White Center Now: The blog about White Center

From Full Tilt Ice Cream‘s Facebook page: “MOUNT VIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEEDS YOUR HELP!!! The funding for their library has been cut this year. No new books. Get down to Barnes and Noble this Friday between 6:30 and 8 pm and buy something. A percentage of the sales will go to the school. Make sure to pick up the voucher from the kids that will be manning the booth there, or come get one at FT.” (Barnes and Noble is close to White Center – Westwood Village in south West Seattle.)

With a Bartell Drugs location at 15th/Roxbury, you’ve got a chance to participate in this:

Bartell Drugs launches its “Stock the Pantry” food drive for Northwest Harvest by accepting nonperishable food items and cash donations at all 57 Bartell Drug locations from June 1 to June 13.

This two-week food drive, now in its second year, is especially important to help Northwest Harvest replenish food stocks during summer months–when families that normally depend on free or reduced-price school meals may struggle to provide those meals at home.

Last year the two-week drive generated more than 16,767 pounds of food donations as well as cash contributions for food banks in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. The company also donated 1,500 reusable bags for use by food bank clients.

Two big events in White Center today:

*Evergreen Community Aquatic Center‘s official ribboncutting, with King County Executive Dow Constantine scheduled to be on hand, 10:30 am, followed by a free community swim till 1 pm. The pool – reopened thanks to the work of WhiteWater Aquatics and community support, after county budget cuts closed it last fall – is at 606 SW 116th (map)… West Seattle Montessori School and West Seattle Academy are raising money with a plant sale today, and you’ll find more than plants: Student performers, Master Gardener Q/A opportunities, even an espresso bar. 11215 15th SW (map), 9 am-2 pm, full details on the school website.

Today is the final day of the annual Feinstein Challenge – and that means any help you provide to the White Center Food Bank, today, counts for extra, as part of the match that’s involved. So think about contributing some cash, or dropping off some food, or checking in to see if there’s anything else they need. Donation links and lots of info can be found at whitecenterfoodbank.org. (And while you’re at the WC Food Bank site, don’t miss the “blog” section – lots of interesting tidbits about programs and ongoing efforts “behind the scenes.”)

Sites close to White Center are part of the lineup for Duwamish Alive! next Saturday – one day full of work parties to help our recovering river and its watershed. Roxhill Bog and South Park sites are part of the list – see it here, including links you can use to sign up and pitch in – just four hours next Saturday can make a big difference.

The latest update from White Center Community Development Association, as Spring Clean approaches (just a month and a half away) on May 15:

The White Center community is gearing up for its annual Spring Clean, an event that brings together volunteer youth and elders, business owners and residents, retirees and students to work, clean and improve the community’s physical environment.

“White Center is people-powered. Events like Spring Clean showcase our collective action for positive neighborhood revitalization that truly defines our diverse community,” said Aileen Balahadia, Executive Director of the White Center Community Development Association. The White Center CDA is a catalyst for a healthy community and new prosperity in White Center- so it’s a better place to visit, shop, and live.

Asked why she participates in the Spring Clean event, White Center resident Keysha Bryant said: “You must be the change you wish to see in your community, to help build and keep it a clean safe place for our children and everyone who lives here.”

In 2009, more than 350 volunteers turned out for the Spring Clean event. We painted one block-long mural previously plagued with graffiti, cleaned and painted art on 21 trash cans for the business district, removed invasive plant species at six parks, and hauled away two tons of garbage. Volunteers covered 70 neighborhood blocks, picking up litter and completing 19 individual beautification projects developed by local residents and groups.

The White Center CDA thanks our sponsors for their contributions to this year’s event: BECU, The Home Depot, King County Housing Authority, King County Parks and Recreation, Seattle Public Utilities, The Triangle Pub and the White Center Chamber of Commerce.

Volunteers are needed! To sign up as a volunteer, contact Nhan Nguyen, Neighborhood Revitalization Program Manager at (206) 694-1082 or at whitecenterspringclean@gmail.com, and fill out the attached registration form. To register online, visit http://www.wccda.org/home/wccda/644 and you will see the link to register at the bottom of the page. Volunteers will receive a complimentary t-shirt, light breakfast, refreshments, and lunch. For event information or to sign up as a volunteer, refer to additional information on the program’s website www.wccda.org.

They desperately need boys’ clothes sizes 8 and/or 10. But they’re also celebrating a different type of donation. That’s all part of this story from our partner site West Seattle Blog.

From Shelli at White Center for the Arts – a call for help, at a critical time for what is literally the organization’s DREAM:

White Center for the Arts must make a decision this weekend as to whether or not to continue pursuing the very fabulous space at 9640A 16th Ave SW for DREAM Community Gallery. We have the deposit money, and some grant money coming. However, it is not enough to responsibly continue with the project at this time without having $28,000 more. The landlord is understandably tired of waiting, and wants to move on. We have seen a vision of the future, and this space is what is needed, and desired, by many of the artists in the area.

DREAM: Community Gallery has a solid business plan. We have a great person, Lance McIntosh, who is managing the project, and who has crunched the numbers. We have a solid team of volunteers who will help with the build-out, and plenty of artists who are ready to exhibit, and performers ready to bring their art to you. We will be providing a resource library, a computer that is free to use, free wi-fi, and art materials for those who want to use them while they are at the gallery. In the gallery, as a way of avoiding having to apply for the endless parade of grants, we will have a small coffee bar. There will be plenty of comfy seating, and snacks. This space will be the central point from which White Center for the Arts conducts its arts programming.

We are a community organization. We are reaching out right now to the community for a show of support. Please support this beautiful project with a tax-deductible donation of any size.

We are also looking for arts/business-minded people to sit on the Board of Directors. We need a solid infrastructure directed by people from the community.

WCFTA is here with a vision of healthy community, and a goal of being a part of a healthy White Center. We are partnering with other organizations in the area to help realize this vision. Will you be a part of this?

If you have any questions, want to volunteer ( a list of opportunities is ready to be put up on the site), and/or want to donate, please contact me:

Shelli Park
crimsonpark@whitecenterforthearts.org

(added 2 pm, Evergreen High School Key Club and WC Kiwanis volunteers with WCFB’s Audrey Zemke)
Till 4 pm, you can take pet food to White Center Food Bank for the donation drive that’s wrapping up today – Key Club and Kiwanis volunteers are scheduled to be there to receive your donations. Food’s been collected the past few weeks at spots in Burien and West Seattle, too; here’s an update from our partner site West Seattle Blog.

Story and photo by Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for White Center Now

Providing clothing, toiletries and showers to those in need are just a few of the goals of “The Clothing Closet,” introduced at Thursday night’s White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting.

Beginning this coming Tuesday, Pastor Timothy Rambo of New Generation Ministries is opening the doors of a new endeavor in hopes of positively impacting the local community. (Photo: Back from left, WCCSC chair Sean Healy, Angela Rambo, youth ambassador Pedro Navaro, Timothy Rambo; front, Timothy Rambo Jr. and Titus Rambo.)

Regular hours of operation will be Tuesdays and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m.

“We already have a lot of clothing for men, women, children and infants,” said Angela Rambo, Pastor Rambo’s wife and chief administrator of the project.

She said they want to target people who are going to job interviews or court appearances, but lack the proper clothing to put forward an appropriate image for the situation.

As the operation grows, she also said they hope to be able to offer resume writing assistance and mock job interviews, as well as other programs which might help develop the life skills of those who utilize The Clothing Closet.

While a website is still in the works, the operation can be reached via their e-mail address: newgenerationministries98106@yahoo.com

The Clothing Closet is located at 9029 16th Avenue SW (map) in the blue house across from the Salvation Army.

From Wes Olsen at Shorewood Foursquare Church:

The youth group at the church is participating in World Vision’s 30-Hour Famine, which is when our youth fast for 30 hours to connect with those who are starving across the world. We also raise money for people who are starving or in poverty during this time too, including where our money is going to this (time), Haiti Earthquake Relief.

Part of what we want to do is to ask people to come to our location this Saturday from 9 am to 12 pm, and donate new or gently used clothing for teens to go to New Horizons Ministry in Belltown, and food donations to the White Center Food Bank.

Our location is 2656 Southwest 104th Street. It is the building just south of Shorewood Foursquare Church, on 28th Ave SW. The drop off location is on the 28th Ave SW side of the building.

A recent note from Margie at Rebuilding Together Seattle: “Recently, we were approached by a sponsor group to do a special rebuilding day with volunteers. White Center is on our list of geographic areas that we’d like to consider. (Are there) any community centers, schools, facilities, etc. that are in need of our help? Interested individuals can contact our office at 206.682.1231.”

Sunday morning, 9 am-noon, White Center Eagles, 10452 15th Ave SW, as noted here earlier this week – breakfast proceeds today go to relief efforts in Haiti; prices $2 to $9.

From South End Neighbors for Peace:

Is military escalation the path to peace? What would victory in Afghanistan, look like? Come find out why one brave woman is stepping up her work educating Afghan boys and girls. Find out what she thinks of the troop surge. Julia Bolz will update us and show slides of the schools she’s built, the charming kids who attend them, and the village elders who work with her in rural Afghanistan. Friday evening at 7, January 22, at Saint Francis Parish Hall, on 152nd Street and 21st Avenue in Burien. Enter parking lot from 20th Ave. Refreshments will be served, and there’ll be a bake sale. More items for bake sale are welcome! (come early)…and bring ball-point pens, which are hard to get in Afghanistan, for us to mail to students there. Learn more about Julia’s work and how you can get involved: www.aynieducation.org. Donations are tax-deductible.

Contact: Annie Phillips, 206-275-1393
Sponsored by Southend Neighbors for Peace, and St Francis of Assisi Parish Social Justice

First, crossposted from partner site West Seattle Blog – a chance to volunteer Monday afternoon at WestSide Baby in White Center, offered by executive director Nancy Woodland:

WestSide Baby would love extra hands on MLK Day! We’ve received so many donations of clothes since the holidays, we could really use extra teen or adult hands to sort through all the donations. We inspect each article of clothing for cleanliness and condition before we shelve it by size so it’s ready for another volunteer to place it in an order for local children in need.

We will be open extra hours on Monday from 2-5pm for up to 15 volunteers! It’s a great opportunity for high schoolers looking for service hours on their day off. Please let us know you are coming by emailing sarah@westsidebaby.org.

We will also have our regular third Thursday Sorting Frenzy this Thursday evening from 7-9 pm!

WestSide Baby HQ is at 10032 15th SW (map).

Also, there’s an event Monday morning at the Southwest Boys and Girls Club at Greenbridge, including the American Red Cross and HOPE Worldwide Washington. They’re going to rally with volunteers at the club at 10 am, with Seahawks stars, Sea Gals cheering team members, and Blue Thunder on hand, then go out to canvass local neighborhoods with safety information including escaping from fires and safely heating homes – the info will be in English and Spanish.

An update from our first mention a couple days ago – Full Tilt Ice Cream will donate today’s profits from all three of its stores to Haiti earthquake relief, not just White Center. Track the day’s development by following Full Tilt on Twitter (@FTicecream).

From Twitter: The original White Center location of growing Full Tilt Ice Cream will donate profits this Sunday to the Red Cross relief fund for Haiti earthquake victims.

From Nancy Woodland at WestSide Baby in White Center:

Did your New Year’s Resolution include more volunteer work?

WestSide Baby needs extra volunteers today, Saturday Jan. 2 (now until 4pm), to help sort toys. We will stay open today until 4 pm just for toy sorting volunteers. If you’d like to come down today to help us, show up or call us at 767-1662. Children 7-14 welcome with adult supervision and teens over 14 can be dropped off. Adults always welcome, of course!! We need extra hands today to help sort and package all the toys that have been displaced by the bounty Santa brought this year. Item donations encouraged until 1pm. THANKS!!

WestSide Baby is at 10032 15th SW – here’s a map.

10 am-4 pm, Puget Sound Blood Center will have a mobile blood drive at Holy Family‘s Tice Hall (just don’t drop by noon-1 pm, it’ll be closed for a break) tomorrow (Saturday 12/26). Blood supplies tend to run low during the holidays – so the “gift of life” matters now more than ever.

Got yarn to share? You might want to drop it off at White Center Food Bank after reading this story (shared on Facebook by volunteer Beth Grieser).