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| rio grande roots & shoots |
| Albuquerque, NM |
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| knowledge - compassion - action -knowledge - compassion - action - knowledge |
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| Roots & Shoots has launched an international campaign to promote the use of resuable bags. Many different groups have embraced this project and made it their own; we are no exception. In thinking about how we could make the most of this campaign we chose to make our own bags from recycled material (scraps, extra fabric or bargain finds). So not only are we working to promote the use of reusable bags, but we are making them from recycled materials and selling them to benefit upcoming projects. It is a win-win-win!!!! Our first booth to sell our bags was to support a project for the Barrett House, a local shelter for women and children in crisis. We did very well and the kids were incredible at promoting and selling their bags. Please support our efforts and purchase a bag or two for your household or as gifts for others. Simply follow this link to learn more... |
| Reusable Bag Campaign |
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| Barrett House Project |
| 20 parent and child volunteers came to the Barrett House on December 13th 2007 to help the children living in the shelter make gifts for their parents. Barrett House is a shelter for homeless women and children in Albuquerque. Rio Grande Roots and Shoots families were asked to help the kids at the Barrett House who would otherwise not be able to give their moms a gift for the holidays.
We raised money by selling reusable bags at the farmers market. We used that money to buy supplies to help the children at Barrett House make scarves for their mothers and decorate reusable bags to put the gifts in. We received a small grant from Roots and Shoots to purchase family games such as Scrabble, Life and Monopoly. We chose to buy family games because we know that when families are dealing with big issues like homelessness and poverty, having 'family time' together helps decrease the stress and encourage communication between family members. Our kids decorated recycled paper to wrap these games, and donated them. One of our very talented parents donated handcrafted wooden toys to give to the children at Barrett House, and we also made treats so that each family would have some homemade goodies for the holiday season. Lastly we were able to donate 15 ten dollar gift cards from Target for families in need. The shelter director chose how to distribute those. |
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| January 2008 had our group gathering at the Storehouse, a local food pantry for families in need. The Storehouse has been short of volunteers and therefore has a large amount of food that needed to be sorted and put on their shelves for families to be able to access. We had over 35 volunteers show up to work for two, two hour shifts. Our group provided 68 hours of volunteer time and according to the director at the Storehouse, we completed over a week and a half worth of labor in just four hours. They were really happy with our group, their energy, dedication and behavior. We have been invited back to work with them again, and we really look forward to this opportunity. to learn more about the great work that the Storehouse is doing, and how you can help, check out http://www.thestorehouseabq.org/ |
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| RGRS Green Team |
| Families Committed to decreasing our eco-footprint by 10% |
| Rio Grande Roots & Shoots recognizes that we can do project after project to help our environment, but nothing will have a greater impact than really evaluating the day to day choices we make in our lives. So, we are forming the RGRS Green Team. Over the next few months we will be taking the time to evaluate our choices and our lifestyles and to educate ourselves about how to make better, more responsible choices. Combined we hope to decrease our impact by at least 10%. Check back for our progress. Please visit some of the following sites to learn more about how you can make more responsible choices for your family. |
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| This is an opportunity for Albuquerque's high school aged students to come out and learn more about the future of sustainable foods in our area. If you are interested in attending contact Julie Velazquez at VELAZ_Family@msn.com |
| A Sustainable Foods Panel |
| Albuquerque's Youth Leadership Council |
| Friday, Feb 8th 6-8pm |
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| presents |
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| Here's the breakdown:
20 family game gifts wrapped in recycled paper. 20 holiday treat bags 40 handmade wooden toys 30 parent gifts in handmade reusable bags 15 ten dollar gift cards =125 gifts for the Barrett House moms and children. This was a very rewarding project for our families. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to not only give to such a worthy cause, but to see roots and shoots kids interacting with the children at the shelter. We were happy to have a project that met our goal of using recycled materials, and also helped families in our community. |
| NOW FORMING |
| Albuquerque's Youth Leadership Council |
| Now you can get your high school aged children involved in one of the best aspects of Roots & Shoots. The Youth Leadership Council combines the goal of service learning with the character building skills of leadership. to learn more about YLC across the world check out this link. To learn more about how you can get involved in this local group, contact Julie Velazquez at VELAZ_Family@msn.com |