We have MOVED to www.EngageVolunteer.org

VISIT http://www.EngageVolunteer.org/

This blog site is no longer current.

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

Mrs. Lou Finley, chosen among 10 Who Made a Difference by The New Mexican! Congratulations, Lou!

Lou Finley heads up the after-school reading program at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Fe.  I am so excited to tell you that she has been selected as one of the 10 Who Made a Difference, a tradition established more than two decades ago at The Santa Fe New Mexican to seek out people who add great value to our community.

I know Lou personally.  She "lured" me into her program three years ago with a letter to the editior.  And I can vouch for the fact that her selection is well deserved.  She does an incredible job of tutoring and running this reading program -- and has been doing so as a volunteer for 9 or 10 years.  Her story will be published in The New Mexican on Thanksgiving Day.  Read all about her there. 

And here you can learn more about her program.  I'm very proud that the Boys & Girls Club is among the organizations listed on ¡EngageVolunteer!

Congratulations, again, Lou!

UPDATE: Tutors Needed...or talk to Citizen Schools if you would like to share what you do best in life to help kids succeed in the real world!

UPDATE from Michelle Vignery, Campus Director for De Vargas Middle School

TUTORS FOR STUDENTS. We have found that from time to time many of our students need one-on-one attention. Some struggle with math, some with reading, others just need redirection to focus on their work. We need volunteer tutors from 3:30 - 4:30 Tuesday through Thursday and 4:00 - 5:00 on Mondays. You can tutor one to four days a week – it does not matter which days. All we ask is for a commitment to consistently communicate which days you will be at program, and which days you will be absent.

Tutors need not be certified teachers – or even have prior tutoring experience. They must be patient, kind, and enjoy helping students to succeed academically. For more info and information about a background check (which all Tutors must complete), please email me: memichellevignery@citizenschools.org

OR...become a volunteer Citizen Teacher!

Take your profession or passion and turn it into a life-changing apprenticeship for young people. It will be an unforgettable experience of growth and learning for you both.

The Citizen Schools New Mexico program gives adults the opportunity to help middle school students move to a long-term trajectory of success. We need volunteers for our DeVargas Middle School campus in Santa Fe at 1720 Llano Road. And for our Albuquerque program as well.

Devote 90 minutes only one afternoon a week for 11 weeks. Enable young people to learn real-world skills by creating real-world projects. (Lawyers turn their apprentices into prosecutors, artists cultivate young muralists, and gardeners lead a team of twelve-year-old green thumbs.) The culminating project will be a product, presentation or performance called a WOW! and presented to a public audience of family, school staff, and community leaders.

Read about the most recent WOW! on Dec. 4.  Click here.   And previous WOW!s included a video on lead contamination, a prize-winning solar car, an arts festival, a naval warship design, a CD of local music, even a financial plan for a new business- all created by young people themselves.

For further information, contact us:
Michelle Vignery, Campus Director for De Vargas Middle School 505-310-3213 michellevignery@citizenschools.org
Laura Valdo, Manager of Civic Engagement and Development, 
505-265-4332 or lauravaldo@citizenschools.org

OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE http://www.citizenschools.org/

OR FIND US ON YouTUBE http://www.youtube.com/user/citizenschoolsonline

Habitat for Humanity: Learn how to frame walls, install sheetrock, landscape, paint! Sound like fun? Join us!

Absolutely no prior construction experience required. You've seen touching news coverage of a family entering their new home made possible by their sweat equity and Habitat. Now come be part of that story! Help build affordable homes for Santa Fe area families.

Get all training on site. Learn how to pour concrete, frame walls and roofs, insulate, install sheetrock, build fences, landscape, paint and other cool construction tasks. The construction site is open Tuesday-Saturday 8:30am to 4:30pm. All volunteers should plan to work 8 hours on the site.

You must be age 16 or above to volunteer with Habitat in any capacity. You can register as a volunteer online at http://www.santafehabitat.org/ .

Any questions? Please contact us : info@santafehabitat.org or call (505) 986-5880.

One-on-One reading program, HOSTS. Trust me...it doesn't get much better than this!

From Gaye Pollitt:
HOSTS stands for Help One Student to Succeed. It's a during-the-school-day reading mentorship program at Cesar Chavez Community School for 2nd - 5th graders. I'm in my third school year of being a mentor myself, and I'm hook-line-and-sinker-in-love with the program and its incredible results. And did I mention the children!??!!! Since you get to work with the same child week after week, you develop a precious relationship and get to view first-hand the progress your child is making.

You can be involved for as little as 30 minutes a week ... but I'm betting you'll sign up for more.

Contact Debby Maas, dmaas@sfps.info, dedicated and enthusiastic HOSTS Administrator, about the 2010-2011 school year. You'll be glad you did.

DIRECTIONS:  Turn RIGHT off Cerrillos (headed south) onto Jaguar (at the traffic light for Jaguar and Gov. Miles Road).  Turn RIGHT onto Avenida Contenta (at the STOP sign).  Turn left into the school parking lot.  HOSTS classroom is facing the parking with a sign in the window.

PAST EVENT: Apprenticeship program showcase, Dec. 4th, and CURRENT Call for Volunteers.

WOW! Event
A demonstration and celebration of

all that the students have learned

during their 10-week, volunteer-led Apprenticeships.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Doors Open 5:45pm.  Opening Ceremony 6:00pm. 
Closing Ceremony 7:30pm.

Being held at Santa Fe Community College Jemez Rooms

Families, teachers, and the community at large are invited. 

Presentations will include

Animation. Assistance Dogs of the West. Crime Stoppers.
Culinary Arts.
Documentary Photography, 2050: Landing in the Future.
 Money Madness with Guadalupe Credit Union.
Computer Modeling with Project GUTS.
Site Santa Fe Art. The Scientific Method with Genzyme.
and Web Design.

Since its 2008 launch in Santa Fe, Citizen Schools at De Vargas Middle School has engaged approximately 50 volunteers from throughout the community to share what they know and love with young people in real-world projects.

During 9-12 week apprenticeships each semester, students learn about a wide variety of subjects such as the scientific method, computer modeling, geology, animation and the training of assistance dogs. “My favorite part of Citizen Schools is the apprenticeships because they let me see what people do professionally and I can see what my friends are good at”, said one student.

Now they’re ready to “teach-back”! The students and I would like to extend a special invitation to you.  We hope to see you there!  JOIN US FOR FUN, FOOD, CELEBRATION AND MORE!

For more information, contact me:  Michelle Vignery, Campus Director, Citizen Schools New Mexico, De Vargas Middle School.  505.310.3213 or michellevignery@citizenschools.org.

ALSO read more about Citizen Schools ... and please consider becoming a Citizen Schools Tutor or Apprenticeship Teacher.  Details here.

Help create the Government you want!

Send individual messages to our Congressmen! 
Want to get results?  Want to voice your concerns, opinions and ideas? While names on a petition get noticed, they do not have near the weight as constituents making individual efforts.
SO DO IT ALL...Call. Email. Visit their offices. And sign petitions!


Email or fax to the contacts below.
PLEASE NOTE: Those website/email links below do not accept "attachments," therefore, your message needs to be written into the electronic "form" that's provided.
SUGGESTION: Write your message in Microsoft Word (or equivalent) and copy/paste it into the form. That way you can PERSONALIZE the message you send to each Congressman, plus save a copy for yourself.

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D- NM)
DC PHONE: 202-224-5521
NM PHONE: 800-443-8658
DC FAX: 202-224-2852
http://bingaman.senate.gov/contact/types/email-issue.cfm

Senator Tom Udall (D- NM)
DC PHONE: 202-224-6621
NM PHONE: 505-346-6720
DC FAX: 202-228-3261
http://tomudall.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Representative Ben R. Lujan, Jr. (D - 03)
DC PHONE: 202-225-6190
NM PHONE: (505) 984-8950
DC FAX: 202-226-1528
https://forms.house.gov/lujan/contact-form.shtml

Representative Martin Heinrich (D - 01)
DC PHONE: 202-225-6316
NM PHONE: 505-346-6781
DC FAX: 202-225-4975
https://forms.house.gov/heinrich/contact-form.shtml

Representative Harry Teague (D - 02)
DC PHONE: 202-225-2365
NM PHONE: 575-393-0510
DC FAX: 202-225-9599
http://forms.house.gov/teague/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Education funding will be threatened again by budget cuts! Please stay involved.

GOOD JOB!!!! I really feel like we made a difference during the special session.  While even 1% is unacceptable, imagine what would have happened if 2,000+ people had not marched to the Round House and hundreds had not shown up during the session as watchdogs!?

For now, thanks for all your attempts to influence the outcome.  We have a special concern on ¡EV! about education funding because of all our volunteer efforts for literacy and education.  Although still unacceptable, at least the resulting cuts to education  are less than a 1% cut...for now.

However, keep the contact information for Governor Richardson.  You're going to need it -- to influence the Governor during the January 2010 legislative session.  The "battle of the budget" will once again be addressed and threaten education.
Phone:  
(505) 476-2200
E-mail form:
http://www.governor.state.nm.us/emailchoice.php?mm=6

PAST EVENT: DWI Town Hall Meeting, Santa Fe

From Richard Roth, PhD, Executive Director, IMPACT DWI, Inc.

Learn more about what's happening specifically in Santa Fe and about the Governor's 2010 proposed DWI legislative crime package. 

Join the first Santa Fe Town Hall Meeting addressing the Governor's DWI package
6:00pm-7:00pm at Santa Fe Community College, Jemez Room

Wednesday, October 21.  Presenters will be

DWI Czar Rachel O'Connor

MADD Director Lora Lee Ortiz

Santa Fe DWI County Coordinator Rebecca Beardsley

Learn what you can do to help.  Sign up to mobilize change through community action!

For more information, please contact Christine Thomas, Managment Analyst, Office of the Drug and DWI Czars, Office of the Governor.  505-231-6637 or Christinee.Thomas@state.nm.us

PAST EVENT: Demonstration for Education, Fri, Oct 9 in Santa Fe

Editor's Update: My congratulations to AFT for an incredibly successful and highly organized rally last Friday. They came from Albuquerque with 2,000 t-shirts and went home with none. They handed out food and drink while folks gathered and distributed water along the rally route from the Railyard to the Roundhouse. AFT presented enthusiastic and well-informed guest speakers. They asked rally goers to complete huge WHILE YOU WERE OUT message sheets that were first hung on "laundry lines" for all to read. Later they were delivered to the Speaker of the House and Pro Tem of the Senate. The messages were heart-felt, candid and full of suggested options to teacher pay cuts and student value cuts. They distributed postcards addressed to Governor Richardson for rally-goers to sign demanding he protect kids and teachers from budget cuts.  Below is the info we provided in advance of the event.

DEMONSTRATION..RALLY..MARCH..IN SANTA FE

Santa Fe Rail Runner Depot

410 S. Guadalupe Street
Parking - Manhattan St. Garage & lot @ 500 Market Street
Sack lunch, water, t-shirts for first 2,000
NOON, Friday, the 9th..Meet-Up & Rally at Rail Runner Depot
12:30 pm – March five blocks to Roundhouse

1 - 3:45 pm – Roundhouse Demonstration & Media Events
YOU NEED TO ATTEND!

For more details, visit some of these sites:

AFT (scroll down mid-way on the first page of this link): http://nm.aft.org/

BETTER CHOICES NEW MEXICO (a new organization worth knowing about!): http://betterchoicesnewmexico.com/
Listen as public radio station KUNM 89.9 FM interviews ATF
President Ellen Bernstein about the October 9 rally, march and
demonstration in Santa Fe to stop lawmakers from cutting the
student value again.
Click here: http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/tpIQcA11HQaC/

SIMPLY PUT...
Our kids don't deserve this kind of treatment.  Their families cannot afford this.  Our entire community will suffer.  THERE ARE BETTER WAYS and we've got to make our voice heard.
1. Restore preK-12 student value cuts, higher education cuts, public services cuts, & stop state budget cuts.
2. Close tax loopholes for out-of-state corporations.
3. Roll back tax cuts for richest New Mexicans.

Organizations endorsing this event as of 10/2:

ABQ Teachers Federation
Better Choices New Mexico Alliance
American Federation of Teachers - New Mexico
New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
New Mexico Building Trades Council
Northern Federation of Educational Employees (Northern New Mexico College, Espanola)
Rio Rancho School Employees Federation
ABQ Educational Assistants Association
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes
Cibola County Federation of United School Employees
Central New Mexico (TVI) Employees Union
Taos Federation of United School Employees
Cuba School School Employees
Penasco School Employees
Jemez Mountain School Employees
Zuni Federation of United School Employees
Santa Fe School Employees Federation
ABQ Secretaries and Clerks Association
National Education Association - New Mexico
McKinley County Federation of United School Employees
NM Alliance for Retired Americans
New Mexico Labor United
Catholic Church of New Mexico

The State's $11.8 billiion (with a "b") investment assets account. And schools are being asked to cut their budgets another 10%?

This "Op-Ed" is written by a financial specialist and Grassroots activist:

States can balance their budgets by 1) increasing revenues (taxes and economic growth) 2) cutting expenditures 3) borrowing 4) taking money they already have from their investment accounts.

The State of New Mexico is not 'broke!'  It has $11.8 billion in investment assets (value as of  6/30/09).

The State distributed over $400 million from these investment funds in calendar year 2009 through June 2009, and over $700 million in fiscal year-to-date.

The $550 million budget shortfall represents approximately 5% of the state's total investment assets.  And a much, much smaller per cent if we were just talking about education funding.

Can the state afford to increase its distributions from its investment assets to cover the shortfall? One could easily argue that, while the state had $3.4 billion in investment losses in fiscal year-to-date, representing a 22% loss in its asset base, that it could weather another 5% loss.

Admittedly, the State Investment Council is restricted in its use of funds, and even in the method and timing of distributions. However, the Governor and legislature must surely see that people are desperate. Desperate times call for strong leaders. We need a strong leader that understands and sees the financial solution is within reach.

For those of you with the fortitude to wade through this New Mexico State Investment Council 42-page Investment Performance Report (FY 2009), here is the source for the above data.  Click here.

PAST EVENT: CALL TO ACTION...Community Forum on DWI, Wednesday, July 8th, 6pm

From Dr. Richard Roth, a DWI researcher and citizen lobbyist for 11 years:

Impact DWI will sponsor a Community Forum on DWI next Wednesday, July 8, from 6-9pm in the Jemez Room at Santa Fe Community College.

"...Because of the recent tragic crash that ended four young lives in our community, Impact DWI is sponsoring a Community Forum to provide an opportunity for citizens to share opinions and mobilize for actions to reduce DWI in New Mexico. I will provide background information."

Bring your suggestions or write them down on forms that will be provided at the forum. There will be an open mike for sharing ideas. All suggestions will be posted at http://www.impactdwi.org/ and distributed by email to those who provide an email address. As leaders come forward for various initiatives, working groups will be formed.

Impact DWI, Inc. is a community action and advocacy organization whose mission is to reduce drunk driving and alcohol abuse. It is run strictly by volunteers. Read about our volunteer activities and the outcome of this Community Forum by clicking here.