Barnes & Noble Fundraiser

Last Thursday was Dallas HIPPY's Barnes and Noble Fundraiser. We disseminated a lot of our flyers and vouchers around to our different networks so that when people used the vouchers to buy anything at Barnes and Noble stores, we got a percentage of that sale. We got a special rate for an ad in the Dallas Observer, put up flyers around town, and posted the event on the Dallas Kids webpage of the Dallas City Hall site. Activities during the event included arts & crafts (the kids made winter crowns, paper plate reindeers, and paper plate snowmen), a raffle, a storytime with children's author Janie Bynum, and a music teacher who sang and danced with the kids. We also got a big cookie tray donated from Panera which helped bring people up to the tables so we could explain the fundraiser and the HIPPY program. The turnout of kids from our HIPPY schools was unfortunately a lot less than I hoped it would be but I think we accomplished our goal of spreading the word about the program- we talked to multiple people throughout the day about the HIPPY program and were also able to hand out some of Luis' brochures. I haven't heard the final tallies on how much money we raised during the fundraiser but hopefully we made at least enough to buy some new books/materials for the program here in Dallas. Thanks again to Luis and Cherri for helping me out!! Above is a picture of the music teacher and kids doing some crafts during the event. Merry Christmas everyone!

Lights On Afterschool

As part of their Lights on Afterschool Program, Big Thought Thriving Minds recently invited me to speak to their community of parents on the value of community service. I was the first act up in a night that included others such as clown complete with balloon animals, one act play and gallery walk.

As the first act up I did my best to set the tone for the evenings events. I did not have the balloon animals, amazing artwork, free pizza, or books and toys that the other had acts to give away that evening. Still, I remain hopeful that parents and children in attendance that night walked away with something more important, a renewed enthusiasm for community service and understanding of the important role it plays in their neighborhoods and lives. Stayed tuned to our blog for dates on future community info sessions in the works at Burnet Elementary. Thanks again to Big Thought and Burnet for having me.