Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Don’t forget that tomorrow (Wednesday) is the Allen Street Farmers Market, 2:30 – 7 pm, featuring tons of produce and the Habibi Dancers!
Here is news about:
1) How to be notified via email or text about flood stage and flow rate of the Red Cedar and Grand River.
2) The next Mobile Food Pantry on August 15.
3) Reminder about tomorrow (Wednesday) night’s ENO Meeting and a message from ENO president Nancy Mahlow
4) A free workshop from Power of We on Desktop Document Design – Consider how much more attractive your neighborhood bulletin and flyers might be!
5) Info on telephone book recyling
6) Letter from Greater Lansing Women’s Center
6) Quote of the Week from Kurt Vonnegut
1) Get Readings About the Red Cedar and Grand Rivers: Message from our friend, Ronda Oberlin of Lansing Emergency Management
The USGS has added a new way to get river gauge readings. You can still get them on the website (weather.gov/ahps), but you can also have readings sent to your phone.
Text or email streammail@usgs.gov and put the gauge number in the body of the message. For the Grand in North Lansing it would be 04113000, and for the Red Cedar at East Lansing it would be 04112500. It will send back the stage (the gauge reading) and the flow (rate at which the river is moving). Flood stage is 11 feet on the Grand and 7 feet on the Red Cedar.
Both rivers are a little higher and flowing a little faster than usual for this time of year. If they stay high into the fall and we have a wet September, we could see some flooding.
One other FYI – the debris jam on the Grand in North Lansing is still in place. We have been in touch with the railroad and they will be hiring a contractor to remove it.
2) MOBILE FOOD PANTRY
City of Lansing HUMAN RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT and the Mid-Michigan Food Bank ANNOUNCES the Distribution of FREE, fresh, non-perishable food items:
When: Saturday, August 15, 2009, 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.
Where: Tabernacle of David Church, 2645 W Holmes Rd, Lansing, MI 48911
Who can participate?
• The disadvantaged and vulnerable.
• Senior citizens on fixed incomes.
• Families/individuals with limited or low income jobs.
ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST BRING A VALID STATE IDENTIFICATION CARD OR DRIVER’S LICENSE
If you or someone you know must choose between buying food and filling prescriptions, please tell them about this important program. Participants should bring a box or bag to carry food.
For more information, call the City of Lansing Human Relations and Community Services Department at (517) 483-4477
3) ENO Meeting this Wednesday at 7 pm at Foster Community Center. Please see message from Nancy Mahlow, President: A couple of things to share with you and please forward to others.
I am forwarding you information regarding the upcoming elections for School Board members. In the email attached there is information regarding an issue involving the extension of Dr. T.C. Wallace, Superintendent of Lansing School District’s contract. It is my understanding that the present School Board members would like to vote on this issue at this Thursday School Board meeting.
I am not sure why or what the reason is to vote on this before the November election but I will be voicing my concerns and I am encouraging you to do the same. This is an important issue and the new board members should have a say in this decision. There are no logical reasons to rush this decision.
The positions that are up on the School Board are: Amparo (Amy) Hodgin, Melanie Rogers and I think, Robin Lewis. Amy may and most likely will run again, the other two definitely not. Mr. Nino Rodriguez (past principal of Pattengill) has already filed to run and I’m not aware of any others at this time.
At our ENO meeting this Wednesday, August 5th; we will be honoring Sgt. Andy Linderman who dedicated a large amount of his time and energy keeping us all informed on police issues, etc. Andy was recently promoted to Sgt and moved to the South Precinct. I would like to encourage your attendance to honor this wonderful promotion for such a great officer. We will miss his presence at the North Precinct and on the eastside but we know that Lansing still has one of its finest working from the South Precinct. Please join me at 7 p.m.; Foster Community Center, Room 213 and also meet our “new edition” Officer Mike Lam.
As always enjoy this wonderful day!
Nancy Mahlow
373-8448
4) Desktop Document Design, another free and fantastic capacity-building workshop offered by Power of We to local non-profit, faith-based, and neighborhood organizations. Please contact Wendy Duke-Littlejohn at wduke@ingham.org or (517) 887-4475.
Friday, August 7 from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm, on the Campus of MSU
Michigan State University Campus, Bessey Hall – 2nd Floor – Room 211, for *parking options and directions go to – http://maps.msu.edu/interactive/index.php?location=ebh
In this workshop participants will create print documents, including a flier and a newsletter, to help communicate their organization’s message. We’ll work with a word processor (Microsoft Word 2003) and a page layout program (Microsoft Publisher 2003), and also talk about free alternatives like Google Docs and Open Office. Throughout the workshop, design concepts like contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity, as well as components of good design like font, shape, color, and layering will be discussed.
In the first part of the workshop, participants will create a flier for their organization in Word. Please bring pictures and text that you would like to use, either as attachments that you can download from email or on a flash drive. You will be able to take these fliers back to your organization via your own flash drive or through email to continue working on after the workshop.
In the second part of the workshop, you will create a newsletter for your organization using Publisher. Please bring pictures and text (articles) that you’d like to use. Participants will also look at good online sources for stock images, and how to select and crop images appropriately.
Participants should include with registration any specific questions or topic areas they would like addressed during the workshop.
The presenters for this workshop are from the Capital Area Community Media Center (CMC), an emerging regional non-profit multimedia center promoting our community. The CMC has contracted with the Power of We Consortium to build the communication and media capacity of faith-based and community organizations in the Lansing area.
The workshop location is in an MSU Computer Lab where the amount of equipment causes the room temperature to constantly adjust to keep computers from overheating, so participants may want to dress in layers for comfort.
Advance Registration is requested. Email Wendy Duke-Littlejohn at wduke@ingham.org to request a registration form.
5) Telephone Directory Recycling Program
AT&T Real Yellow Pages, in partnership with the City of Lansing Waste Reductions Services, Mayor Bernero’s Greater Lansing Go Green! Initiative, and Nu-Wool Co., Inc, is conducting a telephone directory recycling program from July 28 through August 31. All of the recycled directories will be converted to home insulation and hydro-seed mulch by Nu-Wool Co., Inc.
Outdated directories from Lansing and surrounding communities can be delivered to one of the following recycling drop-off locations during the campaign:
- The Lansing Recycling Transfer Station, 530 East South Street. This is at the corner of South and Beech. Follow South Washington Avenue to South Street, which is located just north of the railroad tracks. South Street runs under the Cedar Street viaduct.
- The parking lot at the Foster Community Center, 200 N. Foster in Lansing. Outdated directories should be placed in the Nu-Wool Co., Inc. trailer located in the southeast corner of the parking lot parallel to Francis Street.
- The parking lot at the Gier Community Center, 2400 Hall Street in Lansing. Outdated directories should be placed in the Nu-Wool Co., Inc. trailer located on the west side of the parking lot running north and south.
· Nu-Wool Co., Inc., 2472 Port Sheldon Road, in Jenison.
Contact Waste Reduction Services at 483-4400 or recycle@lansingmi.gov for more information.
There is a lot happening at the Women’s Center. I’ve been struggling for a few weeks about how to write to you about our financial situation. In a word, it’s grim. Cash donations have hit an all time low. We’ve lost Founding Mother contributors, grant commitments have been reduced or not available and our fundraising events have not met the income goals that were set. Back in February the furnace died in the 1710 building and the outpouring of support to replace it was enormous. It was easy to write about that. My fingers were frozen and I could see my breath. Because of the outpouring of generosity, we exceeded our goal by two and a half times what we asked for. The left over money was used to make long overdue repairs, weatherize and make both buildings more energy efficient – thereby reducing utility costs.
6) Letter from Greater Lansing Womens Center
There has never been a greater need for the services, supports and workshops that the Women’s Center offers. We can’t continue providing these services, supports and workshops if we don’t have a building, utilities and staff to run them. That’s where you can help.
What we need now are donations for general operating expenses. We have 8 graduate student counseling interns and 3 undergraduate interns for Fall and Spring Semesters. We are still serving over 100+ women a week. The wait list for services is over 25 women. Both job groups, both Not So Happy Endings groups, two of three Sexual Assault Support Groups are all full. The Anger Management workshop turned into a support group that is has been running since April.
Help keep the doors open, lives of local women improved, our community made prosperous through more taxes paid, less violence and infinitely more empowered women to help guide all of us to a better economy and community. Help us to continue to serve the Melissa’s, Anne’s, Susan’s, Gloria’s, Sharon’s, Betty’s, Cheryl’s of our community and their children. We are the only organization in this community who does what we do in the manner that we do it. We are successful at finding women good paying jobs with benefits when no other organization can. We provide hope when every door has been shut, a cup of coffee, a listening ear, a chair to sit on and safety.
What can YOU do to help keep our doors open and making a positive impact on our community? Make a donation TODAY. You can do it through our website: www.womenscenterofgreaterlansing.org with a credit card or by calling the Center, 517-372-9163, drop off your donation or put it in the mail. If everyone on this list gave $25 we could raise a years worth of operating capital in a short period of time!
EVENTS COMING UP THIS WEEK -
Paydays Poker is hosting a fundraiser for the WCGL at the Waterford Suites hotel at the corner of Collins and Dunckel roads (formerly the Harley and Clarion Hotel). There are tournaments each night along with Texas Hold ‘Em, Blackjack and Roulette. No fee to play, just buy your chips. Food and beverages are available. The event runs from 4pm to 2am Wednesday through Saturday nights.
Thursday of this week starts a series of trainings on the Microsoft Office Suites 2007. All classes are from 6-8 and require pre-registration. There are only six seats available each class to maximize individual instruction.
August 6 and 13 EXCEL
August 20 and 27 Word/Vista
September 3 and 10, Powerpoint
September 17 and 24, Publisher
Fee is $20 per session. Scholarships are available
Remember the bumper sticker from the ’70′s that said “It will be a great day when schools are fully funded and the Pentagon has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber?” We’re not at the bake sale level yet, but we are having a whopper of a yard sale!
YARD SALE to benefit the WCGL – August 27 & 28, 9am to 5pm at Pi Beta Phi Sorority House on Harrison Road between Grand River and Michigan Avenues. If you have items that you would like to donate, let us know and on Saturday, August 22 if you put them at the end of your driveway and give us the address, someone will come by and pick them up. No kidding. We are cleaning out the storage units and storage closets and selling what we cannot use. We will not be taking clothing for this event. We can use household goods, furniture, kitchen items, stuff to decorate dorm rooms or apartments, things like that.
We have some great new groups and workshops coming up in September. More details on those in the newsletter. The August/September edition should be in your email inbox by the end of this week. We are no longer printing the newsletter. Until the newsletter generates enough income through advertising and sponsorship to pay for itself, it will only be available on the website.
As always, thank you for your consideration and support.
Cindie Alwood, M.A., CRC, LLPC
Co-Director
Women’s Center of Greater Lansing, Inc.
1710-1712 E. Michigan Avenue
Lansing, MI 48912-2825
(517) 372-9163 phone (517) 372-7981 fax
www.womenscenterofgreaterlansing.org
Quote of the Week
What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured. ~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Reminder: Join ANC staff every Friday at noon on the Hunter Park Path & walk with us!
