Saturday, July 26, 2008

September AP/HF Meeting!

Each year Cultural Care Au Pair hosts a great family day/picnic. This year it will be on September 21st, at Marymoor Park. All host families, au pairs, kids and friends are welcome to attend this fun event.

This year, we are hoping to do something extra special - and collect food for Food Lifeline. They are a great local charity that focuses on helping families in need. Please bring along your donations of canned food, dried food, non-perishable foods or monetary donations.

Be sure to have this day on your calendar, and I can't wait to see you there!

What Hunger Looks Like in Western Washington

  • Many of the people served by Food Lifeline are among the working poor. 62% of the households Food Lifeline serves count a job, social security, SSI, unemployment or disability as a main source of income.
  • The profile for a hungry person in Western Washington continues to defy society's expectations. Nearly 45% of the individuals using a food bank, meal program or shelter in Western Washington have some form of post-secondary education. Only 15% are actually homeless.
  • 37% of the hungry people Food Lifeline serves are children.
  • 13% of the hungry people Food Lifeline serves are seniors.
  • Hunger causes many families to have to make difficult choices.
  • 51% of the hungry people Food Lifeline serves must choose between food and paying for heat.
  • 40% of the hungry people Food Lifeline serves must choose between food and paying for medicine or medical care.
  • 40% of the hungry people Food Lifeline serves must choose between food and rent.
  • 88% of Food Lifeline's member food banks say that if they couldn't get food from a distribution agency such as Food Lifeline, it would have a significant or devastating impact on their program.
  • Nearly 43% of the people who are emergency food recipients in Western Washington are food insecure with hunger. This means that these individuals do not know when they will eat again and often times go to bed hungry.

Friday, July 11, 2008

SeaFair 2008

Go back and check out the posting on SeaFair from May - there are tons of activities going on right now that are just fantastic! Here are some of the highlights:

July 12-13: Mercer Island Summer Celebration!12th - at Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island from 10a - 7p, with fireworks at dark
12th - Parade, Downtown Mercer Island at 10a
13th - downtown Mercer Island from 10a - 5p
July 12: Redmond Derby Days, Redmond City Hall, 10a - 10p
July 12-13: Seattle's Chinatown-International District Festival 2008, Hing Hay Park, 10a - 6p
July 12: Wallingford Seafair Kiddie Parade & Street Fair, Wallingford Avenue between 43rd and 45th, from 10a - 6p, Parade at 11a
July 17-20: Kla Ha Ya Days, Downtown Snohomish; Parade on the 19th at 11a
July 18-20: 23rd Annual Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow, Daybreak Indian Culture Center at Discovery Park
July 18-20: Kirkland Uncorked, Marina Park in Kirkland
July 20: Chinatown Seafair Parade, International District in Seattle, 7p (come and cheer on the families with children from China!!)
July 23: Greenwood Seafair Parade, Parade at 6p
July 23, 25-27: IKEA Renton River Days, Liberty Park in Renton
July 25-27: Covington Days Festival, Covington Multicare Clinic
July 26, 2008: Southwest Airlines Torchlight Parade at Seafair, Downtown on 4th Avenue, 7:30p
July 26-27: Ballard SeafoodFest, eat your way to happiness in downtown Ballard
July 30 - August 3 - Fleet Arrival and Tours, Pier 90
August 1-3, 2008: Chevrolet Cup at Seafair, South Lake Washington (see website for times)August 1-3, 2008: KeyBank Air Show at Seafair presented by Boeing, South Lake Washington (see website for times)

Bite of Seattle

Next weekend, July 18-20th, is the Bite of Seattle. Held at the Seattle Center, this is YOUR opportunity to spend the day trying out food from all the Seattle area restaurants that you haven't gone out to yet.

If you think you saw a lot of food at Folklife, this is nothing - this is all food, everywhere. Of course, there will be some entertainment and music, but the main attraction is fantastic food. Prepare to pace yourselves, and eat yourselves silly. (Look for more information on the late summer festival, Bumbershoot, if you are interested in great music from the whole world..)

Admission is FREE, and the food is usually $3-6 per sample.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Monthly AP Meetings

I wanted to reiterate to everyone that the monthly meetings are required for au pairs to attend - as well as the quarterly CEP (continuing education programs) that are offered at four of the meetings each year. If more than two meetings are missed, an au pair is not eligible to receive their deposit back at the end of the year.

If you have any questions about what we are or are not doing, times, places to be, etc - please let me know...

Check out what we are doing:
July 13 - Potluck Picnic at Phantom Lake Pool + CEP Summer Program - 3p
August 17 - Lara's House - 1p
September 21 - All CCAP AP/Host Family Picnic at Marymoor Park
October 19 - Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze - 1p
November 16 - Thanksgiving at Lara's + CEP Fall Program - 3p
December 14 - Christmas cookie exchange! (note: date change) - 1p
2009:
January 18 - AP's to choose and plan event!!!
February 19 - TBD + CEP Winter Program
March 15 - TBD
April 19 - Trip to the Tulip Fields
May 17 - TBD + CEP Spring Program
June 21 - TBD