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News

It Gets Cold in the Winter
This is not news to you, but it will soon be making headlines as over 1 million homeless youth in the U.S. find ways to make it through the winter. Start thinking about a homeless organization near you and what they might need to get ready for this season. Here are some ideas to get started:

Call up a local shelter to see what they need.

Find one here : http://www.dosomething.org/volunteer

Join the Do Something Thanks/Giving Canned Food Drive

Go here: http://www.dosomething.org/causes/hunger

Find Fundraising ideas

Go here:http://www.dosomething.org/fundraise

Other news

Mexico Flood Disaster: More than a million people have been affected by last week's flooding. At its worst, an estimated 80% of the state was under water [discuss how to help].
California Forest Fires: Raging forest fires in California have destroyed 2,205 structures and approximately 427,217 acres have burned. At the height of the fires, 900,000 people were evacuated, but that number continues to fall as evacuations are lifted [how to help].
Stephen Colbert: Was dropped from Carolina's ballot and is no longer a U.S. Presidential candidate.

Celebs Gone Good (the blog)
CelebsGoneGood.com snuck a camera into the ultra-fabulous Glamour Women of the Year Awards on Tuesday. (Shhhh! Don’t tell!) Who won the first Girl of the Year Award? Who joined Mariah Carey onstage for an unexpected performance. And what was Stephen Colbert doing there in the first place? (It’s not why you’d expect!) Watch exclusive videos of some of the world’s most inspiring women and get all the good gossip on CelebsGoneGood.com today!
http://www.dosomething.org/celebsgonegood/

Grants We Give need an idea?

2008 BR!CK Award Applications
Here is the deal, 9 winners receive a minimum of $10,000 in community grants and scholarships. 1 of the 9 receives a total of $100,000 in community grants and scholarships.The BR!CK Awards are the premier award in the United States for young people, age 25 and under, making the world better. CNN dubbed it “the Oscars of youth service awards,” and fittingly, winners represent the best in their field.

Details/Deadline: December 31, 2007, all applicants must be permanent residents or citizens of the U.S. or Canada.
APPLY : www.brickawards.com

Gamestop Startup Grant

Details/Deadline: $500 weekly grant for any NEW project or idea that will make a difference. All applicants must be 25 or younger and permanent residents or citizens of the U.S. or Canada.
APPLY : www.dosomething.org/grant_list

Plum Grant

Details/Deadline: $500 weekly grant for any EXISTING project or idea that is already making a difference. All applicants must be 25 or younger and permanent residents or citizens of the U.S. or Canada.
APPLY : www.dosomething.org/grant_list

Grants We Gave

$500 Grant Winner
Bilal Mahmood (The Gumball Challenge)
Who knew Gumballs could change the world? Started by a group of Stanford students, The Gumball Challenge is a micro-entrepreneurship benefit competition designed to inspire entrepreneurship for social impact. Participating teams receive $27 micro loans and 27 gumballs from Gumball Capital. After a one-week creativity spree in November, the teams donate any revenue to they make to micro-entrepreneurship. This is their pilot year and they already have five schools signed up to participate: Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley, Sewanee, and St. Olaf. Gumball Capital’s mission is to “inspire a generation of students committed to poverty alleviation through microfinance.” Check out their website at www.gumballcapital.org.
See their project & video: http://www.dosomething.org/node/33521

What's Your Something?

Hunger: Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive
Factoid: 4.2 million American families experience hunger every month.
Start mobilizing your school for a Thanks/Giving canned food drive! Let us know how much you raised and Do Something will give the top school a $500 grant to fight hunger in your area.
www.dosomething.org/causes/hunger

Be a Patron of the Arts.
Bring art education to your school
Connect to local artists
Hold an open mic night
Organize an Art Show
Organize an Independent Film Screening
Write a letter to the editor
Write and produce a play

The Arts
Students of the arts in all disciplines outperformed their non-arts peers in the SAT in 2000. Don't let your school cut funding for arts programs and fight for more! Here are some ways to support the arts in your area:

Stuff from our partners

Holiday Volunteering This Year?
Want to give back this holiday season? VolunteerMatch.org has great volunteer opportunities from over 53,000 nonprofits in every ZIP code in the country - including yours! Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or beyond... they're all covered at VolunteerMatch. So get started today. Find out how great it feels to give in new ways. Visit www.volunteermatch.org.

Youth Service America
$1,000 Grants are now available for the annual Service-Learning Grant for youth across the United States and Canada (in Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick only). These grants of up to $1,000 support youth (ages 5-25), teachers, or school-based service-learning coordinators in implementing service-learning projects for Global Youth Service Day 2008. Deadline to apply is November 16. To learn more, visit http://www.ysa.org/awards

Fresh Films
Samsung Fresh Films and Girls in the Directors Chair are two experiential programs that build confidence for creative teens and develop hope for their future. If you would like more information on these free, once in a lifetime opportunities please contact aviva@dreamingtreefilms.com.

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me trotting

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My staff blog

On a serious note
It has come to my attention that Thanksgiving Turkey Trots are losing people to football, shopping and general laziness. For those not in the know, a Turkey Trot is a short cross country or road race that happens on or around Thanksgiving. So I am making a public plea to all who read this:
Please run in your local Turkey Trot
Why?

It supports a great cause in your area
Running is the coolest sport there is
It will make you feel less guilty about the Pumpkin Pie

How?
Google it or ask any runner.