West Seattle, Washington
06 Monday
HELP MULTIPLE WEST SEATTLE SCHOOLS: This Wednesday, you are invited to stop into any Starbucks store in King County and get a free $10 gift card for DonorsChoose, provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. You can then take the card and, through the DonorsChoose website, make a $10 donation to any classroom project listed there; organizers say almost 300 Seattle projects are listed, and our quick check revealed multiple West Seattle projects among them. You can add personal donations too, but there’s no obligation. Here’s the link, if you want to check in advance whether there’s anything for which you’d want to use the card.
WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL PTSA TOMORROW NIGHT: The fall round of PTSA/PTA general-membership meetings continues, and tomorrow night, it’s West Seattle High School‘s turn, 7 pm. (Agenda toplines are in the listing on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page.)
WSHS GRAD NIGHT FUNDRAISER: Also from WSHS – this Saturday, there’s a car wash to raise money for the all-night, alcohol-free, chaperoned Class of 2012 Grad Night party, 11 am-3 pm at West Seattle Produce (Fauntleroy Way just south of SW Alaska). More details on this and other Grad Night fundraisers at facebook.com/pages/WSHS-Grad-Night-2012/234315233286143
ROXHILL TEACHER’S TWO BIG CELEBRATIONS:
That’s Roxhill Elementary fourth-grade teacher Teresa Klein. We reported recently on principal Carmela Dellino‘s announcement that Klein was chosen as a “Symetra Hero in the Classroom“; last Thursday, she was officially honored during a special event at Roxhill, and just yesterday, she got special recognition on the field during the Seahawks–Falcons game at CenturyLink Field (hence the jersey in the photo, shared by Symetra). She is one of two dozen K-12 teachers around the region who will be honored by this program before the Seahawks’ season ends. This also puts Roxhill in the running for one of three $10,000 grants that will be announced at season’s end.
‘Tis the season for some holiday planning – and as of today, CoolMom is accepting donations for its 4th annual Toy Swap ‘n’ Sale, with proceeds also benefiting WestSide Baby. The actual event is 9 am-2 pm Saturday, November 12th, at Fauntleroy Church (our photo at right is from last year, same location); donating in advance not only helps CoolMom and WS Baby, it also gets you a $5 credit toward shopping at the sale! Read on for more details and the donation-dropoff spots:Read More
The message of welcome on the sidewalk outside Alki UCC Church this afternoon was a creation of the congregation’s kids, we’re told. It’s in honor of the annual CROP Walk, happening right now along the beach. This one isn’t a giant 5K-run-style event – more of a casual walk, but with a lot of heart and hope:
Once again this year, the walkers got not a pep talk, but a pep concert, you might say, from Rev. Pat Wright and the Total Experience Gospel Choir:
Notice those signs, about texting a donation? New way to chip in, and it’s an easy way to help, even if you couldn’t participate in the walk. (Or, donate online here.)
Maybe you’ve seen them if you’ve already been out grocery shopping this morning – Prudential Northwest Realty team members collecting food and donations for local food banks. Above, we photographed Nicole Rea, Chariti McIndoe, and Aaron Rysemus at Albertsons in White Center; below, Alice Kuder (who wrote about the food drive on her website) shared the photo of Bruce Butterfield manning one of the collection carts at West Seattle Thriftway:
They’ll take monetary donations – food banks have special deals to really stretch dollars – as well as food donations at those stores and others including PCC Natural Markets-West Seattle (WSB sponsor) and Jefferson Square Safeway, till 2 pm today.
HELP GET THE WORD OUT IN DELRIDGE: At 10 am Sunday, volunteers are needed to help distribute 1,600 flyers in the Delridge area, letting people know about the October 11th Delridge Community Forum, focused on the DESC proposal to build a 75-apartment complex for homeless people living with mental illness. If you can help, be at Delridge Library (Brandon/Delridge) at 10 o’clock Sunday morning (rain or shine).
DONATE FOOD: 10 am-2 pm Saturday, Prudential NW Realty team members are collecting food-bank donations – money and/or food – at stores including PCC Natural Markets (WSB sponsor), West Seattle Thriftway, Jefferson Square Safeway, and White Center Albertsons.
HELP WEST SEATTLE’S NEWEST P-PATCH:
From the Barton Street P-Patch (34th/Barton) crew, that photo and this request:
The Barton Street PPatch is seeking community volunteers to help build retaining walls this weekend. No experience necessary- you need only bring your enthusiasm. These walls use mortar over reclaimed materials, chain link and tiles, shells, pottery shards and other found objects. Shifts are available Saturday 10-3 and Sunday 11-3. We are also seeking muscular folks to help mix mortar and do other digging, weeding and wheelbarrow activities. Please let us know if you are interested in participating in this community garden. KFarleyLandscapeDesign@gmail.com or Randeef@Comcast.net
With all the nature lovers we’ve encountered in WSB-land, we’re startled to hear that this local school program is low on volunteers. But that’s what Marieke Stientjes Rack from the Seattle Audubon Society reports – so we’re sending out the call:
Seattle Audubon has provided FUN for FREE at Sanislo Elementary School for 10+ years. FUN is a environmental education program for 3rd and 4th graders. The program introduces students to the natural world in their own schoolyard habitats through observation, discovery, and scientific inquiry. Seattle Audubon has been and is able to provide this high-quality program, including small group instruction, because of volunteers. Volunteers are trained and then work with small groups of 4-5 students for 4, one-hour lessons, over the course of 4 weeks.
FUN students spend over 8 hours getting to know their schoolyard habitat and, on average, showed a 13% increase in environmental science knowledge for the 2010-2011 school year. Here is a link to the program website; interested volunteers can contact Seattle Audubon’s Volunteer Coordinator at volunteerc@seattleaudubon.org.
Both of these events happening this morning carry incentives!
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION ADOPT-A-STREET: Join ANA at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) to spend a little time getting a lot done on area streets – and you get not only free breakfast treats, but also a free sack lunch when you’re finished! Meet at 9 am outside the store (42nd/Admiral).
DON’T FEED THE TOX-ICK MONSTER! Missed the first presentation of Sustainable West Seattle‘s new fun, educational series of sessions to show you how to reduce runoff and help save the Sound? Today at 10 am, you get another chance – and Cate White says there’s a free continental breakfast: “Breads and pastries donated by Great Harvest and coffee donated by Red Cup. It’s also a great opportunity for people to visit the West Seattle Tool Library at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, which is open 9 AM – 2 PM.” Yes, you guessed right, the presentation is at Youngstown (4408 Delridge Way). And prizes totaling $1,000 are up for grabs – water cisterns, landscape consulting, car-wash gift certificates, oil changes, bus passes, and more.
This morning, acknowledgements to share from the planners of a first-of-its-kind fundraiser in High Point earlier this month, a dinner to raise money for famine relief in Somalia – an event that even brought out Mayor McGinn:
High Point’s community builder Shukri Olow shares the photos and these words of appreciation for those who made the event a success – including those in attendance:
First and foremost, we, the planners of the Fundraiser dinner for Mercy Corps and Islamic Relief want to THANK our volunteers, our 11 High Point women who made the delicious and authentic Somali rice, hilib, chicken, qalwa, mandazi, sambusa and tea. AND those who helped serve the food and cleanup! Your commitment to your community is admirable. Our volunteers, and co-workers from Neighborhood House including Fredolyn, Bianca, Denise, Aparna, Jennifer — thank you for your endless efforts in making High Point a better community for all.
Secondly, SPECIAL THANKS to our presenters and those in attendance: Mayor Mike McGinn and his wife Peggy Lynch for their support, Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, Executive Director of Neighborhood House Mark Okazaki for his tireless work and engagement in this community.
Thank you Joy Portella-Director of Communications with Mercy Corps, Zuhair Motiwala with Islamic Relief, Seattle Poet Santiago, Asha Mohamed with Seattle Housing, Mohamed Sheikh with Afrique Service Center, Tom Phillips and Julie Wade, Mohamed Moallim with Muslim Housing, and The Seattle Channel for filming our event.
Lastly, THANK YOU DONORS for opening up your wallets and hearts to people unknown to you, to people on the verge of death because of hunger.
We had over 100 people attend our event and raised $4,000 for Islamic Relief and Mercy Corps.To both organizations — your work in countries around the world including Somalia is commendable and I hope that you continue to help those in dire need, even in difficult financial times.
Remember, your donation saved a life and THANK YOU for hearing the stories of those voiceless.
Sincerely,
Shukri Olow and Aser Ashkir
If you missed the event but would still like to help, one of the beneficiary charities, Mercy Corps, has a way to donate online – go here.
Last year, the Village Bicycle Project – which sends no-longer-needed bicycles to people who need them – collected bikes in West Seattle. This year, WSB’er Linda says, they’re collecting in Georgetown, but still hoping West Seattleites can help out. She shared this announcement:
Round up those unused bikes and support a good cause!!! The Village Bicycle Project, which ships bikes to Africa where for many it is their only mode of transportation, will be doing a bike loading on Saturday, September 24th in Georgetown and is looking for help. You can drop off bikes at Total Reclaim (also known now as Ecolight – 1915 South Corgiat Drive). Help is also needed with loading the bikes headed to Ghana, starting at 9 AM til we are done, hopefully by 5PM. This event is happening, rain or shine! As always, we offer good wholesome hard work and lots of fun. Packing bikes tight and closing the big double doors is always cause for celebration! Bike prepping will be inside. Munchies will be provided. Bring a water bottle, and a friend. Bring closed toe shoes and bike tools if you have them. RSVP’s and/or questions to meg@villagebicycleproject.org or phone 206-853-7813.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We often publish requests for volunteer help – and over the years, some have asked, what about a regular feature listing such needs? Here’s a start: Fauntleroy resident Judy Pickens (right), who volunteers her time and talent to a variety of endeavors, offered to gather and report information on volunteer needs at local schools where the need is greatest. Here’s her first contribution, with more to come. So – go back to school, as a volunteer!
By Judy Pickens
Special to West Seattle Blog
With the school year now under way, teachers and support staff are beginning to identify volunteer needs. Those needs are especially acute at area schools where work schedules, child-care responsibilities, and/or language factors greatly affect parents’ availability to help.
Two such schools kick off this occasional column, compiled in cooperation with volunteer coordinators for selected West Seattle and White Center schools. Listings will be for one-time events a few weeks out and for ongoing needs.
To inquire about any of the following opportunities to enrich our public schools, contact the volunteer coordinator noted under the name of each school. Expect to complete a standard security-clearance process – and to know that you have made a difference in the lives of students.
(Photo courtesy Barton Street P-Patch)
The “web” continues to take shape at West Seattle’s newest P-Patch (Barton/34th), but unlike spider webs, this is no solo effort – it takes a community of gardeners and helpers, and Terri Lindow sends word they’re looking for more assistance, even in simple ways:
The Barton Street PPatch is seeking more community to help build our community
garden! If you are interested in learning to build mortar and reclaimed chain link walls (a family-friendly “mud pie” activity), want to swing a sledgehammer, spend some quality time with a wheelbarrow and some wood chips, or would like to provide snacks for our workers, you are invited to stop by. Over the next 6 weeks we’ll be holding work parties Saturdays 9:30-3 pm and Sundays 11-3 pm. All are welcome!
For more about the Barton Street P-Patch’s progress, check out their Facebook group. There’s also info on the city Department of Neighborhoods website, where Barton is P-Patch #85.
(Photo by Mike Fiechtner)
Sarah Lenssen of Seaview is mom to three kids, two of whom are from Ethiopia. This week – to help save the lives of starving children in their homeland and other food-crisis-ravaged nations in the Horn of Africa – her #Ask5for5 campaign is being spotlighted on dozens of websites. Sarah explains that #Ask5for5 is “simple: anyone who wants to participate gives $5 and then asks 5 friends to give $5 and they each ask 5 more friends to give $5. So far 754 people have donated over $23,000 for victims of the drought and famine. 100% of the funds multiplied up to 5 times by government grants and are being administered by local organization World Vision in the Horn for relief efforts.” She started it about a month ago, and then sought other online writers to feature it during Social Media Week, which kicked off today. If you have a website and are willing to feature Sarah’s ready-to-publish “guest post” about #Ask5for5 – you can see it here, including contact information. And/or, if you would like to donate, you can do that here.
Got room in your heart and home for a puppy who will grow up to do great things – namely, serving as a Guide Dog? If so, you need to meet West Seattle See Dogs – one of the guide-puppy-raising group that was on hand at Petco in The Junction today in honor of National Guide Dog Month. From left, above, Ruth Oldham, McKenna Kormanik with Guiness the puppy, and Heather Gilbert. Here’s a closer look at Guiness:
You can catch up with West Seattle See Dogs on Facebook.
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
After previewing WestSide Baby‘s kickoff for “Re-Ride,” their expanded car-seat-recycling campaign, we checked back toward the end of the four-hour Saturday event to see the results: Above, some of the 40 or so seats WS Baby told us they received. About one in five could be reused; the rest will be disassembled for recycling. Volunteer Caxambu showed up on Saturday to pitch in with that:
Keep an eye on westsidebaby.org – and here, of course – for updates on upcoming opportunities to donate *any* used car seat you have on hand.
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Houston Wong was the first one back to the start of the course for this morning’s Walk & Roll for Ataxia, an annual fundraiser on Alki. He told WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen that he was there on behalf of a friend who has ataxia, a nervous-system disorder (explained here). Ellen also caught up with Tony Lewendon, an ataxia patient who “rolled” on the course with his recumbent bicycle:
Two more photos after the jump:Read More
(Photo courtesy WestSide Baby)
Today’s the big kickoff drive for WestSide Baby‘s expanded car-seat-recycling effort – and to get ready for that, an army of volunteers descended on their HQ on Friday, according to executive director Nancy Woodland:
WestSide Baby had an amazing crew from Microsoft Office Product Marketing Group here through the United Way Day of Caring. Twenty men and women showed up (Friday) morning and worked like crazy to sort clothes, match bottle pieces, bundle diapers and dismantle car seats for recycling. This is just in time for our big Re-Ride Car Seat Reuse and Recycling event (today), 10 am-2 pm in WestSide Baby’s back yard @ 10032 15th Ave. SW. The “wrecking crew” separated all the car seat parts so that out of about 100 seats, we will send only 1 garbage bag to the landfill. Amazing impact from a great group of people. We can use more volunteers (today) Saturday from 10-2 for all kinds of similar projects if folks have extra time.
Or at least, bring your car seat – no matter what condition – to be recycled. (Here’s our preview from earlier this week.)
WestSide Baby has accepted car seats for recycling before – but usually, just the ones in good enough shape to reuse. Starting this Saturday, they will accept ALL used car seats – 10 am-2 pm on Saturday, bring yours to their donation HQ in White Center, 10032 15th SW (map) – so if you have one, in any condition, in the basement, the attic, the closet, the garage, bring it over! For the new campaign Re-Ride: Car Seat Reuse and Recycling for Local Children in Need, WS Baby is now partnering with recyclers Total Reclaim to enable acceptance of any and all car seats (if yours can’t be reused, they request a $5 minimum donation to help cover the cost of recycling its materials). WS Baby says they are only able to fill about HALF the requests they currently get for car seats, so widening the recycling program will hopefully help them fill more. P.S. If you can help them dismantle car seats in preparation for recycling, please contact Shana Allen at shana@westsidebaby.org or 206-767-1662.
After the first mostly gray day in some time, the sun came out just in time for the first day of the “Dog Days of Summer” fundraiser at Arbor Heights Swim and Tennis Club – as explained here last week, the AH pool is closed to people for the year, so they’re opening it to dogs only, for a special session daily through Saturday, as a fundraiser for the water-polo team. Tonight’s session is on till 7; we were there in the early going, and a half-dozen or so dogs already were having a blast dogpaddling and ball-chasing around the pool.
AHSTC is at 11003 31st SW; tomorrow’s session also runs 5-7 pm.
Southwest Youth and Family Services is a West Seattle-based nonprofit that does a lot of hard work, fairly quietly … but once a year, it’s time to have fun. In our photo are State Sen. Sharon Nelson and SWYFS executive director Steve Daschle, snapped at The Hall at Fauntleroy Friday night, during the agency’s annual gala dinner/auction. Not just the standard auction fare – check this array from Seattle’s popular Pop Cap Games:
The night also featured a dessert dash for treats from the quite-dashworthy Bakery Nouveau:
As explained on the SWYFS website, their main areas of emphasis are counseling, education, and family support (high-school classes are even taught on site, for high-risk students trying to get back into the groove).
(Photo courtesy Genesee Hill School Garden)
On this back-to-school week, neighbors of a closed West Seattle school are getting ready for the second-to-last garden-cleanup day of the year – and inviting you to join in. The Genesee Hill School Garden volunteers and Genesee Schmitz Neighborhood Council have been working hard along the northwest section of the shuttered school’s grounds. By late August, toward the end of their first growing season, the garden was alive with plants including sunflowers, corn, and tomatoes – and the Genesee Hill gardeners donated close to 100 pounds of produce to the food bank in August alone! As reported here previously, their project got off the ground – and into the ground! – with the help of a city Neighborhood Matching Fund grant, but volunteer labor makes all the difference, and they’re hoping for help this Saturday (September 10th) and two weeks later (September 24th). Both of those days, they’re asking for volunteers to meet them at the front of the school along SW Genesee (map) at 9 am – the tasks will include tending and weeding the beds, and taking steps to discourage invasives.
(WSB photo from West Seattle Garden Tour 2011)
The drippy doldrums of June and July seem a distant memory now – but even the 2011 West Seattle Garden Tour fell on a rainy day. Its popularity, however, was waterproof. 800 people toured this year’s ten showcased gardens, according to WSGT’s Jane Watson, and the total take from ticket sales, sponsorships (with co-sponsors including WSB), and miscellaneous day-of-tour sales was up almost 10 percent over a year earlier. That meant a commensurate increase in the proceeds awarded to the beneficiaries, almost $24,000.
To celebrate that success and generosity, WSGT organizers and supporters gathered last night at the Duwamish Longhouse to officially make those awards to the beneficiaries – eight local nonprofits (including a garden project at the Longhouse itself – note Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen on the left side of the ceremonial check):
Representatives of each project/organization got a moment during the actual ceremony to explain their work – we got it all on video:
As a volunteer-powered nonprofit, the Garden Tour needs lots of helping hands – so if you’re ready to dig in, you can find the contact information here.
Neal Chism – who more than does his part to clean up local waterways – sent photos this week, showing last weekend’s trash trouble at the fishing bridge just east of the “low bridge.”
It’s not just an eyesore. It’s a reminder of why trash by the water carries an extra hazard, whether bagged or not – if it gets into the water, it’s not only a hazard to local wildlife, it could eventually find itself to giant, growing repositories like the “garbage patch” in the Pacific. Neal also sent his photos to local authorities, and replies indicated that SDOT, which manages/maintains that area, would investigate more-frequent trash pickup during fishing season.
But a separate note we received, from Suzanne, brings a suggestion/solution: We can not only take care of our own trash, but can go the extra mile, as has Neal, to pick up others’. She suggested that if you have some time this Labor Day weekend, you might consider an impromptu beach/shore cleanup effort, no matter how small – every little bit helps:
I’m hoping that by getting the word out, it might also help people become more aware of the impacts that littering has, and cause folks to think twice about just leaving something behind to let the wind and water take it away – for someone else to deal with.
A friend and I spent several hours picking up LOTS of litter [earlier this week] along the beach at Constellation Park during low tide. We were shocked at how much we collected. It would be fantastic if other folks helped out this weekend along their favorite beaches. Low tides this weekend in West Seattle: Saturday: 3:33 pm; Sunday: 4:45 pm; Monday: 6:23 pm. Be sure to bring bags to collect the litter. Gloves too, ideally. -We didn’t have gloves and wished we did.
Suzanne also says that People for Puget Sound would like to have photos of anything you pick up, particularly plastic trash, since they are getting ready to launch an awareness campaign, so she sent us a postscript before we published this:
Please ask everyone to take photos of what they collect, with the plastic being especially evident and send them to Heather Trim, htrim@pugetsound.org. She is asking that the photos be taken at an angle to show detail, and ideally not in super bright sunlight.
P.S. If you do find some time to do some beach cleanup this weekend – we’d love to see your photos too, to celebrate everything, no matter how small, that neighbors are doing to keep Puget Sound healthier. (P.S. In two weeks you can also join an organized cleanup at Lincoln Park – info here – but don’t let that stop you from getting out this weekend … two more weeks and who knows where today’s trash will be. (Read up on the sea-trash problem here.)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Most know that pink is the official color for breast-cancer awareness.
If somebody asked you which cancer-awareness campaign uses purple … would you know the answer?
Many more people in the area do, because of Prudential Northwest Realty‘s 48-year-old Dawn “DJ” Jump, who is being treated for, and working to raise awareness of, pancreatic cancer.
If you haven’t heard much about pancreatic cancer, you’re not alone. (I hadn’t, until my mother was diagnosed with it 13 years ago.) Not to imply any cancer is a “good” cancer, but cancer of the pancreas is an especially “bad” one. Because of where the pancreas sits in your digestive system, it’s seldom diagnosed early, and the tumor often is too close to vital arteries/other organs for doctors to safely remove. As a result, the 5-year survival rate is 5 percent. But somebody’s gotta be in that five percent – so in an expectation that she’ll be part of it, DJ is undergoing chemotherapy now, shrinking her tumor to get to an operable point (with surgery already scheduled for December), and fighting with so much spirit, her support website is called “CancerDiva.com.”
Right now, her co-workers want to get the word out that you can support her by buying tickets ASAP for an upcoming benefit – it’s in early October, but they need to know by next week how many people can come.
That’s not the only way they’re supporting her – read on to see one vivid example (and to find out more about the benefit and other ways to help):Read More
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