Lake City Pioneer Days Recap

[All smiles. Before the rain, that is.]

We were at the Lake City Pioneer Days on Saturday and a big shout out goes to our volunteers who helped us table! Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth also--our bag of Twix was a big hit and so were our pins that said "STOP Domestic Violence!"

Probably the best moment of the day for me was having someone stop by and say, "I was a participant of New Beginnings a long time ago. It was a big help."
If you're wondering what "tabling" is, it's really about being a presence in the community and alerting people to our services which really go hand in hand. If you'd like to table at upcoming evnets, be on the lookout for emails and blog updates!

4 Questions

[And the 5th installment of the franchise...28 Decades Later]

I have a very small request that is going to take all of 4 minutes to complete. We're making fun (and I mean f-u-n) Volunteer ID cards to post up at Shelter, on the Help Line, wherever you volunteer and we not only need your picture (thank you to those that have sent theirs in already) but also need some info so other volunteers and staff can get to know you!

We'll be posting up your responses to 4 questions as part of your ID. Those four all-important questions are:

1. Occupation?
2. Hobbies?
3. Favorite Movie?
4. Favorite Quote?

I'm not a Volunteer necessarily but I'll get things going:

Occupation: Community Engagement Coordinator
Hobbies: Photography, The Internet
Favorite Movie: 28 Weeks Later
Favorite Quote: "Pile it high and deep." - Bill Murray in What About Bob?

Tee Time

[Ah the perks of digging through old office supplies]

We've found a stash of t-shirts we had tucked away that feature this wonderful poster right on the front! It's a plain white T-Shirt and we've got it in every size but as of most recent count, there are about two smalls, two-dozen mediums and larges and a dozen XLs and two XXLs. If you're an active volunteer, let me know in the comments or via email if you'd like one. T-shirts must be picked up from our office!

And remember to send in your photo for the much-anticipated New Beginnings Volunteer ID Cards!

What Would You Do?

[Trigger warning: abusive language and behavior portrayed by actors in the scenes]

With all the Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen news recently, I thought I'd share an interesting clip from ABC New's "What Would You Do?" segment from a while back. Would You Try to Help a Battered Woman?

It's an interesting "experiment" to say the least and while it's not perfect, maybe it'll get people to think about their roles as bystanders and what that says when oftentimes, people judge, dismiss or do nothing.

If you check out the first video, there's also a segment they follow up with doing the same scenario except the next time, they dress up the battered women in "provacative" clothing. To hear how people react is shocking, to say the least.

Voting for Judges

["You are just about to cross the line, buddy. The line is right here." - Judge Judy]

A friendly reminder, dear readers, about the Judicial races that end on August 17th. Why is voting important? Let's let VotingforJudges fill you in!

2. Why are judicial elections important?

Judges make decisions about fundamental issues that affect all of us — family life, education, health care, housing, employment, discrimination, civil rights, public safety — and those decisions can have long-lasting impact. It is critical that our judges make fair decisions based upon open-minded and unbiased consideration of the facts and the law in each case. Judges must know the law, be independent, and be free from external political and economic influences. Voting for qualified judges really does protect the courts.