The holiday season is upon us. We know this because the Starbucks on P Street broke out the red and white cups this week, and Whole Foods is experiencing a cinnamon hell—uh, I mean, a cinnamon smell. Besides that, cooler weather, changing leaves and dedicated time with family, friends, and delicious, non-Paleo food (there, I said it), make this our favorite time of year. Maybe we’ll even get a little snow (yes, we will still run outside if it snows).
In years past, Melody and I have supported the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation in our athletes’ names as a way to thank them for their hard work and dedication throughout the year. It is important to us to give most to those who have least, and we intend on continuing this tradition this year as our holiday gift to you.
One of the very first ideas we had for MPH was to harness the talent and strength of our internal community, in order to better our community at large. In short, we would like to give back to our city, we would like you to help and we cannot think of a better time to do this than during the holidays. We have been mulling over a few ideas, but nothing has moved us yet. And before we posit some fantastic project, we would like to know two things:
- Do you have an appetite for this?
- What would you like to see us, the MPH community, do?
Beyond this, we have plans to host a holiday party, replete with snacks, booze and possibly burpees (kidding, I think). Our first poll question regarding this event is up in the right sidebar, so please vote. Once we settle the mid-week versus weekend question, we will throw some dates out for consideration—all in an effort to see as many of you doing “Fran” with a belly full of egg nog as possible (again, kidding, I think).
Rest today.
–John
if having the party on a weeknight means no evening classes, i definitely vote for the weekend!
I think giving back to the community is a great idea, so yes to question no. 1, and as to question number 2, it might be fun to do that translates fitness into a real life activity. Maybe a clean up for a school or something of that nature? Another thought is to do something for a hunger relief charity, such as the Capital Area Food Bank or another food pantry (my church runs one, so I think of them first, but there are many).
I’ve been a big fan of the Toys for Tots program for years, but also think some hunger-fighting charity event would be a good way to go, too. So many people in our community don’t have enough, or any, healthy food to eat, and I think it’s a natural extension of our focus on nutrition to help others get healthy, delicious food. I’m not sure what the options are, but thought I’d share my thoughts.
I did my burpees on the Mall. My scores were 36,35,36,32, and 34. The Christmas party sounds like fun. It would be nice if it was during the week, as I will probably be working on the weekend. I would love to help any way I can with the charities. I was thinking, if we get any bad snow, we could help shovel sidewalks. It could help us improve our virtual shoveling times. Have a good weekend everybody. JW
I like
(1) soup kitchen volunteering (perhaps we could even put one on ourselves although location would be an issue); and
(2) winter coat drives
There is actually an organization I sometimes volunteer with, Martha’s Table that could fit most of the interest that people have addressed. It’s also in the “neighborhood” at 14th and V. They accept food donations, clothing and do a mobile soup kitchen.
http://www.marthastable.org/
1. Yes, I have an appetite for this
2. All the suggestions are good, and I’d like to think about it a little more. Last year I went down to the DC Armory and put participated in a Christmas party for children whose parents were DC Guard and about to ship out to Afghanistan/Iraq. I think it would be fun to haul an ERG down there and do a kind of “CrossFit Kids” class and teach them things like inchworms, burpees, etc. Or something like that – it would be nice to have an ongoing “give-back” to the community and I think the stats are 1 out of 3 children born after 2000 will have Type II diabetes by the time they are 18 – so some kind of ongoing nutrition/fitness outreach to DC children, while ambitous, would be my idea of giving back.
This is somewhat long- but after I read this I read an email at work about Food & Friends, a D.C. organization that folks in my company are volunteering with this Thanksgiving – but their work is ongoing (though I imagine the holidays are particularly busy) – I’m cribbing from my work email below:
The mission of Food & Friends is to foster a community caring for men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses by preparing and delivering specialized meals and groceries in conjunction with nutrition counseling. When Food & Friends started in 1988 they had 20 volunteers, 3 delivery routes and provided 1800 meals to 60 individuals living with HIV/AIDS. In 2009, they have 6,500 volunteers, 159 routes and provide nearly 1 million meals to 2,600 individuals living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life challenging illnesses.
Volunteerism for Thanksgiving day and the week leading up to it. Thanksgiving is a very special time of year at Food & Friends. Hundreds of volunteers fill the halls, all waiting to make someone else’s holiday memorable.
This Thanksgiving, Food & Friends will deliver 3,500 Thanksgiving meals to men, women and children battling HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses. As you can imagine, preparing and delivering this many meals takes the time and talent of many. They are looking for volunteers to prepare and deliver meals in the days leading up to, and including, Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving Preparation
Volunteer Monday, November 23th – Wednesday, November 25th
Food Preparation
Assist with food preparation and packing groceries by volunteering in our kitchen. Kitchen shifts last two hours and are available at 7:00am, 10:00am, 1:00pm and 5:00pm (5pm shift is not available on Wednesday).
Thanksgiving Day – November 26th
.
Holiday Day Meal Delivery
On Thanksgiving Day you will deliver meals to 2-3 clients living in DC, Maryland or Virginia. Clients will receive a complete turkey dinner for four, so that they can host this holiday meal and invite friends and family.
There are four delivery shifts on Thanksgiving Day: 8:00am, 9:00am, 10:00am and 11:00am. A detailed orientation will be held at the beginning of each shift. Only one registration needed per car.
Meal Assembly
It takes an assembly line of helpers to make sure the turkey and all the trimmings make it into each delivery bag. Kitchen volunteers will assist with packing meals and making sure they get out of the door on time.
Kitchen shifts are available from 7:00-9:15, 8:45-11:15am and 10:45am-1:00pm.
Thanksgiving Pilgrims
Thanksgiving Pilgrims help with the logistics of Thanksgiving Day. Volunteer positions include greeting kitchen and delivery volunteers, helping to load delivery bags into vans and assisting with traffic control. Volunteers may be positioned inside or outside of the building during their shift. Pilgrim shifts are available either from 6:45-9:30am or 9:15am-12:00pm. No children under 18 are allowed.
Learning about regular volunteerism at Food & Friends – Food and Friends will be hosting a welcome reception on Tuesday, December 8th at their facility at 219 Riggs Road, NE.
The Food & Friends free shuttle will be running its regular route to and from the Ft. Totten Metro that night, so accommodating visitors who travel by Metro will be no problem.
We will start at 6pm with light refreshments and then an overview on volunteering at Food & Friends and touring their facility. We will be finished by 7pm.
I’m interested! No date preference and no activity preference. If my crazy schedule cooperates, I’m there. Even if my crazy schedule doesn’t cooperate, I’ll still contribute in some way. See you soon.
ho ho ho!
i’m totally down with helping out – Food and friends is a great charity, and really does good things locally. I have a connection at the USO as well.
blessed be – those that give back
Tod
There’s an item in today’s Post (Tuesday, Nov. 17) Metro section about a volunteer opportunity that’s made for CrossFitters – though it’s kind of a “local” stretch , “Part of Assateauge reeling from Ida’s wallop”
The Virginia half of Assateague Island has been closed because of damage from Tropical Storm Ida, which downed trees, buried parking lots in sand and washed thousands of tires onto the beach last week. (the tires were on the ocean floor to form an artifical reef). The Chincoteague ponies retreated to high ground. The Manager of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge said the refuge was looking for “strapping folks” to vounteer for cleanup by calling 757-336-6122.
Assteague National Seashore/Chincoteauge National Wildlife Refuge on the eastern shore of Virginia just below the Maryland line and is incomparably beautiful. What better CrossFit project than to move downed trees, shovel parking lots out from under sand and haul tires.