CONTACT:
Club E-mail:makeadifferenceclub [at] gmail [dot] com Club Sponsor: Mr. Michels (0715) E-mail: adamgmichels [at] yahoo [dot] com President: Karen Li (0701) E-mail: poofietomato [at] gmail [dot] com Vice President: Cindy Lin (0716) E-mail: cindiyy [at] gmail [dot] com
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LINKS:
MAD BOX - important downloads
MAD LJ Community Lowell School Website
Chinese New Year Parade - Saturday, February 11th
Hey everyone! We finally got confirmation and details about the parade! The CNY parade will be on Saturday, February 11th. Participants must meet at Pacific and Columbus by no later than 3PM.
The parade doesn't officially start until around 5:30PM, but with hundreds of participants they'll need all the prep time they can get! It will be extremely chaotic! Expect to be put into some kind of costume - don't worry, it's usually just something simple like a Chinese-style shirt or a black sweatshirt (to ensure homogeneity amongst the people in the parade). Your attire will differ depending on which section of the parade you are assigned to. While the official duration of this event is from 3PM to 9:30PM, most of you will be done by seven or eight by the latest. It all depends on where you are in the parade! If our entire group shows up on time (or preferably, EARLY!), we will most likely be put into the beginning sections of the parade, which means less down time and an earlier finish. With this in mind, please try to show up early by all means. Our biggest competitor for the early spots is probably Washington High School (and their group leaders are notorious for being very persistent about these kinds of things!), but there will be volunteers from many high schools all across the Bay Area present. It's an awesome opportunity to make some new friends!
We can't make any guarantees about the end time though, so don't make any plans for before 9:30PM on the 11th - just in case!
Some of you may be not be familiar with the parade, so here's a brief description (it's aimed at tourists!):
Named one of the world's top ten parades, Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Asia. Over 100 units will participate in the parade, many of the floats and specialty units will feature the theme of this year's Chinese zodiac sign. Nowhere in the world will you see a lunar new year parade with more gorgeous floats, elaborate costumes, ferocious lions, and exploding firecrackers. Some of the parade highlights include elaborately decorated floats, school marching bands, martial arts group, stilt walkers, lion dancers, Chinese acrobatics, the newly crowned Miss Chinatown USA and the Golden Dragon. The Golden Dragon is over 201 feet long and is always featured at the end of the parade as the grand finale and will be accompanied by over 600,000 firecrackers! The Golden Dragon was made in Foshan, a small town in China. The Foshan dragonmasters formerly made all the costumes for the Cantonese opera, and the Golden Dragon bears many operatic touches, such as the rainbow colored pompoms on its 6 foot-long head. It is festooned from nose to tail with colored lights, decorated with silver rivets on both scaly sides and trimmed in white rabbit fur. The dragon, made on a skeleton of bamboo and rattan, is in 29 segments. It takes a team of 100 men and women to carry the Golden Dragon. This is also considered an honor to be chosen for the grand finale.
While our group will not be carrying the coveted "Golden Dragon," you'll probably get a chance to see all the props featured in the parade up close! If you're lucky, they might even put you on TV! Regardless of whether you'll be making your television debut or not at this event, you'll definitely be noticed by the hordes of locals and tourists alike watching along the parade route. Volunteers will either be on floats, waving to the audience, or walking alongside the floats carrying flags advertising the various sponsors of this event. The parade route can be seen on the image below - follow the arrows on the black lines!
This event is currently worth three event credits, but there is a (very big) possibility that it will be bumped up to four. This is a great opportunity for you to get a big chunk of your FIVE CREDITS done!
The actual amount of time you spend in the parade is miniscule compared to the amount of down time there will be. As you can imagine, parades move at very, very slow speeds. There are often performances (like special dances, etc.) in the middle of the street, so all the floats stop every few feet for the performers to do their thing. You will most likely spend a majority of the time waiting for your turn to enter the parade. In the meantime, you'll get to watch the parade from its starting point - while all the performances are still fresh! I would highly suggest you get a few of your friends to volunteer with you at this event because you guys will have a lot of time to hang out and chat together while you wait. You can earn almost all the credits you need and catch up with your buddies at the same time! It's an awesome opportunity.
If you're volunteering for the parade, you cannot sign up for the Saturday PM shift for the Community Fair! Sorry, but the events overlap too much.
We're teaming up with Chinese Club for this event once again. (Don't we make a great team?! :D) You may not receive double credit for volunteering at the parade, but if you would like to split the credits (two for CC and one for MAD, for example), please contact me personally and we'll see what we can work out.
Alos, please don't hesitate contact me with any additional questions - I'll be glad to answer them!
I hope to see you all at the parade! It'll be a blast.
Hey everyone! We will be volunteering at the San Francisco Food Bank on Saturday, March 18th from 9AM to 12PM. This event will be worth one volunteers credit. We need at least 15-20 people, so please sign up if you can!
We will be working in the main warehouse located at 900 Pennsylvania Avenue (Click to view map). The volunteer coordinator suggests dressing in layers because it gets quite chilly in that warehouse! Our main job will be to sort/organize food for distribution. Open-toed shoes are not allowed, which means NO FLIP FLOPS. =(
MUNI lines 15, 22, and 48 all have stops within walking distance to the warehouse. Here are some more directions (though I suggest you use Google or Mapquest to map out your exact route):
FROM HWY 80/580 SOUTH: 1. Take the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. Stay in the left lane. Exit at 5th Street/Golden Gate Bridge, and go straight (slight left) onto Harrison Street. 3. Turn left on 6th Street. 4. Take 280 South (6th street dead ends into the on-ramp). 5. Exit at Cesar Chavez Street/25th, and immediately turn right on Pennsylvania Avenue. 6. Continue for less than one block on Pennsylvania. The Food Bank is on the left just before the intersection of Pennsylvania and 23rd Street.
FROM HWY 101 NORTH: 1. Exit at Vermont Street. Go straight through intersection onto Mariposa Street. 2. Turn right on Pennsylvania Avenue, traveling until you reach 23rd Street. The Food Bank is on the right.
Note: If coming from the airport or other locations south of the city, exit from 101 North onto 280 North and follow the directions below.
FROM HWY 280 NORTH: 1. Exit at Cesar Chavez Street. 2. Go straight through Cesar Chavez Street intersection onto Pennsylvania Avenue. 3. Continue until just before you reach 23rd Street. The Food Bank is on the left.
FROM HWY 280 SOUTH: 1. Exit at Cesar Chavez Street/25th, and immediately turn right on Pennsylvania Ave. 2. Continue until you reach 23rd Street. The Food Bank is on the left.
FROM DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO (Surface Streets): 1. Travel south on 4th Street until it intersects 3rd Street. 2. Turn right on 3rd Street. 3. Continue on 3rd Street until it intersects 23rd Street. 4. Turn right on 23rd Street. 5. Continue on 23rd Street until it dead-ends into Pennsylvania Avenue. The Food Bank is in front of you and slightly to the left.
Note: An alternate route from downtown is to travel south on 6th Street until it dead ends into the 280 on-ramp, then follow the directions from 280 South as listed above.
The San Francisco Food Bank works to end hunger in San Francisco. They provide donated and purchased food to over 450 non-profit agencies, enabling them to give nutritious meals or supplemental groceries to thousands of low-income families and individuals in our community. These agencies range in size and mission, from the cityÂs largest soup kitchens to smaller agencies such as after-school programs, AIDS service providers, battered women's shelters, child care centers, food pantries, health clinics, homeless shelters, residential programs for people in recovery or transition to independent living, senior lunch programs, and street outreach programs. They are the largest distributor of food to non-profit agencies in San Francisco; for many agencies, they are their only source of food. This year, they will distribute nearly 25 million pounds of food, or enough to provide 53,000 meals a day.
Hello there! If you signed up to volunteer at the Chinatown Flower Fair, please check the list below to make sure all the information is correct. You may still sign up/make changes by e-mailing me by no later than Friday, January 20.
A ** next to your name means you signed up to volunteer for the entire day.
The MAD/Chinese Club officers present at each shift:
PLEASE SIGN IN/OUT WITH THE PERSON UNDERLINED FOR EACH SHIFT.
Saturday, January 21 AM:Anna, Victoria, Karen PM:Cindy, Alan, Susan
Sunday, January 22 AM:Raymond, Tiffany, Andrew, Lucy PM:Ken, Jennifer, Elaine
Volunteers: Saturday, January 21 AM Shift: 9AM - 1PM Andy Pang 0702** Raymon Kuang 0715** Henry Tran 0706** Serena Luong Michelle La 0714** Eleana Hsu 0907 Peter Yu 0907 Jessica Wong 0815 Shelby Li 0805 Joanne Lee Kelly Yee Victoria Wong 0803 Patrick Lee Alvin Wong Jonathan Kyi
PM Shift: 12:30PM - 5PM Raymon Kuang 0715** Henry Tran 0706** Andy Pang 0702** Michelle La 0714** Carmen Ly Jack Liu 0708 David Ma 0714 Donald Van 0707 Rowena Xu 0712 Tiffany Lam Wendy Yang Ann Xiao YanYan Wu Carla Siu Selina Lee
PM Shift: 12:30PM - 5PM Leslie Cheung 0717** Jackie Leung** Amy Zhou Victoria Wong 0803
With everything going on at the fair, it may get extremely chaotic at times. I ask everybody to please cooperate with the officers' requests, regardless of which club they are from. Feel free to come up to any of us with questions - we'll be happy to answer them!
Please remember to sign in AND out with the designated officer at the start of your shift and before you go home. If you are working both shifts, you only need to sign out when you leave. You do not have to sign out at the end of the morning shift and sign in again for the afternoon!
Lunch will be provided. (Yay!) We will be rotating groups in and out for their lunch break so we can keep things under control in our area. Please bear with us when we attempt to do so because it will be extremely hectic!
We are not responsible for the loss/theft of your possessions, so please do not bring any unnecessary bags or valuables. We will be working in a high traffic area, so definitely think twice before you bring anything you might miss!
If you have any questions or corrections to make, please contact me ASAP. More details about the fair and the kind of work you will be doing can be found here.
Our blog is a huge source of information and we spend a lot of time keeping updates regular, so please take advantage of it!
Thanks to everybody who's volunteering! See you this weekend.
BTW, we will be out there on Pacific and Grant (MAP) RAIN OR SHINE. Please dress appropriately. :D
How many people would be interested in volunteering at the San Francisco Food Bank on a Saturday from 9AM to 12PM sometime in early March? If we get enough interest, we may make this a regular event.
The Food Bank's volunteer community provides vital support to our mission of ending hunger in San Francisco. They provide donated and purchased food to over 450 non-profit agencies, enabling them to give nutritious meals or supplemental groceries to thousands of low-income families and individuals in our community. Throughout the year, they rely on the support of more than 7000 volunteers to sort community food donations, stock pantry shelves, repackage bulk items, label cans, glean produce, and pack food boxes. This year they will distribute 25 million pounds of food, enough for 53,000 meals each day!
Volunteer duties involve organizing cans of food, packing groceries, etc.
Wouldn't you love to take part in that?
Each Saturday will be worth one volunteers credit.
Thanks to everybody who showed up for our meeting today. While everybody was eager to sign up for the upcoming Chinatown fairs, nobody noticed that I forgot to give you guys to exact Chinatown intersection where we will be meeting/volunteering at! Kudos to everybody who read all the details through e-mail/on our blog and signed up with me early! Judging by the limited number of responses I got through e-mail, however, I think it would be safe to say that a majority of you do not bother to keep up with our blog posts. I mentioned this at our meeting today, but I'll say it again.
IF EVERYBODY CHECKS THEIR E-MAIL REGULARLY, WE DO NOT NEED TO HOLD AS MANY REGULAR MEETINGS AT SCHOOL!
We all lead busy lives, so it would be best if we could try to keep things efficient by communicating through e-mail!
Anyway, here's a map of our meeting location:
We will be working on Pacific Ave between Grant and Kearny. Please gather at the Grant end of the block to sign in with a MAD officer. Details regarding which officer to look for at each shift will come later in the week, so keep checking those inboxes!
I will also have a final volunteer confirmation list posted later this week. Please check to make sure you are signed up for the right shift! Our no-show policy still stands.
IF YOU SIGN UP FOR AN EVENT AND FAIL TO SHOW UP, YOU WILL RECEIVE NEGATIVE CREDIT FOR THAT EVENT.
For example, if you signed up for two shifts (worth a total of two credits), but do not show up for either, you will have negative two credits.
We will most likely not have as many events available compared to the Fall semester, so please take advantage of these easy events!
On a brighter note, the Chinese New Year Parade is on! We have received confirmation for our participation. Details about that will also be coming soon. Remember, it will probably be worth two or three credits!
Be sure to contact me with any questions you may have. Good luck with finals!
Hey everyone! Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 17th at 3:45 in room 233. We will be doing sign ups for our upcoming events. You can also sign up by e-mail if you can't make it to the meeting. We also have a few important announcements, so be sure to show up!
If you submitted an entry, please contact me with your name, reg, and entry number ASAP! Thanks to everybody who participated. I'm sure your thoughtful cards brought some much needed holiday cheer into somebody's life!
