|
|
|
 |
Email Newsletter for October 2010Greetings from the West Cascade Peace Corps Association!
UO Fall Street Fair: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED- Please volunteer some of your time to share stories and experiences with aspiring Peace Corps applicants at next week's Street Fair. We will have a booth at the UO Street Faire providing information Wednesday through Friday of next week. Please call or email Justin at 541.346.6026 or pcorps@uoregon.edu to sign up for a two-hour block of time. The following time slots are available:
- Wednesday, October 6th: 10am-2pm (10am-12pm, 12-2pm)
- Thursday, October 7th: 12pm-4pm (12pm-2pm, 2-4pm)
- Friday, October 8th: 10am-4pm (10am-12pm, 12pm-2pm, 2-4pm)
International calendars: The 2011 international calendars published by the Madison, WI RPCVs are now on sale through WCPCA. They celebrate the Peace Corps' 50th anniversary and make attractive and useful gifts for your friends and family members. The calendar's photos show the first thirteen countries where volunteers served. You'll see the photos on the home page of the WCPCA website. They are beautiful! Calendar sales are WCPCA's main fundraiser for grants that the board makes to humanitarian programs. They cost $12 individually but only $10 when you purchase six or more. Do your holiday shopping early and support Peace Corps volunteers in the field. Calendars will be available at potlucks, from board members, in some local retail stores, and at a WCPCA booth in the Saturday Market in late October and early November. Calendars may also be purchased through Paypal on the WCPCA website, www.westcascadepca.org. WCPCA OCTOBER POTLUCK. Friday, October 8th, 2010, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM WCPCA will host a "welcome back" potluck for newly returned PCVs on Friday, October 8th, 6-9 pm, on the University of Oregon campus at the Many Nations Longhouse. This will be a time for seasoned and new RPCVs to meet and mingle. Please help us make this a festive event by wearing an article of clothing from your country of service. WCPCA member, Maggie Keenan, and her daughter will describe their recent trip to the Philippines to visit Maggie's Peace Corps site of 20 years ago. You'll also learn about WCPCA's plans to celebrate the 50th in 2011. International calendars will be on sale. Newly returned RPCVs and potential PCVs are encouraged to attend. Please bring a dish to share. Plates, cups for water, and cutlery will be provided. Directions: The Longhouse is located on the U of O campus behind the Law School at the north end of Columbia Street. Nearby cross streets are 15th and 17th Avenues. The Law School is on Agate across the street from Hayward Field. Membership Directory
The time has come again for a new edition of the membership directory. If you have changed your contact information in the last six months, now is the time to update it by going to: http://www.westcascadepca.org/membership-update.php If you haven't added a bio, please consider doing so. A short bio can help with networking or just give a bit of character to your entry (and so many of us are real characters). A hearty group of RPCVs turned out on Saturday night, September 25, to help FOOD for Lane County raise [drum roll!] $206,000 at their Empty Bowls auction. Sheyla Norte, the volunteer coordinator wrote: "I can't thank you and your group enough for your help. The floor must be cleared that night (and since we've all been here since early in the morning we'd never get it done!) so the lighting and sound folks can come in first thing Sunday morning with the cherry picker etc. to take down all the wires etc. Also Parties To Go arrives to pick up the their things including the tables and chairs." Sheyla goes on to thank all those who did this critical work: Chris & Mike Helm, Rosa & Bob Watada, Jack Meacham, Dale Morse, John Hofer, and James Cloutier, who even stayed late to recycle and recycle!. Sheyla ends by saying, "thanks to all of you for making what would be an impossible task for us one we don't have to worry about!"
John Hofer Peace Corps 50 - JFK's Dream Lives On
This is just a reminder that the WCPCA will be putting on at least one, and most likely more, events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps. If you are interested in helping out, please contact info@westcascadepca.org. We can definitely use your help and ideas. WCPCA made a strong statement in the parade of the Eugene Celebration in late August and was warmly greeted by parade watchers. We hope that the organization will be the parade's "Grand Marshall" next year in honor of the Peace Corps' 50th, so we'll need a healthy contingent of RPCVs to take part. Please dust off your marching shoes and plan to join us. We'll need a strong showing. Many thanks go to those who joined us in the parade as well as those who worked in the WCPCA booth answering questions about the Peace Corps, distributing PC handouts, and selling WCPCA merchandise and international calendars. We offered PC testimonials to the general public, made contact "with a few RPCVs that we hadn't met before, and sold enough merchandize to cover our expenses. It was time well spent!" Recruiting members for the 2011 WCPCA board The current WCPCA board has appointed WCPCA member Jim Beyer to head the nominating committee for members of the 2011 board. An energetic board of about 15 members provides leadership for WCPCA and, of course, recruits other members for our activities. Five board members are officers, the Peace Corps Recruiter on the U of O campus is an Ex officio member, and the others are "at large." The scope of the organization's work reflects the board's interests and energy. The current board asks all members to consider serving in this leadership role. Your taking a turn on the board will help ensure the organization's vitality. The period of service is January to December of 2011. Outgoing and incoming board members will hold a joint planning meeting in December, 2010. In addition to attending the monthly board meetings, "at large" members typically allocate 1-3 hours per month for board activities. Officers set aside additional time. Scope of service: The board holds monthly evening meetings. At this time we're committed to holding bimonthly potlucks with a program for the full membership, fundraising to provide grants to humanitarian programs, volunteer activities in our community, and providing support to the Peace Corps recruiter on the U of O campus. We're working now on plans to celebrate the Peace Corps' 50th anniversary next year. Recruiting: Some of the current board members including officers will continue in office. We need to identify more "at large" members and at least one and possibly two people to fill officer roles. If you are interested: Please send Jim Beyer an email at jimbeyer@comcast.net to let him know of your interest in serving on the board and whether you would like to know more about an officer position. Jim needs to hear from you by October 12th. For further information: The names of the current board members and their contact information are on the website under "Contacts." Please feel free to contact one or more board members for further information. Job descriptions for the offices are in the organization's bylaws which are also posted on the website. Next steps: The nominating committee will give the names of interested parties to the board in October; names of candidates will appear in the November newsletter and the election of board members will take place at the November potluck. WCPCA members who attend the potluck will be eligible to vote. Membership
WCPCA now has 115 members of whom two have recently joined. Their names and contact information appear below. Please make a special effort to welcome them at the next potluck. We look forward to newly returned PCVs joining this fall. Remember that students and newly returned volunteers pay no dues. Both the National PC Association and WCPCA now offer a year of free membership to any RPCV who joins either or both organizations for the first time. If you've been waiting, now is a good time to join! New members:
John McLean
Service: Thailand, 1970s Henry Schmald
Service: Gabon, 1963-65 Treasurer's report: In September the balances in WCPCA accounts were as follows:
- OCCU checking account: $991
- OCCU savings account: $5,023
- OCCU Beryl Brinkman fund (restricted funds): $2,155 Beryl Brinkman Memorial Fund in the Oregon Community Foundation: approximately $27,000.
Elizabeth Bowers Zambia Education Fund Hosts 5th Annual Zambia Night Event
Salem, OR – September 13, 2010 - The fifth annual Zambia Night event will be a celebration of the recently completed Light and Literacy project at the Memorial Library and Learning Center in Lumwana West, a village in the Northwest Province of Zambia, Africa. The event will raise money for future projects with a focus on the "Education of Beth's Girls: Grades 8-12 & Beyond" as more and more girls are asking to continue their education.
The Zambia Night event will feature "Baskets for Beth" Silent Auction, belly dancing by the Artemis Tribal Belly Dance Troupe, Mark Powers' African Drummers—The Kola Nuts, a Zambian Market (arts and crafts), music, children's activities, program booths and displays, a video/slide presentation on the "Light and Literacy" program, food, a no-host bar with Eola Hills wines, and more.
The event and projects are sponsored by the local Elizabeth Bowers Zambia Education Fund (EBZEF). One hundred percent of all contributions go to EBZEF, which is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt, non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible.
When: Friday, October 22, 5:30-9:00P.M.
Where: Clockworks Cafe and Cultural Center (old Blue Pepper Cafe) at 241 Commercial St. Salem, Oregon, with free street and lot parking.
The Elizabeth Bowers Zambia Education Fund (EBZEF) is a local, non-profit organization which provides educational opportunities and scholarships to Zambian girls and women in Lumwana West, a village in the Northwest Province of Zambia, Africa. It was founded in memory of Elizabeth Bowers, a Sprague High School and Earlham College alumna, who died during her time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia.
CONTACT: Linda Bowers, EBZEF Executive Director
lbowers@willamette.edu
Phone: 503-585-4605
www.bethsgirls.org
The full text of the minutes is available on the website.
|
|
|
