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Archive for the ‘Outreach’ Category

The Carolina Raptor Center has been a favorite destination for students, teachers, Charlotteans, and volunteers alike for nearly 30 years!   It is a great place nestled in Latta Plantation off Beaties Ford Road and you have not been,  do yourself a favor and go see what it is all about.

Their mission is to promote environmental stewardship through education and the role raptors play in our ecosystem.  The Raptor Center is all about promoting sustainable habits that support animals and humans alike.

That’s why when given the opportunity to do an energy audit at the center we jumped at the chance to volunteer.

Jim Warren, the CRC’s Cheif Operating Offiicer, invited us along with CPCC’s 3D Modeling class to come uncover ways to help their facilities save energy.   The plan is to come up with the most effective measures to help save energy and utility costs so those funds can be used to help fulfill the CRC’s mission.

Once the work scope and materials needed are complete a small army of volunteers will go to work making the buildings more energy efficient, comfortable, and healthy (That’s Energy Tight’s Mission).

Owly, a 26 year old tenant at the Carolina Raptor Center gets the thermal treatment

5 Things Volunteers Can Do at the Carolina Raptor Center?

• You can work in the raptor “ER” helping injured raptors become healthy enough to be released back into the wild.
• You can be a part of the transport or raptor ambulance team and respond to calls by the public regarding injured raptors that need to be picked up and taken to CRC.
• You can educate the public about birds of prey and how they play a role in conservation as a docent volunteer or an exhibit volunteer.
• Help us take care of our many resident birds by cleaning cages, feeding them and performing health checks.
• Are you handy and enjoy working outside? We can always use help repairing aviaries and performing other general maintenance around the property.

Join the volunteer program and help make energy efficiency at the Raptor Center

5 Energy Tight Tips to help you save like the CRC

• Ceiling fans require far less energy than air conditioners, and help you feel cooler at higher temperatures. You can feel as cool at 82ºF under a fan as you would at 77ºF in still air.
• Close window coverings during the day to block solar heat.
• During the hottest times of day, don’t use your stove, oven, dishwasher, or clothes dryer. Your air conditioning will use too much energy trying to cool your home.  
  
• Let food cool before you set it in the refrigerator, so the fridge doesn’t have to work harder to maintain cold interior temperatures.
• In most homes, heating water is the third-highest energy cost. Lower your water heater temperature setting as low as possible to save money each month.

“Michael Jordan and the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats will announce a $250,000 donation Monday to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system to help fund middle-school athletics programs this academic year.

Jordan, an NBA legend who made a fortune with his basketball skills and marketing savvy, bought the Charlotte Bobcats this spring. At the time, he talked of the importance of making the franchise an active contributor within the Charlotte community.”

Read more by Ron Green Jr. at the Observer.

On July 20, 2010, The Arts & Science Council presented its next vision for a for Mecklenburg County. You can read all the details on their website.

Present were community leaders like Mayor Anthony Foxx, Mary Lou Babb, ASC Immediate Past Present Board Chair, and Marc Manly from Duke Energy, ASC Board Chair. Each spoke of the need for a vibrant and diverse community, engaged in arts and culture.

This year’s priorities

ASC laid out three priorities for the upcoming years:

• Restore education funding
• Develop a new cultural action plan
• Address the future of funding through innovation

Future Initiatives

ASC President Scott Provancher laid out ASC’s vision for the future — the Cultural Action Plan.   Provancher highlighted previous plans that included public art, cultural facilitates, educational programs, and tourism efforts.  He also gave us a peek into the future by announcing the silent launch of the planning process for the upcoming Cultural Action Plan that will tackle the “new normal” of the economy and new, innovative giving models eluding to a possible “cultural marketplace” or a Match.com of sorts; matching donors to specific projects.

2010-2011 Cultural & Community Investments

ASC’s first round of investments total $8,213,100, with museums, science centers, and historic sites receiving over $4M, performing arts receiving $3.3M, and education and community & diversity projects receiving the remainder.

ASC by the numbers:

• 4700 full time jobs in the arts, cultural, science, and history sector
• $157.96 million in local economic activity
• 93.3% of respondents think arts, science and history organizations make a positive contribution to the quality of life in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
• 79.8% of Mecklenburg residents support county funding for programs (UNC Charlotte Urban Institute Report)
• young people who are invoked in cultural programs are 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievements
• Charlotte Culture Guide included over 60,000 cultural events in 2009.

So, we CLTBlog.com folk volunteer for a lot of stuff around town if you haven’t guessed already. One thing we’re regularly involved with is Pecha Kucha (@PKNCLT) and tonight is one event we really encourage everyone in Charlotte’s creative class to attend. Tonight we’ve got presenters speaking on a wide range of topics from physics to art and design.

Point8 Forum, the organization that brought Pecha Kucha to Charlotte, gives it’s presenters, who are an eclectic, evolving hodgepodge of Charlotte’s great creative talent, the following guidelines (which I am including to help explain this very unique event):

The only restriction is the number of images (20) – and the time you have for each slide (20 seconds each). So you are limited to 6 minutes 40 seconds.

But beyond that there aren’t that many restrictions. No subject is off limits, all points of view [are] allowed. It will be you, your subject, and the audience. So, you can come to vent, promote, posture, or proselytize… (Some of the things allowed include… talking, singing, hopping around on one leg, remaining silent, looking kinda intense, letting your puppet do the talking… not that we expect you to do all/any of that. Just reminding you that these options are out there…)

The hashtag for tonight is #pknclt6. Here’s the list of speakers from the Point8 Forum website:

Natalie Bork
Crista Cammaroto
Ana Jofre
Jason Kierce
Robert Kosara
Jack Ossa
Carlos Salum
Cathy Sheafor
Wolly Vinyl
Mike Wirth
Douglas Welton will be back as our MC for Volume 6.

DHARMA Lounge, 1440 South Tryon, Ste. 105, Charlotte, NC.
FRIDAY July 16, 7:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Doors open at 7:00.
Admission is $5 at the door. Cash bar. The Common Market will be selling light food & snacks.

For those of you who were too late to register to attend TEDxCharlotte, this is your chance to come see a nice cross section of people who will also be presenting in September! If you’re interested in which speakers will also be presenting at TEDxCharlotte, here’s the link to their speakers list.

We hope to see you there and feel free to come say hi! I’ll be manning the Pecha Kucha newsletter sign-up table handing out buttons (don’t forget to pick one up, they’re different every time), Matt Tyndall is running the presentation visuals and local celeb/photographer James Willamor will be on hand snapping photos (He’s the official photographer)!

As a veteran and an animal lover, nothing warms my heart like seeing my two passions combined. That’s why I’m so excited about the new non-profit in Charlotte that helps match pets in need of homes with veterans in need of companionship. Called Hounds4Heroes, founders Jennifer Bennett and Hilary Walls started the nonprofit in 2010 after reading an article about how companion animals help veterans recently returned from combat.

“My dad served in Vietnam as a medic and returned with PTSD,” said Bennett. “I sympathize with his suffering because I have General Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder. My dogs help me when I’m having a very hard time, by just allowing me to snuggle up to them or taking them for a walk. Hounds4Heroes gives me an opportunity to help both veterans like my dad and animals in need. I believe it is my life’s purpose.”

Hounds4Heroes made their first match on May 28, 2010 – right before the start of the Memorial Day weekend. Partnering with the Charlotte Vet Center, an outpatient counseling center, Hounds4Heroes identified Dewey Friday as a good candidate for a companion animal. An Army Vietnam Veteran, Friday attends the Vet Center weekly for individual and group therapy.  Friday was matched with Sissy, a six-year-old Feist from Project Halo, one of Charlotte’s largest pet rescue organizations.

Loretta Deaton, a team leader with the Charlotte Vet Center believes the work Hounds4Heroes does will help veterans better adjust to civilian life and deal with their experiences from active duty. “I have witnessed first-hand the effect that dogs have on the mental health of our veterans,” said Deaton. “By permanently placing companion animals, I believe Hounds4Heroes is positively contributing to our veterans’ on-going readjustment.”

Hounds4Heroes hopes to be a resource for veterans in Charlotte who are dealing with the emotional effects of serving our country. They are also working on programs for the VA hospitals in Salisbury and Fayetteville. They are currently looking for another veteran to place an animal with. Hounds4Heroes would especially like to help someone who has served in either Iraq or Afghanistan. According to Bennett, “We have lots of dogs, funding and programs in place, but we need more veterans who wants animals.”

If you’d like to find out more about Hounds4Heroes and what they do, you can meet them at the Red, White and Boom event in Uptown on July 4th and at the God Bless America Day celebration at Parkwood Baptist Church in Concord.

watch this video on YouTube

Why yes!

The Charlotte Geeks (@cltgeeks) have produced a few PSAs to help support Charlotte Mecklenburg Library (@cmlibrary) in their time of reduced funding. Why ‘Zombies for Libraries’? Because “libraries feed brains and brains feed zombies – so zombies love libraries!”

Check out this post on SaveLibraries.org for more Zombies for Libraries videos. Then when you are done, visit cmlibrary.org to learn more about how you can assist and feed the zombies!

watch this video on YouTube

Why yes!

The Charlotte Geeks (@cltgeeks) have produced a few PSAs to help support Charlotte Mecklenburg Library (@cmlibrary) in their time of reduced funding. Why ‘Zombies for Libraries’? Because “libraries feed brains and brains feed zombies – so zombies love libraries!”

Check out this post on SaveLibraries.org for more Zombies for Libraries videos. Then when you are done, visit cmlibrary.org to learn more about how you can assist and feed the zombies!