Day of Caring '08

This year I had the privilege to be at a site where our volunteers knew how to work hard and have fun at the same time. It was great to see the staff so grateful and excited to get there facilities cleaned. Our site even had a shelf removed from a room that made the receptionist extremely happy, now she can have all her equipment in one room!!!

Summertime Fun in the Boulders

Now, I don't wanna make y'all jealous, but the Boulders Summer Day Camp was a blast! Several kids participated in various themed days, such as Pirate Day, Backwards Day, Music Day, Water Day, and much much more. BYU Living Legends came out and performed for the kids, Jack Sparrow himself descended from the famed Black Pearl and sojourned to Provo, and special guest BYU Basketball player Gavin MacGregor, Provo School District Gang Specialist Koki Cline, and the Provo City Fire Department all made exciting visits. Each day was an adventure as the children participated in exciting activities that everyone enjoyed. The children especially loved water games, crafts, and sports, while story time was a perennial hit. The volunteers were able to develop close bonds with the kids, and the Day Camp seemed to be very successful at developing close relationships with many of the kids and parents and increasing our positive influence in the Boulders community.

Service Project at Orem Nursing and Rehabilitation

Kiera, Brian, and I (Julianne) have been coordinating service projects for the Summer of Service Program. On Friday we had a group of about 25 people at the Orem Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Youth made 4th of July crafts with the residents then used them to decorate the resident's doors. The kids were very creative (and messy!) with the glitter, string, foam, paper, and glue. My favorite part was watching the kids interact with the seniors. Here's a glimpse of their work:

Project Progress! Yay!

So for the past few months I've been working on developing a program for Centro Hispano, Proyecto para el Mejoramiento de la Vida, that would incorporate classes from throughout the community to help Centro Hispano clients make and achieve important educational goals. Recently many important things have happened at Centro Hispano that have helped this project move along. Centro Hispano has been awarded significant grants that will help fund the project and allow for the hirings of new key positions, such as mentors, instructors, and curriculum writers. We also have some great volunteers who are doing such things as developing a "course catalog" of community resources, designing a proper in-take procedure, and gathering curriculum for a future parenting class. As I'm approaching the end of my year of service, it's exciting to see this project really come together and become something that will benefit the community. -- Jana

Project Safe Neighborhoods Anti-Gang Training

Last week I attended a 2 day training about gang intervention and prevention in Salt Lake City. This was a very educational experience for me because I'm a country girl from rural Ohio -- I don't know anything about gangs! Not only did I learn all about the different gangs in Utah, but I also learned about the reasons youth join gangs, how to help members leave gangs, and how to effectively work with parole officers. At the end of the training I received a certificate stating that I successfully completed 16 hours of Project Safe Neighborhoods Anti-Gang Training. The training was very neat and I would recommend it to anyone who'd like to learn more about gangs.

Festival Latinoamericano

Currently I am on the planning committee for this year's Festival Latinoamericano. Festival Latinoamericano is held every Labor Day weekend on the Provo Courthouse lawn and draws thousands of people, especially local Hispanic families. This event celebrates the local Hispanic community as families come together to eat good Latin food, watch dance performances, learn more about Hispanic cultures, and so forth. My responsibility in the planning committee is to ensure that community resources are showcased through the event. This year we are planning on having a community tent that will highlight different community resources through informative displays and family-friendly activities. We're also hoping to help community agencies put together short DVD clips with information about their services.

Summer at the Boulders!

Hi everyone! My name is Daniel Jensen and I'm a new VISTA working with Angelica in the Boulders. I just graduated from BYU in International Relations and am excited to get working here at United Way! We're really excited about this summer and anticipate several great activities! We are going to have a BBQ for the residents in June and in July we are going to host a three week long summer camp for the children! Several other activities and programs are on their way!