Get Ready for the 61st Annual Wallingford Seafair Kiddies Parade!

Save the date for the Kiddies Parade and stop by the FamilyWorks table!

Wallingford Seafair Kiddies Parade & Street Fair
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Parade at 11 AM (on N 45th St)
Street Fair 10-5 PM (on Wallingford Ave)

Wallingford holds the longest continuous running Kiddies Parade in Seattle (since 1949!).  The 61st Annual Wallingford Seafair Kiddies Parade is a Seafair Sanctioned Community event designed for children young or old.  Families, groups and individuals are invited to participate.  All children are invited to march in the parade!  Family groups do not need to fill in an application, just come to the check-in tent (see map) .  Dressing in costume is encouraged, but not required. Just show up and register.  Drill Teams and vehicles must fill out an application and send it in by June 15th.  Join the Seafair clowns, various bands, pirates, fire trucks, and much more in a fun parade, then stop by the Wallingford Street fair for more fun, food, kids activities and rides.

Download:   Parade Application    Parade Rules    Parade Map

FamilyWorks is at the Wallingford Farmer’s Market!

It’s official– the Wallingford Farmer’s Market is in full swing. You can pick up everything you need for a complete, delicious meal (along with caramels and ice cream for dessert!). Snap peas, edible flowers, cherries, green garlic, crisp apples, pasta, pastries, Patty Pan quesadillas, oh my! The farmers are friendly, the shoppers are happy, the children are playful–there’s no reason to not come visit the market! All of your non-food desires can be satisfied, too: Cascade Bicycles will answer all your cycling questions and give you great maps, the shops inside of the Wallingford Center offer 10% off deals if you show them your produce, and of course, you can chat with the lovely people from FamilyWorks!

You won’t miss our pretty purple tent. Stop by and pick up a calendar, or ask us how to get involved. When you support the farmers, you support the food bank. Yesterday, 67 pounds of produce was collected from farmers to donate to the FamilyWorks Food Bank! Thanks!

A Million Meals for Haiti

Want to help Haiti with a family-friendly (kids ages 10+) volunteer experience? Join The Salvation Army as they pack a million meals to send to a tent city in Haiti.

Here is some more info from the website:

WHAT: A fun event packing a million meals that will feed displaced individuals living in a tent city operated by The Salvation Army in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Since the Jan. 12 disaster, The Salvation Army has already packed, shipped and distributed 10 million meals to the country.

Currently, The Salvation Army is distributing approximately one million meals per week in Haiti. To meet the constant demand for food, “Million Meals for Haiti” events are being organized around the United States in partnership with Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) and Numana– a non-profit organization (www.numanainc.com) that produces dried, non-perishable meals to be distributed to areas of hunger worldwide. To date, The Salvation Army “Million Meals for Haiti” events have occurred in Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City, San Francisco and other cities.

WHO: At least 2000 volunteers are needed to make Seattle’s event successful. It takes a team of 12 to assemble and package the food so come alone or bring others to form your own team….Tell your family, friends, colleagues, community clubs, church, etc! Volunteers need to be at least 10-years-old.

WHERE: Washington State Convention Center, 800 Convention Pl., Seattle, WA 98101

WHEN: Sat. May 29, 12 – 8 PM Sun. May 30, 10 AM – 8 PM

HOW: For more information including volunteer registration, please visit www.salvationarmynw.org/haiti

We’d love to hear if you get a group together!

The Food Bank Diet

One group in Toronto is asking a powerful and thought-provoking question: “Does a single person on social assistance receive enough income to live with health and dignity?”

Social assistance in Ontario is comparable to DSHS here in Washington State. Basically, if you are in financial need, you may qualify for Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support, which would help provide money for food and housing, employment assistance, and health care. But is it enough assistance? Do The Math is a campaign hosted by The Stop Community Food Centre located in Toronto that is battling this issue. They believe that there really is not enough assistance for people to live with health and dignity. See for yourself- check out their website and follow the “Take the Survey” link to see what financial alterations to your lifestyle you would need to make.

Read this article and tell us what you think. Could you live on a Food Bank diet? Can one trip to the food bank fill you up for the week?

Earth Day 2010

Looking to help Mother Nature this month?? Here are some ideas for you to explore:

Operation Beautification Wallingford: Saturday, April 17th. Pick up supplies at 10am at Wallingford Center (or come early for an energizing rally and treats at 9:30am!), choose a block and make Wallingford shine! Questions call Colleen at (206) 330-6682.

King County Earth Day Expo: Thursday, April 22nd. “Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with hands-on demonstrations that show you how to recycle, volunteer, reduce your carbon footprint, and more. Visit the activity corner with the kids and meet Bert the Salmon! 10 am-2 pm. FREE Westlake Plaza, 4th Ave and Pine St.”

B’Earth Day Super Seattle: Saturday, April 24. “Cupcakes, face painting, nature walks, and birdhouse building ($15). All Ages!10 am- 3 pm. Seward Park Audubon and Environmental Center, 5902 Lake Washington Blvd S. “

America Sees Boom in Volunteerism

Are you a volunteer? Do you feel like your actions contribute to the community? If you answered yes, you aren’t alone—you’re in good company! According to PARADE Magazine, we are in the “midst of a volunteer boom.” Recently, the good people at PARADE conducted a survey and found that out of 1008 participants, 94% feel that it is “important to be involved in a community cause.” This is great news for organizations like FamilyWorks that depend on the crucial work of volunteers. Gladys, who runs the teen parent program, knows firsthand the invaluable contributions made by volunteers. “If it wasn’t for volunteers who help me with my teen parent program, I would drive myself mad with all the extra little things!”

This past year there were about 308 volunteers who helped at FamilyWorks, both at the food bank and the resource center. These gracious people contributed over 7,000 hours of work. Most of what we offer here depends on the work of these volunteers. The FamilyWorks After School Program, for example, consists of 27 volunteers who show up on a weekly basis to help out elementary school students. These fine folks have contributed 385.5 hours of volunteer work to date since the start of the school year!

So what do YOU think? Has there been an increase in volunteerism? Do you feel more likely to volunteer or to bring your children to volunteer now compared to your parents?

Phinney Neighborhood Association – Winter Festival and Crafts Fair

Phinney Neighborhood Association – Winter Festival and Crafts Fair.

All canned goods collected on Sunday are donated to the FamilyWorks Food Bank.  Hope to see you there!

Giving Garden

On a recent warm, breezy summer Monday night, I braved the strange crosswalks and lights over the bustling N. 45th St and followed Bagley a couple blocks north until it dead-ended into a park. In the wide open spaces, shade sheltered a woman throwing a ball for her small dog, children kicked around a soccer ball, and I could hear the clanking sounds of gardening tools from my right. Following my ears, I rounded the corner and entered the Good Shepherd P-Patch.

None of the gardeners could remember exactly how long the P-Patch has been sponsoring and cultivating a Giving Garden through Lettuce Link, but it’s been at least several years. As a result of these dedicated volunteers, not only can a casual passerby enjoy the quiet yet abundant sanctity of the garden, but one can learn about various sustainable gardening techniques: green roofs, pollination, succession planting, summer/winter rotation, cucurbit trellis, double-digging raised beds, floating row covers, interplanting, companion planting, broadcast sowing, tomato trellising, and more. Moreover, the volunteers tend a Giving Garden, an area in which the produce grown is donated to FamilyWorks Food Bank.

On this particular evening, the P-Patch volunteers dug in and harvested over 51 POUNDS of food for FamilyWorks! I’d highly recommend checking out this gorgeous P-Patch, honing your gardening skills with the information posts you can find throughout the garden, and enjoying the bounty of organic food mixed with the beauty of various flowers. Just be sure to take note of the yellow plum tree you’ll pass through as you enter the gate – or you’ll end up with an overripe plum splattering on your head! (No one will notice, luckily, if you proceed to lick your fingers after you clean your hair.)

Want to get involved? The waitlist for P-Patches is notoriously long (I’m currently waiting for a spot at any of them, hoping not to have to ditch my potted tomatoes and beans when I move), but you may be able to find a space and a new friend with this garden listing. For more photos, please visit FamilyWorks’ Facebook Page.

FamilyWorks On Parade!

Many members of the FamilyWorks community joined us for our spot in the FamilyWorks Kiddies Parade today! We marched down 45th St. with bubbles, music, cheers of “Fam-lee-works! Fam-lee-works,” streamers, decorated musical instruments, and all kinds of costumes from pirates to giant flowers to fairies to ladybugs. The sun was shining, the kids were smiling, and all in all, it was a wonderful time. Thanks to Mayra for putting it together, and to Curtis for carrying one of our decorated poles, as well as to all the community members who were able to join us. Be sure to check out a small sampling of photos from the event on our Flickr page, and for the full set, become a fan of FamilyWorks on Facebook!

Kiddie Parade Saturday!

The SeaFair Kiddie Parade is TOMORROW! Many groups in the parade are looking for participants, including FamilyWorks!  Come wave a pom pom with FamilyWorks (Pom Pom included): meet at 10:30 at Corliss and N. 45th this Saturday the 11th. For more info, please call us at 206-694-6727.

The Pacific Science Center is also looking for Children 5-11 to ride their bus or walk alongside.  I-Max tickets may be available for those participating. For more information, contact the Center directly.