CVN Monthly Update, Jan. 2010: New LT, New Year

Below is our most recent email--please let us know any feedback. Also, if you aren't getting these in your inbox, sign up on the County site (be sure to check the box that you're interested in CVN and in receiving emails): http://tinyurl.com/CVN-register Dear CVN volunteer,  Hello, hello. I hope you're all well. The last month has been a full one for everyone, with holidays and the new year, and the same goes for CVN: We pulled in a new Leadership Team (LT) for CVN and kicked things off last weekend with our annual LT retreat. We've also started bringing on a crucial second layer of leaders we're calling "Committee Leads"--still looking for at least one more for our Recurring Volunteering Committee (contact Meredith if interested) and three more for our Monthly Volunteering Committee (contact Kellen if interested); There was a great event at the end of Dec. where CVNers served dinner at the Ronald McDonald House; At the beginning of the year, we brought old and new CVN leaders together, along with Walter Tejada, Judy Hadden and others who helped start CVN 5 years ago, for a CVN LT Transition Dinner;  And we just helped out with Kindergarten Information Night this week for parents thinking about putting their kids in Arlington schools.                                          UPCOMING CVN EVENTS February Monthly Meetup - Tue, February 9, 7pm – 9pm @ Crystal City Sports Pub | Our former Program Chair, Lisa Dorsey, was interested in staying on as our Monthly Meetup Lead on our Social Committee, so she got right on it and planned our Jan. event and this one, in Crystal City. Find out more, RSVP: http://bit.ly/Meetup2_10 AFAC Chicken Bagging - Wed, February 10, 6:30pm – 7:30pm | CVN will be volunteering at the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) to help bag frozen chicken and rice. This event is a lot of fun and a great opportunity to prepare family size portions of chicken and rice for families that rely on AFAC. Find out more, RSVP: http://bit.ly/AFACchicken TimeSlips @ Cherrydale - Sat, February 20, 2:30pm | TimeSlips, is a creative storytelling method that helps people with dementia reaffirm their humanity and connect with staff, family and friends. CVN volunteers along with Creative Community Connections (CCC) will lead the TimeSlip sessions at Cherrydale Rehabilitation Center for this event. Find out more, RSVP: http://bit.ly/TimeSlips2_20  A-SPAN Emergency Winter Shelter - Sat, March 6, 6:30pm – 8:30pm | This is obviously a little ways out, but our man Kellen MacBeth, new Monthly Volunteering Chair, hit the ground running and planned it too. CVN will be volunteering at the Arlington Street People's Assistance Network's (A-SPAN) Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS). This is a great opportunity to help those who lack housing stay out of the cold in a caring environment. Find out more, RSVP: http://bit.ly/ASPANshelter OTHER UPCOMING OPPS: Relay for Life of Arlington Kick-off TONIGHT - Thurs, January 28, 6:30pm – 8pm | Either come out to tonight's event to get involved (details here) or think about helping out in some other way. Relay for Life benefits the American Cancer Society and is a GREAT event. They're in need of volunteers to: serve on their planning committee; participate in a team; and/or volunteer for the event in June. Learn more and check out progress at www.relayarlington.org and on the Facebook group, or contact Katherine Kravchonok at kkravchonok@gmail.com for more info.  Idealist.org Global Volunteering Fair @ DC's Google office - Thurs, February 4th, 6:00pm -9:00pm | The fair will be held at Google's Washington office at 1101 New York Avenue NW, and will offer you the opportunity to meet one-on-one with representatives of organizations that coordinate volunteer projects around the world. For more information, and to register (it's free but they need to know how many people are coming), go to: http://www.idealist.org/globalvolunteering Arlington's Natural Heritage Resource Inventory - Thurs, February 4th, 6:30-8:30 pm l  The county's natural resources are more extensive and diverse than might be expected in an urban setting. Within Arlington's boundaries are globally-rare natural communities, old-age forest remnants, wetlands and springs, a number of state champion trees, and unique locations harboring many uncommon plants and wild flowers. Greg Zell, Natural Resource Specialist with Arlington County, will discuss the County's efforts in documenting Arlington's natural resources at 7 p.m at Arlington Public Library in Ballston.  Come early to browse displays and talk to partner groups. Find out more here  Dinner and Discussion on County Budget Outlook - Wed, February 10, 7-8 dinner, 8-9:30 program | Join the Committee of 100 for a meal, presentation, and discussion on the County Budget--it's hard enough to plan out your own finances, just multiply that out however many times and you'll know why this could be an interesting discussion (especially with the economy as it is). If you have questions about Committee of 100, contact our new Committee of 100 Lead, Sara Abramson.  Find out more, RSVP: http://www.serve.com/ac100/meetings.php  Getting involved with music in Northern VA - The Northern Virginia Opera Guild is seeking a few young adults to assist them with reaching out to new and younger audiences. The guild would like volunteers who dedicated to music (not only opera, but Jazz, Bluegrass, etc.) to help them promote appreciation for music in Northern VA. Specifically, they'd like help planning meet-ups, special events, a Haiti fundraiser, and bringing new ideas into the organization. If you're interested, please contact Kellen at CVN.m.volunteering@gmail.com.     Other Volunteering Opps - Find some other volunteering opportunities you might be interested in here. If you want to get reminders about CVN events and information about other volunteer opportunities on evenings and weekends, follow Sharon, our County Liaison, on Twitter @CVNLiaison Happy February, Brendan -- Brendan O'Connor Chair Community Volunteer Network (CVN) CVN.chair@gmail.com