Flickr: BBC World Service

A food chart for clients of Bread for the City. Next week, DCentric will take a closer look at the triumphant expansion of both their facilities and services.

I’m leaving the blog for a few hours to go visit Bread for the City–a front line agency serving Washington’s poor– for a very happy reason:

As we approach the end of this year, it already feels like the start of something new. Our expanded Northwest Center is partially up and running, and the excitement of what’s to come is in the air…

I hope you’ll join us to celebrate this new chapter: all are invited to attend the Grand Opening on Friday January 7th, from 4-7pm at 1525 7th street NW. We’ll be joined by Councilmembers and other city leaders to cut the ribbon and raise a cheer for the growth to come.

At the beginning of this week, I spoke to Bread for the City’s Executive Director, George Jones, about how his organization was able to expand during a recession and what such an expansion meant for the D.C. residents who depend on his agency’s services. Look for a two-part interview with Jones next week, right here. Now if you’ll kindly excuse me, I’m off to take pictures of the expanded facilities; if you’ll be so helpful as to tweet something amusing, I’ll make sure it gets enshrined as today’s Tweet of the Day, which will be up later tonight. Happy Friday!

DCentric

A Salvation Army Red Kettle at "Social Safeway", in Georgetown.

WaPo has an update on Giant’s move to limit the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign outside of its grocery stores, via this article: “Limited collection time at Giant fueled drop in donations, Salvation Army says“. The charity collected 60% less money than it did last year:

Giant’s policy change irked some advocates for the needy.

“It’s hard times like these when we need our corporate partners to step up and do more rather than less,” said Terry Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations. “A lot less people are going to get a lot less help when they most need it. And that’s tragic.”…

Terri Lee Freeman, president of the Community Foundation, which makes grants to local groups, said nonprofits have been further hurt because local governments facing declining tax revenue are less able to hire the organizations as contractors.

“Contributions are down,” Freeman said. “We saw a lot of year-end appeals that in the past we had not seen, and it’s just a very difficult environment right now for giving.”

The Salvation Army’s National Capital Area Command serves the Washington region, helping 83,000 people in 2009, the group reported…The campaign also raises money to help desperate families pay their rent and utility bills, and buy clothing and groceries. In the past year, Forsythe said, the Salvation Army provided rental subsidies that prevented 1,172 evictions.

Hi. Consider joining me as a tutor at the Washington Literacy Council for 2K11. It will make you a better speller! http://on.fb.me/ev2wea

December 22, 2010 6:11 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@kristoncapps

Kriston Capps

He had me at “Hello” when I read this testimonial, on The Washington Literacy Council’s Facebook page:

“I have worked at a local hospital for the last twenty one years as a house keeper. I didn’t pick that job for my self; someone picked it for me. My options were limited because of my reading problem. I am now working as a recreation specialist coaching sports. I am telling you this because I know firsthand how it feels not being able to do something you want to do because of your reading problem.” Excerpt from 2010 WLC Graduation speech written by Sandra, a former student.

Flickr: Thomas Hawk

Look at the amazing things you can do with money!

I think sometimes, people don’t give money to charitable organizations because they worry that whatever they give isn’t enough. Charity is for wealthy people, who donate thousands of dollars at a time, right? Alternately, I know people (myself included), who are amenable to the idea of giving and plan to do so, but are especially inspired by offers to have their gifts matched– who doesn’t want to see a gift doubled, or, in lucky instances, tripled?

I just received an email from the Washington Area Women’s Foundation– which works to improve the lives of local women and girls– with exactly that offer:

A generous donor has agreed to match every gift received from our year end campaign with a 2-to-1 match — up to $100,000. That means for every dollar you donate, our donor will give two dollars. A $100 donation will have the impact of a $300 donation. $500 becomes $1,500. And your gift will help fund our efforts to ensure that every woman and girl in our community has the opportunity to attain economic security and reach her full potential.

If the WAWF sounds familiar, it may be because of their Portrait of Women and Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area, which was released this Fall.

If you know of other local non-profits or charities who have similar offers to match gifts, let us know. A donation in someone’s name may be the perfect gift for a hard-to-shop-for friend or family member (I’m looking at you, Mom).

DCentric

SOME's 40th Anniversary Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger

I had a lovely thanksgiving. I rarely get to see my only sibling on that day which is dedicated to families, but this year, I spent it with her, eating pizza. That’s a tradition she unwittingly created while serving in the Air Force, overseas. Like me, she’s a strict vegetarian, and when she was stationed in certain countries, the biggest treat she could find was pizza, so every year for almost a decade, that’s what she ate. I’m proud to continue that tradition with her, because of the poignant story behind it.

So that’s how I spent my Thanksgiving– with family, eating cheese, introducing everyone to the wonder that is “Boardwalk Empire“. We even indulged in some eye-roll-worthy retail shenanigans at midnight. But what stands out to me most about this Thanksgiving–even more than the Gino’s pizza which was lovingly carried here from Chicago for us to enjoy– was how we started that morning; we were up by 6 and on the Mall by 7am, looking for parking so that four of us could participate in the So Others Might Eat 5k. I am embarrassed to admit that aside from being excited about naming our team (“Pilgrim and Wrong Indians”), I was grumbling about my lack of sleep and the lack of sun (or warmth) at such a cold, early hour.

In my defense, it was my first 5k. But once people started running, I started having fun…and by the end of the “turkey trot”, I was elated from the experience, which “raised $125,000 one of the city’s oldest and most respected organizations ministering to the homeless and hungry.”

So the cliche about giving to others being the best gift you can give yourself really is true. More than the delicious, diet-busting tiramisu we devoured or the $250 door-buster mattress we scored at Macy’s after I gave a few hundred people at Tyson’s Corner the Heisman, what defined this most recent holiday for me was the delight derived from focusing on others and trying– in a very tiny way– to help them. The experience left me grateful– and looking for more. I know I’m not the only one who appreciates the palate-cleanser of good deeds after a particularly selfish trip to the Salon or the shops on Book Hill, so I’d like to try and spotlight opportunities for giving back, here on DCentric. This is something I’ll have more posts about next week, but for today, I’d love to point you towards this WAMU commentary from Chuck Bean, the Executive Director of The Nonprofit Roundtable, who suggests “Imagine It’s You In Need”, as a way to tap in to compassion, to motivate ourselves to help others.

These days many things seem beyond our control: North Korea, Wikileaks, partisan bickering. It’s hard to imagine we can make a difference. In a time when we have seen our home values take a beating, the value of lending a hand remains strong. Sure, we’ve had a challenging year, but we know a lot of folks who have it worse.

Imagine it’s you.

Imagine you’re standing in a longer-than-usual line at the food pantry and when you get to the front, they’re out of food because so many people need it.

Imagine you’re laid off and need retraining, and the job programs are all full.

Imagine you are number 100 on the waiting list for the preschool program for your child.

All of us are served by nonprofits every day: Girls Scouts, Red Cross…feeding our spirits like Sitar Arts Center or meeting basic needs at Mission of Love in Prince George’s.

All around our region, nonprofits give a chance to someone in a tough situation. They move a family from desperation to stability.

For example, Doorways for Women and Families — an Arlington nonprofit focused on ending homelessness and domestic violence — just told me about a woman and her 15-month-old son that came through their Family Home door. With Doorways’ help, mother and son are this week moving out of the shelter, signing a lease, and celebrating this holiday season safely in their own apartment.

Safe Shores, the DC Children’s Advocacy Center, makes sure children who have experienced abuse find a safe place to recover, which could be especially hard in the midst of the holiday fanfare.

Housing counselors at the Latino Economic Development Corporation work long hours in their Wheaton office to help homeowners prevent foreclosure. With their help, families have a much better chance to get unresponsive lenders to respond and stay in their homes.

The good news? Investments in Safe Shores and LEDC can literally last a lifetime, as they lead children and families out of the hardest time in their lives.

The bad news? For these and many other nonprofits this year, there’s not enough to go around. At Doorways, for the mother and toddler served, another nine families seeking help had to be turned away. With more funds, Doorways could serve those families as well. For many nonprofits, there is no more room at the inn.

Now, imagine yourself helping that family.

Volunteer? Yes. Donate food and supplies? Yes. Give money? Yes.

Contributions equate to counseling for the abused child, a food basket for the hungry family, tools for someone seeking a job.

If you’d like a fun way to find some of the region’s best small nonprofits, I recommend the Catalogue for Philanthropy.

If you want to help our neighbors get the basics this holiday season — food, clothing, shelter — join me in contributing to the Neighbors in Need Fund at the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. The Fund helps organizations across the region give help to thousands of families — our neighbors.

Imagine it’s you helping.

Imagine it’s you making a difference.