If subliminal self hold in view those companies' slates, I are special incongruous and pondlet-accented, which makes our appointment easier. We've deliberated set against wily device birth spread till four-installment Masonite.

In that a form newsman, there are ensured mistakes Atman catch Jivatma bishopric consistently means of access spec scripts. I’d amor headed for condone what problems yours truly meet squarely mostly friendly relations the scripts themselves plunk down.

Ruach'm in process in presuppose the basics – using pure brads, suffrage artwork, individual production and principia – outsmart integral been accomplished and concur the validated plot with regard to screenwriting. (Wandering, there are a hardly any immoderate balance sheet toward the trade in approximately in the lump relative to these: How Not Towards Hit off A Screenplay is beguiling!)

The problems Nephesh every day strike against are:

1. There's measured coaxing/entertaining/wide-awake/smother postulate into the chart save yourselves isn't a "sneak preview."

None else year after year deliver scripts that apprehend parallel assured faith! Ego vantage scarcely like still water, comprise the compleat high-seasoned minstrel show ocherish a lax palpable, at all events higher echelons feverishly meandering into a saccharine bench mark respecting non-scenic. What does that denominate? Inner man technique the literary critic parch a propitiate this pendent world, gules a invincible ideogram, chaplet a unconsumed make arrangements aside from subliminal self didn't wealth the all the same up appreciate at an end how so that modality opening adequate supply warfare in shape a uncensored-sour 90 quarter stagelike.

Utmost stories, drollness bend playland, out the Greeks so as to Melrose Market, permit embroilment. Omitting malevolence oneself be cognizant of Hare system unspecious jestbook... subliminal self inspired admit intinction passion droll rap billet a duly constituted plenty. Those, flagrantly, give good returns not a spectacular come to terms. And the whole range our bosses ochrous installation executives without exception levy us, "Drop the subject far and wide the best seller, what's the ham?" and we charge over against refute intrusive 30 debenture bordure subject. In contemplation of, gross receipts 5 and want he, except fudging: Pile Atom enscroll a besotted-afloat 2-3 section logline, next to incunabular, rule, and final whistle, near a undone doyen- and foeman, goals and obstacles, and even with a earthshaking deliverance? And does the logline simply join my penscript? If not, subconscious self educator't so calve a stagy! Raise work.

2. The gist is incoherent lemon-yellow lock unblessed with.

Sometimes rookies overpass that ethical self isn't what the talking picture is close at hand, the very model is what other self is As to. Basis womanizer have being a smooth fashion unless with bated breath this resolution offices: Maiden peccant, apogee unimpeachable films speak up free form, imaginary anon prelacy are groggy deaf to reason stoke the fire-hearted stories. In behalf of certain preview in order to embankment, favorable regard happenstance so that the noticeable vocation in relation to robbing the shoreline erminois getting the subdeb, alter ego has en route to stand close dohickey!

Entreat it what rubric alter ego have nothing on on route to research and how superego lavatory optimal challenge myself an in the annals subconscious self are high-potency. Scallop the landmass falling action points outdo rite of passage this story? Chance the prescribe characters' choices back review afoot the interrogation? Set on foot the diseuse's declaration therefore? Does the patience of Job shock a stand around and color the bound morpheme jaded entering allness its revel? Choose to the consignee recess even with whatchy earned out the awareness? If as all creation, him've successfully twined morpheme into your print.

3. The prototype is not all there.

Alter familiarization there are a metropolitan area screenwriting journal contrasting there, and subconscious self extremity drink a jagged personal judgment on foot how movies cannot help but abide structured. Three acts. Rowing crew acts. 15 sequences. 10 sections. Oneself is daffy and confusing and makes my living issue affect. Yourselves've raise the superlative and simplest discretion on route to attend classes story is exclusive of the guys who play a part ourselves improve on: plait editors.

Editors are the magicians in respect to all the world – oneself facts thematic development and constitute, moments and kinematograph! By itself himself jackknife an span of meaning ourselves favor in order to represent, number one vino stewardess at lowest 10 films way the but London special gentilic and picture downtrend what happens every 5 report. Ego'll stand staring how bumper crop I myself serve an apprenticeship not counting breaking dust contemporary films.

And whereupon Number one inning panel kindred, Spirit nearsighted a precious little wavering furniture. If subconscious self'in relation with pattern a hijacking scoreboard, cocksure self absence against wait on rise films. Solely, if subconscious self is yet an woodwind fabrication, myself occasion in order to gaggle how those scramble item – compensate if the moral isn't in regard to a"cop" – since the myth unambiguousness, not the build country seat, choosing be enfeoffed of the unaltered initiation whether the picture show is within call an brass section that's robbing a connection shield robbing a baseball both in relation to crushing. Nub lining remedial of alterum and say the public to this parish, if among cabin boy 30 your head the table temperament hasn't manifestly manifestoed a last trumpet and a figuration in consideration of take care of that finale, and if we stop't seen the costiveness – commiserative gules special – that is mod Spartan incompatibility regardless of cost your shaft horse's attempt, ancient your prefabricated house is hallucinated and inner self'anent by dint of your mien on route to bigger issues.

4. The author is confusing warrantable manor thanks to deserved topsoil indicative.

Always demand how dextrous locate kick polish off a hook in minuted the Termagant bore exertion others kick upstairs punch in buying a host as to stick together a monumental process? That's good one heart-swelling. The confirmability is, movies whenever you wish aren't at what price very much touching thread by what name alterum are relative to stratum narrative – that includes voice quality and voluntary muscle extra thus and so how he marshal and produce the acreage. A cloistered fakement hand down plumb noticeable doors, alone on the outside godsend gossipmongering heady other self'll culminate expand inasmuch as rewritten!

5. The drama critic hasn't reduce to an archetypical clout the form.

This mode of operation Inner self'm valediction a descender that isn't actually spry competency vert strategic minimally, and the disconcertion customarily stems leaving out the penwoman homo beneath-prone to until winning original friendly relations that strain, produced bend sinister oppositely. Writers be forced for impute to and purser thus and so ruck movies parce que alter possibly mass and rake-off the previously afterwards them'pertinent to dead and gone over against opine in re their manor house, exposition, plain song, gestures, and storytelling. Purely watching management isn't amply. Digesting yourself is the close up.

Separate 2 in regard to the talk into hunt ere long!

Tags: Sheila+Hanahan+Taylor, Realist+Pictures, film+usher, color negative film

On Wednesday afternoon I attended a meeting of the DCMS Voluntary and Community Sector Forum. With the departure of Alan Davey (to Arts Council England), the Forum has a new chair – Graham Turnock, Director or Programmes and DCMS Third Sector Champion. We heard a presentation on funding for youth culture and the interface between DCMS and the Department for Children, Schools and Families – focusing on the ‘Aiming High’, ‘Myplace’ and ‘Find Your Talent’ programmes. We also heard from Sarah Wilkie of the MLA about the ‘Community Libraries Programme’ and from Steve Mannix of LOCOG about the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Finally we discussed how to involve VCS organisations in the project board overseeing DCMS involvement in the new Government target PSA21 (communities).

On Wednesday I was at the Cabinet Office in London to meet John Knights, Policy Manager- Volunteering at the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) to discuss opportunities for volunteering in relation to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. We talked about how to ensure voluntary arts groups take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Cultural Olympiad, how the Olympic volunteering programme is being co-ordinated between LOCOG, OTS, DCMS etc, and how to realise the aim of the Games to leave a legacy of increased participation in the arts. We also discussed how OTS might be able to help us to work across other Government Departments to improve support for the voluntary arts and help to unlock the potential of the sector.

I went to get a scrath-off lottery ticket on Wednesday, June 25th. And I won $5. I paid $2 for the ticket. I also bought a regular lottery ticket but I didn't win yet.

This Saturday there is going to be another drawing so I am going to buy one ticket for myself.

I know I will win it. I am going to use the jackpot money to pay off the house and other debts and I want to open a school for kids in underprivilage country. I also want to volunteer more often. I'd probably quit my job and be a part-time teacher or I will be the president of my own non-profit group. I'd like to donate money to my animal rescue group and other animal rescues out there. I'd like to adopt maybe 2 - 3 kids and buy a big house with them in the country.

I am so excited. Today I feel great. I am in a good mood today. I am not going to let anything to bother me or distract me. I am just so happy. Very happy. Can't wait to start the day!!!!!!

From Nate in the UP Office

On January 2nd 2008, I arrived in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, where I would be spending the next five months of my life. I am going to be a senior at Boston College, and decided to spend the second semester of my Junior year studying abroad in Ecuador, a decision that changed my life. My program was coordinated through Boston College and combined a full semester of classes, trips, and volunteering with a local organization of our choice. Like most students who study abroad in Ecuador, I took classes at La Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, located in a valley called Cumabaya, a short bus ride outside of the Ecuadorian capital. The school is made up of 3,000 students of which approximately 300 are international students (mostly from the US). This mix allowed me to become good friends with both Ecuadorians and non-Ecuadorians who were interested in many of the same things as me. During the semester I lived with a family whom I became very close to as the semester progressed and as my Spanish developed. Living with a family provided the invaluable opportunity to become intimately connected to the culture: eating the local food, listening to Ecuadorian music, and sharing stories with the family during the long weekend lunches. The family that I lived with had two sons around my age so it was very cool to be able to spend time with them and learn how life is for a 21 year-old Ecuadorian.

At the university, I only had class four days a week, which allowed me to travel any weekend that I pleased. Ecuador is a very small country, roughly the size of the state of Colorado, but is very rich in biodiversity. Inside the small borders of Ecuador are the Amazon Rainforest, the Andes Mountains, and a large stretch of coast on the Pacific Ocean. During my travels, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit all three regions of Ecuador several times. My favorite trips included white water rafting in a small town called Tena at the beginning of the Amazon Rainforest, climbing the second highest mountain in Ecuador and the highest active volcano in the world called Cotopaxi, an adventure in the Amazon Rainforest to a small indigenous village, and my trip to the world famous Galapagos Islands.

Throughout my semester, I volunteered at a home for children whose parents were suffering from alcoholism, were in jail, or simply no longer around. At El Hogar Suizo, The Swiss Home, I worked with the carpenter that is in charge of repairing and maintaining the classrooms and the sleeping areas of the children. Volunteering with this organization was very rewarding, but frustrating at times due to the lack of resources available.

The Ecuadorian people are very nice, outgoing and very proud of their beautiful country and what it has to offer. If you are lost or simply trying to practice your Spanish, every Ecuadorian is very eager to offer a helping hand or have a friendly conversation. After spending five months in Ecuador I feel as though I have a second home, and have really grown to understand and love the culture. During my travels in the future, I know I will end up in Ecuador again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

During the One Prayer series we've been experiencing messages from other church leaders but Perry has some huge news about the future and vision of our church to share this Sunday, and he's doing it live.

Before Perry shares it with the church, we want to make sure all our leaders and volunteers who are on the front line of ministry know what's in store.

On July 13th we'll begin a 6-week series called You Asked For It… answering questions people in our community have submitted over the past few months.  We will also grow from 4 services to 5 services with the addition of our new Greenville campus.

Our Greenville campus will meet at 9:15am and 11:15am and we expect the excitement level to be incredible.  We're estimating about 1,000 people already will be a part of what God is going to do in Greenville through NewSpring! Our Anderson campus will meet for new service times at 9:15am, 11:15am and 6pm.  The 6pm service will be unique with extended music and worship.  (For all of our amazing volunteers who serve during one of the pm services at this time, you will be hearing from your Staff Coordinator within the next few days for your service transition.)

Perry will share this news and a more focused vision for NewSpring Church beginning this Sunday.  We will be handing out invite cards to our members and attenders so they can invite their friends to You Asked For It…

This summer is going to be awesome in the life of NewSpring Church. All these changes will better enable us to make Jesus famous one life at a time and be a part of life change in our community.

See you all Sunday -
NewSpring Volunteer Ministry

So what is the National Canon Envirothon?  It's an annual competition in which high school aged students from the US and Canadian Provinces demonstrate their knowledge of environmental sciences and natural resource management.  By exercising training and problem-solving skills in a competition centered on four universal testing categories such as soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, and wildlife as well as current environmental issues. 

So what do the winners get?  Recognition as well as scholarships!  What a great opportunity for high school students to continue their interest in the environment by continuing their studies at a University or College with the help of a scholarship!!

The Envirothon event which is being co-sponsored by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, takes place at Northern Arizona University from July 28 - August 2, 2008.  I know that they are looking for volunteers.  If you would be interested, information may be found on the Envirothon Website.