I may be biased, but I think I have the best volunteer jobs ever! April 18-22 I had the pleasure of attending District 5510′s RYLA in Heber, AZ at the wonderful Camp Ponderosa. Somewhere in between the many adult and boring tasks at hand, like attendance lists and printing workbooks, I got to staff the Photo Booth at the dance!
Give it up for ASU Rotaract for helping me staff the Photo Booth!
If you’d like to see this photo booth at your event, contact evrotaract [at] gmail.com!
In February East Valley Rotaract participated in the AZ Bed Race 2012! The bed race benefits Bridging AZ Furniture Bank, which provides beds to children in need and furnishes the homes of those who have graduated from social programs. Over 20 teams raced mattresses on wheels down Tempe Marketplace.
East Valley Rotaract joined Verizon Enterprise Solutions to raise money and deliver manpower for the team. Between both Rotaract and Verizon, $6,300 in cash donations were raised – with Verizon agreeing to match the donation dollar-for-dollar. The combined total of $12,600 accounted for roughly half the total amount raised at this awesome event.
It was a lot of fun and raised money for a very worth-while cause. It’s great when clubs can partner with the private sector to leverage greater resources and make a more meaningful impact on our communities.
EVRC members in front, Aaron & Laura. Zach is the in the back on the right.
Details and updates at the Facebook page: Color RunOn Saturday, Oct. 29, we hosted a photo booth during the Tempe Halloween Carnival at Kiwanis Park. It was our first time trying the idea out and it turned out to be such a success – and it was so much fun! Jessica found a decent printer on Craigslist, I used my Nikon D40 camera and Laura brought the printer paper and ink. We had a spooky backdrop and some props for the kids and parents to put on and for 4 tickets, they could get one picture printed.
Our lines became so long. It was definitely a hit! The pictures were a little slow to print so we got backed up, but everyone was very understanding and were just having a great time. We also grabbed a few email addresses for those who were unable to wait for the photos and just emailed it to them the next day. We can’t wait for the next opportunity to do another photo booth. Contact us if you are interested!
-Ashley
You’re hooked on Rotaract. You like to volunteer. You like to learn about other countries and cultures. But how does your service fit into the bigger picture?
Join us at ASU’s Memorial Union for a day of talks aimed at how volunteering pays off for the community and us as Rotaractors.
Learn more about Fall Leadership Conference.
Join us for our next Happy Hour on Wednesday, August 17 from 6-9 p.m at Canteen Modern Tequila Bar in Tempe. Happy hour ends at 6:30 pm so hurry your behinds!
We’re happy to welcome some new members to East Valley Rotaract at happy hour, so be ready to celebrate!
We have reserved the fire pit and lounge area on the back patio. Please enter through the front of the restaurant and they’ll direct you to the group.
Can’t wait to see you!
Canteen Modern Tequila Bar
640 S Mill Ave
Tempe, AZ
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie was just one of the tons and tons of children’s books that we read to a group of deserving children at UMOM New Day Centers. East Valley Rotaract came with 7 volunteers, but overall there must have been over 40! The more volunteers that come, the greater chance each child can get a volunteer to them self. We read to each other for an hour and at the end each child could choose 3 books to take home with them. To keep. How awesome is that?
Without your support the average 50 kids that attend Read to Me each week wouldn’t be able to take home a book. Please consider donating your used, but truly loved, children’s and young adult books to UMOM. Contact Michelle Hargreaves.
East Valley Rotaract and Camelback Crossroads
Remember back in the day, sitting in a circle on the classroom floor, listening to the teacher, or your parent, read you amazing stories? Did you imagine you were traveling through space, living with dinosaurs or playing in the snow along with the lead character in the book? When you went to sleep after hearing the story, did you have special dreams about things like dinosaurs, snow and space?
On Tuesday, June 28th we have the opportunity to read to a group of children at UMOM New Day Centers while their parents attend classes. Consider spending time with us from 5:45-7:30pm inspiring the imagination of a child at UMOM. Book donations make it possible for every child to go home with a book at the end of the evening!
UMOM is at 3333 East Van Buren Street, Phoenix. Please let the front office know you are with East Valley Rotaract, volunteering for Read to Me.
To register for Read to Me for your group or organization, please click here.
To learn more about volunteer opportunities at UMOM such as tutoring, donation assistance and family move-in aide, please click here.
Everyone loves to dress up and be silly sometimes and we used that to our benefit at the District 5510 Conference last week. What’ s more fun at a party than dancing? A photo booth, that’s what. After a couple beverages our Rotarian leaders were delighted to dress up in funny hats and props to take pictures on our little MacBook Photobooth set up.
Everyone from Past District Governors, their wives, and the RYLA students in attendance struck a pose for us.
View the full album here.
The proceeds will support the UMOM Youth Garden at UMOM New Day Centers in Phoenix. Want to support the garden? contact info@eastvalleyrotaract.com.
The corn isn’t that high, but it is as tall as a three year old. That three year old was fascinated with the flowers, watermelon and eggplant in the UMOM Youth Garden. Aiden and his little sister Angela were two of the almost 15 children who came to see us on Saturday morning.
In two months, dirt, water and baby vegetable plants have grown into prize winning plants, some the size of a couch! Eggplant, squash and peppers were ripening all over the place. The children were especially fascinated with the watermelon. After planting pumpkin seeds of their own, the children were invited to pick their own vegetable to take home.
A chart was made of all of the vegetables, herbs and flowers that we planted. Growth of the plants and output of vegetables will be recorded and a plan will be made for which vegetables will be best to plant next spring. The better we plan ahead, the more vegetables to share with the clients and the catering kitchen.
We are spending the next two months planning for our fall garden. Green, leafy vegetables are first on our list, as they will tolerate our ‘cold’ season. Please join us in August to plant our fall selection!
