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NEW MEMBER! The Labyrinth Resource Group. Bring the experience of a meditative labyrinth walk to children. Join us!

The Labyrinth Resource Group of Santa Fe was founded in 1998 to “encourage the creation and use of labyrinths as a path of healing, inspiration and peace.”

In addition to meditative labyrinth walks and educational programs, a major focus of the group has been to bring the labyrinth experience to children. Children use the labyrinth to calm down, to deal with grief, to solve problems, to resolve conflict, to handle anger or sadness, to celebrate joy or just to have fun!

The Labyrinth Resource Group has been involved in developing labyrinth programs and building labyrinths in 11 elementary schools in the Santa Fe area.  Featured on right is the labyrinth at E J Martinez School the day we built it. [Photo by George Henke.]

Now some of those labyrinths are gone as a result of construction projects, others are not being used effectively and many schools have never had a labyrinth program. As leader of the Labyrinths in Schools Committee for our group, I am organizing volunteers to help schools revive their labyrinth programs and bring new labyrinths to interested schools.

There are many ways volunteers can help: meet with school personnel, introduce the labyrinth to staff and students and help in planning and building labyrinths. Most of the school labyrinths are made by setting stones on a pattern marked on the ground but in our current project the lines of the labyrinth will be painted on blacktop.

I am particularly interested in finding retired teachers and others who are comfortable going into the classroom to introduce the labyrinth to children.  I will work with you to develop your presentation and will share my audio-visual materials.

If you are interested in any aspect of what we are doing, PLEASE CONTACT ME:
MARGE McCARTHY AT 989-8231 or margemccarthy26@comcast.net 
For more information about labyrinths and our group, see our website: http://www.labyrinthresourcegroup.org/

NEW MEMBER! THE LIFE LINK needs you! Got skills in public relations or design/technical skills for Dreamweaver?

Editor's Note:  Welcome, Welcome to our new E¡V! Member and scroll down to read about The Life Link Second Annual Parking Lot Sale coming up May 1st.

The Life Link is a licensed community mental health center helping individuals and families who are homeless and displaced achieve self-sufficiency through emergency assistance, housing and other supportive programs, including advanced addiction and behavioral health treatment services.

We are interested in finding a volunteer who can help us improve our name recognition in Santa Fe so that more people know about our services. It sometimes seems we are better known nationally than locally. Our staff are mostly involved in crises management on a daily basis and there never seems to be time to do public relations work.

In these days of funding cuts and need for services, a volunteer who could help us with better public relations and/or Dreamweaver website technical or design assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Interested?  Please contact me.
Laura Feldberg at 505-438-0010 x31,
email: lfeldberg@thelifelink.org
Visit our website HERE.

ONE MORE THING...our upcoming fund raiser...
The Life Link Second Annual Parking Lot Sale
SAVE THE DATE! and DONATE ITEMS IN ADVANCE IF YOU CAN.
Saturday May 1, 2010, 9am - 2pm
At our location, 2325 Cerrillos Road, directly across from Smith's.
We are looking for Donations of items that sell well: all furniture, electrical appliances, decorative items, books, etc.  PLEASE: No used clothes, torn or broken items.  And, thank you!

Visit E¡V! at Santa Fe CommUNITY Day Festival on the Plaza, May 15th

We're broadening our community exposure to recruit more Volunteers. Instead of staging our own public event this year (you may recall discussions about the E¡V! FAIR), we'll participate in various high-attendance community events to give E¡V! the greatest possible public exposure in the shortest period of time.

MAY 15

City of Santa Fe CommUNITY Day Festival
on The Plaza

11:00 AM-10:00 PM Entertainment

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Booths, including E¡V!

Please drop in and say "Hi."

SAVE THE DATE.  TELL & BRING YOUR FRIENDS.
I'd love to talk to you in person about your interests.
Let's see if we can find you something wonderful to do in Santa Fe
that will feed your soul!!!  
This wonderful community we all call home needs you!!!

NEW MEMBER! Nothing feels better than helping someone else find a job! Volunteer at The 50+ Employment Connection

Editor's Note:  Welcome to our new member of E¡V!
The 50+ Employment Connection - a unique service looking for a very specfic kind of volunteer.  If you fit the following description, this sounds like a very worthwhile endeavor...& fun!

Are you over 50, computer literate, a former business woman or man, have job counseling experience?

Santa Fe now has the best job search support center for persons 50+ in the State.  And Volunteers are needed to develop jobs with local businesses, to help customers revise resumes, administer a job club or teach cutting edge job search techniques. Be part of a dynamic workforce center in Santa Fe helping to beat the recession!

The 50+ Employment Connection is at 301 West De Vargas.  Open weekdays 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

If interested in volunteering, please call me.
Sondra Match at 505/474-3800, Ext 1007.

Adult literacy needs you ASAP! Give the gift of reading, writing & speaking English!

49% of adults in Santa Fe County are either functionally illiterate or speak only limited English!!! 49%!!!

LVSF's outreach is unique and impressive, including a variety of literacy programs from its home base at Santa Fe Community College, at workplaces in Santa Fe and in locations throughout the community.

Give the gift of reading, writing, and speaking in English by tutoring adults twice a week for 1-2 hours each time. The rewards are greater than you can ever imagine.

Upcoming Tutor Trainings
These are the last sessions until next fall. Trainings are held at Santa Fe Community College.
Basic Literacy Tutor Training involves a commitment of 20 hours.
Thursday, April 22, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Friday and Saturday, April 23 and 24, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

English as a Second Language Training involves a commitment of 20 hours.
Thursday, May 20, 2010, 4:00-6:00 pm and
Friday and Saturday, May 21 and May 22, 9:00 am-5:00 pm

The Tutor Application form is on our website.
Or call 505-428-1353.

Or, if you have FUND RAISING TALENT and want to help resolve our very serious funding situation...you might prefer staging a wonderful, one-time fund raising event with us!!!! That would be a HUGE help! This does not have to be an on-going volunteer commitment.

Please contact me: Meredith Machen, LVSF Board President, 505-577-6337, mermachen@cybermesa.com or visit our website to learn more about us,  http://www.lvsf.org/

Santa Fe Public Schools really needs Volunteers. If it helps kids, how good is that? Apply now.

Got time for helping kids? Believe attention to our young people in any fashion is an investment in their future - and ours? Then consider volunteering with the Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS) this coming school year!

What can you do? Take a look at this list! Surely something will "call" to you. Anything you sign up for will be appreciated and valuable!

• Participate in reading programs!
• Provide computer training and assistance.
• Assist with science projects and field trips.
• Act as mentors to students.
• Provide positive adult role modeling.
• Assist with use of media centers.
• Provide individual attention.
• Share your hobby with classes.
• Act as a community resource instructor.
• Assist on advisory committees.
• Lend support to school offices.

BUT FIRST... you've got to fill out a SFPS VOLUNTEER APPLICATION from which a background check will be conducted. So contact Helen Pacheco ASAP for the application...and Helen will also tell you about upcoming Volunteer Orientation and school tours.
Email me: SFPS Volunteer Coordinator, Helen Pacheco, HPACHECO@sfps.info

1st & 2nd graders at The Santa Fe Boys & Girls Club would love to read to you - with your help along the way.

Remember...this program is ideal if your schedule is every-changing. You may volunteer as much or as little time as you have available. You can even just show up spur of the moment!

From Lou Finley:
(Honored in 2009 among 10 Who Made a Difference by The New Mexican.  Story here.)
If the younger ones steal your heart, come volunteer at the Santa Fe Boys & Girls Club on Alto Street downtown. An after-school reading program, its mission is to take care of children's individual needs. Beginning September 8, it will run every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3:15 to 4:15.

From Gaye Pollitt:
No commitment or special training required. Just show up! I've been volunteering with this program for three school years now and love it! Activities vary, but never the excitement or the need. Come help with reading, word games, worksheets, story writing, flash cards and other engaging teaching tools. All materials are provided.

Contact program Coordinator (Mrs.) Lou Finley at 505-988-7278. She does an incredible job and will be happy to discuss the program and your schedule.

Want to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold? Volunteer for Girls Inc.

"Dear World, It’s me, a girl who is not afraid of standing up for people and myself. I don’t care what other people think of me. I am who I want to be. I am not afraid to be different."  By Breanna (age 9, Zona del Sol Center)

If this gives you the good chills like it does me everytime I read it, then maybe you've found your volunteer niche...Girls Inc. of Santa Fe.

From Tiffani Moody
Since 1955, we have been a strong advocate for the changing needs of girls and young women in the Santa Fe community...to help girls stay in school, prepare for financial independence, avoid teen pregnancy and violence, and to interact with role models. Girls often say that their time at Girls Inc. is when they feel the safest, both physically and emotionally. Learning is supported by field trips, community projects, arts and crafts, special mentoring and other ways of experiencing the heritage, culture and diversity that make Santa Fe unique.

Our volunteering need includes:

• Event assistance
• Office help
• Committee assistance
• Program collaboration

Examples of how volunteers have worked with our girls in the past are:

• Teaching yoga once a month as part of our Sporting Chance program
• Planting a garden and talking about mulching techniques as part of our Operation SMART program (science, math, relevant technology)
• Leading a workshop at our Career Day: making a short movie, digging for fossils, developing a business, etc...

We ask that all interested volunteers attend one of our 1-hour Girls Inc. Expedition Tours to learn more about what we do, how we do it, and why we do it, and to discuss with us their volunteer interests. We want to find the best fit for both you and our organization!

Please contact me...
Tiffani Moody at 505-982-2042 or tmoody@girlsincofsantafe.org. Or, visit our website at http://www.girlsincofsantafe.org/.

Impact DWI's mission is to reduce drunk driving and alcohol abuse. VOLUNTEER.

Impact DWI's mission is to reduce drunk driving and alcohol abuse. Volunteers are needed to help with all of our activities listed below and with data entry:

Help with and give feedback on DWI Victim Impact Panels
Supervise community service of students from Teen Court
Do research on DWI
Draft and lobby for anti-DWI legislation
Make presentations in the schools and before community organizations
Conduct a Sober Driving pledge campaign
Conduct surveys of DWI offenders.

We have three websites:
http://www.impactdwi.org/
http://www.pedaforteens.org/
http://www.alcoholtaxincrease.org/

If our activities are of interest, please contact me:
Dick Roth, PhD, 505-471-4764 or via email RichardRoth2300@msn.com

Council on International Educational Exchange. Host an international Exchange Student and let them experience Santa Fe!

Always looking for more local coordinators.
CIEE Local Coordinators make a difference in their communities by offering families the opportunity to host international high school students from over 55 countries! By developing relationships with schools, host families and students, Local Coordinators help to ensure that the experience is a success for everyone.

Many of our coordinators have full time jobs, are stay at home moms and dads, or are retired. Our local coordinators receive a small compensation and unique travel opportunities within the U.S., as well as internationally, that allow you to meet and develop relationships with other Local Coordinators across the U.S.

For more information GO TO THIS SITE or call me, Joan Lucci, 505-920-2385.

Hosting an Exchange Student in a tough economy.
Question: Holding back from hosting a foreign exchange student because of the economy?  Please give it a second thought.

The exchange student's family is required to cover most of the student's living expenses, plus most programs provide health insurance for the student.  Sure, as a host you will be responsible to provide the student a place to stay and food to eat, but consider the value! When you host a foreign exchange student, you will be part of a program that has proven to be one of the best diplomatic tools in bridging cultures.

You can and should apply anytime. The next semester is in Fall 2010.  A family in Nashville says, "If we can do it, anybody can." Hear how they were able to host a student in a tough economy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyeRicBEVB8&feature=player_embedded

For more information about the next group of students hoping to find a host family, please contact me:
Joan Lucci, 505-920-2385 or visit my blog at: http://nmexchangestudents.blogspot.com/.
Learn more about Council on International Educational Exchange at CIEE.org

Wise Fool seeks volunteer members for Board of Directors

Wise Fool is currently seeking positive and motivated individuals to join our active board of directors! (Not featured in above photo!)

It is Wise Fool New Mexico's mission to ignite imagination, build community, and promote social justice through performances and hands-on experiences in the arts of circus, puppetry, and theatre. Wise Fool leads empowering circus and puppetry workshops for youth and women year-round at our studios in Santa Fe and Penasco, and in schools, libraries, and community centers across the state. Wise Fool also creates professional performances, tours throughout the United States and abroad, and provides high-quality circus entertainment for community and private events.

A 501(c)(3) since 2000, Wise Fool was honored with a Mayor's Excellence in the Arts Award in 2005, received the prestigious Pinon Award from the Santa Fe Community Foundation in 2008, and was voted Best Theatre Group by readers of the Santa Fe Reporter in 2008 and 2009.

To learn more about (or sign up for!) Afterschool Fools or Trapeze Choreography or Partner Acrobatics, visit Wise Fools website!

Or to explore becoming a Board member, please contact the current Wise Fool Board Co-Chairs, Emily Stern at emily@emilystern.com or Ilana Blankman at pixii51@gmail.com