Tag Archives: Domestic Violence

October is Domestic Violence month

 Images PrplribcrpOctober is Domestic Violence month. They say one in four of us are affected some way by it and it’s why you’re seeing the purple ribbons this month. Every 15 seconds a woman is battered (it’ll probably take you twice that time to read this blog entry). October is kind of an everything month (there are only 12 months to share) and breast cancer seems to get a lot of the attention and sometimes DV gets overlooked. (Related news.)

FirststepFirst Step is a local shelter in Wayne County and they are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary this year. Over 14,000 crisis calls, 7,000 nights of shelter and 20,000 hours of counseling are provided almost every year. I’ve volunteered with First Step, generally I’d be on call a few times a month (8-12 hour shift) and get called to hospitals (police stations, etc.) and talk to people and their families after they’ve been assaulted, I’ve also done things with the kids such as day care, field trips, etc. I originally started doing this at a shelter in Lansing; taking the kids on field trips and watching them while the Mother’s were in meetings/sessions. Field trips were just the older kids (ones who walk on their own), but when were were just watching the kids it was from infants on up.

First Step always having fund raising events so keep your eyes out for those, it’s a way to donate and have fun at the same time (sometimes it’s a movie night with auctions, shopping at department stores [you get a discount and they get a cut]). Shelters are always looking for donations, please don’t just think of them around the holidays, they need donations all year round. They always need volunteers to help. My links here just point to First Step, please search around for services in your area.

Spring Cleaning

I’ve been trying to filter out some of the “stuff” at my house that I don’t use any more, today was the clothes closet. Some stuff will be bound for Goodwill / Salvation Army, some for the trash and a few things for the vacation pile (clothes that I take on vacation but don’t bring back).

What I really hate getting rid of is shirts with stuff printed on them for several reasons. One, I probably paid more for them. Two, I didn’t pay anything for them but they’re pretty unique. (But) Three, I rarely wear them. Some of it’s a mish-mash but today I noticed a bit of what I had in odd quantities:

  • Apple Computer T-Shirts (5): Most of these I got as promos or won at a conference but they’re all to small, it’s either all they had or it shrunk the first time I washed it. I keep hoping they’ll magically it some day, but…
  • Tori Amos (5): A few from concerts or that I found at a music store. I’ve got one that I got autographed at a concert.
  • Indigo Girls (6): Mostly from concerts, something from an on-line group and an autographed one that a friend bought for me at an fund raising auction.
  • Domestic Violence (7): I either purchased these at an event, they were given to me for volunteering at an event or came in a ‘thanks for donating’ package.
  • Costa Rica (1): I’ve been there 4 times and only ended up with one shirt from my first trip (from one of the Zip Line through the Cloud Forest adventures).
  • Blogography (3): Cool shirts that Dave from Blogography created.
  • Sandman related (6): Shirts inspired from the Neil Gaiman Sandman series (I think they all have Dream, Death or Delerium or some combination of them).
  • Tech Shirts (10+): Other tech shirts from vendors, tech conferences (part of registration or gift for presenting), organizations or something or another.
  • My job (6+): Shirts that one of the departments printed up for work or some kind of fund raiser event.

    I so rarely wear them out (in both interpretations), I usually just wear plain (colored) shirts. If I’m changing into something to wear after I come home and shower I’ll throw one on but wearing one out and about just doesn’t happen so often. Actually, other that wearing a music one to a concert I think the only ones I’ve worn outside in the last year is probably wearing a few of the shirts that Dave made. Continue reading

  • Support “First Step” and get 15% off at Ikea (Canton, MI 12/10/2006)

    FirststeplogoActually since I mentioned the local shelter in the last post I thought I’d mention their next fundraiser at Ikea. It’s $25 to get it and you get 15% off your purchase at Ikea (only on December 10th). Plus in the evening they’ll have entertainment, food, desserts and other drawings (at least they usually do at these types of events). Check out the website and flyer for more information. Oh and Santa will be there too!

    If you donate $100 you get a bag with goodies and a Swedish food basket from Ikea (and your name mentioned in the newsletter). More than that ($250-$5000) and you get more tickets, more stuff in the gift baskets, signage at the event, and larger mentions in the newsletter (up to a full page). Be sure to click on the link to the PDF flyer to get all the details….

    Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2006

     Images PrplribcrpEvery October is Domestic Violence month. That’s why you’re seeing the purple ribbons this month. They say one in four of us are affected some way by it. Every 15 seconds a woman is battered (it’ll probably take you twice that time to read this blog post). October is kind of an everything month (there are only 12 months to share) and breast cancer seems to get a lot of the attention and sometimes DV gets overlooked. (Related news.)

    FirststepFirst Step is a local shelter in Wayne County. Over 14,000 crisis calls, 7,000 nights of shelter and 20,000 hours of counseling are provided almost every year. I’ve volunteered with them, generally I’d be on call a few times a month and get called to hospitals (police stations, etc.) and talk to people and their families after they’ve been assaulted, I’ve also done stuff with the kids (but not much lately) such as day care, field trips, etc. I’ve been neglecting it lately and need to get back over there (but I’m still wearing my ribbon).

    They are always having fund raising events so keep your eyes out for those, it’s a way to donate and have fun at the same time (sometimes it’s a movie night with auctions, shopping at Parisian [you get a discount and they get a cut]). Shelters are always looking for donations, please don’t just think of them around the holidays, they need donations all year round. They always need volunteers to help.

    Domestic Violence Month

     Images PrplribcrpOctober is Domestic Violence month. They say one in three of us are affected some way by it. It’s why you’re seeing the purple ribbons this month. October is kind of an everything month (there are only 12 months to share) and breast cancer seems to get a lot of the attention and sometimes DV gets overlooked. (Related news.)

    FirststepFirst Step is a local shelter in Wayne County. Over 14,000 crisis calls, 7,000 nights of shelter and 20,000 hours of counseling are provided almost every year. I volunteer for them, I’m on call a few times a month and get called to hospitals (police stations, etc.) and talk to people and their families after they’ve been assaulted, I also do stuff with the kids (but not much lately) such as day care, field trips, etc…

    Shelters are always looking for donations, please don’t just think of them around the holidays, they need donations all year round. They always need volunteers to help.