Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Included in this bulletin:
1) Free Winter Food Box – Requires action today before 5 pm!
2) Girl Scouts Open House TODAY
3) Centerpiece Making at the Hunter Park GardenHouse TOMORROW
4) Jazz at Gone Wired TOMORROW EVENING
5) St. Vincent Catholic Charities Needs Blankets
6) GardenHouse Book Club – Nov. 17
7) Action! Making Movies in Lansing on Nov. 18
8) Mobile Food Pantry and Health Fair on Nov. 21
9) Join Bank on Lansing – Great Opportunity for un- and under-banked!
10) Holiday and Light Recycling Event on Nov. 19
1) Free Winter Food Box (A service for families/individuals in need, brought to you by the Church of Greater Lansing, a network of 50+ Christian churches in the Tri-County area who have partnered to help stomp out hunger in our cities.)
Are you interested in receiving a free Winter Food Box delivered to your home? Do you meet the following criteria?
· I/we have a verifiable home address to which the box can be delivered.
· I/we live at the home/apartment in the Lansing area to which the box will be delivered.
· I/we are a family in need of food assistance this year.
· I/Someone will be home on Sunday, February21st, 2010 between 4 pm and 8 pm to receive the box.
· I/we will call 353-5000 between Monday, November 9-Friday, November 13 between 9 am and 5 pm. The Church Network will accept the first 3,000 callers on a first call, first serve basis. Note: The hotline is active for this one week only.
Your box will be delivered to your doorstep on Sunday, February 21st, 2010, between the hours of 4 pm and 8 pm. Someone must be home to receive the delivery; boxes will not be left on doorsteps.
2) Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan has opened a new Lansing Regional Center at 1223 Turner Street, in partnership with Lansing Developer David Ferguson. The Girl Scout council is leasing an office suite and retail space in the Grand Center building from Ferguson Development as part of the continuing revitalization of Lansing’s Old Town neighborhood. The new location offers a modern, 7600-square-foot office suite and a street-level, 1880-square-foot retail space.
We are inviting you to join our Open House, this Friday, November 13, 2009 for an After Work Social with Live Music from 4:00pm to 7:00pm and Saturday, November 14, 2009 from noon to 4:00pm.
The Girl Scout Leadership Experience engages girls in discovering themselves, connecting with others, and taking action to make the world a better place. Girl Scouting offers girls the tools they need to be successful leaders, now and throughout their lives. In partnership with committed adults, Girl Scouts develop strong values and improve society. Today’s Girl Scouts are defining new ways to lead at home and around the globe. Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan invites girls everywhere to become Girl Scouts.
3) Build your Thanksgiving Centerpiece at the GardenHouse
Ruth Leyrer of Bancroft Flowers will be leading a free workshop this Saturday, November 14 from 2-3:30 pm at the Hunter Park GardenHouse on centerpiece making–just in time for Thanksgiving! Attendees should bring a combination of fall items from which to make your own centerpiece (pumpkins, gourds, leaves, pinecones, feathers, Indian corn, etc), and Ruth will bring pom-poms, containers, and an eye for design that is known throughout Lansing. ALL are invited. Interested? Please email Allison at at allisonb@allenneighborhoodcenter.org and let her know if you plan to attend so we can make sure there are materials aplenty!
4) Jazz at Gone Wired
This Saturday, November 14, from 8:00 – 11:00 pm, the Peter Nelson Band will be performing at Gone Wired Café, located in the 2000 block of E. Michigan Ave. No cover–just great jazz!
The band plays Latin Jazz, Bebop, swing, and soul music. Both evenings are unofficial CD release performances, with CDs of Peter Nelson’s “Climbing the Magnolia Tree” available for purchase for $10. The band will perform many of the compositions on the CD as well as premiering new, original music.
Musicians are: Peter Nelson-trombone/vocal, Marcus Miller on Sax, Anthony Stanco-Trumpet, Sam Copperman-Bass, Mitch Hall- drums, and Alex Kreger on Piano.
Come enjoy a wonderful evening of Jazz. (Note: Even if I were not related to the trombonist, I would recommend this wonderful music :) )
5) St. Vincent Catholic Charities In Need of Blankets
St. Vincent Catholic Charities (STVCC) is currently in great need of blankets for the refugee and local homeless population we serve. With the cold winter months coming, we need to ensure that children, families and adults can keep warm. When you make a donation to St. Vincent Catholic Charities the items go directly to helping people in need. STVCC does not resell any items donated.
As part of our mission, St. Vincent Catholic Charities helps children, families and adults, who are living in crisis, find safety so they may begin to thrive. In order to first move from at risk to safety people need to have a safe home setting so they can focus on development in other areas of life. STVCC provides transitional housing and the basic household needs to help families and individuals gain that safety in order to move to thriving. Donated items are tax deductible.
“We deeply appreciate the compassion and support of our community. We are able to serve those in need because of the strength and faith of our neighbors,” said Andrea E. Seyka, CEO for St. Vincent Catholic Services.
STVCC is in great need of housing items from blankets, to coats and gloves, with the greatest need being blankets. Other donated items needed year round include basic housing setup items: Tables, beds, chairs, dishes, pots & pans, silverware, curtains, kitchen ware, etc. All items can be dropped off at STVCC Campus located on north Lansing: St. Vincent Catholic Charities, 2800 W. Willow, Lansing, MI 48917. Or pick up may be arranged: Contact: 517-323-4734 ext. 1050 and leave a voicemail with your information.
6) GardenHouse Book Club - The GardenHouse will kick off its new book club on Tuesday November 17th at 6:30PM. All are welcome and encouraged to read our first book choice, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (with extras written by her husband and daughter). Everybody Reads, on the corner of Clemens and Michigan Ave. has offered a 20% discount off of the choice book each month to anyone who mentions the GardenHouse Book Club at the register. There are a few copies in stock and five more on the way. If they do happen to be sold out when you try to buy, they can order the book for you and have it in stock within just a few days. Also, if you would rather not purchase a copy, you can always come down to the GardenHouse during open hours and read ours.
7) Action! Making Movies in Lansing!
The next Thinkers and Doers event is coming up! Wednesday, November 18 is “Action! Making Movies in Lansing!” Shane Hagedorn and Dave Muylle of ‘Craftsman Style’ are coming to talk about the making of their film. Michael McCallum of ‘Fairview Street’ is also scheduled to come and discuss his film. Invite your friends, and please spread the info around. The event will take place as usual at the MSU CED Center (1615 E. Michigan Avenue) with refreshments at 6 and presentations at 6:30pm.
8 ) MOBILE FOOD PANTRY & HEALTH FAIR
City of Lansing HUMAN RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT & the Mid-Michigan Food Bank ANNOUNCES the Distribution of FREE, fresh, non-perishable food items.
When: Saturday, November 21, 2009, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
Where: Black Child & Family Institute, 835 W. Genesee, Lansing 48915
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.
9) Join Bank On Michigan!
Bank On Michigan is a new banking program to help those who do not have bank accounts or are under-banked (use check cashers/payday lenders/would otherwise benefit from financial or tax training) to get free or no-cost bank accounts and to increase available banking products (like low cost short-term loans and Income Tax Refund Anticipation Loans). We need members to be part of a financial education pilot project. If you are selected for this pilot group you will receive free state-of-the-art financial training, mentoring, training taught by law professors from MSU College of Law and other financial professionals. The time commitment for training is about 3-4 hours in total with three training sessions at the County’s Health and Human Services Building near the intersection of Jolly and Cedar in Lansing.
The first training session is December 5, 2009 at 9:30 AM at Ingham County’s Health and Human Services building (southeast of intersection of Jolly and Cedar in Lansing) Conference Room D & E. If you are selected for the Bank On Michigan Pilot Project, here are some of the services that may be available to you:
· Free or no-cost Checking Account at a local financial institution (even if you had trouble with previous accounts)*
· Free savings account
· Free Credit Reports
· Low cost short term loans.
· Free income taxes preparation and you may be eligible for a refund anticipation loan.
· Free comprehensive financial education and access to resources.
· Free review of eligibility for tuition assistance and other government programs.
If you would like to be one of the first to participate in Bank On Michigan please contact:
Amy Harmer, Ingham County Treasurer’s Office, aharmer@ingham.org, (517) 676-7239
10) Go Green! Holiday & Light Recycling Event
Date: Thursday, November 19, 2009
Time: 11am – 2pm
Location: Lansing City Hall lobby
Local vendors will be selling produce, baked goods, crafts and handmade gifts.
And for BWL Residential Electric Customers Only: FREE Holiday Light Exchange!
BWL’s Hometown Energy Savers and the Cities of Lansing and East Lansing are partnering to help residents save energy and money while celebrating the winter holidays.
On November 19, 2009, at the Go Green! Holiday Event being held at City Hall from 11am to 2pm, BWL residential electric customers will be able to exchange a string of their old, working incandescent holiday lights for a new box of Light Emitting Diode (LED) holiday lights, courtesy of the BWL Holiday Light Exchange program (while supplies last). LED lights are safer, brighter, last longer, and provide up to 90% in energy savings.
This is an exchange program, so customers must turn in their old holiday lights for recycling to receive the new LED lights. Only BWL residential electric customers qualify. Customers must bring a valid Michigan ID and a current BWL electric bill to participate. There will be a limit of two strands of LED holiday lights per household/account number exchanged. Supplies will be limited.
Apart from the Go Green! Holiday Event, the BWL Holiday Light Exchange will take place at the following locations:
When: November 19 through December 4, 2009
Where: BWL’s Customer Service Center (Mon-Fri, 8am to 5:30pm), 1232 Haco Dr., Lansing, MI 48901 and East Lansing Public Works Office, 1800 East State Rd., East Lansing, MI 48823
