Around Town: November 2-5

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Julia Cain

Busy weekend at Catalogue nonprofits! Check out what’s coming up …

Dance Place (3225 8th Street NE)

SpeakeasyDC presents “The Story Showdown: A Storytelling Game Show” this Friday at 8:00 PM and Saturday at 7:00 & 9:00 PM. Audience members have the opportunity to be contestants row and win coveted prizes! Tickets this way.

Smith Center for Healing and the Arts (1632 U Street NW) – postponed

This one-day retreat for caregivers will explore stress management and self-care with yoga, nutrition and creativity, and the sharing of personal experience. Email darien@smithcenter.org for information about future dates.

Anacostia Watershed Society (Bladensburg Waterfront Park) – event full

Plant trees at the confluence of the Northeast and Northwest branches of the Anacostia River this Saturday at 10:00 AM; all tools and supplies needed will be provided, so just bring a friend and be prepared to have fun. Sign up here.

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Around Town: October 26-28

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Julia Cain

What are your plans for the weekend? We have some great ideas at Catalogue nonprofits …

Anacostia Watershed Society (38th Street, Hyattsville, MD) — Event Full

Build and install bird houses at the native meadow along the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River on Friday at 10:00 AM. Complete information right this way!

Audubon Naturalist Society (Woodend Sanctuary, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD)

On Friday at 6:00 PM, join ANS members for the annual meeting, featuring Patterson Clark, author and illustrator of the “Urban Jungle” column in The Washington Post. RSVP details and program schedule right here.

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW, Washington DC)

Plenty happening at DCAC this weekend! A second edition of The Happy Buddha Brings Peace and Laughter is onstage on Friday & Saturday at 10:00 PM and Theatre Du Jour’s Nightmerica returns Friday through Sunday at 7:30 PM. Schedule right here.

Volunteer Fairfax (Numerous locations)

The 18th annual VolunteerFest Day of Service is coming up this Saturday. You can choose a project (perhaps with a Catalogue nonprofit) and sign up right here. So many great options!

Smith Center for Healing and the Arts (1632 U Street NW Washington, DC)

On Saturday at 10:00 AM, join two culinary and nutrition experts and learn how to incorporate nourishing foods for healing and prevention of cancer; most of the workshop will be dedicated to hands-on cooking. Sign up here.

In The News …

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Julia Cain

Homeless student population to crest 2,500 in Fairfax County for first time (Washington Post): “The number of homeless students in Fairfax County public schools is likely to surpass 2,500 by the end of this school year, according to school officials, what would be a new record for one of the most affluent communities in the nation.” Over 15% of these are “unaccompanied youths,” or children who live without a parent or guardian. In DC, the total number of homeless public school students reached nearly 3,000 last year. Overall, “according to estimates from the Education Department, there are more than 1 million homeless students nationwide, an all-time high.”

Prince George’s leaders unite against domestic violence in new assessment program (Gazette): “By the end of the year, all Prince George’s County patrol officers and municipal law enforcement agencies will be equipped to better handle domestic violence incidents and provide immediate assistance to victims thanks to a state-led program. According to Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, “This calls for law enforcement to be trained to identify domestic violence situations so that they can help victims to take the steps to prevent it;” and according to Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, “the effort is focused on identifying abusive situations and preventing domestic violence cases from escalating to reduce the number of homicides.” (Learn about Catalogue nonprofits DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project today.)

MontCo health agency recommends healthy snacks, tracking student obesity (Washington Examiner): “Montgomery County’s Health Commission is recommending that the county track student obesity and put more nutritious snacks in vending machines, as part of officials’ latest efforts to make county residents healthier.” The Commission also suggested to the Montgomery County Council that it “should provide more opportunities for exercise for children and adults, and establish better accommodationsfor mothers who are breast-feeding.” Five years ago, the County “passed a ban on the use of artificial trans fats in chain restaurants and all food service facilities,” which include public schools. What are successful school-based health efforts that you have experienced?

Catalogue Milestones: 2007

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Julia Cain

As we approach our celebration of the 10th Catalogue for Philanthropy, we look back to see how the Catalogue has grown and evolved.

Currently, a diverse array of foundations, nonprofit organizations, corporations, institutions, and individuals review for the Catalogue. In our fifth year (2007), the review team jumped to 55. Last year (2011), the team was 120 strong. Check out the full list right here.

The following charities were featured for the first time in the print Catalogue in 2007, and are relisted this year. Get to know them here …

– Washington Tennis & Education Foundation
– Empowered Women International
– Passion for Learning
– Arlington Food Assistance Center

Unfold in the Dream

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Julia Cain

“Everybody is different — even writers. You have to learn how to use your energy and not squander it. In the writing process, the more a story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful. I myself think a great deal before I go to sleep and the details sometimes unfold in the dream.”

— British novelist Doris Lessing, born today in 1919

Around Town: Coming Up

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Julia Cain

What’s coming up at Catalogue nonprofits? Glad you asked!

Anacostia Watershed Society (Lakewood Road, College Park, MD) — Cancelled

Join AWS, the Eyes of Paint Branch, and the DC Chapter of Surfrider for this annual cleanup on Saturday at 10:00 AM. Complete info right this way.

Our Daily Bread (field at 10515 School Street, Fairfax City, VA)

Take part in “Complete the Circle Event and FoodRaiser,” a meaningful and fun event to help needy families throughout the Fairfax County area, on Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. You can register right here.

Smith Center for Healing and the Arts (1632 U Street NW, Washington, DC ) —Postponed

This new series will begin with one hour of gentle yoga and create a safe, comfortable place for group members to share concerns and feelings, starting on Wednesday at 10:30 AM. Learn more this way.

Volunteer Fairfax (8333 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA)

On Thursday, this all-day conference, “Fairfax County Roundup: Whole Community Collaboration for Disaster,” will bring together the players that serve our community’s needs. Contact Matt Lyttle, Emergency Response Program Manager, at (703) 246-3553 with questions.

As Memory Is

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Julia Cain

It is useful to remember that history is to the nation as memory is to the individual. As persons deprived of memory become disoriented and lost, not knowing where they have been and where they are going, so a nation denied a conception of the past will be disabled in dealing with its present and its future. […]

History is a doomed enterprise that we happily pursue because of the thrill of the hunt, because exploring the past is such fun, because of the intellectual challenges involved, because a nation needs to know its own history. Or so we historians insist. Because in the end, a nation’s history must be both the guide and the domain not so much of its historians as its citizens.

— historian Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr., born today in 1917

Around Town: October 12-15

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Julia Cain

Have a good weekend, Greater Washington! And consider spending a day with a local nonprofit …

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW, Washington, DC)

Over 40 area artists in two spaces create “Signals,” DCAC’s new exhibition; JW Mahoney (DC curator and artist) aims to prove that there long has been a distinct “school” of DC art. Opening reception is today at 7:00 PM.

Anacostia Watershed Society (Bladensburg Waterfront Park, Bladensburg, MD) — Event Full

On Friday at 10:00 AM, build and install bird houses at our native meadow along the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River; all tools and supplies needed will be provided. More information this way!

Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States (600 Water Street SW, Washington, DC)

Tour the Potomac aboard the historic Sequoia Presidential Yacht. ANS Naturalists will highlight efforts to clean the river — and the work that still needs to be done. Event is filling fast; RSVP information is here.

Smith Center for Healing and the Arts (1662 U Street NW, Washington, DC)

Join in a therapeutic practice to align breath, movement, and awareness to restore balance and health at “Qigong: Going Within” on Monday at 8:00 AM. Learn more right here.

Also: the Acumen Solutions 4th Annual Race for a Cause is coming up this weekend. Race proceeds will be distributed to ten great nonprofits (eight of which are in the Catalogue network). Consider signing up today!

In The News: Shelters

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Julia Cain

From “With shelters full, homeless families have nowhere to go” in the Washington Post:

In a region with seven of the 10 most affluent counties in the country, family homelessness is on the rise — straining services, filling shelters and forcing parents and their children to sleep in cars, parks, and bus and train stations. One mother recently bought $14 bus tickets to and from New York so she and her 2-year-old son would have a safe place to sleep — on the bus. […]

The city has recently come under fire for turning away families seeking help as 118 overflow beds that were added last winter at DC General — the city’s main family homeless shelter — sit empty. A few places have recently opened up, but 500 families — some of whom are living with relatives or friends — are on a waiting list for housing.

Since the recession, homelessness among DC families has risen by 23 percent; in Maryland, “38 percent of homeless families are living on the streets.” Says Nassim Moshiree of Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless (a Catalogue nonprofit), “These families are the most desperate because they have young children and have nowhere to go.”

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In The Closeness

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Julia Cain

[…] Now sets the weary moon upon its slack seabed
Now the bursts of laughter quiet down, and even the storyteller
Nods his head like a child on his mother’s back
The dancers’ feet grow heavy, and heavy, too,
Come the alternating voices of singers.

Now the stars appear and the Night dreams
Leaning on that hill of clouds, dressed in its long, milky pagne.
The roofs of the huts shine tenderly. What are they saying
So secretly to the stars? Inside, the fire dies out
In the closeness of sour and sweet smells. […]

— excerpt from “Night in Sine”
Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet & president of Senegal, born today in 1906

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