The Service Log

SPI Celebrates Global Youth Service Day in Brattleboro

2008-05-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

In recognition of Global Youth Service Day, an annual event which celebrates the contributions of youth to their communities through volunteer service, the Service Politics Institute joined Westgate Teens and the Flat Street Boys & Girls Club to get their Kids Cafe in running order and to prepare a healthy meal for the surrounding community. On Saturday, April 26th over 20 community volunteers, including Vermont State Senator Jeanette White and State Representatives Virginia Milkey and Sarah Edwards, gathered together to draw awareness around policy relating to healthy eating in schools and afterschool programs.

The policy discussion began with Beth Baldwin, the representative speaking behalf of the Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro. She discussed the operations of the organization along with the challenges they face, primarily attributed to funding. Due to a recent grant, however, the facilities now include a brand new Kids Cafe. Kids Cafes are one of the nation's largest meal service programs with a primary goal of providing free, prepared, nutritious food and nutrition education to children. In Vermont, community sites such as teen centers, Boys and Girls Clubs, and family and youth organizations, operate Kids Cafes.

Windham County State Senator Jeanette White and State Representative Virginia Milkey began the policy discussion with an overview of the operations of the Vermont State legislature. They pointed out unique attributes to the state government, particularly the citizen based legislature and the Right to Serve law. According to Representative Milkey, $24 million has been cut by appropriations this year and some government programs have seen their budgets drastically decreased. "Thankfully, additional funding has been added to programs like the Free Breakfast Program," said Senator White.

Encouraging healthy eating is also being addressed on a federal level. The United States Department of Agriculture now requires that an overall school wellness policy accompany all federally funded lunch programs. The mandate is ambitious, but funding still continues to be an issue. The discussion group agreed that encouraging healthy lifestyles in youth should be addressed on a local, community level. Discussion topics ranged from obesity, to eating disorders, to food choice, to local versus organic food.

To find out more about healthy eating, please visit the Vermont Department of Health, Fit and Healthy Vermonters website at http://healthvermont.gov/fitandhealth.aspx.

Washington County Legislators Talk Hunger with SPI and the Vermont Foodbank

2008-04-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

"In order for [the community] to effectively address hunger, we really need to start asking what the causes of it are," said Representative Thomas Koch at the Vermont Foodbank in Barre this past weekend.

On Saturday, April 12th community members, local legislators, the Vermont Foodbank, and the Service Politics Institute (SPI) gathered for a day of service and policy discussion to draw awareness around hunger in Vermont. After hours of food sorting and volunteer service, Representatives Thomas Koch, Patricia McDonald, Leo Valliere, and over 30 volunteers took a break to discuss the social and economic issues facing hungry people in Vermont.

The Vermont Foodbank's Chief Executive Officer, Doug O'Brien, opened up the discussion with a summary of the organization's operations, mission, and legislative challenges. The Vermont Foodbank, a statewide organization, is the largest hunger-relief charity in Vermont, providing more than 6 million pounds of food to 270 local partner agencies in all 14 counties last year. The Vermont Foodbank and its partners served more than 66,000 needy Vermonters with more than 5 million meals in 2007.

The discussion was informative and the audience eclectic. Participants included members of the Waterbury Congregational Church, the Church of Christ of Montpelier, and Penn State alumni. Each state representative spoke briefly about his or her perspective on hunger and encouraged volunteers formulate plans to address the issue at the state level.

"The state legislature has to prioritize. Currently, our demands are in affordable housing and transportation, not hunger. If you want us to address it at the policy level, you're going to have to give us a plan," said Representative Valliere. Despite hunger's apparent absence from recent legislation, there have been smaller policy gains to address the problem. For example, Vermont's School Breakfast Program fell under the jurisdictional support of Representative Patricia McDonald. She encouraged volunteers to keep raising awareness and to contact local legislators.

Service Politics Success at Recycle North!

2008-02-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

The Service Politics Institute just completed another successful service project in Chittenden County! On February 17, 2008 over 20 volunteers came out to the Recycle North retail center in Burlington to paint the facilities and perform general maintenance around the store. Participants included Burlington City Council members Ed Adrian and Clarence Davis. The service day gave participants the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Recycle North's 3-part mission of poverty relief, waste reduction, and job training and also discuss the legislative challenges the organization encounters on a day to day basis.

Sunday's policy discussion touched on a number of pertinent issues, from waste reduction to affordable housing to unemployment. The Councilors explained how the Burlington City Council relates to the State and Federal governments and discussed the difficulties of acquiring the necessary funding to support local organization like Recycle North and its subsidiary programs.

The YouthBuild program, for example, is a job training program where low-income young people ages 16 to 24 work toward their GED or high school diploma while learning job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income people. The program is federally funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and has recently been subject to $800,000 of funding cuts.

Check out pictures from the event!
Service Politics Institute at Recycle North: February 17, 2008

SPI in the News!

2008-01-31T11:16:00.000-08:00

Check out recent press on the Service Politics Institute in Addison County:

Addison Independent, Section A, p.15
AI%2001-21-08%5B1%5D.pdf

The Campus, Middlebury College
http://media.www.middleburycampus.com/media/storage/paper446/news/2008/01/24/LocalNews/Mural.Brings.Unity.To.Teen.Center-3164485.shtml

Service Politics in Addison County

2008-01-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

The Service Politics Institute just completed its first service project in Addison County!

On January 19, 2008, SPI teamed up with Addison County legislators, local teens, and Middlebury College students to paint a wall mural in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Over 60 community members, including State Senator Claire Ayer and State Representatives Betty Nuovo, Steven Maier, and David Sharpe, came out to volunteer at the Addison Central Teen Center in Middlebury. Legislators painted alongside volunteers, ages 12 to 70+, and engaged in a rich discussion on afterschool program policy at the state and federal level.

The discussion itself revolved around the struggles that the Addison Central Teen Center has encountered since its inception in July, 2007. Due to the cuts in federal funding for afterschool programs, Representative Betty Nuovo mentioned that the states have taken over programs that have traditionally been funded by the federal government. The result becomes a questionable budget year to year and instability for the Addison Central Teen Center.

How does one effectuate change in this policy realm? Start local and gain support, said Senator Claire Ayer, then work up to the state. Senator Claire Ayer, Representative Steven Maier, and Representative Betty Nouvo encouraged teens to formulate specific proposals for the legislature and to write them letters. There is strength in numbers, the legislators attested, and they want to hear from their constituents.

Sponsorship for this project was provided by South Ridge community in Middlebury along with Middlebury College's Alliance for Civic Engagement and Office for Institutional Diversity. Countryside Carpet & Paint also provided generous donations of paint and supplies for the event.

Check out some pictures from the event!
Service Politics Mural at the Addison Central Teen Center: January 19, 2008

Stumped for a holiday gift? Check out these options

2007-11-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

This holiday season, support your community by donating your time or money to a non-profit. For ideas, check out the options listed below.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/LIVING/71123030/1004/ARCHIVE

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/LIVING/71123032/1004/ARCHIVE

Share your thoughts: Participate in a college study

2007-10-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

The survey below asks a series of questions about individuals perceptions of political institutions. It takes about 20 minutes to complete and we will post the results on our website at the completion of the study. It doesn't take much time and it's fun!

http://myweb.liu.edu/~nfryeresearch/institution/consent.htm

Read All About It: The Service Politics Experience

2007-06-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

Read posts from SPI volunteers detailing their service politics experience during recent projects. Are you an SPI volunteer? Tell us about your service politics work!

Service Politics Comes to Windsor County!

2007-06-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, June 23, from 10am-1pm, Windsor County citizens can join former state senator Matt Dunne and Representative Hilde Ojibway at the Upper Valley Haven Family Shelter. We will be re-organizing the food shelf, doing some landscaping, and discussing the need for housing with services for single-parent families. RSVP to Becca@servicepolitics.org.

Join us for our June projects!!

2007-05-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

Check out our events list on our homepage (www.servicepolitics.org) for descriptions of three exciting upcoming projects. With questions or to RSVP, email Becca@servicepolitics.org

June Projects in Burlington

2007-05-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce TWO June projects in Burlington

Thursday, June 7th, join us at the King Street Youth Center to redo the pre-school play area and discuss the policy and politics or early childhood education.

Saturday, June 9th, join us and the Vietnam Veteran's Association to do home repair at the house of a disabled Vet and talk about the current state of Veteran's services.

Questions? Email Becca@servicepolitics.org

Service-Politics launched with a bang!

2007-04-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, the Service Politics Institute was thrilled to participate in the Step It Up 2007 campaign. Step It Up is a nationwide effort aiming to convince Congress to cut carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050. As part of the National Day of Climate Action, over 1,400 community service projects took place across the nation, aimed at raising awareness about energy-use and global climate change. Many of these projects took place in locations that symbolize the current destruction of climate - the levees of New Orleans, the melting glaciers of Mt. Rainier, and the coral reefs off of Key West.

A carbon reduction of 80% by 2050 represents less than a 2% reduction per year. While many individual Americans are making personal choices that reduce their own ecological footprint, we require bold leadership from our legislators in order to ensure lasting, widespread and sustainable change in carbon emissions.

CARBON EMISSIONS IN VERMONT AND THE 10% Challenge
A recent report by VPIRG reveals that Vermont’s carbon emissions have actually increased nearly 30% since 1990. Vermont had the second highest increase in emissions in the New England region, and the 15th highest nationwide. Vermont organizations concerned about climate change have called on legislators to enact state and federal laws to make the necessary cuts in carbon emissions. Vermont’s full Congressional delegation, made up of Senator Pat Leahy, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Peter Welch, have pledged their support of these efforts.

The Vermont House also recently passed a bill aimed at reducing carbon emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy in the state. The Senate is expected to pass the bill as well, although several organizations have criticized the bill that passed as too weak compared to the original.

The 10% Challenge is a Burlington-based non-profit organization that operates as a voluntary program to raise public awareness about global climate change and to encourage households and businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10%. Their website offers a great calculator where individuals and businesses can calculate their emissions and get specialized tips for reducing them.

ENERGY STAR LIGHT BULBS
The Burlington Electrical Department generously donated the Energy Star light bulbs we distributed in this project. Energy Star light bulbs use innovative technology to produce light more efficiently through a chemical reaction in a glass tube, making them about three times more efficient than regular light bulbs.

Lighting accounts for about 20% of total annual household electricity bills. By changing five bulbs from incandescent bulbs to Energy Star bulbs, the average consumer can save about $150 per year in lighting costs, and reduce the electricity used by an even greater margin, cutting down on the fossil fuel burned to create the electricity for incandescent bulbs.

Over 30 individuals came out for the first service-politics project, helping to outfit a nearby affordable housing community with the bulbs as well as spread the word about climate change initiatives around Burlington.

But we're not stopping here - check out our Action Tank page to learn about the ideas that were shared at the project as well as the next steps forward.

Welcome to our Service Log - stay tuned!

2007-04-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog - stay tuned for posts highlighting our service-politics projects and showcasing the resulting ideas and action.