On and off the runway, smiles, words of hope, and flourishes of fashion were the order of the night at Northwest Hope and Healing‘s “Style ’12” event last night at Showbox SODO. The video above is courtesy of Edgar Riebe at Captive Eye Media – the survivors you’ll see and hear from in his clip include West Seattle’s three-time survivor and fundraiser extraordinaire Tracy Dart (who told Edgar, “It’s fun to feel pretty in front of 500 people, and to show that you made it out on the other side”), the keynote speaker. West Seattle businesses participating included >West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), Ola Salon, and boutiques Carmilia’s, Sweetie, and Coastal. This summer, as usual, there’s a big West Seattle fundraiser for NW Hope and Healing: The 5K Alki Beach Run/Walk on August 26 (yes, registration is already open!).

It’s never too soon to teach kids a great “habit” – helping others. That’s the lesson Jena‘s students are learning at Tiny Tribe Preschool, which brought wee ones to Junction Plaza Park this morning for a Hop-A-Thon, an activity the Muscular Dystrophy Association is encouraging not only as a fundraiser, but also to teach kids about disabilities – “awareness, acceptance, assistance.” Tiny Tribe has already raised $600; we video’d the kids hopping in the chilly rain for two heartwarming minutes:

You can donate online to help the Tiny Tribe kids reach their goal – just go here.

Dozens of local nonprofits are participating in today’s Seattle Foundation‘s one-day-only GiveBIG donate-a-thon. The foundation is offering a “stretch pool” of partial matching funds, to be distributed proportionately depending on how much each participating nonprofit raises on this single day, by 11:59 pm tonight. One BIG catch: You **must** donate through the nonprofit’s special page on the foundation’s website, NOT via the nonprofit’s own website. So we have gone through the foundation’s directory to find all those special pages for participating West Seattle, White Center, and South Park-based or -founded nonprofits (and a couple parent organizations). You can also use the special “go here” links below to find out more about any of these organizations – the links take you to pages on the Seattle Foundation website with background information and links to the organizations’ own sites, as well as the donation links to use for this one-day event. (P.S. Please let us know if we missed a WS, WC, or SP-based organization – post a comment or e-mail us!)

ANUNNAKI PROJECT – go here

ART FOR ANIMALS’ SAKE – go here

ARTS CORPS – go here

ARTSWEST – go here

CHIEF SEALTH PERFORMING ARTS – go here

COOLMOM – go here

DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION – go here

DUWAMISH RIVER CLEANUP COALITION – go here

DUWAMISH TRIBAL SERVICES – go here

ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF SOUTH SEATTLE – go here

FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY – go here

FRIENDS OF SEALTH – go here

FULL LIFE CARE – go here

KNIT FOR LIFE – go here

KOL HANESHAMAH – go here

LOG HOUSE MUSEUM/SOUTHWEST SEATTLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY – go here

LUNGEVITY FOUNDATION – go here

MARRA FARM COALITION – go here

MULTI-COMMUNITIES – go here.

NATURE CONSORTIUM – go here

NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE – go here

NEIGHBORHOOD FARMERS MARKET ALLIANCE – go here

NEW FUTURES – go here

NORTHWEST CENTER – go here

NORTHWEST HOPE AND HEALING – go here

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE SCHOOL – go here

PONGO PUBLISHING – go here

PROVIDENCE MOUNT ST. VINCENT FOUNDATION – go here

SAFEFUTURES YOUTH CENTER – go here

SANISLO PTA – go here

SEATTLE CHINESE GARDEN – go here

SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION – go here

SENIOR SERVICES – go here

SOUND CHILD CARE SOLUTIONS – go here

SOUTH PARK AREA REDEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE – go here

SOUTH PARK INFORMATION AND RESOURCE CENTER – go here

SOUTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION – go here

SOUTHWEST YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES – go here

TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION – go here

THE SERVICE BOARD – go here

TRANSITIONAL RESOURCES – go here

THE VILLAGE OF HOPE – go here

WEST SEATTLE FOOD BANK – go here

WEST SEATTLE HELPLINE – go here

WESTSIDE BABY – go here

WHITE CENTER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION – go here

WHITE CENTER FOOD BANK – go here – and note, WCFB has added events today, as reported on our partner site White Center Now, including a portion of proceeds donated tonight if you dine at Proletariat Pizza or Zippy’s Giant Burgers in WC

YES FOUNDATION OF WHITE CENTER – go here

YMCA OF GREATER SEATTLE – go here

YOUTH MEDIA INSTITUTE – go here

YWCA OF SEATTLE – go here

You’ve probably heard that ivy, while it may look lovely and rustic climbing on old brick buildings, for example, is an enemy to trees. Steve Richmond explains why, and invites you to a removal project tomorrow:

Did you know English ivy changes leaf shape and goes to seed when it climbs vertically? And while it’s strangling our trees, that birds eat the seed and spread it throughout our forests? Ivy plus blackberry (or any food source: bird feeders, unpicked fruit) also attracts rats – not what we want for a healthy city.

What can you do? Join us this Saturday at Sanislo School wetland to remove ivy. We’re also mulching bare soil to avoid erosion and prevent polluted runoff.

When: Saturday, April 28, 2012 (every 4th Saturday)
Time: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM (Join for an hour or all day)
Where: Sanislo School Wetland; 1812 SW Myrtle, Seattle, WA 98106. Meet at front of school.
What to bring: Gloves, hand tiller (we’ll have extra, but write your name on your tools), weather-appropriate gear (rain or cold), hat/eye/sun protection, food/water/bottle, sturdy shoes/boots. Snacks and water provided.

For info: pugetcreekwatershedalliance.org; Steve Richmond (206) 650-9807

(Photo from last Saturday, courtesy WOLLRG)
It was a valiant crew – but a small crew – that volunteered last Saturday to help transform the area by the “Walking on Logs” sculptures along the Fauntleroy end of the West Seattle Bridge. Yes, we know it was a ridiculously busy and stunningly sunny day. Lots going on this Saturday too – but maybe this time around you can spare a couple hours to help the “gateway to West Seattle” with a project that’ll pay off for years to come. An updated invite from Nancy Driver and the Walking on Logs Landscape Restoration Group:

Enjoy seeing “Walking on Logs” looking good? Take pride in your community? Then give 2 hours of your time to this community icon, this Saturday.

The Walking on Logs Landscape Restoration Group is looking for volunteers for Saturday, April 28th for two hour shifts between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. We are re-landscaping the area around the Walking on Logs statues with native plants and aspens to create a “Woodland Grove” theme as a backdrop to the statues. Our goal to create more attractive landscaping with less long term maintenance by installing plants suitable for the conditions at the site.

Last weekend we did the prep work, i.e, most of the really hard work. Now we have 75 trees and over 500 shrubs to get into the ground and can use plenty of volunteers. This is a big project that will benefit the entire community. We need the community’s support.

We’ll have gloves on hand as well as water and snacks. We’ll also have shovels and other tools but as we have a limited supply, if you can bring your own shovel, it would be much appreciated. Mud boots are recommended since the site is very wet this time of year.

If you’d like to volunteer, email Ruth at Ruth.Hoover@comcast.net to sign up. Ruth will get you the details on where to park and how to get to the site. Hope to see you there.

This project is funded in part by a Neighborhood Matching Fund award from the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Funding was also provided by the West Seattle Garden Tour and numerous West Seattle residents.

Till the end of April, the Feinstein Challenge remains in effect for local food banks – which means your donations to the White Center Food Bank and West Seattle Food Bank, both of which serve areas of WS, count extra. We have two updates on ways you can help – first, just in from the WC Food Bank:

White Center Food Bank continues to serve record numbers of families. We gave food to 1,654 families which included 1,476 children and 1,323 seniors. With such a large demand, we are seeing a huge need for food donations. Most needed foods include canned meat, cereal, Hamburger Helper and Rice a Roni type products, peanut butter and canned fruit. Non-perishable foods and fresh produce from gardens is accepted Mondays through Fridays 8:30 to 5:00. We will also be open Saturday, April 21 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Food donations made from now until April 30 count bring a little extra bonus for the food bank as they count toward our Feinstein Million Dollar Challenge totals. Food can also be donated at barrels in the community at: A Place for Pets (Burien), Admiral Safeway, BECU (in Roxbury Safeway), Big Al’s Brewing, Café Rozella, and QFC Westwood Village.

Second, a reminder that tomorrow is the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle one-day food drive for the WS Food Bank. 9 am-3 pm, you’ll find Kiwanis and Key Club volunteers collecting food and monetary donations at several spots around West Seattle, including WSB sponsors Metropolitan Market and PCC Natural Markets in the Admiral District and West Seattle Thriftway in Morgan Junction.

West Seattle is THE most spectacular part of the city. We all know that! But if you drive in via the Fauntleroy end of the West Seattle Bridge, that’s not always apparent. Some aspects of the “gateway” stretch will take time to change – but the greenspace around the Walking On Logs sculptures (city webcam at right) only needs a few hours of your time, one or both of the next two Saturdays. Updating the plan for new landscaping in that area (as published here a week and a half ago) – thanks to a lot of volunteer work that’s already been done – Nancy Driver of the Walking On Logs Landscape Restoration Group is hoping a few more people will step forward to help, particularly this Saturday, for two hours between noon and 4, they need some muscle-power for the two-person “augurs” to be used to dig holes for new trees and shrubs going in a week later. She says “more volunteers to take out blackberries” are on the wish list too, particularly for this Saturday. Any shift you sign up for is only two hours – we know there’s a LOT going on this Saturday, but c’mon, you can fit it all in. Read more about the project here; e-mail ruth.hoover@comcast.net to get on the volunteer list – and know that thousands will see the result of your work every single day.