APO

All active brothers at initiations Spring 2009

Winning touch football

Family vs. Family tug-of-war at Field Day

 

After cleaning up at Rivers Alive

Clearing trails at Fort Yargo

After reading my last post about APO, I thought maybe we sounded a little strange haha So I've decided to throw a few pictures in here so you can put faces with the actions. I've included a few from service projects, some from a "field day", and one of all of our memebers. If you have any questions feel free to check out www.uga.edu/apo for more information! 

Coming Soon: UGArden

I had a great talk today with Chris from UGArden. It sounds like a really great project they're bringing to campus, and I can't wait to see what they do with it!

http://podcasting.gcsu.edu/4DCGI/Podcasting/UGA/Episodes/7490/20002.wav

World Vision -- Acting on AIDS

I got my packet from Acting on AIDS/World Vision last night. Oh my goodness! It makes me so sad that people really live like this, but at the same time I'm so excited for what we're doing with AoA. It's amazing to think that a simple fundraising project like buying a t-shirt can improve the quality of life for people across the world. I'm definitely guilty of getting so caught up in my own life and what is happening to me that I forget that not everyone lives the way I do; it's especially hard living in Athens and being surrounded by UGA. I get caught up in GPA, friends, family, work, and a million other things that I unintentionally block out problems that don't directly affect me. I've added in one of the AoA videos from youtube for y'all to take a look. It is definitely a powerful video.

Alpha Phi Omega

Since all of my AoA friends have been out of town I've been working on putting stuff together for the fall semester for Alpha Phi Omega. For those of you that don't know, Alpha Phi Omega (APO) is a national co-ed service fraternity based on the principles of Leadership, Friendship, and Service. It sounds boring, but I promise it isn't. APO is probably the best decision I've made since coming to UGA.

I stumbled upon an APO banner advertising a service fraternity, ended up at a meeting, pledged, and fell in love. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into in the beginning, but I've developed some of the best connections (both professional and personal) through APO that I could ask for. I have at least 20 people that I know I can call at any time and they'll be able to help me out. And I am actively giving back to the Athens community.

The principles of APO are pretty straightforward, and we try to keep them that way:

• Leadership -- There are a variety of different leadership positions you can take as soon as you start pledging. The pledge class has its own group of leaders including: President, VP Service, VP Fellowship, Secretary, and Historian. After being initiated there are these positions, and more, that are available. APO also offers classes, called LEADS courses, that help you to become a better leader. These courses identify everything from what it is to be a leader, what your leadership style is, how to improve your leadership, and so on. These courses are actually used in corporations all over the world and cost thousands of dollars per class, but we get them for free!
• Friendship -- Although we aren't a "social fraternity" we do plenty of fun stuff together. We usually hang out about 3 or 4 times a week (we call them fellowships) and we do things like watching tv shows, potlucks, bowling and kayaking, playing tennis, having competitions, formals, semi-formals, girls night in and boys night out-- just to name a few. Although our main purpose as a fraternity is to do community service, it's not very much fun if you don't like who you are with!
• Service -- ahh, the whole point of the group. Clearly we do a lot of community service, and we enjoy what we do! We have a variety of projects that we work on every semester including: Oasis tutoring, adopt a highway, working at the food bank, playing buncco at a retirement home, habitat for humanity, the humane society, Prevent Child Abuse Athens, Butterfly Dreams, and many other organizations in and around Athens. Not only do we work with these groups, but we're always looking to expand our network to new groups. We're constantly asking for suggestions from new members. If you can't find a project you like then you can let the VP of Service know, and they'll work with you to add something in.

Clearly this organization is very important to me. This past semester I was VP of Membership and during info meetings I stood up infront of rooms full of people and told them APO was the best decision I've ever made. They all looked at me like I was crazy -- until they pledged. In the spring of 2009 we initiated about 20 new brothers, and they all realized what I was talking about. Over the past year APO has more than tripled its number of active brothers. Obviously we are doing something right!

If you are interested in pledging APO or what to get some more information about what we do, check us out at: www.uga.edu/apo Or if you have a suggestion for a organization we should look into working with please leave a comment and let me know!

No Plans This Weekend?

I was just checking out the hands on northeast georgia website to see what projects that have coming up and I stumbled upon something that Chris in 5990 had mentioned earlier this week. The Athens Farmers Market needs people to help them out this Saturday with what I'm assuming is a sale. So if you don't have any plans on Saturday or if you just want to check out what is going on with local Athens Farmers and sustainability (a very important word lately), you should check it out! If you want to volunteer here are the shifts:

Setting Up: 6:30am-8:00am [3 volunteers needed]
Greeting: 8:00am-12:00pm, one hour shifts [1 volunteer per shift]
Breaking Down: 12:00pm-1:30pm [3 volunteers needed]

It's a little early, especially for 5990 that have to get up early for class everyday anyways. But it is being hosted by P.L.A.C.E, which is a group that has just been brought to my attention this week, but it sounds like a great organization. If you're interested this would be a great event to get your foot in the proverbial door, so to speak.

If you DO want to volunteer, go to handsonnortheastgeorgia.com and sign up, then go to the calendar for tomorrow (may 23rd) and register. It's that easy! Have fun guys!

More Updates!

I received another email from Kurt Rahn today. I'm really starting to like this guy! He has put us in touch with a well-established chapter at the University of Illinois!! Jess won't be available until June 7th, but I'm sure we'll have a ton of questions for her by then! I'm so excited to be able to talk with an already established chapter! There are a lot of housekeeping details that I didn't expect to have to take care of before we can be a legit organization on campus. I'm still waiting on the new mail packet because the one we used to have is currently in Costa Rica with Joanna (not jealous or anything), but as soon as that comes we'll be getting started. (work and adpr 5990 class permitting lol )

In other news, I've been checking up at handsonnortheastgeorgia.com to see if there are any good service projects coming up. Since this weekend is Memorial Weekend, it looks like everyone is taking a (much needed) break. However, that week and the first week of June have some good projects lined up. There is also a childrens camp that needs volunteer to make lunches, run crafts, and be a general ref for the kids. If anyone is interested go to the website (you have to sign up but they send you email updates) and volunteer!! Most of you are already bored anyways. Go be productive!!

Nonprofit of the Week

Prevent Child Abuse Athens is by far one of my favorite nonprofit organizations in Athens. Last semester APO worked with them on a few different fundraising projects and they were awesome! They're very active in Athens, and truly provide a great service to the community. 

The mission of PCAA is "to prevent child abuse and neglect in all its forms -- physical, sexual, emotional, and neglect -- through education, support, and public awareness." PCAA runs multiple programs that offer everything from help for first time moms to education about recognizing child abuse. The programs they offer are: 

• Healthy Families -- volunteers make house visits to see how parents are handling the transition into parenthood. Typically these visits continue for up to 4 years, and during that time parents are given resources within the community and support.
• First Steps -- trains the volunteers that work with Healthy Families.
• Parenting Classes -- Offered in a variety of places throughout the community and educate parents in non-physical discipline and positive communication.
• Community Education -- creates presentations for the community on preventing, recognizing, and reporting child abuse. 

Because PCAA is a nonprofit organization, fundraising is clearly a huge part of this organization. Last semester APO participated in several fundraising activities for PCAA including:  a percentage night at Five Guys, a diaper drive, and a reverse car wash (best event ever! we car painted spirit onto people's cars before the Alabama game). PCAA also holds an annual fundraising event called Starry, Starry Night-- a dinner and auction-- that raises a good amount of their fundraising. They also hold a Prevent child abuse walk in the spring that gains a lot of attention from the community. 

A quick trip to the website reveals just how involved PCAA is with the Athens community. Several UGA organizations work with them and even more donate money. The positive work they do can be seen all over Athens. If you want any more information check them out at: www.pcaathens.org Enjoy!

Exciting News!

I'm so excited about the email I just got from Kurt Rahn, the Action on AIDS student mobilization contact! We've been emailing back and forth about setting up a chapter of AoA at UGA and the steps we need to take to make that happen.

Earlier in the semester after a meeting with student activities we found out our first step is writing a constitution. Umm yeah, who has experience doing that? I sure don't. So I've been emailing Kurt to get contacts from other chapters that are already set up. Finally I'll be in touch with someone from the University of Illinois and possibly an intern from the founding chapter at Seattle Pacific. This is great news! We've been on hold with our plans because we weren't sure how to proceed with a constitution (plus finals, maymester, internships, etc.). Now we can get started again! I can't wait!

Facts Check

Here UNICEF is doing a presentation about the number of children that have lost parents to AIDS since 1992. Clearly the number has drastically increased over the past 15 years. At this point, we are past just educating people about how to prevent AIDS. The problem requires more attention than some sex ed classes and throwing in a few bags of condoms. 

The U.S. is currently struggling with swine flu. As of yesterday there were about 2,500 cases resulting in 3 deaths. President Obama allocated 1.5 BILLION dollars to research and prevention of the swine flu. Meanwhile, in 2007 there were 3.2 million new cases of AIDS reported, of those 2.4 million died. 

I understand these two diseases are not completely comparable. I'm one of the first people to say that we need to take care of ourselves in our own country before we rush out to save the rest of the world. And I'm not downplaying the severity of swine flu, it's a serious health concern. But look at the death rate, look at the number of people infected. Our government is willing to spend billions of dollars on a pandemic that we have a decent amount of research on and a vaccine for. I realize there were deaths associated with the vaccine last time it was used, but there is no comparable treatment for a person with AIDS. Anti-viral medication is all they are offered, and it only lessens the suffering. 

It seems to me that people are frustrated with AIDS. For decades scientists have been researching the disease; how it is transmitted, what it does to the body, how it can be slowed down, if it can be stopped. No one has any answers yet. There are several organizations dedicated to raising money and awareness, RED and UGA HEROs being two great ones. But more needs to be done. It's easy to lose sight of how massive the disease is when you are unaffected. There is a stereotype associated with AIDS, especially in the South, and I think thats probably part of why AOA hasn't been able to take off here. Hopefully with all the change that has been going on in our country lately we can shed another bias. 

Here are the links for Swine Flu and AIDs stats: 

AIDS: http://www.aidsandafrica.com/

Swine Flu:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090511/hl_hsn/usnowleadsworldinswineflucases

P.S. If you're still looking for some good individual volunteer work check out handsonnortheastgeorgia.com. There are great opportunities there that don't require a large group of people. There are also a variety of different projects from tutoring to habitat for humanity. Enjoy!

Acting on AIDS

My first blog ever. Give me time, they'll get better.

When I first transferred to UGA I was looking for service opportunities around Athens. They were really hard to find! It seemed like every volunteer opportunity was attached to an organization, with no real opportunity to do individual service. Although I wasn't looking for an organization to join, I found Alpha Phi Omega -- a national co-ed service fraternity. If this isn't what you're looking for, thats cool. I'll try to post random service opportunities on here as well as what we're doing around town.

If you're looking for something just starting up that needs a lot of help I've got something for you! (Link to the website below)


Did anyone make it to the "Africa in Athens" exhibit the Athens Church held earlier this year?

If not, you missed out. It was hosted by World Vision: Acting on AIDS. They gave out MP3 players that had the story of a child in Africa affected by AIDS. As you listened to their story you walked through their life -- rooms set up to be their house, school, and the clinic where they were tested. At the end a "chapel" is set up with pictures of children affected-- talk about moving! Also there was a place to write messages to the children that had been affected-- heartbreaking.Theres no way to not be affected by what you saw.

Anyways, after talking with the people hosting the exhibit, we learned there are chapters dedicated to raising money and awareness for this cause all over the country, except in the south. At UGA we have HEROs, which is a great organization, but Acting on Aids is dedicated to prevention, education, and awareness in Africa. Two of my friends decided to run with the idea and are now setting up a chapter of Acting on Aids here on campus. It's in the early stages now, but we're going to work hard on it this summer and hopefully start it up in the fall.

I've included the website below so you can do your own research about the group. They host fundraising activities, like Night of Nets that raises money to purchase bug nets for the children. Warning: Beware of the videos. They will make you cry.

If we can get this chapter off the ground it will be a huge success for Acting on AIDS and a personal success for Ashely, DJ, and I. Its totally unacceptable that there are no chapters located in the south. Our chapter at UGA would be a great start-up for more southern schools to pick up the trend. We'll be looking to Universities with established chapters for help, and would, of course, love any feedback from locals. Especially if you're interested in joining.

Here's the link:
http://site.actingonaids.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=58

This blog will (hopefully) track our development of the UGA chapter, as well as provide people with information about service opportunities in and around Athens.