workday kick-off event | reflecting back and looking ahead

On Saturday, February 4th, 45 enthusiastic representatives from some of the South Bay's finest community-minded organizations gathered for Sharefest's Annual Workday Kick-off Meeting.  The gathering was a great opportunity to come together with organizations who are considering serving as "adopting organizations” for our upcoming 9th Annual Workday on April 28th.  Some of the many highlights from our time together were the stories shared from the perspectives of both recipients and adopting organizations.  For example, Steve Park shared on behalf of Lighthouse Community Church, a long-time partner of Sharefest, regarding his regular role as a project manager. He shared specifically about the relationship that their church has built with Torrance High School.  During their time renting weekend meeting space from THS, Lighthouse made it a priority to give back via the annual Workday.  As a result, a wonderful community alliance was formed and Lighthouse caught the Sharefest vision of community development and creative collaboration.  One other side note as it pertains to creative collaboration:  Lighthouse Church now partners with another local church on the Workday, serving the community side-by-side. 

Diane Schweitzer, who heads up Healthy Start on the Gardena High School campus, was an active part of our 2011 signature project at Gardena High.  During our meeting, she shared her perspective on last year’s Workday, which brought out hundreds of volunteers just four months after a tragic on-campus shooting.  She shared how the Workday had an undeniable, lasting impact in the Gardena High students' sense of ownership of their own campus.  She commented on the clear and palpable sense of pride these teenagers have for their school, something that was noticeably missing in their hearts and minds prior to the campus beautification project. 

Next, we heard from Holmes Avenue Elementary Principal Tony Amparan, as well as his 2011 Holmes Project Manager, Debi Raasch.  They shared how a year ago Principal Amparan  had a dream of building a state-of-the-art computer lab for his school.  Amazingly Amparan's dream became reality through the hard work and leadership of Greg and Debi Raasch, who oversaw the lab's creation on the Workday. Principal Amparan shared how the "heartbeat" of Holmes Avenue Elementary has changed.  At one point this school was the second lowest performing school in the state of California, but under the guidance and dedicated leadership of the current faculty and staff, test scores are on the rise.  In his words,

"I thought the computer lab was my dream, but my dream was to have Sharefest at my school. Sharefest has changed our values and belief system. We, the administrators, staff and teachers, no longer look at obstacles, but look to find ways to work as a community. And it has given students the belief that they can achieve and succeed in the same way."

Beyond this, Debi’s relationship with the school has deepened, as she is on campus, serving as a tutor each week, and they are already in the planning stages for a follow-up project on April 28th.  The dreams for this year seem mountainous, but we have seen the impossible become reality.  Stay tuned, as that project comes together!

As you can see, we are as excited as ever for the amazing things in store for this year's Workday.  For those  who attended the kickoff meeting, we cannot thank you enough for carving time out of your schedules to come together and begin planning another great Workday.  Our vision to bring about lasting positive change is fully dependent on the hard work and dedication of our community partners.  If you are interested in being part of the upcoming Workday, please visit our website by clicking on one of the buttons below.

Doors of Hope // how the impact of the 2011 workday continues to touch lives

When Barb Nannini, from Doors of Hope Women’s Shelter in 20 beds are ready to welcome women in needWilmington visited the women's Bible study groups at Oceanside Christian Fellowship in 2009, she shared the vision for a new shelter for single women who were falling through the cracks.  It was then that Cheryl O’Donnell felt a stirring in her heart to do something for the shelter.  The timing wasn’t right that year but she began to dream of a quilting project that would be birthed two years later.

During the 2011 Workday, Cheryl provided a place for those who wanted to participate in the Workday but not able to handle physical work. All the pieces began to fall into place, and the project was born. On that Saturday in May, over 30 people began a project that continued through several workdays.  Eventually, Cheryl and her team of faithful volunteers had sewn together 20 quilts for the shelter's 20 beds in time for the Grand Opening in September.  

Volunteers at the 2011 Workday In Cheryl’s own words:

“The name of the quilt pattern is Warm Embrace; we prayed together throughout the completion of the quilts for the women who would sleep under them.  A project like this blesses participants in so many ways. Reaching out and finding out more about local people in need, praying for those people, physically contributing, working in community, accomplishing something beautiful...all this and more under God's guidance.”

Doors of Hope Women’s Shelter ministers the love and grace of Jesus Christ to homeless women in the South Bay by providing a safe and nurturing environment where they can receive food, clothing, temporary shelter and spiritual encouragement in their present life circumstances.  Doors of Hope provides temporary shelter, daily meals and showers, clean clothing, counseling and spiritual guidance.  For more information, to volunteer or make a donation, contact 310-518-DOOR (3667). 

If you are interested in being involved in our upcoming 9th Annual Workday on April 28th, 2012, please use the buttons below:

      

2012 Workday: Project Sign up Directions/FAQs

Sharefest is now taking beautification project applications from schools, cities and non-profit groups in the South Bay and LA Harbor areas. Please have the leadership of the organization submit the project application to us by February 3, 2012 so we can find a volunteer organization to adopt your project. Projects will be completed during the 9th Annual Sharefest Workday on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Below are some directions on how to use our online web application for the Workday to process a project submission, and a list of the top four frequently asked questions about Sharefest’s upcoming WORKDAY on April 28th, 2012. These questions/answers are particularly helpful for the person that will be making your project submission. If you have any further questions, please leave a comment below or email us. Getting started is easy, just click HERE or on the image button below and you will be taken through a simple 4-step process.

// DIRECTIONS

STEP 1 - Register yourself -In order to register your project with Sharefest we need you to create a personal login providing us with your email and first and last name. Additional contact info is also helpful, but not mandatory. Hit “Continue” once you fill in the required information.

STEP 2 - Register Your Organization -Next, please register your organization with Sharefest by providing us with your organization type (school, city, non-profit), name, description and location. Hit “Continue” once you fill in the required information.

STEP 3 - Create Your Project -Now it’s time to create your project. You can be creative and name your project. Please provide a brief overview of the needs that your project will address if completed by Sharefest. Also please  provide us with your project site information. An example of the site owner would be the school district you belong to if your project is at a school site. Inputting your site description is also helpful to the volunteer organization that will be considering adopting your project. You want to indicate how meaningful it is for you to receive a project from a Sharefest Volunteer Organization. Hit “Continue” once you fill in the required information.

STEP 4 - Outline your project with “Project Activities” -This next step is where you begin to outline the scope of your project. Your Sharefest Project will have a parent relationship with many project activities that fall under it. Many volunteer organizations like to see the variety of tasks that compose your overall project broken into pieces. Note: you may only get some of your Project Activities adopted. There also might be two different Volunteer Organizations doing different project activities as well.

Congratulations, you have successfully submitted your project to Sharefest. Unfortunately, not every project gets adopted by a Partnering Sharefest Volunteer Organization. If your project does get adopted, you will be notified either by email or a phone call from a Project Manager. Should you have any questions or want additional information, please contact us at info@sharefestinc.org.

Halfway down on your screen you will see your Project Activities listed. You can always edit them or add another activity. If you would like to outline your project further, you can add special instructions and materials needed for each project activity. Please also consider uploading before, during and after pictures of your projects on this page! This helps document the work that needs to be done and will show volunteer organizations the tangible needs at your site as well as before and after shots that will show the great work that has been accomplished.

You'll notice a Project Menu on the left hand side of the screen where you can Invite other Team Leaders, see a list of volunteers that sign up for this project once it's adopted or add volunteers that you are able to recruit.

// FAQs

#1 Q: If I registered a project last year and it didn't get adopted then do I have to re-register it?

A: Yes, we have updated our online system and need your information to be entered again

#2 Q: If I registered as a user with your online system last year, do I have to re-register?

A: Yes, because of our updated online system, please re-register as a user.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

#3 Q: Who pays for the materials and other costs associated with the Workday?

A: Sharefest encourages volunteer organizations to self-fund these projects. If your organization has funds available, please indicate this in the special instructions section of this application. Sharefest also has unique ways to raise money for projects so please email us at info@sharefestinc.org to learn more.

#4 Q: What happens if my project doesn't get adopted?

A: We will do our best to try and get your project adopted during our Annual Workday. Sometimes Volunteer Organizations desire to take on projects outside of our Workday and projects that don't get adopted during our Workday get completed at another time. Again, if you have any further questions, please leave a comment below or email us.