What Christmas is All About

Merry Christmas everyone! Please enjoy the pictures below of our kids from the Altrusa Christmas Party. And remember the Reason For The Season as you celebrate with friends and family during this holiday season. Love to you all!

Blessings and Love,
From your family at the Dayton Christian Center

GetUp New Years Eve

Looking for something to do on New Year's Eve this year? Take a look. You're invited!

Groovy Steps

As a partner with GetUp Montgomery County we are trying to make the center a bit more healthy. I mean really, isn't our mission to enrich and empower lives one choice at a time? :-) With that said, we serve 3 meals a day that are well balanced and nutritious. As educators our goal is to incorporate more teaching about eating and living what we teach. Our staff have a snack box... with well... not so many healthy choices. We've taken a poll and created a list of some options. I am happy to say that we will be trying some of them out and see what happens.



Through LinkedIn we get a variety of information from GetUp and I just had to share this. Any ideas where we could do something like this. Any comments I'll relay to GetUp and maybe somewhere (or in several locations) we could get a cool set of stairs like this. Thoughts??

Ladies and Gents: We Have Press Coverage!!!

We are very proud to say that because of the hard work of Phil Greene, our new AmeriCorps member, the Dayton Christian Center was on Saturday night's 6:00pm news! The clip below portrays our annual Christmas Party hosted by the Altrusa Club of Dayton. Thank you WDTN Channel 2 News for coming out to the center and helping bring smiles to the staff who have been working hard to get us press coverage!

The party was held on Saturday, December 12. Each child received a present full of toys and clothes handed to them personally by Santa himself. Parents also received a goody bag full of toiletry items and a Bible. Pictures from this event will be posted soon!

Merry Christmas everyone!

CJ Volunteers are Simply Wonderful!

We were SO happy to have another volunteer day with the volunteers from Chaminade Julienne High School! We were truly blessed to have them come out on December 5th and finish our Christmas boxes for the kids and to make our parents boxes as well. We couldn't ask for better volunteers. Not only were they enthusiastic and fun, but they worked hard and fast! So fast that I ran out of projects for them to do!

Take a look at the pictures from the two groups that came out on December 5th. One group was here from 8am to 11:30am and the second group was here from 12pm to 3:30pm. All together, we have 29 volunteers from CJ that day. They came to us as part of the National Honor Society Program at CJ, run by Mr. Jim Sparrow. We couldn't be any more thrilled at how much work they got done and to top it off, we are expecting them to come back next year! Yay :) Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication CJ volunteers. See you next year!

Have a blessed Christmas everyone!

Betsy and the staff at DXC

Christmas with CJ

Wow! Time is flying past us and Christmas is going to be here in about 25 days! To help us get ready for the holidays, a group from Chaminade-Julienne came and helped us prepare Christmas boxes for the kids at the center. The groups were from the NHS program at CJ, and they were wonderful volunteers! We had around 30 volunteers at the center, half of them here from 8am to 12pm and the other half from 12pm to 4pm. They made homemade Christmas cards for the kids, made an inventory list of all the donations we have received, and made around 55 personalized boxes for each child full of toys, clothes, books, and school supplies. The second group was done early, so we had them sanitize our school rooms. We always appreciate a nice, clean, sanitized room :)

Another group from CJ will be here this coming Saturday and we can't wait! Take a minute to view the pictures below to see what hard working volunteers they were! And check back soon for more pictures from the second group!

Thank you CJ for working hard and for coming to DXC! We appreciate you! And most of all, the children will appreciate all the hard work you put into the boxes and into the homemade Christmas cards. We hope you all come back to visit!

Bless This Mess!!!

So many things are happening at DXC and we wanted to share them with you! Tasha's dad (Jerry)is in town and has been working so hard the last few days on rebuilding our steps and making a new sidewalk. He has been such a great help and we can't appreciate him enough! Jerry is a top notch volunteer!!! The sidewalk and steps look amazing, and we also appreciate all the small projects he has done during his visit.

Take a look at the pictures below to see all the hard work Jerry and a few other dedicated volunteers have done during the last few days at DXC. You can also see pictures of the construction from our new infant toddler room. We are doing great things at DXC and we couldn't have done it without your donations, your prayers, and your blessings!

Join Hands Miami Valley Day-Part 2

We already blogged about the first day of Join Hands Miami Valley Day weekend. This post is about Day 2! On October 24, we had a group from Sinclair Community College come out. All of the volunteers were part of the Young Scholars Program. I was so happy that they came out and they all worked so hard! Two volunteers scrubbed down our bathrooms from floor to ceiling, three volunteers scrubbed down our kitchen and oven (the oven has never been cleaner!)and all the other wonderful volunteers sanitized all the toys from the four classrooms, mopped floors, and cleaned and organized where needed.

Look at the pictures below to get a glimpse of what they did for us at DXC! Thank you Young Scholars! We hope you come back to visit.

Construction and Celebrations

We have finally begun construction on our new infant toddler room! Tasha, our Child Care Administrator and all the staff have been waiting for this day for who knows how long! And we can't wait for it to be finished. We already have 5 children who will be enrolled in the new room and we are sure to get more soon. They have torn out the wall between the two rooms that will be used (one side for napping and one side for play)and are currently working on tearing out the brick on one side to make a door. They will then rebuild a wall to make two gates going from one room to the other. We will keep you updated on what is going on with this huge project!

In the slideshow, you can also view pictures from Ms. Peggie's one year anniversary with DXC. We can't believe she has spent a whole year with us, but we are so happy to have her! We are truly blessed to have Ms. Peggie working here and we hope she stays at DXC for many years to come. We love you Ms. Peggie!

Join Hands Miami Valley Day: Spring Valley Academy!

It's time again for Make a Difference Day! This weekend, we are lucky to be a party of United Way's Join Hands Miami Valley Day (JHMVD). Today (Friday, October 23) volunteers from Spring Valley Academy came out and helped for a few hours. All the kids were excited to have them here and everyone had a wonderful time! In the toddler room it was all laughs and giggles! Block towers were being made out of kids and one of our boys was being tickled until he couldn't stand it anymore! And all the kids wanted to see the pictures I took with the camera! (see pictures below). In the Preschool room, towers were also being made of of plastic blocks. They also fingerpainted and watched Goofy on TV! Our volunteers assisted in the school age room too. They played board games with them and did some straightening. And you can't forget our wonderful infants. Our volunteers kept them so busy that they every single baby was asleep by lunchtime!

Not only were our volunteers in the classrooms but a few of the gentlemen helped organize and restock our pantry and kitchen freezer. They also helped move donations from our van to our garage!

A BIG thank you goes to Spring Valley Academey and their leaders. We appreciate you all being here and we appreciate all the help you gave us.

Berry Extreme Community Makeover

The Berry Company volunteered at the Dayton Christian Center on Monday, October 19 and did a wonderful job! We really enjoyed having them here. Ms. Peggie was so happy to have her fishtank cleaned and I was really happy to have all those weeds pulled and to have our Annex supply closet and Christmas closet organized. And you can't forget all the hard work they did on the garage! A big thanks also goes to McMrf who came out and took away all our office furniture that was not needed anymore.

Take a look at all the pictures that were taken while The Berry Company was here for the Berry Extreme Community Makeover. Thank you again Berry Company!

CHOICES PROGRAM-RED CROSS DAY!

We had a visit from our CHOICES Program at the Dayton Christian Center last Saturday. The Red Cross from Dayton came to the center to put on classes for the kids in the CHOICES Program and the kids at DXC. Classes included Scrubby Bear, FACT and Emergency Preparedness. A BIG thank you to the Red Cross for the awesome job you did! Thanks :) We hope you come back!

UD Fall Break Volunteers are AWESOME!

Volunteers from the University of Dayton helped out in our classrooms and with cleaning projects last Thursday and Friday, October 8-9, 2009. We were SO happy to have them here! And how great are they to come volunteer during their Fall Break! :) On Thursday, we split the group up and put a few of them in each classroom. The kids loved them and really appreciated them being here. And the UD kids were such troopers too. One of the babies spit up on a volunteer, but she just wiped it off and went on with her volunteering! That is what I call DEDICATION!

On Friday, the second UD group was very nice and helped us make our classrooms sparkle and shine! They cleaned all the cubbies, tables, windows and bookshelves in our school-age room, fixed/sanitized all the cots and toys in the toddler room, and sanitized all the toys in the infant room. They were such HARD WORKERS! Take a look at the pictures below! :)

Thank you UD Fall Break Volunteers. We hope you come back soon!

Miamisburg Christian Church Youth

A BIG Thank you to the Miamisburg Christian Church youth groups that spent 2 whole days at our center. The kids loved having you here and the Staff love having your passion and helping hands around. Your donation of mulch for the toddler playground was a wonderful surprise. Now the kids aren't covered in dirt and mud when they go out for their outside adventures. We hope that you had a much fun as we did!!! Looking forward to many more days and adventures with your group!

Camp Extreme from Camp Kirkwood

Camp Extreme from Camp Kirkwood - This was their day of volunteering at DXC.

Get Ready for the 2009 United Way Campaign

9-9-09 That's the day it officially begins! Not hard to forget because of the numbers, but mark your calendar now with a red marker! If you are in the Dayton area, please give generously to the United Way this year. And if you aren't, please give generously to the United Way in your community. As you will see in this video your support is needed more than ever! Oh, and the childcare part of this video is our kids in action at the center!! We're super excited to be included!



The Dayton Christian Center is a proud partner agency of the Greater Dayton United Way!

United Way Day of Action 2009

A BIG "Thank You!" goes to the UPS group who spent the entire day working at the Dayton Christian Center's West campus. They started at 7:45a raking the playground area that had been tilled the night before in preparation for the sod to be laid. Raking was a necessary step to get rid of the rocks. Who needs a rocky playground surface? :-)

As more UPS employees showed up, more work began on the side garden where we use to have a veggie garden. Now, it was waist high with weeds and it had been decided that wildflowers needed to be planted there to attract butterflies and certain birds. We'll see how that turns out. Our preschool classroom will keep us updated and is in charge of watering the new plants.

The group then moved onto the front the building where the thistles had taken over. And when I say take over... that was almost an understatement. No seriously... again waist high. Now you can actually see all the pretty flowers again and hopefully the new ones that were planted a few weeks ago will continue to creep (they're suppose to do that) and grow.

Back to the playground. (and and they did eat and rest sometime during the day which gave me - Sarah - the opportunity to talk with them about the Dayton Christian Center and all the fun things we have going on) We had 5 1/2 pallets of sod delivered and oops... it turned out to not be enough to cover the entire area we had planned on. So, plan B... moved some pieces around and ordered some more playground mulch. By 3:00, all weeds were removed, some locks were installed, some doors were rehung, sod laid, sprinklers running, mulch spread... and some fun ensued (ie. adults swinging on the swings and playing tag).

We made some new friends of the Dayton Christian Center and are hoping that the UPS employees will stay in touch. The kids can't WAIT to play on the new grass (they have to wait 3 LONG weeks to make sure it takes). Thanks again to the United Way for creating days like this to help out for BIG projects!!!

Here are just some of the pictures that were taken during the day!

Can You See Us Now?

The Dayton Christian Center has only one identifier. This sign: which is flat up on the building and even though it's pretty big, well... it's kinda hard to see until you pass by.

That changed a few weekends ago when a group of 5 volunteers from Wright State University took on the challenge of re-painting our current sign and adding not one, but two new signs. All in hopes of making it a not so "man, now I need to turn around because I just drove by" place. :-)

This took place over 2 days. The first day was a super beautiful Saturday in which the students started with this:

and turned it into this:
They not only did the new sign, but refreshed the one on the building and repainted it. We can't thank these students enough for their hard work!

DXC East is pretty too...

OK, so the outside of the building is not so great and it's actually pretty hard to find us because there is nothing that says outside "Dayton Christian Center". But come inside and you will find a warm and friendly environment teeming with young energy. Hope computers are your thing, but if not, we can find you some reading material and a comfy chair. Back massages are extra, but coffee is free.

-Eric

Less is More - ZenHabits

I want to introduce you to my favorite blogger, Leo Babauta. The only one I have ever deemed worthy of following. The website - zenhabits.net - is all about simplicity. His main idea is that having less is having more.

I believe almost all people subscribe to the idea of consumerism (including me although I try not to). But maybe it has caught up with you. In this tough economy, living like Leo can save you a LOT of money. And being a strapped-for-cash college student who tries his ideas, I can say that I have a lot of fun following them too.

I like his ideas because they are very win-win. We get a better life and so does our family. We get a better life and so does our wallet. We get a better life and so does the earth. Here is just a taste of what he shares with people. This has a focus on using less products to save money.



Thriving On Less

The Dayton Christian Center West Photo Shoot.

I got a FABULOUS new photo shoot I lined up last week for Dayton Christian Center. The Dayton Christian Center West building put on quite the show. You can see that it has been pampered lately.

The photos are hot off the press today, and I wanted everyone to check the photos out on the left hand side of the blog. Right above our animal visitors.

-Eric

CityLinks Conference

I went to a Conference last Thursday and I thought it was interesting so I wanted to share with all of you readers. I was really excited about a workshop they had about online tools, something about energizing the community using the Internet. Anyways, we basically talked about "what is a facebook?" and "is a google like a facebook?" Being the youngest person in all the hundreds at the conference, most people enjoyed it while I surfed the net on my ipod.

I was introduced to a little known Dayton website, called DaytonMostMetro which has news and events happening in Dayton. There is more cool stuff in our city than we know, so check it out for something fun to do this weekend.

BUT there was one workshop that was really interesting about SAFETY. Now this is something that I would never go to. I don't wear my seatbelt. I talk to strangers. I eat bacon. But wow, I enjoyed it. Probably because I was so surprised at how little I knew!

Chief Biehl was the first up. He talked about a lot of facts and statistics. He got down into the nitty gritty of the problem. Here are some things he talked about.
1.) Become friends with people that are watching what is going on every day in the neighborhood. This means nosy people, the elderly and law enforcement. They will know when unusual things are going on. Basically, he was trying to push for Community Involvement.
2.) The Police are limited in ability. Citizens report less than half of crimes. Police only solve about 20% of serious crimes. This only means they are solved it does not mean that the people are convicted. The two best tools police use are going after high rate offenders and keeping the forces in hot spot areas.
3.) In order to get involved in the community, you can join groups and organizations.

Common-Sense, sure, but I never thought about any of this.

-------

The next guy was Al Freeman. He was more abstract in his presentation, but I think it had the BEST information. This guy knew what was going on!

I'll start out with my favorite part - a quote from Ghandi. "Be the change you wish to see." Be the change you wish to see. Wow... great quote. So I have an unfriendly neighborhood, then I will create a fun cookout or block party for everyone. Or decorate some trees. Or have a neighborhood sidewalk chalk contest. I like that idea a lot.

Mr. Freeman started out with "The greatest crime in this country is..... . ...... unrealized potential." Ouch Eric. Sell your T.V. So true, we are lazy bums here. Nothing to do but we sure don't fill it up with stuff that will help us long term! Back to safety.

"Start working with young children." Now I sort of work in the childcare industry right now, and I can tell you that this is not what he means. Mr. Freeman was talking about that free time we have in front of the boob tube. We all of have so much experience to share with a child. We expect that a book is going to teach a child, but in reality sharing an experience with a child is going to teach them a lot more. Do you remember anything from reading a biology textbook? Now do you remember anything from going to the zoo? Less time and way more sticks in the brain. Plus, it is fun.

"Don't always rely on incarceration." Jail does not cure most bad people. When they get out they still have experience doing bad things. Like the last quote, we need to focus on people when they are younger, so they do not grow up to do things that are bad later in life. Mobilize the older population. There are lots of older people with free time who spend it watching game shows rather than teaching children. Rather than punishment, we need to set people up for a good life.

---------

The last guy was Barry Hall. Barry was cut short because we ran out of time, but I did get a smidgen of information from him, something that Biehl touched on. It's just a few guys doing most of the crime. I think Biehl said that there was a time when they found 10 of the 13 guys causing the most trouble, and there was so little crime, the police force was asking for something to happen! That is 10 guys. In a city. So you can see how a little can make a big difference if you apply it in the right places.

For a really interesting story on how one homeless guy cost over a million in a YEAR by not keeping an eye on him, check out Million Dollar Murry. It is only the one marked 1. so don't read it all if you don't want.


-Eric

It is Spring Break Week, a time for self reflection.

I was holed up at Sarah's desk yesterday; just Tasha, Marilynn and I hanging out in the office. In between being hard at work on different projects, we had our little watercooler chit-chats. The exception was that Tasha had a new quote that she could not stop imparting on us, laughing every single time she mentioned it. Please Tasha, no more about Peter!!!! Yet, I still blog about the guy because... it was a life lesson for Tasha and we could all benefit from listening to it.

"What does that have to do with you Peter?"



Maybe it was not such a bad thing that it was scarred in my brain. The lesson behind the quote is that in the Bible, Peter kept sticking his nose into other people's business. The disciples told Peter, "Stop! You are causing yourself undo stress and it is not good for you or anyone else!" So basically, that is what Tasha - and everyone around her - learned.

You will be more effective at work and home. You will be more focused on what YOU can do. And you will be happy forever. I hope I don't have it stuck in my brain forever, but I hope the idea will serve me for the rest of my life....

Thanks Tasha.



-Eric

The Story of Stuff

Today in class, my teacher showed us a video about Where stuff comes from and Where it goes. I thought it was so interesting, that I thought everyone who sees my blog should also watch it. It is weird to think that this is REAL!


Maybe I will run around nude in the wilderness. OK no, but I like knowing all the information shared. You will like it too.


The Story of Stuff

A Whole Lot of Visitors Yesterday

If you follow Dayton Christian Center on Twitter, you might have known that we were going to have a very special visitor yesterday. Roland Winburn, our state representative, came to visit our West campus.

I really do not follow politics at all. Sure, I support Obama. But, I am not interested to know what most people think I should about all of that political stuff. I am pretty sure Mr. Winburn is a big deal though. (I wonder if he has leather bound books and his apartment smells of rich mahogany?) Even though he is a bigwig, he was not the star of the show...


We had a lady (Julie? I'll go with Julie.) come and visit us with ANIMALS from the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. All of the kids that were around got to sit and watch Julie put on quite a performance. Everyone but the smallest children were able to pet all of the animals. I'll do a quick recap.

Fat-tailed Gecko -> It was pretty tame. It stores fat in it's tail for use when starved. Like human's bellies.
Constrictor Snake -> It is native to this part of Ohio, but it goes after mice and was not poisonos.
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach -> The little guys hisses when it's scared. It must not have been very scared, but I think a few adults hissed at it.
Ring-Neck Dove -> Cool fact - they mate for life. Meaning when one dies, the other one never mates again.
Oppossum -> It did not play dead. It seemed the most calm of all the animals in fact. It was double the average life expentacy at a full 4 years old. It kind of freaked me out because it stores fat behind it's eyes, and since it was old and fat the eyes were bulging with veiny fat behind them. Mmmm thanks for that Eric. Also, Julie asked the audience what other kinds of animals are nocturnal. Bob's son replied "college students". Smart Kid.


-Eric

A Lonely Day at Work

Bob Bishop (the big boss) is one of the hardest people to get a hold of. I see him once or twice a week, and that includes our weekly meetings. And by see him, I mean catch a glimpse of him. Have you ever seen a horror movie when the bad guy appears right behind you? Well Bob is that guy. Except he is the happiest and nicest man alive.

I bring this up because today, for the first time, I was hanging out in the office with just Bob. He was here for probably 4 hours today! Which might be a new record. And none of the other office workers were around to see it today.


On another note, I have a new facebook page up. And also here is the fan page. I beg you to join both because I desperately want people to think Dayton Christian Center is cool, and we all know that you have to have a ton of friends on facebook to be cool.


-Eric

Ms. Asia, our famous cook

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite people at Dayton Christian Center - Ms. Asia. We are so lucky to have her because she KNOWS how to cook. I have never seen someone that can take regular food and make it so good! You would be surprised how even the picky kids can dig into her food.

Last Monday she made a meal from cans in our pantry. You would think that it would taste like plain old can food, but no... it was heavenly. And I don't even talk about my mom's food like this. (Sorry Mom) I think her secret is all the love she puts in every meal. :) ...Plus she's just darn good at fixing meals.


-Eric

We have some leakage.

Normally when we have leakage, it is from an infant. Not from a room. Lately that has changed, and we do in fact have a leaky room.

Over the weekend, we had carpet cleaners come clean up what we feared would turn into a smelly mess. The cleaners came, but so did the smell. So right now we are dreaming and scheming a way to get rid of the smell and not keep the infant and toddler rooms closed down for too long. And also to save money. We are nonprofit after all.

Hopefully, it will all be better for tomorrow. If not, we will call and let you know.


-Eric

Hi! My name is

Eric Cady

I have realized that although you all may be reading the blog, nobody really knows who the writer is. Here is a little bit about myself.

I am the online presence that keeps this and other Dayton Christian Center web pages updated - with assistance from my coworker Sarah Wahn-Williams. (She is actually the brains behind it, I just have more free time!) I am currently a student at the University of Dayton, a fantastic college located 15 minutes from both the East and West campuses of the Dayton Christian Center.

The reason I am working at the Dayton Christian Center is because I was lucky enough to get involved in Semester of Service. Semester of Service is just what it sounds - a semester spent primarily in a service related job rather than the classroom. It is sort of like a internship with the intention that you are going to go back to your chosen field. A unique learning experience would be a slightly cheesy but true way to put it.

My major is Psychology, but I have interests in some Business, Philosophy, and Physics. I actually just took a pretty sweet personality test based off of the "classic" ones. I am a green. Check out true colors and learn about yourself!

-Eric

New Furniture

Last week, we had been slowly moving furniture out and around over at East to prepare for new furniture arriving last Friday. Some of the regular guys that come here here helped out, and Harvey, one of Jodi's friends, came and assisted in the move. Harvey's job is to move furniture and he is a former power lifter so he could pretty much palm all the furniture.

The new furniture is a welcome addition. It is much more "Feng Shui". Instead of a conglomeration of random articles of furniture, we now have a much more professional looking establishment. Come check it out! And if you want, you can get your taxes done too. Check out the Tax post.

-Eric

New Toys!

Dayton Christian Center West now has a ton of new toys. We had a grant approved that allowed us to purchase a whole slew of new toys for the children. Tasha, the site coordinator and toy purchaser, tried to focus on toys that are a lot of fun but have some educational value as well. There are plenty of fantastic childrens books, a listening center and other creative things like a puppet theater and felt art board. Come in and hang out with your children and check out the new toys!

Tasha thought it was so much fun putting the toys together that I should do it by myself. Thanks Tasha. The single-seat child police car was harder to put together than anything I have ever assembled in my life. I guess Fisher-Price can make a car kit, but still need to learn how to make the directions. I remember as a kid always wishing the thing had wheels like a bike. Does anyone else think they should build these things for speed?


-Eric

We are improving West campus building!

Dayton Christian Center has budgeted for some major changes in the West campus! This is a list straight from Tasha Johnson, the Childcare Director/Administrator for West campus. That is a fancy title for such a wonderfully nice and down to earth lady.

-Update floors in the toddler room and preschool room.
-Put in a bathroom in the preschool room.
-Add an emergency exit door to the new infant/toddler room.
-Add a walk way between the new infant/toddler room sleep area and play area.
-Add air conditioning to the new infant/toddler room.
-Add plumbing to the new infant/toddler room for handwashing/diapering
-Playground news updated
-Landscaping
-Kitchen in the house needs to be repaired from the pipes breaking.
-Kitchen in the main building needs updated.


You can see, there are major changes going on in Dayton Christian Center. We hope that these changes will benefit you and your children.


-Eric

Some troubles with Taxes...

There was a few hiccups in setting the computers up in preparation for Tax Time. A few of you may have missed out, but we did our best to get everyone fit in. Now we have everything up and running, so there is no need to worry about a slowdown again.

Everyone that needed to be contacted already has been, so if you have not, do not worry about it. Jerry looks forward to doing your taxes!


-Eric

Taxes on February 2nd

We are getting ready to have someone come in and do taxes for you! Jerry is great at what he does, and you don't need to do it.

Taxes will be done at East campus, over at 101 Linden Avenue, on the backside of the church. If you want to make an appointment, give us a call at 937-424-3550. Jerry will be around from February 2nd until April 15th Monday Wednesday and Friday.

Also, there may be a Spanish/English translator. Call to check if it is finalized.


-Eric