Thank you to our charity selection team, led by Ryan O’Hara, for presenting us with three great charities to choose from: Fedcap, The Door, and Part of the Solution. Please read up on each one and vote here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/65C68KQ by Monday, Feb 6th at 9 am.
Fedcap
www.fedcap.org
Fedcap is a 75-year-old nonprofit that helps people break through barriers to employment and achieve economic independence. Click here to watch our introductory video.
Fedcap has many volunteer opportunities for nycTIES members. We are located in Chelsea and volunteer opportunities can occur after 5 on weekdays and on weekends. You may work directly with the people we serve by mentoring an at-risk young person–helping them see a better future. This will include social outings where a group may go to a baseball game, visit a museum, etc. You can also present your profession at our quarterly Connect2Careers job fairs, an event styled after ‘speed-dating’ to give young people a broader perspective on a variety of employment fields. Or you can help graduates of our training programs develop critical interview skills with mock job interviews. Just as important, you may share your knowledge and talents in areas where Fedcap needs support like social media strategy, state-of-the-art IT or other areas. Fedcap has a number of initiatives we are trying to start up—a nycTIES partnership can provide the expertise and the legs to help stand-up a new program at Fedcap
The Door
www.door.org
The Door is entering its 40th anniversary year – a landmark anniversary for an organization that has helped tens of thousands of at-risk youth in New York City, and an excellent time for nycTIES to partner with us. One of our goals for the year is to raise The Door’s profile and increase awareness of the work we do, especially among young professionals. Throughout the year we will have many opportunities for your members to come in and volunteer or help us celebrate our anniversary, and we’re open to new ideas from you, as well!
Following are a few examples of ways we can partner together over the course of the year. We are located in SoHo and volunteer events could occur from 5-8 on weekdays or on Sundays:
- Potential hands-on volunteer opportunities
o Crisis closet organization – sort through clothing and supplies that have been donated for our runaway and homeless youth
o Community meals – serve food to our young people during Door-wide celebrations (i.e., the “Prom” in the summer; Giving Thanks dinner in November; etc.)
o Professional development workshops – lead a one-time class on topics relevant to young people in our career training programs (i.e., Resume Writing 101; How to Prepare for a Job Interview; Handling Workplace Conflict; etc.)
o Life skills workshops – lead a one-time class on topics relevant to all of our young people (i.e., Money Management 101; Healthy Living; etc.)
- Potential fundraising/awareness raising opportunities
o Attend Door fundraising events and help us promote to your membership
o Host your own fundraising event with proceeds benefiting The Door
o Hold a food and/or clothing drive for our runaway and homeless youth program
o Volunteer at Door fundraising events
o Provide marketing expertise to assist with our 40th anniversary campaign
Please see the attached PowerPoint presentation as well.
Part of the Solution (POTS)
www.potsbronx.org/
Located in the Bronx, POTS is only a 20-minute Metro-North ride from Grand Central. The community kitchen is open during the day and on weekends. Partnering with POTS will give nycTIES members the opportunity to continue to meet the ever growing needs of our Bronx community – which has the distinction of having the highest percentage of people suffering from hunger of any congressional district in the nation, as well as the greatest number of low-income people in the country by:
· Serving meals in our café-style Community Dining Room (“soup kitchen”) or helping guests ‘shop’ in our Food Pantry
· Joining & helping us expand POTS newest program – the Family Club. On Wednesday evenings, POTS is now offering homework help for students, as well the opportunity for families to cook and share dinner in our Community Dining Room
· Getting involved with POTS’ Haunted House, Back-to-School supplies giveaway, Thanksgiving meal distribution, Dear Santa letter fulfillment or Holiday Store
· Providing pro bono legal help: if you are a lawyer or know one who might be interested
· Donating any special skills you can share – such as Social Media or Communications assistance, organizing drives, fundraising help, etc.
Please see the attached Power Point Presentation as well.
Amanda is one of the people we can thank for our amazing new charity partner-Fedcap. As part of the charity selection team, she conducted an initial interview with Fedcap and continued to mediate through the selection process. In addition to this recent project, she has been a reliable member of the communications team managing our Twitter account. Who was behind all those tweets alertimg you of the coolest new silent auction items? Yup, Amanda and her adorable dog, Ginger. Thank you, Amanda, for strengthening us in so many ways.
Erica Bossen continuously strengthens nycTIES by volunteering in a variety of ways. Volunteering her time, she has attended everything from yoga classes to tutoring sessions with the students of The Children’s Storefront and the GO Project. Volunteering her professional skill sets, she has helped the events team by acquiring silent auction items from her employer, the NBA, and even initiated our FIT clinic with GO Project. The FIT clinic featured former WNBA and NBA players and was one of our most successful events of the year: For that event, we have received many letters of thanks from GO and the parents of children who participated. A huge thanks to Erica for being an all-star on so many fronts.
