Alexandria Jaycees: Have Fun. Do Good!

Why do I volunteer so much?

--Guest Post from Diana Karczmarczyk

 

It is not uncommon for me to spend my free time helping others. Why you may ask? I answer with why not? Was it not John F. Kennedy that said " ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country?" I think President Kennedy also knew that by the sheer act of volunteering and helping others that the rewards from those experiences will help to create better Americans.

 

We are a nation that is faced with all sorts of plights. Most recently it has been the floods in the Midwest, but we are also facing hunger, homelessness, patients who have run out of money to treat their medical illnesses and the list goes on and on.

 

The task seems daunting at first..." to serve our nation". But I tell you this..it starts with one step, one act, one simple gesture. The Alexandria Jaycees are a group of common folks who have come together and made a commitment to giving to their community. Of course we are not the only ones. I like to be a part of a group when volunteering because it does make me feel like I am among like minded people but that the effort of the group is even more powerful than my effort alone.

 

I often get asked, " So, what are you up to this weekend?" My responses vary depending on what the Jaycees have planned or what other volunteer project has reigned my heart and mind in.

I would like to end this by saying that it is never too late to start volunteering. It is also never to early to start. Bring your kids and teach them early what President Kennedy wanted us all to know.

Then, take it one step further and work to understand how your work truely makes an impact. As a guest blogger here I hope to introduce a variety of topics and ways to make a difference. It is not hard to make someone's day. It is not hard to lend a helping hand.

 

In memory of Tim Russert, I would like to reinforce his personal matra and that was that whenever possible give someone else a helping hand.

 

Thanks and I hope to see you at a project soon!

The 9 Golden Keys to Making Great First Impressions

Okay, I'm on a roll! After I found the fun "World's Worst 8 Handshakes" and wrote about it yesterday, I found this article on the same UK website. The 9 Golden Keys are a good reminder of what we probably all know but aren't practicing day-to-day.

The Keys start with the premise that "others form up to 90% of their opinion about you in the first four minutes and that 60% to 80% of the impact you will make is non-verbal." Lo and behold, #4 is all about the handshake!

Though this brief article is geared toward job-seekers on an interview, I think it applies equally to meeting someone in a work setting.

The World's 8 Worst Handshakes

I love this title. Caveat - it's not my own; it's the title of a great post that a kirtsy (a very cool site in its own right) blogger found on a UK website. So, what are the 8 worst handshakes? Well, as you might imagine, one is the dreaded "finger-shake."

Women, you know exactly what I mean! Instead of a firm (not vice-like!) shake web-to-web (thumb web that is), sometimes someone grabs just your fingers and shakes up and down. Yuck! This and the other 7 handshakes are shown in interesting illustrations, so you offenders can see exactly what not to do!

Sometimes I think so much attention has been paid to virtual networking that sometimes we forget how to properly network face-to-face!

Fast Facts: Alexandria

We all know that buying a home - whether a condo, townhouse or single-family house - in our northern Virginia city of approximately 140,000 is expensive, but I did a double-take when I was scanning the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership's Local Economic Indicators Report (LEIRS). The average sale price of these 3 types of homes is over half a million dollars. Wow! Yikes!

Some of the other stats the LEIRS highlights (all reflect 4th quarter 2007 for the City of Alexandria only):

• About 200 business licenses are granted per quarter in the City (though not all the businesses actually open their doors)
• Almost 17,000 people use the 4 City Metro stops (King, Braddock, Eisenhower and Van Dorn) each quarter
• Alexandria's unemployment rate is about 1% below the rest of northern Virginia, at 2.4%, and 2% less than the U.S. average of 4.8%

I'll post additional highlights once the AEDP updates the data available online. To view the entire report (3 pages), click here.

A Metro at Potomac Yard?

From the Alexandria Times:

City on track to add Potomac Yard Metro station
June 12, 2008

By David Sachs Alexandria Times Staff Writer

The Planning Commission took the next step in developing the first new Metrorail station in four years by approving various mixed-use developments at Potomac Yard last week. If the station materializes, it will be several years from now, with revenues from the newly approved development paying its way.

Plans for the area’s urbanization include higher-density office, residential, hotel and park space that will coalesce with the slightly older townhouses, restaurants and shops recently developed along the plot’s edge, north of Slaters Lane, to form a new neighborhood in between the National Airport and Braddock Road Metro stops.

The city hopes that tax revenue generated from a larger town center will pay for a Metro station connecting the Braddock Road and National Airport sites. “The station doesn’t depend on it,” Deputy City Manager Mark Jinks said. “But it moves toward that goal.” Read more at the newspaper's website.

Helping Alexandria's Kids

Here are two news items from Alexandria City Councilman Rob Krupicka's email update:

Enhancing Pre-K in Alexandria

At the June 24th City Council meeting, the Alexandria City Council will consider a proposal to use $300,000 in unused child care money from last year's budget to enhance pre-k opportunities in Alexandria.  This effort is aimed at improving quality and access to pre-k services in order to ensure more children show up for kindergarten ready to learn and to excel.  Quality improvements help us to ensure we get the best bang for the buck for our children.  Access improvements help us ensure more children are ready for school. The more children that show up ready to learn, the more efficient and effective our schools can be.

Safe Routes to School
I have the privilege of chairing Virginia's State-wide safe routes to school committee.  We are working with VDOT, the state PTA, local government and national groups to do all we can to provide safe and convenient ways for children to walk or bike to school.  The recent Washington Post series on obesity illustrates our great need to ensure children are active and fit.  As part of this effort, Mt. Vernon Elementary school has received a national grant to increase walking and biking to school by testing programs that can be used to encourage children to walk and bike to school.  I am looking forward to working with City and school staff as well as the Mt. Vernon PTA to ensure we develop a model that can be emulated across our city and the country. 

To sign up for Rob's e-newsletter, send him an email.

Days 1 - 7: The Humankind Giving Challenge

It's hard to believe it's been a whole week since I stumbled across Cami's 29-day giving challenge. Basically, you give away 29 things in 29 days - your time, your talent, or some "stuff." The idea makes real Mother Theresa's wisdom: “We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.”

It's been a busy week at work so many of my giving occurred there.

Day 1: I gave away an old printer/scanner/copier to Camp Virginia Jaycee, a camp for children and adults with special needs.

Day 2: I offered to help a colleague find work he would be most interested in, using his results from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Day 3: I participated in a conference call for a colleague since he was unable to.

Day 4: I offered to help a colleague fill out his LinkedIn profile so he could build an online network to find a job.

Day 5: I offered to help a colleague create a website for her freelance clown business so she could build it up.

Day 6: I offered to go pick up an extra grill and supplies for the picnic tomorrow.

Day 7: Today is the Alexandria Jaycees picnic, so I'm going to find something I can do or give away there. So far today has been all about me!

Drop me a note (comment) and let me know how your week of giving went!

The Human Kind Giving Challenge

I love the internet! You find out so many cool things. I stumbled across a great blog called "Human Kind Media," a web 2.0 media company that focuses on the positive - not polyanna - news out there.

I'm going to take their 29-day giving challenge, and encourage you to do the same.

Basically, you give away 29 things in 29 days - your time, your talent, or some "stuff." The idea makes real Mother Theresa's wisdom: “We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.”

So, what to give? Well, Cami, the woman who began the 29-day challenge, has blogged (of course) about her giving here. Her gifts include helping someone with a referral (to a business, contractor, whatever) to picking up a few extra supplies at a grocery store or crafts store to share with a homeless shelter or with a teacher for her classroom.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to give every day through June, but I'm looking forward to the discovery process!

The goal is to get 2,000 people to join in the challenge before July 31 of this year... so get moving!!

What Does Memorial Day Mean to You?

Today is Memorial Day, originally called "Decoration Day," a day when we honor those who have died in military service to our country. It's a somber day we all mark in different ways, remembering loved ones who died and honoring those who we don't know personally but whom we respect for their service to the country.

Here in D.C. Memorial Day sentiments are truly visible, from seeing (and hearing!) the Rolling Thunder bikers on their way to the Mall, to watching the ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Of course, the notion that we support the men and women serving in our armed forces is not limited to just one day. There are many ways we can support our troops throughout the year, from USO care package stuffing to donating toys for the Marines' Toys for Tots program; from advocating for veterans' services to adopting a platoon... and the list goes on. Sadly - and fortunately - there are many ways to help our troops and our veterans.

What will you do today?

Do You Tweet?

I consider myself to be a pretty web-savvy woman... I blog, podcast, have many social media profiles, have created RSS feeds, shared photos, and organized meet-ups. So, when I heard about Twitter, I decided to find out more. What I found, I didn't really "get." Sure, the basic concept is easy to understand: you post messages to your own mini-blog (or respond to others' messages) in 140 characters or less.

A Tweet, which these mini-messages are called, can be something like, "I just had the best cuppa joe," "I just signed up for a hatha yoga class," or "Did you see who got kicked off Idol last night?" I thought I must be missing something - who in the world would want to know that I think Kona coffee rocks?

I asked one of my colleagues who Tweets regularly what's in it for her. As it happens, Jill Foster has her own Twitter page and uses it to catch up with friends; but, she also uses it for her social media consultancy. She sends out ideas, questions, comments and the like to her "followers" (those that subscribe to her Twitter feed) and gets real-time client (or potential client) feedback.

Since I don't have a social media-based business, I moved on to other forms of social media to explore. Until today, when someone in the DC Web Women group (which Jill chairs) that I belong to sent out a link to a YouTube video explaining what Twitter is and why I should care.

I'm still not sold on Tweeting, but at least now I "get" it. If you've been wondering what this phenomenon is all about, check out the video.