How to help 4482 results

Delridge Grocery: Meeting on Monday – and part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on May 11th!

April 19, 2013 3:16 pm
|    Comments Off on Delridge Grocery: Meeting on Monday – and part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on May 11th!
 |   Community Garage Sale Day | Delridge | How to help | West Seattle news

A two-part announcement from Delridge Grocery – first, it’s their regular monthly meeting on Monday (April 22nd), 6:30 pm at Delridge Library (5423 Delridge Way SW), with a call for volunteers – people to help at a community event, talk with their neighbors, and otherwise help as the DG team works toward its future storefront. They’re also putting out a call for donated items to sell at their benefit sale on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, which is three weeks from tomorrow. You can arrange for pickup or dropoff by contacting them at delridgegrocery@gmail.com (and/or, go to Monday’s meeting and connect with DG leadership there).

Help those who help our waterways and their residents: Shanti’s benefit bake sale for Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

Sea lions on a buoy in the bay are among the sights Puget Soundkeeper Alliance volunteers (like Tom Foley, who shared the top photo) see when they go out on patrol. Often, the sights are less pleasant – pollution pouring from an outfall, litter floating on the water (though Tom reported a little less of that during the recent patrol). Even if you can’t get out on the water and take action, you can support the Soundkeepers’ work today through Sunday by stopping by Shanti Salon and Spa (WSB sponsor) for their benefit bake sale – with treats like these, made by members of the Shanti team:

Shanti is on the north end of The Admiral District, at 2138 California SW, open until 7 pm today, 9 am-7 pm on Saturday, 10 am-6 pm on Sunday.

Spring-cleaning time: A chance to recycle clothes you don’t want

We’ve already featured upcoming opportunities for shredding and non-routine recycling – If you’re planning (or doing) spring cleaning, here’s a chance to recycle clothes! West Seattle Brownie Troop 43779 invites you to drop off donations for its clothing drive; they’re getting the word out now so you can save up items you might otherwise dispose of:

Clothing Drive – Week of April 29th through May 4th

Please bring your gently used clothes to the collection box out in front of the Gatewood Elementary office.

Spring cleaning? Brownie Troop #43779 community service project is collecting used clothes for the Northwest Center!

Saturday, May 4th: General public clothing drop off in Gatewood’s back parking lot (California Ave SW and SW Frontenac) from 11 am – 1 pm

Last call for shoe donations! ‘Heels for Hounds’ coming up Sunday

Way back in December, we told you about Furry Faces Foundation collecting ‘gently used’ women’s shoes for a first-of-its-kind auction event, Heels for Hounds. Now, the event is just days away – this Sunday (April 21) – and F3 is still accepting donations:

The Heels For Hounds weekend has arrived! We have somewhere between 150 – 200 pairs of shoes for the auction, with more being donated every day. In fact, folks can bring gently worn shoes to the event!

Donation locations before then:

Ola Salon: 2942 Avalon Way SW; 206-933-6702; www.olasalon.com
Clementine Shoes: 4447 California Ave SW; 206-935-9400; www.clementines.com
Hotwire Online Coffeehouse: 4410 California Ave SW; 206-935-1510; hotwirecoffee.com
The Wash Dog: 6400 California Avenue Southwest; 206-935-4546; www.thewashdog.com

Are you ready for shoe bidding wars? We hope so. Here is the event info:

Heels For Hounds Silent Auction & Animale Wine Tasting (Benefiting Furry Faces Foundation)

Date: April 21
Time: 3 pm – 6 pm
Location: Ola Salon, 2942 Avalon Way SW
Admission Donation: $15.00 (provides appetizers and wine sampler)
Wine by the glass: $8

For event updates before Sunday, keep an eye on F3’s Facebook page, here.

Chief Sealth International HS Football’s MS Walk team says thanks!

Back on April 7th, we published Chief Sealth International High School football head coach Luther Carr III‘s call for pledges as his players prepared to participate in the MS Walk to help fight multiple sclerosis. Now that the big event is past, he wanted to share public words of thanks (and the team’s photo from MS Walk day):

Chief Sealth International Football would like to thank all of our community, family, and friends who assisted in our efforts to raise money for MS (multiple sclerosis). Along with thousands of others in the State of Washington we raised funds and walked on April 14, 2013, to find a cure for a world free of MS. At least 12,000 people in our Northwest community are living in chronic pain because of MS. Ridding the world of MS is a great cause, and our student-athletes learned a great lesson, giving back! Thank you again and Go Seahawks!!

According to the team’s page on the MS Walk site – where you can still make a donation – they raised more than four times their goal!

West Seattle HS baseball: Benefit today/tonight; Monday win

Yet another win for the division-leading West Seattle High School Wildcats – now 9-1 in Metro League play – and tonight, you can help supporters raise money for the team. First, the summary from Greg Slader, who also shared the photos:

Sunshine and freshly cut grass welcomed the Varsity Baseball team to Bainbridge island. Sam Hellinger (top photo) enjoyed a nice day, hitting 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs while pitching a complete game (7 innings) and racking up 11 strikeouts. The team was hot from the beginning, scoring three runs in the first inning as Morgan and Spencer were all over the base paths scoring two runs each.

(Jimmy Mai goes for the tag at the plate)

Next game is Wednesday @ Hiawatha, 3:30 pm, vs. Franklin.

Now, the benefit: From 3 pm until close, today/tonight, part of the proceeds from food and beverage purchases at Christo’s on Alki will benefit the team through the WSHS Booster Club. Christo’s is at the beach, 2508 Alki SW.

Can you help West Seattle-area seniors get to health-care appointments?

A call for volunteers, if you can help:

West Seattle residents, let’s hit the roads! Volunteers are needed for Senior Services’ Volunteer Transportation program, which provides many West Seattle seniors with access to important medical care. Using their own vehicles, volunteer drivers offer a personalized touch in driving elderly clients “door to door”– from their home to appointments. This FLEXIBLE volunteer opportunity allows drivers to “open doors” (both figuratively and literally) for those who are unable to drive themselves.

In the month of March, the program was unable to cover an abysmal 33% of the client ride requests received from West Seattle, Highline, and Burien older adults— simply because there weren’t enough volunteers to meet the need of our community. Anyone who owns his/her own vehicle and has daytime availability is encouraged to apply.

For more information, please contact Hilary at (206) 748-7588 or hilaryc@seniorservices.org, visit www.seniorservices.org/transportation, or check out our blog at volunteertransportation.blogspot.com. If you have the “drive” to help others, this volunteer opportunity is for you!

Duwamish Alive! next Saturday: Signed up for a site yet?

April 14, 2013 9:00 pm
|    Comments Off on Duwamish Alive! next Saturday: Signed up for a site yet?
 |   Environment | How to help | West Seattle news

(Brandon St. Greenspace volunteers during October 2012 Duwamish Alive!; photo by Nick Adams for WSB)
Next Saturday is the twice-a-year Duwamish Alive! cleanup/restoration work-party day – and as usual, you can choose from multiple work-party locations to get involved with helping take care of West Seattle’s river and its watershed. Organizers like to know how many people to expect – so if you are interested in helping out on Saturday, go here and mouse over “Sign Up” to see the drop-down list of eight possible sites where you can help, from West Seattle to South Park to Tukwila, 10 am-2 pm April 20th.

West Seattle Montessori/WS Academy students’ food drive – for pets!

(Photo courtesy West Seattle Montessori/West Seattle Academy)
In recent months, we’ve shared the news of multiple food drives by community-minded students at local schools – and we have another one today: This time, to help pets in area shelters. West Seattle Montessori/West Seattle Academy (WSB sponsor) assistant director Heather Aquino explains:

Our seventh-grade students have taken on a very cool cause. (Through) April 25 they are challenging all of our classes to collect as much pet food as they can, by the pound, to be donated to local Seattle shelters. Our winning class will have a small party hosted by these incredible seventh-graders.

Community members are welcome to donate pet food too – drop it off at the school, 11215 15th SW, today or April 22-25th (as with Seattle Public Schools, WSMS/WSA will be out on spring break next week).

New 5K in West Seattle next month: ‘Run for Lights’

Love to run? Here’s another benefit 5K to add to this spring’s schedule. This announcement is just out of the WSB inbox:

Just wanted to let everyone know that the West Seattle-based nonprofit Orphans to Ambassadors is hosting the RUN FOR LIGHTS 5k in Lincoln Park on May 4th, 2013 at 10 am. Orphans to Ambassadors provides sustainable technologies and solutions to children’s homes around the globe through the use of solar power, rainwater harvesting systems, water filtration, rocket stoves, vegetable gardens, and animal husbandry. The RUN FOR LIGHTS 5k will benefit a solar project at an orphanage in Uganda this coming summer. Snacks and T-shirts are included in the registration fees: $30 for adults, $20 for those 18 and under before May 1st, or $35 after May 1. Register now to guarantee a t-shirt! Walkers welcome. Tickets can be purchased here.

They’re also looking for sponsors – if you’re interested, e-mail katherine@orphanstoambassadors.org.

Followup: What WestSide Baby still needs, as donations come in

That pile of stuff represents donations dropped off last weekend at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) in The Junction – one of many businesses, groups, and individuals who have reached out since WestSide Baby‘s urgent call for help last week. Hotwire proprietor Lora Swift shared the photo just before heading to WestSide Baby HQ on Tuesday to drop off the donations, so before we in turn shared the photo, we asked WS Baby executive director Nancy Woodland what they still need the most:

We will continue to need all clothing and diapers and safety equipment – car seats, strollers, etc. – but our current critical list is:

Boys pants 4t-12,
PJs, boys and girls 4T-12,
newborn diapers,
diaper cream, and
baby shampoo

WestSide Baby is open certain hours for dropoffs, and has satellite dropoff locations – for the latest list, check their website; we know Firefly Café and Creperie (WSB sponsor) is also collecting car seats through month’s end and is matching each car-seat donation with a packet of diapers.

Happening now: Playing & bidding at animal advocates’ Catsino

Silent auctions are a bit like shopping at sales – though you’re never sure if you’re going to have the winning bid – with a bonus payoff: You know your money’s going to do good work. In the case of “Catsino,” under way at Beveridge Place Pub in Morgan Junction until 6 pm, it’s going to help those who can’t speak or fight for themselves – animals. There are so many circumstances in which the organizations behind the event – presented by Furry Faces Foundation – step in. If furry friends like Nora could say thanks, we’re sure they would:

In addition to the beneficiaries, Catsino also involves local businesses and groups who are sponsoring – and staffing! – the just-for-fun game tables, like Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor), whose Anne Higuera is at right in our next photo:

Ventana’s offering a “Carpenter for a Day” item in the silent auction, we noticed, so go bid! The fun’s not even half over. The pub’s at 6413 California SW.

Help Chief Sealth football players score donations for Walk MS

April 7, 2013 12:37 pm
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 |   Health | How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Though their playing season is still a ways off, Chief Sealth International High School‘s football team is keeping busy. They’re joining in Seattle’s Walk MS next weekend and asking you to support the cause on their behalf. Here’s the message Sealth head football coach Luther Carr asked us to share:

A few days left: Chief Sealth Football is participating in WALK MS this year April 14, 2013. Please donate to MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Society on behalf of CSI FB Seahawks (Chief Sealth International Football).

This annual walk is a community service event organized throughout the country to increase awareness and fundraise for the research of Multiple Sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). This condition affects millions worldwide. Some of the symptoms of those with this condition experience periods of numbness, loss of sensitivity, muscle spasms, loss of speech, fatigue, and blindness. Episodes can occur without warning and without any inciting factors lasting days, weeks or months. I personally decided to get involved because a friend lost his sight in one eye as a result of MS. Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for many people with Multiple Sclerosis. To learn more about MS go to nationalmssociety.org. To learn more about WALK MS Seattle 2013, go (here).

Walk MS 2013 is a great opportunity for Chief Sealth High School football players. They are fundraising for a worldwide condition that affects millions, and has no cure. They are also learning the act of service! As an added benefit, each player will also earn community service credit hours needed to graduate from Seattle Public Schools.

No donation is too small or too large, says Coach Carr – you can donate through the CSI team page by going here.

Happening now: 1 day, 4 stores – West Seattle Kiwanis food drive

April 6, 2013 11:41 am
|    Comments Off on Happening now: 1 day, 4 stores – West Seattle Kiwanis food drive
 |   How to help | West Seattle news

SATURDAY, 11:41 AM: You have lots of time left – till 3 pm! – to donate food and/or money TODAY to the West Seattle Food Bank, with the help of West Seattle Kiwanis members like Linda Cox, shown here with local Key Club members helping out. As noted in our daily highlights, dropoff spots include PCC Natural Markets (California/Stevens), where we photographed this team, West Seattle Thriftway (California/Fauntleroy), Metropolitan Market (42nd/Admiral), and the Junction QFC (42nd/Alaska).

MONDAY MORNING P.S. – Via the WS Food Bank’s Facebook page, we’ve learned the drive brought in “1800 pounds of food and $773.95!”

4 West Seattle ways to help your community Saturday

April 5, 2013 10:34 pm
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 |   How to help | West Seattle news

In case you’re still planning your Saturday:

HELP CLEAN UP LINCOLN PARK: Friends of Lincoln Park could use as many hands as it can get, removing invasive plants. Meet at 9 am (or look for directions if you come late) – details on our calendar.

HELP CLEAN UP NORTH DELRIDGE: The ND Neighborhood Council‘s Beautification Committee also welcomes helping hands, as it tackles the 23rd/Juneau staircase Saturday morning, 10 am-noon – details on our calendar.

KIWANIS FOOD DRIVE @ GROCERY STORES: The Kiwanis Club of West Seattle will have members and Key Club students outside four local grocery stores 9 am-3 pm Saturday, collecting food and money for the West Seattle Food Bank (remember, donations go further till the end of this month) – if you’re going shopping, buy something extra and drop it off. You’ll see them at Metropolitan Market, PCC Natural Markets, and West Seattle Thriftway (all WSB sponsors) and at QFC in The Junction.

WESTSIDE BABY DONATIONS: Remember the urgent call for help earlier this week? Lots of great folks are stepping up – including businesses, with two WSB sponsors offering incentives to donate:

Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (4410 California SW) offers a free 8-ounce Americano through Sunday if you drop off any of the items listed here.

Firefly Café and Creperie (4160 California SW) is accepting diaper and car-seat donations for WS Baby through the end of April. For each of the first 50 car seats that come in, Firefly will donate a package of diapers.

And WSB Forums member Gretchen is offering help in getting donations to WS Baby if you have something to donate and no way to get it there.

Go to bat for Chief Sealth’s baseball program on Saturday

Love spaghetti and sports? Saturday night, they share the stage at the Chief Sealth International High School Seahawks’ Baseball Dinner and Silent Auction. From the announcement:

This is our annual event to celebrate the season and raise funds to support the baseball program. Tickets are only $10 and include a spaghetti dinner served up by the players, along with a small silent auction filled with fun stuff and delicious home-baked desserts.

Tickets will be available at the door, cash/checks only, 5-7 pm Saturday (April 6) in the Chief Sealth Galleria (2600 SW Thistle).

They’re all about time, and they need yours: Southwest Seattle Historical Society’s next volunteer session Saturday

April 4, 2013 7:51 pm
|    Comments Off on They’re all about time, and they need yours: Southwest Seattle Historical Society’s next volunteer session Saturday
 |   How to help | West Seattle history | West Seattle news

(Volunteer Kathi Ishimaru in action! SWSHS photo)
Everything old is new again – or can be, if it gets some TLC – and that’s the mission of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, which is welcoming prospective volunteers to an informational session this Saturday at its Log House Museum. Volunteers have been busy lately at events including the Alki Elementary centennial celebration last week, and will be vital at upcoming events such as the Colman Estate tour on April 28, Alki Lighthouse centennial on June 1, and the All-West Seattle High School Reunion on June 7. Here’s the SWSHS pitch for you to get involved, starting with attendance at Saturday’s session:

Got time to volunteer? The Southwest Seattle Historical Society needs you! Like to interact with people? Fix computers? Update databases? Make small repairs? Transcribe interviews? Shoot videos and still photos? Plan events? Get a glimpse of our community’s past? Whether you have lived here one year or 50, come learn about how to turn your desires and skills into meaningful tasks that will help preserve and promote the heritage of West Seattle and the greater Duwamish peninsula. Here’s a way to look to the future helping others explore West Seattle’s past.

The Southwest Seattle Historical Society, which operates the Log House Museum, offers this introduction to volunteering, led by Clay Eals, executive director. It will include a brief primer on West Seattle history. The museum is one block from Alki Beach, at 61st and Stevens. More info: 206-938-5293 or loghousemuseum.info.

The session for prospective volunteers is 11 am-1 pm on Saturday (April 6th).

Not too late in the year to help local schools as a volunteer!

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Fauntleroy resident Judy Pickens, who volunteers her time and talent to a variety of endeavors including local schools, continues to gather and report information on volunteer needs at West Seattle schools where the need is greatest, sharing it here periodically. Here’s what will probably be the last request for this school year.)

By Judy Pickens
Special to West Seattle Blog

A school volunteer’s greatest reward is knowing that students have an enrichment activity because you are there to make it happen. And it can happen in the spring as well as earlier in the school term. Consider one of the following ways to dip your toe in the water of school volunteering. You may find yourself back in the fall!

At Highland Park Elementary (1012 SW Trenton)
Contact stpaolone@seattleschools.org

Ongoing: Adults or high-school-aged students to support classroom teachers with tasks such as listening to students read or copying/cutting; varies by teacher/grade – your choice. Pick any hours on any day, 9 AM-4 PM.

Ongoing: Adults or high-school-aged students to support reading/math club with tasks such as listening to students read or helping with elementary match – your choice. Pick any Mon., Tues. or Thurs., 3 PM – 4:30 PM.

*************

At West Seattle Elementary (6760 34th SW)
Contact smtaylor@seattleschools.org

Ongoing: Adults to assist fifth grade with small groups and provide other teacher support. Pick any hours on any day, 10:30AM-3 PM.

West Seattle food drives: Kiwanis on Saturday; Scouting for Food update

April 3, 2013 8:53 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle food drives: Kiwanis on Saturday; Scouting for Food update
 |   How to help | West Seattle news

KIWANIS FOOD DRIVE ON SATURDAY: This Saturday (April 6th), 9 am-3 pm, is the annual Kiwanis Club of West Seattle day of service collecting food outside local grocery stores, for the West Seattle Food Bank. This year, according to the club newsletter, they will be at Metropolitan Market and PCC-West Seattle (both WSB sponsors) and QFC (we’re checking to see which one, if not both).

SCOUTING FOR FOOD RESULTS: Last Saturday, local Boy Scouts had their annual door-to-door food drive.

On behalf of one of the participating troops, Troop 282, Regina shared that photo and these words of appreciation:

Thank you, West Seattle, for all your contributions to Scouting for Food. Troop 282 collected more than 400 pounds for West Seattle Food Bank.

… which gives us another excuse to remind you that contributions to local food banks, both WS Food Bank and White Center Food Bank, count extra till the end of this month, because of the annual Feinstein Challenge (explained here).

Urgent call for help: What WestSide Baby needs now

From WestSide Baby executive director Nancy Woodland – an urgent call for help, so they can keep helping local families in need:

Requests are up and donations of items are low at WestSide Baby. We are asking the community to do a Spring Clean and gather together as many essential children’s items as possible. We are quickly adding temporary increased collection hours and trying to come up with creative ways to make donating these things as easy as possible. WestSide Baby provides essential items to local children in need and we expect these things to reach the hands of King County children very quickly. For perspective, we could NOT fill requests for the following items last month: 46 car seats, 33 cribs, 32 high chairs and 46 strollers. This is why we need your help now! Please consider cleaning out closets at your own home or you can go a step further and act on some of the ideas below.

Our Donations Collection Center is in White Center at 10027 14th Ave. SW. We are tucked between the tortilla factory and the welder! Our regular hours for donations are 9-4:30 Mon-Thursday and Sat. 10-1. Right now we are adding hours as much as possible and our website is being updated regularly with our increases during this time of great need. TONIGHT we are open 5:30-7:30 for those really speedy responders and we will be here 10-5pm this Saturday.

Your effort will help families in crisis or those just in need of a little help right now. Terri from Child Care Resources shared, “A parent needed a double stroller; it was essential for her to have one to get her two small children to child care safely. She walks and takes the bus to get them there, and WestSide Baby was able to provide a small, fold-up double stroller for her to take on the bus. A(nother) family just moved to Seattle, and when I asked them if they had enough extra clothes to leave with their child at child care, I could just see the look of worry on their faces. WestSide Baby provided that family with a bag of clothes to help ease that stress.”

Our current critical wish list includes:

· Children’s Clothing Size Newborn to Size 12
· Car Seats – especially those > 6 years old
· Portable Cribs
· Strollers
· High Chairs
· Exersaucers
· Spring Coats
· Diapers Sizes Newborn and Size 1
· Hygiene items like diaper cream, shampoo
· Blankets

Ideas to make an impact right now

· Gather things at your own home
· Offer to pick up and launder a school Lost & Found
· Collect diapers from friends by pulling together a simple gathering – like Girls Night Out
· Help us with pick-ups from drop-sites
· Park your large truck somewhere as a temporary drop site
· Help us with an Earth Day Outreach
· Volunteer to sort or to clean up equipment
· Host a Car seat drive
· Help us reach donors outside of our drop site areas of West Seattle and Burien

New site, more changes for Chief Sealth Athletics Golf Tournament

April 1, 2013 2:49 pm
|    Comments Off on New site, more changes for Chief Sealth Athletics Golf Tournament
 |   How to help | West Seattle news

Just announced today by Chief Sealth International High School‘s athletic director Sam Reed, the plan for the third annual Sealth Athletics Golf Tournament – at a new location this year, with other changes:

If this past weekend’s sunshine wasn’t enough to get you excited for spring and summer, how about an e-mail about golf sent on the opening day of the newest MLB season! Selfishly, I’m hoping to capitalize on that excitement and to invite you all to join me for the 3rd Annual Chief Sealth Athletics Golf Tournament, coming Friday, June 7th to Foster Golf Links.

After two great years at Rainier Golf and Country Club, I’m excited to announce that we’re moving this year’s event to the recently updated Foster Golf Links in nearby Tukwila. The new location will allow for this event to continue to grow and help to raise even more money for our athletic programs and student-athletes – all while actually lowering the price to participate in the event!

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Video: KING 5 News team back in West Seattle for bagging battle

For the second year in a row, April began with a celebrity bagging battle at Admiral Safeway to kick off a monthlong fundraising campaign through Special Olympics and Easter Seals – with the help of the KING 5 Morning News team. News anchor Mark Wright, traffic reporter Tracy Taylor, and meteorologist Rich Marriott each partnered this morning with a Safeway employee who’s also a Special Olympics athlete, to face off in a grocery-bagging competition – see the video above, and click ahead for the results and photos!

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Two weeks until Seattle Lutheran High School ‘Ring of Honor’

March 30, 2013 2:24 pm
|    Comments Off on Two weeks until Seattle Lutheran High School ‘Ring of Honor’
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

It’s a first-of-its-kind benefit and celebration at Seattle Lutheran High School – and it’s exactly two weeks away. Have your ticket(s) yet? Here’s the official announcement:

Alumni, students, families and friends are invited to attend the Seattle Lutheran High School Booster Club’s inaugural Ring of Honor Award Dinner & Celebration on Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 5:30 pm at the SLHS Menashe Gymnasium in West Seattle. Dinner ticket proceeds will raise additional funds to promote and enhance the school’s athletic programs.

Current funding needs include: investments in a new sound system; scoreboard and timer equipment for the gymnasium; renovated locker rooms; and portable bleachers.

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