Thanks to the Grand Prairie Living Word Evangelical Church for helping out at the volunteer event.  It was a great opportunity to share our hearts, time and talents at the nursing home with all the residents. They seemed to enjoy the room visits, playing bingo, and the praise and worship!  It was a blessing for both the volunteers and residents.

Let’s kick of 2012 with some community service!

We’d like to join together again for another service project, working as One Body. We will be kicking off our first One Body DFW event for 2012 with Random Acts of Kindness Volunteers (http://www.meetup.com/randomacts/events/17277145/).

Sunday, March 4, 2…011, 1:00 PM
Ashford Hall Nursing Home
2021 Shoaf Dr, Irving, TX
http://www.ashford-hall.com/

Ashford Hall, a skilled nursing facility is designed to provide residents with the care and assistance needed to enjoy life. As a group, we enrich the lives of frail or isolated seniors and/or adults, through support and friendship, during friendly visits. We also provide music and Bingo game for the residents. Seniors really enjoy visiting with us and when it comes to organizing the prizes and helping out with bingo. Prizes aren’t necessary when volunteering but are appreciated. (No food or drinks)

WHAT WE DO: We meet in the lobby. Then volunteers visit with residents in their rooms for a while, followed by a bingo game for them in the game room. Some volunteers also sing to the residents with Dave’s Darlings. Volunteers fill prize bags. We also sit at tables with the residents during bingo, help them mark their bingo cards and pick up their prizes for them when they win.
ARRIVING LATE:
You can catch up to us. The typical schedule:
1) 1:00-1:15 Meet in foyer
2) 1:15: Visit rooms or set up for bingo in atrium
3) 1:45: Music in atrium if others sing
4) 2:05: Bingo begins; if we have singers they go to Alzheimers ward
5) 3:00: Finish bingo, group photo, pack up

TAKING PHOTOS: Photography is welcome at Ashford Hall, and pictures of other volunteers, the facility, the prizes, and so on are totally acceptable. However, we need to remember to respect the privacy of the residents whom we are helping to serve. Please refrain from taking pictures of the clients, volunteers with residents, and so on.

Please let me know with an RSVP via email, our facebook or our website (onebodydfw.org) if you and your group will be interested to get a good head count. Thanks in advance!

http://www.thestewpot.org

The Stewpot offers a safe haven for homeless and at-risk individuals of Dallas, providing resources for basic survival needs as well as opportunities to start a new life. Established by First Presbyterian Church in 1975, The Stewpot began serving food when church members realized no other resources were available for the homeless and hungry. The Stewpot is currently serving three meals a day, seven days a week to more than 700 people per meal in the Second Chance Café – with the assistance of over 1300 wonderful volunteers a month!

Location: The Bridge is located at 1818 Corsicana Street, Dallas, 75201, just north of Interstate 30 and 2 blocks west of the Farmers Market.  The Bridge parking lot is at the corner of Corsicana and St. Paul

Volunteers are requested to arrive 30 minutes early for orientation and preparation before we serve dinner at 6pm. ALL meal service volunteers MUST be prescheduled to serve, therefore we have registered 15 participants for the above described volunteer opportunity months in advance. With that being said, the first 15 who have committed to help that Saturday can email me, reply on the facebook event, or comment on this website to secure their spot. Volunteers, please wear closed toe shoes and leave purses and other personal items in locked cars.  If you have questions regarding the Stew Pot, please contact Jean Jones at jean.jones@thestewpot.org.

What a great event it turned out to be!  Hundreds of participants along with hundreds of volunteers showed up to enjoy a wonderful day of fun in the sun, supporting the Special Olympics Spring Games in Arlington.  Here’s some pics that captured the highlights of that day.  Special thanks to all those from South Arlington Church of Christ who showed up! Also, great job all you athletes!

Special Olympics of Tx (SOTX) Greater Fort Worth-Area 11

The missionof Special Olympics Texas is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

What: Be an athlete chaperone for a day! We will be working to make sure they are where they need to be and to cheer them on during their various sport competitions.

All volunteers are welcome.  If all athlete-assistance positions have been filled by the time you arrive, you will be assigned as a spectator (cheerleader) or water brigade personnel.

Lunch will be provided for all day volunteers and drinking water will be provided at each venue.

Attire: Please dress for comfort and mobility. Wear comfortable shoes – you will be on your feet most of the time.

For security purposes, please make sure to bring a current photo ID with you to the volunteer check-in area and arrive early enough to check in and get to your assigned station for training.

Get ready for an awesome time, giving them all a spirit of encouragement and love. Bring some sunblock, shades and a great attitude!

Come join us for APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS PARTY for the children at The Family Place Emergency Shelter!  Helping Hands is a social and fundraising auxiliary of The Family Place, the largest family violence service provider in the Dallas area.

Activities:
~ Help children decorate terra cotta pots
~ Help children plant flowers
~ Make ice cream floats

You can help by:
~ PARTICIPATING, and
~ Bringing any of the following items:
- Four to six inch terra cotta pots for decorating (usually available at Walmart)
- Flats of flowers for planting
- Planting soil
- Vanilla ice cream
- Root beer or flavored soda for making floats
- Plastic spoons
- Cups for floats

PLEASE include in your RSVP what you will bring so that we can be sure we have everything we need for the event.

For the safety of the families staying at the Emergency Shelter, the location is confidential. Directions to the Shelter will be emailed to you prior to the event.

Did you know?

• Family violence is an epidemic in our community and our country
• According to the FBI, a woman is beaten in this country every 15 seconds.
• 70% of the children of abused women are also physically abused, and 20% are sexually abused. The majority of abusive men were either abused as children or witnessed their mothers being abused. (WomenKind, Inc.)
• The 2010 the Dallas Homeless Count 5,750 people living on Dallas streets or in shelters, up slightly from the 5,675 counted in 2009. Together women and children make up almost half of the homeless population on Dallas streets at 27% and 20% of the total, respectively in 2010. Domestic abuse/family problems were listed as the reason for homelessness by 27% of the population in 2010 down from 32% in 2009.
• In 2010, The Family Place answered 11,524 hotline and crisis calls, an increase of 53%.
• In 2010, the The Family Place Emergency Shelter Services provided food, short-term housing, counseling and supportive services to 743 women, children and men totaling 28,697 service days.

How to sign up:

1.  Confirm you will attending the event either via Facebook event or send me an email at info@onebodydfw.org.

2.  Again, for the safety of the families staying at the Emergency Shelter, the location is confidential. Directions to the Shelter will be emailed to you prior to the event.

Looking forward to sharing a beautiful and blessed time with the children!

The Soupmobile is a mobile SoupKitchen that began feeding the homeless in 2003 based out of Deep Ellum.  Their #1 mission  is feeding the homeless.  Jesus said ‘Feed MY Sheep.’   The SoupMobile is now we serves an amazing 200,000 meals per year, including over 500 meals a day, Monday thru Friday.  We will be scheduled for February 12th from 10:30-1pm.  The goal for them each week is to make more than 1000 sandwiches. The location will be at eXcuses eXtreme cafe in Deep Ellum.

3025 Main Street
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 741-1111

THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFT IS YOURSELF, AND BRINGING ITEMS IS OPTIONAL. HOWEVER, IF YOU’D LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE PLEASE STATE WHAT YOU’D LIKE TO BRING IN YOUR RSVP TO HELP WITH OUR PLANNING OF THE EVENT.

1 loaf of bread makes 11 sandwiches
16 slice pkgs of lunchmeat, bologna or whatever’s on sale
16 slice pkgs of cheese if you can (if not, just meat is OK)
Mustard
1000 zip top sandwich bags (each sammie in a bag)
2 sets of gloves for each 1 attending

How to sign up:

Click on the link: http://www.meetup.com/randomacts/calendar/16026230/?from=list&offset=0

1.  Give them your name, email and password (right hand side of page)

2.  They will send you a confirmation email

3.  RSVP for upcoming event: Bologna and Cheese Sandwiches for Soupmobile February 12th (make sure you have the correct date!)

Let’s start off the year enriching others lives by blessing others with our time, talents and hearts for God’s glory together.  Hope to see you there!

Our special guests, including our homeless veterans, received blankets, sleeping bags, coats and shoes, personal care items, a hot meal, gifts, makeovers, haircuts, entertainment and more. Invaluable resources such as job counseling, housing, medical and legal assistance were also available.
Our group unfortunately was not needed for the prep work originally scheduled on Saturday, December 11th, 2010 due to a great volunteer turnout earlier that morning! Praise God!  Some of us were able to return on December 18th, 2010 for the actual Christmas party and assisted with the adults area.  We were able to separate clothing and package them for women adults who may have been without during the Christmas season.  We were blessed by the event to witness God moving within His people and to share it with others.  This allowed us to partake in an event to celebrate Jesus’ birth as well as providing basic necessities to those less fortunate.