We are happy to announce a new board member to our roster. Brad Fenstermacher joined the Springwire board at the June 12, 2013 meeting. He is currently a director for ge•cko, a Seattle-based company working at the intersection of technology and social change. Brad is an experienced board member, strategist, and fundraiser. He is also a regular volunteer with the YouthForce program through Boys and Girls Clubs of King County. Brad holds an undergraduate degree in business from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Oregon.

Brad notes that, “The technology and services developed by Springwire have the ability to transform the lives of millions of under-served people in need. I believe keeping people connected to their community is a vital part of helping them help themselves. I am honored to serve with this team and support this mission.” Springwire is honored to have Brad’s background to help steer the organization full steam ahead.

Springwire is continuing to recruit new members to grow our Board of Directors. Springwire’s international programs focus on reducing homelessness and poverty by offering communication tools and resources which allow people to reconnect with their community. We are in the unique position of supporting the growth of our organization by recruiting actively to expand our board of directors. We are looking for board members interesting in serving a 3 year term, beginning in Summer or Fall of 2013. Please review the board job description if you have questions. Inquiries can be made to either our Board President or to our Interim Executive Director.

Hello there. This is Daniel from Springwire with information about summer meals and activities for kids and teens and Father’s Day on June 16^th. You can press 3 to delete now or 2 to save this message and listen to it later.

Before I get into this week’s broadcast, I wanted to thank all of you who have shared jokes with us and please keep them coming!

Summer is almost upon us which means that many kids and teens will be finishing up with school for the year. For many families, this time of year can be problematic for meals because many students have been receiving 1 or 2 free meals a day which helps out with a family’s food budget. During the summer there are similar programs across the country that will provide snacks, lunch, and in some places, breakfast to children and teens 18 years and younger. To find a Summer Meal site in your area call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-348-6479 again that was 1-866-348-6479. For Spanish speakers please call 1-877-842-6273 again that was 1-877-842-6273.

If you’re looking for ideas to keep your kids entertained this summer, check out your local library or museum for free story times and arts and craft projects. Also, some movie theaters offer free movie days or outside movies in parks that anyone can attend.

This Sunday, June 16^th is Father’s Day, a great day to celebrate all the father figures in our lives that can include more than one father, uncles, stepfathers, grandfathers, godfathers, in-laws, or close friends. You may want to take a moment to say thanks to the “father-figures” in your life and I want to say Happy Father’s Day to all you paternal people out there!

Lastly, I want to leave you with a great Father’s Day quote by the comedian Bill Cosby, “If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.”

Take good care!

Hello there. This is Daniel from Springwire with a couple of jokes about telephones. You can press 3 to delete now or 2 to save this message and listen to it later.

Hey, I thought it’d be a nice change of pace to provide some levity today. Life is serious but sometimes you just have to stop and laugh to get you through the day. Here is my attempt to make you laugh or put a smile on your face.

Q. How is a telephone like a dirty bathtub?
A. They both have rings!

Q. What do you get if you cross a telephone with an iron? 
A. A smooth operator!

Q. Why didn’t the skeleton need a telephone? 
A. He had no body to talk with!

Q. What do you call a large person who constantly calls up people, pretending to be somebody else? 
A. A big phone-y! 

I hope you those gave you a laugh. I’m not a comedian, but I play one on the telephone. National Tell a Joke Day is Friday, August 16. If you have a joke you would like to share over the summer (clean ones, people) we will broadcast the best ones out on the National Tell a Joke Day in August. To record a joke press 4 at the end of this message.

Have a great weekend!

Hello there. This is Daniel from Springwire with information about resources for quitting smoking. You can press 3 to delete this message now or 2 to save this message and listen to it later.

Today is “World No Tobacco Day”, a day meant to encourage a 24-hour period away from all forms of tobacco consumption. Did you know that nicotine, the drug found in both cigarettes and tobacco chew products, is the most addictive drug on the market, and that the average cost for a pack of 20 cigarettes is $5.51?  Since the average smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, if a person smoked consistently for 10 years they would have spent at least $10,000 just to buy cigarettes!

There are resources out there to help people who are interested in quitting. The American Cancer Society has a toll-free hotline that can provide local support group information as well as entry into their phone-based coaching service, the Quit for Life program. This program pairs a participant up with a “Quit Coach” who helps them develop a “Quit Plan”, gives ongoing support, and provides guidance in choosing medicines and where to find them for free or low cost. The number is 1-800-277-2345. The American Lung Association also has a toll free hotline where someone can talk to nurses, respiratory therapists, and trained smoking cessation counselors. They can be reached at 1-800-586-4872. Again those numbers are 1-800-277-2345 and 1-800-586-4872.

Other great resources can be found at www.smokefree.gov/. This website offers many tools to help individuals quit, including a new program called SmokefreeTXT. This program was created to provide 24/7 encouragement, advice, and tips to help smokers stop smoking for good. Check out the website to learn more.

Take good care out there!

Hello there. This is Daniel from Springwire with an announcement about Memorial Day closures, the Hunger Hotline number, and using food stamps to buy plants and seeds. You can press 3 to delete now or 2 to save this message and listen to it later.

Monday, May 27^th, is Memorial Day. It is a federal holiday so many organizations and government agencies may be closed that day. If you have places you usually go on Mondays, you should check with them to make sure they’ll be open. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. You may wish to take a moment that day to remember their sacrifice to our country.

If you have questions about food programs, need help finding a food pantry, or are looking for information about the summer lunch program for kids in your area, you can call the National Hunger Hotline at 1.866.348.6479. The Hunger Hotline is staffed M-F from 9a.m.-6p.m. Eastern Time who speak both English and Spanish. Again, that number is 1.866.348.6479.

A couple of months ago I told you that you could use food stamps at the Farmer’s Markets, but did you know that any retailer or Farmer’s Market that is approved to accept food stamps can also sell you plants and seeds? If you have a place to put in a few plants, growing your own food can be a cost-effective way to keep food coming in, even when your food stamps run out at the end of the month. Food stamps will not pay for soil or containers for your plants, but you could get a plant that has a larger container with more soil in it. 

In many farmers’ markets across the county, master gardeners can answer questions about plants and sometimes they do free workshops on gardening. You may also live in a city that participates in a community garden program which would enable you to get a small plot of soil to plant your seeds or vegetable plants.  If you have access to a computer you can check to see if there is a community garden in your area by using this interactive map found at tinyurl.com/citygardens. This is the perfect time in most of our country to plant some veggies!

Take good care!

Hello there. This is Daniel from Springwire with some low cost tips for taking care of pets. You can press 3 to delete now or 2 to save this message and listen to it later.

Since May is National Pet Month, I thought it would be useful to provide you with some pet tips.  For many of us our pets are part of our family, but sometimes they can be expensive because of pests and health care costs.

One way to reduce the price tag of costly pet healthcare is to get them spayed or neutered. There are clinics across the US that will provide free or low-cost spay and neuter to people that qualify. To see if one is near you call this toll free number 1-800-248-7729.

Veterinarians can be expensive. If your pet is in need of a vet, try seeing if there is a veterinary school in your area. They often can provide low-cost or free medical care for your pet.

If you have access to a computer visit this link www.tinyurl.com/dogandcathelp. This goes to the Humane Society of the United States website and they provide a list of organizations that provide low-cost care to pets.

If your dog or cat has a pest problem, like fleas or ticks, there are some low cost home remedies that may assist with the problem. One option for fleas is to dilute some apple cider vinegar with water on a rag and rub it all over your pet’s body. The fleas do not appreciate the acidity of the vinegar or the smell.  You can also put a little vinegar in their drinking water if they don’t appreciate it being rubbed on them. Another option is to feed them a piece of garlic once or twice a week or rub them down with DAWN dish soap and wash them off with water; the soap will suffocate the bugs.

What kind of pet do you have? What is his or her name? Press 4 now and share some fun pet stories with me.

Take care out there.

If you like that, then “Like” us on Facebook. Share the video and ask your friends this question: “What would you keep if you had to carry all your documents on your back everywhere you went?”
 
Stay tuned for Day 3 of the Springwire GiveBIG Film Festival coming to you TOMORROW, May 14.
 
Thanks for supporting Springwire!

Hello there. This is Daniel from Springwire and today I have some fun facts about Mother’s Day, which is this Sunday, May 12th. You can press 3 to delete now or 2 to save this message and listen to it later.

Did you know that celebration of motherhood goes all the way back to the era of the Greeks and the Romans? The Greeks would have a festival every spring to celebrate the maternal goddesses. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day in America. Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated in over 70 countries!

Here are a couple of fun facts about kids and motherhood. In the 1700s the average number of kids per mother was 7-10; today it is 2 kids. The largest number of children born to one woman was 69, over 40 years. That’s a lot of twins and triplets! The oldest mother to give birth, was 63 years old and the heaviest newborn was 22 pounds and 8 oz, both from Italy.

Nowadays Mother’s Day is a holiday to celebrate all the traditional and non-traditional moms in our lives, which can include more than one mother, aunts, stepmothers, grandmothers, godmothers, in-laws, or close friends.  This Sunday, May 12^th, you may want to take a moment to say thanks to the “mom-figures” in your life and I want to say Happy Mother’s Day to all of you maternal people out there.

I wanted to leave you with one final fact. Did you know that 4.3 babies are born each second? That means around 335 babies were born while you were listening to this message! Take good care.

The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG campaign is coming up on May 15. Support Springwire as part of this one-day, online charitable giving event inspiring people to give generously to nonprofit organizations. Your donations to Springwire will help expand a community’s capacity to care!

It’s time to start getting in the mindset. Grab some popcorn and a giant frosty drink. Maybe some Junior Mints. Settle back, and watch this amazing 2 minute video featuring Springwire Board President Lauren McGowan whose job is to end homelessness.

If you like that, then “Like” us on Facebook. Share the video and ask your friends this question: “What would you do if you had no way to be reached?”
 
Stay tuned for Day 2 of the Springwire GiveBIG Film Festival coming to you on May 13.

Thanks for supporting Springwire this GiveBIG season!

Today marks the start of my 5th week as Springwire’s Interim Executive Director, having taken the reins from Jenn Brandon in early April. Since last you heard from me/us, Jenn has made her pilgrimage to Hawaii and I have done my best to get up to speed quickly, get to know staff, board and program teams and learn as much as I can about our partners across the US and in Vancouver.

Our 2012 outcomes have been tallied and it’s been insightful for all of us at Springwire to know more about the impact we are all making, together. Not only was our response rate higher than ever (23%), 83% of our clients reported achieving one or more of their goals, up from 68% in 2011. In fact, this is the highest overall success rate in our organization’s history.

Our story is about more than just numbers, but this double digit leap is big. We believe the difference is the content – the jobs, housing, health care and safety information being transmitted over the communication channels directly and proactively to our clients – via email, blogs, Community Voice Mail. This extraordinary difference is why we at Springwire are so focused on helping our partners around North America use Resource Broadcasting, and why we view the personal touch of a “safe, consistent, friendly” voice connecting individuals as invaluable.

Springwire is currently conducting a national client survey about Resource Broadcasting  – via voice mail and email. The early responses are rather astounding. The first 103 respondents report sharing information received via Resource Broadcasting with a total of more than 1600 other people. Clearly, information is currency. Clearly, it inspires people to take action. It empowers.

My job over the next six months will be to help to drive our business, product and strategy planning, and to help Springwire’s Board of Directors find its next great leader. I know that person will have a mind for innovation and technology, and a passion for how communications technology can accelerate our efforts to end homelessness. We expect to kick off the search process later this summer with a clear picture in mind of our future leader.

Please feel free to contact me any time at christinem@springwire.us. I would love to hear from you whether you are a supporter, an agency leader, or an interested observer.

I will continue to keep you updated here. Thanks for your warm welcome to Springwire, and commitment and support for our mission.

Warmly,
Christine Martin
Interim Executive Director