Fresh Air Fund Job Opportunities

Read on for summer job opportunities with the Fresh Air Fund.

The Fresh Air Fund, “an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Nearly 10,000 New York City children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. In 2008, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. 3,000 children also attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.”

The Fresh Air Fund is accepting applications for summer 2009 camp counselors. Fresh Air Fund is looking for college-aged individuals who like working with children. If you want to be a part of their 133rd summer serving children...start here.

For more information contact Sara Wilson, The Fresh Air Fund, sara@freshair.org.

Spirit of Service

Please join the free Spirit of Service networking event on Thursday, March 5th at MJ O'Connor's, next to the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.

At this free networking event ORGANIZATIONS will:
- promote their cause and upcoming volunteer opportunities.
- vet young professionals for their advisory board and various committees.
- join, encourage, and promote an era of responsibility.

At this free networking event INDIVIDUALS will:
- discover opportunities for community involvement in Boston.
- meet other individuals of integrity and selflessness who embody the Spirit of Service.
- learn what it's like to join executive boards, advisory boards & young professional committees.
- join, encourage, and promote an era of responsibility.

This Spirit of Service event is an opportunity to make a commitment to our communities, an opportunity to get engaged, and an opportunity to help solve our most critical problems.

Springtime, Gasoline, and a Solution

Spring has sprung, or so goes the old moniker. Sadly, our wallets have sprung open as well - to pay for the gas that goes into our adored automobiles. Though average gas prices in New England fell 1 cent this week to $3.12 a gallon for self-serve regular (according to AAA Southern New England), it's still not low enough for many of our budgets.

The solution? If you don't want to carpool with Raymond from the IT group or take public transportation, consider dusting off your old two wheeler - your bicycle, that is. I used to ride two miles each way to my first job at Boston Market. Not only did I save the earth (and my mother from having to give me a ride), but I dropped 15 pounds. Now there's a side benefit I could really get into.

Though Boston is far from a bike-safe city, chances are you will get to and from work without a scratch on you. Some tips to make that commute a little safer:

1. Wear a helmet. You can fix your hair once you get there. Just stick a little comb and travel gel in your bike pack.
2. Wear a helmet. You only have one brain.
3. Wear a helmet. Are you getting the message?
4. Wear bright, reflective clothing.
5. Have a blinking front and rear light in case you're riding home in twilight or at night.
6. Follow traffic laws. That's right - you renegade bikers risk a lot when you dart out into the intersection when it's not your turn.
7. Stay off really busy roads that don't have bike lanes.

For more tips, visit the Bike Commuters blog.

If you choose to take the two wheeler to work, your wallet will certainly thank you. And your waistline. Oh, and so will our dear Mother Earth.

A bicycle parking garage at the train station in Europe somewhere - Amsterdam, I think.
Can you imagine if that many people in the US rode bikes instead of riding in cars?

Thanks, Mom, for the story idea!

First photo courtesy of LongboardCapital.com.
Second photo courtesy of my cousin Liz.

"There is still work to be done"

On Thursday evening I attended the Ford Hall Forum's presentation of the 2008 Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award to Anita Hill, lawyer, civil rights activist, professor at Brandeis, and a living historical figure.

Prof. Hill's testimony against the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court opened the national dialog on sexual harassment law and civil rights in the workplace. This happened not too long ago; 1991 was within my own lifetime but I still learned about it in 8th grad civics. It is so easy to distance yourself from history. In my cushy white-collar workplace, most of my peers and I take for granted the ideas of equal pay and PC office decorum.

She was without question an inspiring speaker who shared her motivation and reflections in a frank and open manner, although she did demur from answering which Democratic presidential candidate she supported when prompted by the discussion moderator.

In her parting words to the audience, Prof. Hill said that she continues to be a public speaker because there is still work to be done, noting incidents such as the recent Ledbetter v. Goodyear case. It was an important reminder least we forget that the rights we enjoy today were won by those who fought before us, and that others can only share in those rights if we continue the fight.

If you'd like to listen to the presentation and discussion, you can find it at WGBH Free Online Lectures.


Photo courtesy of NOVA.org.

The Bruins: Responsible Corporate Citizens?

This evening, I attended the Bruins-Ottawa hockey game at the Garden with Social Boston Sports. The Bruins were skating circles around the other team. When we left after the second period (to be able to catch some of tonight's Democratic debate), the Bruins were winning 3 to 0.

Obviously I enjoyed the company (SBS members are high quality people), the drunk guys yelling SCORE SCORE SCORE behind us, the bubbly beers, the salty deliciousness of the hot dogs, oh yeah, and the hockey.

But almost as interesting were the pre-taped pieces on the big screens that ran during the commercial breaks and between periods. I guess I didn't know how involved the Bruins were with local charities, mainly Cradle to Crayons. Related events were featured several times over the course of the game. Besides being an outstanding team (this year), the Bruins are clearly very involved with the local community.

Between talk about elections, the war, and the economy, "corporate responsibilty" has become a hot topic. (Did you know that February 25 was Corporate Responsibility day?) It's becoming more common for the public to expect corporations to step up to the plate and help. And I certainly count myself in that group - for a capitalistic society to work well, corporations need to share the wealth. We're taking a very, very, very small piece of the wealth - but an important one nonetheless.

Certainly Boston sports teams like the Bruins, which are corporations lest we forget, are involved with their community. OYFP has been fortunate enough to receive small grants from IBM and Digitas. Our email service is courtesy of Emma's 25 Initiative, and we have a Google Grant for pay per click advertising. Diverse businesses including DeLuca's, SalsaBoston, Whole Foods, Starbucks, and the Howard Yezerski gallery have supported us. I only hope that over the coming years obtaining corporate support becomes easier.

What does your employer do to support your community? What do you wish they would do? Do you think the likely recession is going to negatively impact actions supporting "corporate responsibility?"

Lack of Motivation

Let's face it we've all had those days when your motivation is not there. Perhaps its the bad weather, maybe you haven't had your Starbucks in the morning, but you look at the mound of paperwork on your desk and you don't really care to do it at all. It's Friday, and studies have shown that it is not the most productive day of the workweek.

So what motivates you, Boston, to get on your feet? Is it that poster with the cat that says "Hang in there"? Is it because it's for a good cause? Is it because it's something you're passionate about? Maybe it's because when you're out in the town and someone ask you the proverbial question, "What do you do," you can have an answer. A friend says she does it for the feeling of accomplishment and doesn't like leaving things for later.

Psychology says what drives you to accomplish work goals is the underlying drive to satisfy your basic needs such as hunger, shelter, comfort, etc. In other words you work to live and if you don't work, you don't have the money to pay for shelter, food, etc.

So as I procrastinate more at work... I would like to hear what other people feel inspires them to get up and do something.

Volunteering--a generational mindset?

This recent story from Entrepreneur magazine discusses how corporations are becoming more interested in being seen as valuable contributors to communities and not just profitable, exclusive entities. The article also mentioned several studies showing that a greater share of Generation Y-ers show an interest in a job with companies that incorporate volunteer work and related community values:

"...Research by Deloitte & Touche USA suggests that companies offering volunteer opportunities to employees could have an advantage in recruiting Generation Y talent. In the firm's 2007 Volunteer IMPACT survey, 62 percent of Gen Y respondents said they would prefer to work for companies that give them opportunities to contribute their talents to nonprofit organizations."

While I haven't looked into past years' surveys I think the trend is a result of our hyper-exposure to information, especially global and national news, and the ready access point of the Internet that expanded people's awareness of many different issues and needs. And somewhat naturally from that awareness comes interest and concern and hopefully action.

The speed and reach of new media of course also allowing advocates to reach more people as well. But we all know that we're overexposed to marketing messages and are quite talented now at tuning-out, and I think the sort of inadvertent education that the news could account for this generation's values.

Reflecting on Ourselves

I read an article today on Boston.com about white space. Basically, the article was pointing out that when we're working, we're doing ten things at once - writing an email, listening to a conference call, responding to our manager's question, thinking about lunch, etc. We don't have time to get our job done, nevermind think about the bigger picture of what we're doing.

I experience this both at work and when working on OYFP. Even now as I write this post, the football game is on, I'm uploading photos, reading an email about a floor hockey game, and I've answered my phone twice. Often I get caught up in the details instead of thinking about the organization as a whole.

So. How to solve this? Well, companies are creating "white space" where employees can think about a problem with no distractions, or maybe think about nothing at all. At my day job, they provide us with a game room. Sometimes the best ideas come in the middle of a ping pong game!

Maybe the time has come to create my own "white space" - I know OYFP would be better for it. Where do you go when you want to clear your mind? Do you have your own white space? Does your company provide white space for you?