Service Ambassadors Needed

 We're looking for 4 Service Ambassadors in cities outside of Charlotte to assist with 13 Days 4 Love service projects in their respective communities. There will be 4 national (possibly international) projects that we will do in 2015, we will create the project. In terms of logistics, we (13D4L) will create/set up the social media event pages, marketing materials, online registries if applicable. Your role would be to identify a local organization or group of people that would benefit from that month's project, coordinate any drop offs, use the marketing materials to generate support within your community and to take a few pictures/video to capture each project. If you are interested, send an email to 13Days4Love@gmail.com by Friday, January 9, 2015. #CommunityOfGiving #13Days4Love #IntentionalParenting #GlobalExpansion

December Service Project: Holiday Cheer 4 Children

For our December service project we have chosen to help the guests of The Relatives. This will be our third project this year that has benefitted The Relatives.  The Relatives hosts 9 children/young adults that are homeless or have been removed from their family homes.  We are doing handmade cards and gift cards for each of the 9 guests that will be with them on Christmas Day.  We are hoping that others will join us in providing items for each child.  Since some of these children are in transition, we are not wanting to give bulky items (such as stuffed animals) but things that are portable, fun, educational, motivating, etc.  Some examples of items that would be great are playing cards, activity books, Redbox gift cards, bus passes, gift cards to restaurants (the facility is on East Boulevard so restaurants in that area would be more convenient), inspirational books, etc. We don’t know the breakdown of boys vs. girls, so think of things that are gender neutral. We will be collecting items between now and Tuesday, December 23, 2014. If you would like to donate items, send us an email and we can coordinate meeting you.

Thanks in advance for thinking of those children that aren’t able to be home for the holidays.

Eboni & Tyler

November Service Project: Desserts 4 Thanksgiving Update and Thanks

Thank you Onica Fuller, Karitsa Kerns, Donyell Stroud Aycock, Meeka J. Clay, Sidney Logan Echevarria, Candace Taylor-Anderson, Lee Richardson, Sylvia Richardson, Imani Smith, Kim Flanders, Angela Lindsay, Sahnia D. H. Oates, Rachel Bellotti Adams, Brittney Bogues, Takierra Hopkins-Cole, Victoria Garriett Lampkin, Tamra Berry, Lisa Hollis, Christina Mateo Landry, Kameka Rowell-Hall, Kimberly Norton, Kristy Perry & Carlenia Ivory for your generous donations for Desserts 4 Thanksgiving. Based on the pictures that were shared, 52 desserts were donated to the Charlotte Rescue Mission. It took us several trips from the car to the kitchen to get all of the desserts we had to deliver in. We went around lunch time so the guests were lining up outside of the cafeteria. After our first trip we heard one of the guests ask the gentleman that worked there what we were doing and he explained the project to them. With each trip they said "thank you all" and "bless you all". I'm sure if you reflect back on your Thanksgiving meal, one of the highlights was one of the desserts that you had (many homes have multiple desserts). Thanks to the generosity of all that participated, the guests at the Charlotte Rescue Mission also had choices for dessert.

If we left off your name please forgive us and share with us your pictures or email us so we can include you in our thanks. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

November Service Project: Desserts 4 Thanksgiving

The Charlotte Rescue Mission needs homemade desserts for their Thanksgiving meal (The preference is homemade [just like we all prefer] so please make the effort, but I doubt they will turn away store bought desserts). 1000 people will be served and what Thanksgiving meal is complete without dessert?!?! Spend some family time in the kitchen cooking up family recipes, rolling out dough, cutting out shapes or pressing pie crust into a pan. Make a special treat or two and deliver them to the Charlotte Rescue Mission on Tuesday, November 25 or Wednesday, November 26 from 6 am - 6 pm. Take pictures and email them to 13Days4Love@gmail.com and or share them on your FB page.

If you have children, use this opportunity to talk about your blessings and spend some time discussing the many that you and your family have. You can also make this a great educational activity and focus on the mathematical aspects of baking. ;-)

Family Fun: November 14-16 Weekend What-To-Dos

Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road, presents a free one-day symposium on the arts in Africa. on Saturday, November 15th, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Symposium speakers include Dr. Herbert M. Cole, professor emeritus in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of California, Santa Barbara; and Drs. Akinwumi Ogundiran, UNC Charlotte; Henry John Drewal, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Cécile Fromont, University of Chicago; Victoria Rovine, UNC Chapel Hill. A masquerade performance by the Oyotunji African Village Yoruba performers will take place at approximately 4:30 p.m., and will be followed by a brief reception. It’s free to attend, but registration is required. Call 704-337-2107 or visit the website to learn how to register online. Box lunches from Panera Bread will be available for $10, cash only.

The Charlotte Symphony Guild’s Musical Petting Zoo offers a chance for children to look at, listen to, and try out orchestra instruments. These FREE events take place at ImaginOn, 300 East 7th Street. The next event:

Saturday, November 15th, 2014, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at ImaginOn, 300 East 7th Street.

Call 704-416-4630 for more information.

Grey Seal Puppets is presenting “The Emperor’s New Clothes” at Sharon Presbyterian Church, 5201 Sharon Road, on Saturday, November 15th, 2014, 3:30 p.m. Admission is FREE but you need to reserve your tickets ahead of time and they are very limited. Reserve them now. The award-winning puppeteer troupe puts a new spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, transforming it into a fable. Stay for post-show refreshments afterwards.

Sanctuary at Davidson, an art gallery and shop at 108 South Main Street in Davidson, is presenting the Downtown Davidson Holiday Art Crawl on Saturday, November 15th, 2014, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Come enjoy a beautiful fall evening and the kick off of the Holiday season at the Downtown Davidson Holiday Art Crawl. Join 30 artists as they showcase and sell handmade art and gift items up and down the charming Main Street of Downtown Davidson. A multitude of art mediums represented ranging from fine art and textiles to pottery and baked goods. Crawlers will be treated to local musicians playing live in several Main Street venues and wine/beer tastings as well. For the kids: face painting, free crafts and a cup of delicious hot apple cider.

Bass Pro Shops, at Concord Mills, is hosting Santa’s Wonderland 2014, featuring FREE photos with Santa, crafts, games and activities. The festivities take place November 16th (with a preview event November 15th, 5pm to 8pm) through December 24th, 2014. The free Santa picture is a 4×6 print. Other packages are available for purchase. On Mondays through Thursdays the wait will be shorter. Each day a limited number of Bass Passes will be available. They will be for a specific time. You won’t have to stand in line, but will just return when your time comes. See the schedule for full information on when the crafts, games, activities and Santa visits will take place each day.

Preview event, November 15th, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

•   Magical tree lighting

•   Unveiling of Santa’s Wonderland

•   Carolers

•   Santa will be giving away a $25 Bass Pro Shops gift card to one lucky winner every half-hour! 5:30-7:30pm

•   Picture with Santa 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

•   FREE craft and backpack clip* November 15, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

•   FREE cookies and McSteven’s hot chocolate

Games

•   Laser arcade

•   Slot car racing

•   Remote control trucks

•   Moving trains

•   Soft gun arcade

Crafts

•   Decorate a gingerbread stocking: November 15th

•   Decorate a stuffed reindeer: November 16th to 23rd

•   Color a plaster ornament: November 24th to 30th

•   Decorate a foam bird ornament: December 1st to 7th

•   Decorate a Santa bobber craft: December 8th to 14th

•   Decorate a stick soldier ornament: December 15th to 21st

Cookie decorating: December 22nd to 24th

Mommy Meltdown: The Morning After Election Day....(Trust this isn't what you're expecting)

Ok, so your candidate didn't win, you're upset about the results of the election, I get it. And just because your people didn't win doesn't meant that your vote doesn't matter, lets be real, someone has to lose. Guess what, take that energy and frustration and turn it into change. Get involved in making the change you want to see in your community. If it really matters that much then you will pull your self off of the couch, re-prioritize and use your time, talent and efforts to do something other than spout about your disappointment from the comfort of your FB page!

Seriously, how much time have you spent this year volunteering and helping those that need it most? If you can write a check, great, that is needed too but don't talk about it unless you're going to be about it! And I mean how much genuine time have you spent trying to make your community better?! Not just the required hours you have to fulfill to maintain membership in an organization or because you are trying to get in organizations! Great you host events where "a portion of the proceeds benefit _________" but are you trying to increase the amount of proceeds that benefit others and not just your bank account with each event? Can we at least get a check presentation to see how much of our money is helping whomever? ****Soap box….stepping down….*****

Miss me with all of this pity party foolishness right now! If you are a parent, please be mindful of the dangerous example you are setting with any apathetic comments about voting and the process. If you have children who are old enough to understand and be engaged in the voting process, this is the perfect life lesson in perseverance or as the saying goes "there being more than one way to skin a cat" (which is so disgusting when you think about the image). My son and I started doing our monthly service projects for the simple reason of becoming involved in the changes and improvements we wanted for our community.  We didn't need any one particular government party to be in office to do this, we didn't need the approval of anyone accept the people we were trying to serve. What I DO know, is that WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Each and every month regardless of the size of our project, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Join us in one of our monthly projects, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Come up with your own activities/projects to impact your community so that you can say, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! To the over 200 people in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Charlotte and Raleigh that received new pillows and pillow cases this year, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! For the over 100 patients undergoing chemotherapy that will receive a Comfort Kit, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! For the children that received some of the 250 pounds of peanut butter and graham crackers from Tyler’ Birthday Service Project, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  What will you do so that you can say, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?!?!

Yes, your vote is a powerful way to make change, but so are your daily actions. Now more than ever is the time when YOU need to do something different for things to BE different! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Family Fun: October 11-12 Weekend What-To-Dos

Star Wars Reads Day

Spandex City Comics, at 2914-A Mt. Holly Huntersville Road, invites the public to participate in Star Wars Reads Day on Saturday, October 11th, 2014, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This is a free event for the whole family. There will be fun Star Wars activities, contests and prizes for fans of all ages, and Spandex City’s next door neighbor, X-tra Ball, is participating too. Star Wars Reads Day is a worldwide event that celebrates Star Wars and reading. Here’s the schedule:

11 am – 6 pm: Star Wars crafts and activities (Spandex City and X-tra Ball)

11 am – 2 pm: Star Wars Pinball contest at X-tra Ball (youth and adult divisions)


11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Jawa Storytime at Spandex City


4 pm – 6 pm: “Stump the Stormtrooper” Trivia at X-tra Ball

Ballantyne Fall Festival

Ballantyne District Park, behind Morrison Family YMCA at 9405 Bryant Farms Road, is the site for Ballantyne Fall Festival–Autumn in the Park, on Saturday, October 11th, 2014, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The festival is free and most activities are free. Some of the activities are hayrides, bounce house, face painting, field day activities, pumpkin painting and more. There’s a charge for the cornhole competition and chili cookoff. Entertainment will be provided by The New Familiars, Dead27s, Matt Stratford and Scoot Pittman.

Food and drinks will be available from a variety of vendors including Elwoods BBQ & Burger Bar, Crü Wine Shop, Carolina Fish Market, True Crafted Pizza and Bird Song Brewing Co. Also, this is the first year to enjoy Charlotte’s Best Oyster Roast, brought to you by Carolina Fish Market.

And for the kids, there will be a special showing of “How To Train Your Dragon 2″ at 7:00 p.m.

Autumn Treasures (Waxhaw)

Waxhaw’s largest festival, Autumn Treasures, takes place Saturday, October 11th, 2014, and Sunday, October 12th, in downtown Waxhaw. The festival takes place 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. On Saturday, taste championship BBQ during the Grill’n & Chill’n public tasting, take part in Boot Camp Waxhaw and earn your stripes, watch good old-fashioned pig races, witness live entertainment, shop for arts & crafts or stroll the community & business fair. Cap the evening off with a free concert to salute veterans featuring Ansel Brown. On Sunday, the Hometown Heroes Car and USO show is back. Assist in breaking a world record at 3:30pm!

Free Museum Day – Levine Museum of the New South

Levine Museum of the New South offers free admission every Sunday, as long as you’re not bringing a group of 10 people or more. Its hours on Sunday are 12pm to 5pm. If you like free parking too, and who doesn’t, park in 7th Street Station, right next door. Bring your parking ticket to the Levine Museum for validation. On weekdays you can validate parking for up to two hours, but on weekends, you can validate for all day, so you can enjoy other Uptown attractions as well.

The Levine is an interactive history museum that focus on the time period from 1865 until until current times. Its permanent exhibit, Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers: Reinventing Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South, invites guests to step inside a one-room tenant farmers house, run a hand through a pile of seed cotton, listen to the churning of the cotton mill, play checkers on the front porch of a mill house, hear personal accounts from local sit-in leaders, and more.

American Girl Store Opening
The American Girl Store officially opens Saturday in SouthPark Mall.  Parents, take your patience, reading material and full wallets. On average, a trip to an American Girl store lasts 90 minutes. *_*

Free Outdoor Movie

Afton Ridge, at 6230 Bayfield Parkway in Concord, is presenting a free outdoor movie, Monsters University, on Saturday, October 11th, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. They’ll also be giving away a $50 gift certificate to Party City to help you find a great Halloween costume of your own.

Open Studio Saturday- McColl Center for Innovation

During Open Studio Saturdays artists work in their studios with the doors open. It is an opportunity for the public to meet the artists and learn about their art as well as view the current exhibition. Every Open Studio Saturday, free docent-led tours will begin at 11:30 AM. Open Studio Hours:
11 AM to 4 PM

24^th Annual Latin American Festival

Charlotte’s signature cultural event, the 24th Annual Latin American Festival, returns Sunday, October 12, 2014 to Symphony Park. Mingle with more than 20,000 other lovers of culture and music this fall with internationally renowned musical performance from Colombian electro-tropical band Bomba Estéreo, Puerto Rican sensation and masters of contemporary bomba and plena, Plena Libre, The Latin Grammy award-winning Panamanian Ska-rock group, Los Rabanes and many more. The festival also features traditional and contemporary dance performances, some of the most diverse and delicious Latin food in Charlotte, marketplace with authentic handmade crafts and a Plaza de Artistas featuring some of North Carolina’s best Latino visual artists.

General admission is $5 and children 8 and under are free. 12pm - 8pm.