Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Included in this bulletin:
1) Eastside Food Forum on Wednesday, Jan. 20
2) Discover the Walk Score of Your Street
3) Coins for Haiti
4) LED Light Exchange (ends soon!)
5) My Cry in the Dark: Depression in the Black Community, Thursday, Jan. 21
6) Census Bureau Advises Caution
7) Joan Bauer’s Town Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 19
8 ) Live at Fenner on Jan. 23
9) Weatherization Days on Jan. 23
10) Michigan Ave Thinkers and Doers on Jan. 25
11) Planning Your Gardening Year, Jan. 26
1) Food Forum – This Wednesday!
Allen Neighborhood Center invites Eastside eaters, gardeners, cooks, grocers, restaurateurs and other interested parties to join us for the Eastside Food Forum, on Wednesday, January 20 at Foster Community Center, Room 213, from 6:30-8:00 pm. Through a facilitated conversation we’ll look at our food system’s successes and challenges, and figure out where to go from here.
Gather with other Eastside stakeholders for a lively discussion of our neighborhood food system (gardens, greenhouse, farmers market, grocery stores, restaurants, pantries, churches, schools, and more). Bring your thoughts, ideas, questions, and suggestions.
We’ll look at how these systems interact, how to improve them and how to enhance our local network of food resources. Your input is important, and we look forward to seeing you at the Eastside Food Forum. If you have any more questions, please contact the Center at 367-2468. Also, for a brief history of food related work on the Eastside, log onto our website at www.allenneighborhoodcenter.org.
2) Discover the Walk-Score of Your Street
Read the note from a neighbor, Lynne Woods, who finds that her Eastside street has an excellent walk score.
“Kudos for the East Side at http://www.walkscore.com/ –my house on Francis has a “walk score” of 92, given its proximity to all sorts of good destinations. Recent articles in the New York Times today (http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/can-you-guess-your-homes-walk-score/?hp, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/business/10every.html) note that houses in neighborhoods with high “walk scores” may hold their value better, even in today’s depressed markets. Further validation for our convictions regarding the value of our great neighborhood.
3) Coins for Haiti
Message from Freya Rivers, Principal of Bingham School
In the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti and our Bingham community service project, I would like to suggest your cooperation and participation in “Coins for Haiti.” We are asking students to bring in coins for the month of February to help the families of Haiti. The money will be donated to Doctors without Borders in Haiti for medicine and medical supplies. I am contacting other principals, a MSU volunteer group, Trinity and other churches and the Mayor’s office to see if we can make this a Lansing initiative. Bingham will kick off the campaign on Friday at our Reading Rocker of MLK in honor of his memory. If you feel that you can help spread the word, we would greatly appreciate your assistance. Thank you.
Freya A. Rivers, Principal, Bingham Elementary, 121 Bingham Street, Lansing, MI 48912
517.755-1240 Office, 517-755-1249 FAX, freya.rivers@lansingschools.net
4) BWL offers LED holiday lights to customers
The Lansing Board of Water & Light will restart its LED holiday light exchange to benefit BWL customers who are storing decorative lights until the 2010 holiday season. Beginning today through Jan. 22, BWL customers can exchange two strands of working incandescent holiday lights for two new strands of energy-saving LED holiday lights.
The LED light exchange will take place at the BWL’s Customer Service Center, 1232 Haco Drive, Lansing. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., weekdays. The City of East Lansing is also participating in the exchange. BWL customers can exchange holiday light strands at the East Lansing Department of Public Works, 1800 E. State Road. The hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays. The holiday light exchange is part of the BWL’s Hometown Energy Savers program, which offers incentives for customers to upgrade to more energy-efficient lighting and appliances. The BWL also hosted the holiday light exchange during the 2009 holiday season.
To qualify for the holiday light exchange, a person must be a BWL residential electric customer. Customers should bring used, working incandescent strands of lights to the locations listed above. Each customer must show a valid Michigan I.D. and a current BWL electric bill. There is a limit of two strands of LED holiday lights per household. Supplies are
limited.
Aileen Gow, Energy Programs Specialist, Lansing Board of Water & Light, 730 E. Hazel St., P.O. Box 13007, Lansing, MI 48901, 517-702-6771, aag@lbwl.com, www.lbwl.com
5) My Cry in the Dark, Part 1: Depression in the Black Community
The Lansing Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is hosting My Cry in the Dark, Part 1: Depression in the Black Community on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Church.
Depression is one of the silent illnesses in the black community. So much stigma is often attached to depression, and it is often seen as a weakness, versus a very treatable condition. In fact, so few people of color seek treatment or counseling for depression that statistics on how many actually suffer from it are virtually non-existent.
Because so many people in the Greater Lansing Community may be living with depression, or know someone who may be living with depression, The Lansing Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., felt that it was important to provide a forum filled with open discussion and with insights from local experts. Speakers include, Nanette Reynolds, Ph.D., Alton Kirk, Ph.D., author of Black Suicide, Joan Jackson-Johnson, Ph.D., and Hilton Thomas, Ph.D.
The event is open to the community. And the Greater Lansing African American Health Institute is providing dinner for this event. St. Stephen’s Church is located at 1007 Kimberly Lansing, MI .
6) Census Bureau Advises cautious cooperation
With the U.S. Census process beginning, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises people to be cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a victim of fraud or identity theft. The first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way as workers have begun verifying the addresses of households across the country. Eventually, more than 140,000 U.S. Census workers will count every person in the United States and will gather information about every person living at each address including name, age, gender, race, and other relevant data.
The big question is – how do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist? BBB offers the following advice:
**If a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, they will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice. Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering their questions. However, you should never invite anyone you don’t know into your home.
**Census workers are currently only knocking on doors to verify address information. Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census. REMEMBER, NO MATTER WHAT THEY ASK, YOU REALLY ONLY NEED TO TELL THEM HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE AT YOUR ADDRESS.
While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range, YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION. The Census Bureau will not ask for Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers, nor will employees solicit donations. Any one asking for that information is NOT with the Census Bureau.
AND REMEMBER, THE CENSUS BUREAU HAS DECIDED NOT TO WORK WITH ACORN ON GATHERING THIS INFORMATION. No Acorn worker should approach you saying he/she is with the Census Bureau.
Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail, or in person at home. However, the Census Bureau will not contact you by E-mail, so be on the lookout for E-mail scams impersonating the Census.
Never click on a link or open any attachments in an E-mail that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau.
PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
7) Joan Bauer’s Town Hall Meeting on the Michigan Economy
I wanted to remind you of my upcoming town hall meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 19, to discuss Michigan’s economy and the state budget. Mitch Bean, director of the non-partisan House Fiscal Agency, will give us an economic update and forecast of the Michigan budget. I hope that you’ll be able to join me on Tuesday, Jan. 19, in the Governor’s Room at the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing. The meeting is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the presentation begins at 6 p.m.
For more information, or if you have any questions, please call me at (517) 373-0826, or e-mail me at JoanBauer@house.mi.gov.
8 ) Live at Fenner: An Animal Experience with Preuss
A program for all ages on Saturday, January 23rd, 1-3 pm
Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, bearded dragons, monitors, and hedgehogs! Learn about their habits, where they live, what they eat, and how they survive in their environment. $5/person, $15 family, Special rate for FOFNC members: $4/person, $12/family
9) Weatherization Days
Is your house cold and drafty? Weatherization assistance is available at Allen Neighborhood Center for households with income below 200% of poverty. Visit us any day between 9 am and 5:30 pm for help, or come to our special Weatherization Enrollment Workshop scheduled for January 23, from 9 am -1 pm. We will walk you through the enrollment process for Capital Area Community Service’s generous weatherization assistance program, which may cover the cost of increased insulation, furnace and water heather inspection (and possibly replacement), sealing around doors and windows and more. Call 367-2468 today to reserve a spot in one of the two special workshops or to schedule an appointment during our regular business hours.
10) Michigan Avenue Thinkers and Doers Advisory Committee
The first Advisory Committee meeting of the year for the Thinkers and Doers program will take place on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 4:00pm. The meeting will be held at CCED office (1615 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing). Please let Natalie know in advance whether or not you plan to attend the meeting.
Natalie Youakim, Center for Community and Economic Development, Michigan State University, 517.353.9555, msu.cced@gmail.com, youakimn@msu.edu
11) Planning Your Gardening Year
Offered Jan. 26th, 6:30 8 pm, at the Hunter Park GardenHouse.
Did you know that an important part of vegetable gardening happens in the dead of winter? It’s the very necessary planning and perusing, designing and drawing, dreaming and scheming, all done indoors where its warm and snug! At this workshop, led by Linda Anderson, you will learn when different garden tasks should be done throughout the year, how to decide what to plant, and how to lay out your vegetable garden. There will be time at the workshop for you to dig in and get started on your plans, with access to lots of garden catalogs and books as well as experienced gardeners to answer your questions. Come get a jump on the 2010 gardening year!
