Above are some pictures of recent volunteers and "happenings" at the Dayton Christian Center. These volunteers have truly been lifesavers! Our biggest project right now is on the East Side at the Emergency Services Program Building. This building is governed by the board that governs DXC. Along with Feed Dayton, we are making an urban farm and creating programming to go along with the garden. Please look at the pictures of Drew, our University of Dayton Grad Student and the helpers he brought on to clean up the building and surrounding area! I am going to blog more about this new initiative as we go, so be on the lookout!
We also had a group come on Saturday, March 6th to help with some spring cleaning and organization projects! That day, we had a desk built, classroom toys were sanitized, donations were inventoried and organized, and DXC looked that much brighter at the end of the day! (Some of these pictures have gone MIA, but as soon as I find out where they went, I will post them!) Throughout the past two weeks, we have also had individuals do craft projects in the classrooms, clean the kitchen, and educate our school-age room on theater, science and math.
All of the volunteers were truly a delight to have and we hope they all come back soon. The center has been so crazy the last few months and having the volunteers come here and donate their time and resources has truly been a blessing.
Signing off for now until the next free moment I can blog :)
*Betsy* Volunteer and Community Outreach Coordinator
There are no words to describe the crazy two months the Dayton Christian Center has had. Changes, transitions, new staff and new volunteers are the reason this is so! Since our partnership with the "Give A Day. Get A Disney Day." program, we have had 25 new volunteers. And this month, we have another 30 volunteers signed up! Our volunteers have done a wonderful job helping in our kitchen and classroom. We also now have two beautiful scrapbooks and two excel referral databases which will help us for years to come. Recently, we have a very gracious volunteer from Kentucky who helped us out. Between her and her family, they worked for 98 hours to make us beautiful quilts to use in our classrooms! Even her granddaughter helped out. We can't say thank you enough for all the hard work our volunteers have done for us at DXC. We hope they all come back to volunteer again.
If you are interested in being a part of this program or are interested in just coming to volunteer with us, please contact Betsy at (937) 275-7174. We have volunteer activities for all ages!
Since no one who knows Cardella would even briefly imagine her to be shy, we have to conclude she's part of the Federal Witness Protection Program.
There’s been a new addition to the DXC family this month.Cardella Scroggins has joined the team as an assistant to Tasha in the Childcare program.Cardella comes to us as an Americorps member and was previously posted to HighRise Services here in Dayton.She’s completing her degree in Early Childhood Education and she has already been busy developing a new integrated curriculum, evaluation policy and working closely with Tasha on several other projects – not to mention cleaning, straightening and organizing everything in sight!In fact, a staff member took a nap at break time only to find herself cleaned, pressed and hanging in the closet.She was rescued by Sarah who was looking for some copier paper.
All kidding aside, we’re really happy to have Cardella working with us.She sets the bar pretty high and keeps us on our toes, which is a good thing, and we’re convinced that she’s going to help us make a positive difference in the lives of our kids.
Cardella brings the Americorps count at DXC to back up to two, with yet another one coming on soon.(We’ll have an announcement on that soon, we hope.)Americorps has let us increase the staff here to levels that have been needed for a long time.With the experience and skills Americorps members provide, we’re able to begin moving forward with some very exciting new plans and programs (again – more coming on these later) and have the impact on our community that we’ve been looking for. Besides Cardella, our media relations are being handled by an Americorps member.
Cardella will be with us at least through September when her Americorps commitment closes out, but we hope she’ll be able to stay on much longer.
During the last month, we have had a large number of volunteers at the Dayton Christian Center. This, due to our partnership with "Give A Day. Get A Disney Day." This program allows anyone over the age of 6 to give back to their community for one day and in return receive a free ticket to Disney theme parks! This wonderful partnership has gave us the ability to meet so many new people and to learn ways to better our volunteer program. The pictures below are from a few volunteers who have taken advantage of the program during January and the first part of February. We have had volunteers make scrapbooks, create excel documents, do craft projects in our classrooms, clean our kitchen and organize our very messy lounge room. We have many more signed up to volunteer this month and next month as well! We look forward to having them all here!
If you are interested in being a part of this program, please contact Betsy at 937-275-7174 or log onto disneyparks.com to learn more. Tickets are going quick, with over 500,000 given away already. This program continues until December 15, 2010 or until all 1 million tickets have been given away.
Join us for a morning with registered dietician and nutritionist Alberta Scruggs, DTR. Alberta will be sharing the important life skill of healthy eating through the preparation of nutritious and delicious foods without emptying your wallet. Learn the basics of nutrition, how to make healthy food choices, and how to prepare healthy and tasty meals. Some food will be prepared during our time together for you to try. Saturday, March 6th from 10 am to Noon in the basement of Our Lady of Mercy Church (Founders Hall) at 533 Odlin Ave. Dayton 45405. (From Main St./St. Rt. 48: Turn onto West Siebenthaler. Go one block. Turn left onto Odlin Ave.) Contact Jennifer Melke at 274-2107 ext. 106 or email her here for questions or to RSVP. RSVP is requested (for food purposes) but not required to attend. Please note though, if you do not RSVP, there may not be enough food for you to eat.
DAYTON-- The Dayton Christian Center (DXC) has joined the Disney Parks Give A Day. Get A Disney Day®. volunteer incentive program, according to the organization's Volunteer and Community Outreach Coordinator, Betsy Fox.
The program, Fox said, was developed by Disney Parks to encourage people to volunteer in ways that will benefit their communities and contribute to the quality of living there.It rewards community volunteer service by giving a voucher for one day's free admittance to a Disney theme park.These vouchers are limited to one voucher per person, Fox said.
“It's a way to get families together and to go out into their communities and, in return, get a free ticket to a Disney theme park,” Fox said.“And, if they can’t use it or decide they don’t want to use it, the ticket can be donated.”She said it cannot be transferred to another individual, but there is a list of organizations on the website to which the voucher can be donated.
The program is open to anyone over the age of 18 and to children of volunteers, Fox said, and entire families are encouraged to register.Children between the ages of 6 and 18 are eligible for a park voucher, but must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian during any volunteer activity.
Registration can be completed by visiting the Disney Parks website and clicking on the “Search and Sign Up” button at the top of the web page.From there, they will be asked to enter their zip code and to choose areas of interest.There is also a box to check for opportunities that include children along with parents.
When a person chooses an opportunity on the DaytonChristianCenter’s list, Fox said, an email is sent to her and she must contact that individual within 72 hours.Normally, Fox said, she tries to contact the volunteers by phone, but also makes use of email.A date will be scheduled for the volunteer service.When it is completed, Fox notifies Disney Parks and the voucher is sent to the volunteer. The program will last until December 15, 2010 or until the vouchers are gone.Disney Parks has a goal of getting one million people to volunteer this year.
“The neat thing is that they don't have to wait until they volunteer,” Fox said.“[The ticket] will be reserved as soon as their registration is completed.”She added that the voucher will not be sent out, however, until she verifies that the individuals who registered have actually completed the day's service.
DXC has a number of volunteer opportunities, Fox said, and it is easy to register and volunteer.
“DaytonChristianCenter operates several daycare rooms at out site at 1352 Riverview Ave, “she said.“As part of that care, we provide each child with three meals every day, so we have opportunities for those who want to help with the children and in the kitchen.They can also work with the kids doing crafts and art projects.”
But, she added, there are many other ways to help out.Fox said that the Center is involved in reorganizing its Administrative Offices at the Riverview location and is in need of help to with some light cleaning, maintenance, and getting the new offices set up, along with doing some office work such as data entry and filing.
But the one of the areas the center needs the most help in is with its VITA program, Fox said.
That program – the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program – offers help to families or individuals in need of tax filing.That program will start up in early February and will continue through the April 15 filing deadline.
“This would be a really good way for someone who knows about filing tax returns to help out in the community and get something in return,” Fox said.“We have quite a few volunteer openings in this area.”
But, she said, the Center is open to anyone who wants to be of service to the community.
Fox said DXC decided to get involved with the Disney program because of its new vision and commitment to the community in new ways.
“[This is a] new year and a new year brings new opportunities to reach out with new programs,” she said.“This is an easy way to reach out to others and let them know we appreciate them for volunteering.”
Additionally, she said that she hopes that people find their own reward in volunteering
“Volunteering is a great thing to do and I'm really glad that Disney came up with a way for people to get something back, but I hope they enjoy their work enough that they will want to come back and continue to volunteer with us,” Fox said.
She said more information on the “Give A Day, Get A Disney Day” program, or to register, people may visit the website at DisneyParks.com.For more information on volunteering with the DaytonChristianCenter, she recommended people contact her directly at 937-275-7174 or at bfox@daytonchristiancenter.org.
DaytonChristianCenter is a faith-based community center founded by the National Ministries American Baptist Churches USA in 1921 and is one of 19 similar centers nationwide with the mission of enriching and empowering lives, one choice at a time.For more information on the DaytonChristianCenter and its programs and services, call the Center at 937-275-7174 or at daytonchristiancenter.org.
A New Year means a new beginning for the Dayton Christian Center. As some of you might have heard, there has been big news surrounding the Dayton Christian Center. We wanted to share this news with our blog followers.
This is the article as it reads in the Dayton Daily News. Courtesy of Meredith Moss, Staff Writer for the Dayton Daily News:
The Dayton Christian Center, a presence in the Miami Valley since 1921, has closed its Linden Avenue location in East Dayton as of Jan. 1, and plans to reopen by March in an expanded but still undisclosed location.
The Rev. Bob Bishop, executive director of the organization, said the group has been in discussions with the city regarding a larger new home, and said that the location will definitely be in East Dayton.
“We’ve been renting space from a church that was way too small for what we needed,” Bishop explained, estimating that the group serves up to 600 clients each month on Linden Avenue. Because a one-year lease had to be renewed with the church by Jan. 1, he said the board decided the time was right to initiate the change.
The two Centers offer programming ranging from Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) to meals for the homeless and day care. The West side location, at 1352 W. Riverview Ave., is housed in a building constructed in 1950.
Bishop said one of the proposed projects is a new sports and wellness program that will be organized by Drew Formentini, a University of Dayton graduate student assigned to the Center for the next two years.
“The idea is to link a variety of different agencies and programs in East Dayton and put them together in a way that will hopefully revitalize the community,” Bishop said.
He said he is hopeful the new location will be available even before March on a rental basis so that the VITA program and the new sports program can be offered there. He said grants also are being pursued.
Bishop, who oversees both locations, said the Centers have a staff of 20, some of whom are paid by other community organizations such as AmeriCorps and Wright State University. The Linden Avenue location was opened in 2005. It also offered tutoring and drop-in guidance to help clients hook up with a variety of community organizations.
“What gives me the greatest pleasure is to know that we are not only helping people today, but hopefully changing the structure for many generations after us,” said Bishop, who took his job in 2003 after serving as a church pastor for 17 years.
“As a faith-based community center, our faith drives us to do what we do,” said Bishop. “Hopefully, the plan we’re going to unfold will be big news for all of East Dayton.”
For information, visit www.daytonchristiancenter.org
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or mmoss@Dayton DailyNews.com.
We, at the Dayton Christian Center are very positive that this will be the change that Dayton Christian Center needs. This change helps us to put more focus on programs and to reach out to even more families in Dayton. We will be able to provide more information soon, but I hope this gives you a glimpse of what will be for the Dayton Christian Center in 2010. Please continue praying for us!
During the last month, we have had a large number of volunteers at the Dayton Christian Center. This, due to our partnership with "Give A Day. Get A Disney Day." This program allows anyone over the age of 6 to give back to their community for one day and in return receive a free ticket to Disney theme parks! This wonderful partnership has gave us the ability to meet so many new people and to learn ways to better our volunteer program. The pictures below are from a few volunteers who have taken advantage of the program during January and the first part of February. We have had volunteers make scrapbooks, create excel documents, do craft projects in our classrooms, clean our kitchen and organize our very messy lounge room. We have many more signed up to volunteer this month and next month as well! We look forward to having them all here!