Our September Project - Food Drive

Our project for September is a food drive for Brookland's Food Pantry. This ministry helps feed needy people in our community by providing food boxes for them. They do not charge for this service and the staff of the Food Pantry is all volunteers. (Meaning, they don't get paid!!)
We will run the food drive through the end of September, but we will have two Saturdays in September when you can drop off the items you have collected from family members, friends, fellow church mates, golf partners, weight-lifting buddies and other associates. Our goal is 5,000 units or pieces. (For example, a canned food item or a box of macaroni would be 1 unit/piece each). If you have not already, please email me at mpowerkm@hotmail.com to let me know:

1. If you will be soliciting non-perishable food items from people you know
2. Which of the following Saturdays you will be able to help organize the food items that have been collected. (September 12th and/or September 26th)

Why We Do Dues?

Cute title, eh?

For our newer members, we have a voluntary $5/month component. Why do we have dues? For three main reasons:

1. For projects like a Christmas angel tree or gift giving program, this will allow us to sponsor a child or family.
2. To donate funds to some of the charitable organizations that we volunteer with
3. To send cards to members who are grieving the loss of a loved one or to help honor a member's birthday.

If the $5/month assessment is a financial burden, then please do not let that keep you from volunteering. For example, one of our members has just been laid off, so it is completely understandable if she cannot pay. But I strongly encourage all of you who can afford it, to catch up with our dues, so that we can fulfill items 1,2 and 3 listed above.

Concerning our dues, Miss Stacia Davis has graciously agreed to serve as our "money person". (No, that doesn't mean she will pay all of the money!!). She will keep the records and write any checks as needed.

Thanks to everyone who has gone out and worked the various projects. Please consider honoring the financial part of our commitment to the Yes We Will Volunteers as well.

Carolina Boys Home - Another Successful Project

On Saturday, August 8th, six members of the Yes We Will Volunteers cleaned out a storage shed at the Carolina Boys Home. I taught the crew a valuable lesson on how not to be late!!

Seriously, thanks to everyone who came out. This was probably our most strenuous project so far, but we also had fun. Check out the photos and stay tuned for our next volunteer project. Compared to this last one, it will be a piece of cake.

Directions to Carolina Boys Home

Here are the directions from 3 different starting points. As a frame of reference, Carolina Boys Home is a couple of streets off of North Main Street just past Columbia Junior College of Business. Their full address is 1303 Sycamore Avenue, Columbia, SC 29203. You will be looking for a white two-story house. There are no signs with their name on it. Feel free to call me at 477-6636 if you have any questions or you get lost. (I promise I won't laugh at you!!)

From Downtown (Starting at the Public Library on Assembly St.)

• Take Assembly St. heading toward Elmwood St. (You should be heading away from the Capital building)
• Make a right onto Elmwood (at the light with McDonalds on the left and Subway on the right)
• Make a right onto Main Street at the light (Go approximately 2.4 miles) (Stay on Main Street until you see Columbia Junior College of Business, then start looking for Fuller St.)
  
• Make a left at Fuller Street (Go .1 mile)
• Make a right at Sycamore Ave.
  

From Northeast Columbia

• Take I-20 West (Go 4.5 miles)
• Take exit 70 for US 321/Fairfield Rd Toward Winnsboro (.2 miles)
• Keep right at the fork, follow signs for Seminary/Columbia and merge onto Fairfield Rd/US 321 (Go 1.8 miles)
• Turn right onto Fuller Ave (Go .1 miles)
• Turn right at Sycamore Ave.

From St. Andrews/Irmo

• Take I-26E Ramp to Columbia (Go .8 miles)
• Take exit 107B to merge onto I-20E toward Florence (Go 4.3 miles)
• Take exit 68 for SC-215/Monticello Rd (Go .3 miles)
• Turn right at Monticello Rd/SC-215 (Signs for Monticello Rd) (Go .1 miles)
• Turn left at Timrod Street (Go .4 miles)
• Turn left at Sycamore Ave.