Contribute and get fed!

A number of Board members have mentioned their willingness to host fundraiser dinners where a member will invite a number of their friends over for dinner, serve food and ask for donations.

A similar thought would be that every time SEEC Board members ask to have a dinner meeting at a restaurant, we instead gather at a member’s house for a meal and donation.  This meal could be a group effort- a potluck of sorts where members will bring food to contribute- or a singular effort where one member would prepare a meal.

Think about it- a tray of lasagna feeds a lot of people and although time-consuming to make by scratch, it is not unbearable to prepare.  If 5-8 people who chowed down contributed $10-$20 bucks, SEEC would have gained $50-160 (taking the lowest and highest scenarios).  Not too shabby.

I suppose the success of this meal depends on how well our Board members cook or, alternatively, how tolerant the members are of other people’s food.

I cook well

Budget Holdups in VA Counties

The Washington Post Express reported on Monday, November 10, 2008 that Loudon County is suspending 22 projects that would have been dedicated to capital improvements such as work on roads, libraries, and community centers.  The justification behind the suspension was a fear of a lingering $176 million dollar gap in the budget.

Just yesterday on the Arlington Virginia Network, I read a scroll across the bottom of the television screen that relayed from County Budget Manager Ron Carvee that Arlington is facing a $14 million dollar budget gap.

How do budget gaps affect SEEC’s funding?

James B. Hunter Human Rights Award

The James B. Hunter Human Rights Award is given out each year to four individuals, groups, or businesses that demonstrate a firm dedication to human rights in Arlington County.  Check out http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/Commissions/HumanRights/news/HumanRightsNewsJamesBHunterAward.aspx for more information on the criteria of the award nominee, guidelines, past recipients and an award application.

From browsing the page of past recipients, I gather that Andres won this award in 2004.  Since he is a recent recipient, I doubt we would want to nominate him again (hey, share the wealth! there are plenty of hard working people in the county).  Would this award be something that your organization would be up for?  or you?  or SEEC?

Award nomination applications (and supporting material- press clippings, letters of support) are due in a week – November 17, 2008.  I would be happy to write a letter on someone’s behalf.

Combined Federal Campaign

Every year, representatives from the federal government have sent around a booklet and flier for the Combined Federal Campaign (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Federal_Campaign), a campaign that highlights 4,000 charities and establishes a means through which federal employees can donate to charities through payroll deductions.

I browsed through the CFC catalog and see a bunch of Hispanic organizations but not SEEC.  Could we ever be in this catalog or are we too controversial?  I have little idea how an organization coul get included.