Hands On Atlanta Week Hopes to Inspire Unity Across Metro Atlanta

Hands On Atlanta will deliver seven days of in-person and virtual service opportunities for people in metro Atlanta to unite in support of Covid-19 relief efforts, food assistance, racial equity, voter access and more.

ATLANTA, GA – Hands On Atlanta Week will feature over 200 unique and meaningful ways Atlantans can unite in service from Oct. 3-10, 2020. Participants can expect traditional in-person volunteer projects, engaging virtual projects and more during Atlanta’s largest week of service. 

Atlantans will be encouraged to host and attend virtual “Bridging the Racial Divide” Civic Dinner conversations, attend the virtual Atlanta Black Theater Festival and participate in The Race: A virtual & digital half marathon that supports black-owned businesses, neighborhoods, and charities. In an effort to increase voter accessibility and turnout, Hands On Atlanta has partnered with the ACLU of Georgia, Vote Early Day, and other nonpartisan organizations to recruit poll workers and raise awareness for early voting options. Technologists and creatives can join 48in48’s global hack-a-thon for good to build over 48 websites for 48+ nonprofits in 48 hours! These are just a few of the ways Atlantans can participate in Hands On Atlanta Week.  

“2020 has been a challenging year for everyone in Atlanta, but the shining light across our community has been the thousands of changemakers stepping up to help their neighbors in need. Hands On Atlanta Week will give anyone and everyone a way to discover new, safe, and unifying ways to do something good,” said Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO. 

Hands On Atlanta Week will also focus on Covid-19 relief and food insecurity – from in-person food distributions and meal packing with the Atlanta Community Food Bank to letter-writing campaigns for healthcare workers. Sponsor, Coca-Cola USA, will join the fight against food insecurity and support several virtual projects throughout the week.

“Throughout our 134-year history, Coca-Cola has always been there to make a difference in local communities,” said Alba Baylin, Vice President of Community and Stakeholder Relations, Coca-Cola North America. “Serving communities in need has never been more important than right now. That's why we're pleased to support Hands On Atlanta Week, which will truly make a difference for so many people throughout Atlanta.”

Hands On Atlanta Week will take place from Saturday, Oct. 3 through Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. To get your company or organization involved, or to serve with your family and friends, visit www.handsonatlanta.org/week 

Equitable Dinners: Lift Every Voice (Virtual)

You're invited to join Equitable Dinners on Aug. 16 for a frank talk about race equity and housing, especially during a pandemic crisis. Enjoy a short play written by Dana Stringer, followed by intimate conversations in small groups.

Equitable Dinners: Lift Every Voice is a free, live, monthly conversation series featuring art, experts, and an opportunity to connect with your neighbors locally and around the world to talk about race and equity. 

Join us one Sunday a month from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm through September 2020, we will hear from a new expert, watch a 10-minute play written for the event, and join together in conversation. 

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Needed: Facilitators and Virtual Hosts

Facilitators help guide the conversation and virtual hosts call each person that has registered to welcome them to the movement. We will train both facilitators and hosts. Please consider volunteering!

Sports and Social Justice: A look back at the 2019 Hands On Atlanta Signature Sunday Supper

Hands On Atlanta Signature Sunday Supper presented by the Coca-Cola Company

On Sunday, January 20, 300 corporate and community leaders gathered around the dinner table at the College Football Hall of Fame for an engaging conversation about sports and social justice.

Slam poet, Poetix, kicked off the night with an energetic and moving performance that set the tone for the evening. Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO gave a warm welcome to attendees and Alba Baylin, V.P. Community and Stakeholder Relations at The Coca-Cola Company followed with a moving reminder of the importance of “having tough conversations.”

Guests enjoyed dinner before our panel shared their views and roles on social activism in sports. 11Alive’s Cheryl Preheim moderated the panel that included Nate Boyer, a former Green Beret and professional football player with the Seattle Seahawks. Nate was a catalyst in Colin Kapaernick's decision to take a knee in protest against police brutality. He shared his eye-opening story and challenged us all to have empathy for others. He shared his eye opening story and how important Dr. King’s idea of listening to others and having empathy for others helped his role in the movement. Nzinga Shaw, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena showcased how the NBA and the Atlanta Hawks are solving a set of diversity challenges. It’s safe to say, there isn’t a more transparent and inclusive organization in all of sports. Reverend Dr. Greg Ellison, founder of Fearless Dialogues and Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Emory University, passionately shared the connectedness of Dr. King’s vision to changemakers making a difference in today’s culture. He also dropped helpful tips for having a tough and sometimes uncomfortable conversation.

The panel was a great place setting for the table conversations, the night’s main course. We partnered up with The King Center and Civic Dinners, to create a series of questions built around the Building the Racial Divide civic dinner. Even more important, our Signature Sunday Supper was the official launch of a huge campaign. Our goal is to ignite the  Bridging the Racial Divide conversation, sparking 1,000 Civic Dinners across the country!

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Feeling inspired to create change? Join Hands On Atlanta and The King Center by hosting your own Civic Dinner on Bridging the Racial Divide.

Take a look back at our 2019 MLK Day of Service —>

Host a Civic Dinner and Bridge the Racial Divide

Nothing brings people together quite like a good meal. For me and my family, it was my grandma’s world-famous (well, southeast Michigan famous) spaghetti that almost always drew a large crowd. Now, I know here in the south the food has a little more soul, but there’s something about sharing the joy of a full belly that allows family, friends, and complete strangers to come together around the dinner table, to share in conversation.

Our family at Hands On Atlanta is no different. Every year on the Sunday before MLK Day, we host our annual Signature Sunday Supper. We’re joined by corporate and community leaders, activists, teachers, and students to share with each other, often around a principal or vision of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Our 2019 Signature Sunday Supper is sold out, but this year we’re going really big and want you to join the conversation.

We’re teaming up with The King Center, Civic Dinners and Mailchimp to help launch a national conversation around Bridging the Racial Divide, with a goal of getting 1,000 Civic Dinners to happen all across the United States! While the campaign officially kicks-off on Sunday, January 20 at our Signature Sunday Supper, we’re hoping to secure 53 Civic Dinners in Atlanta through February, in honor of the 53rd edition of [insert alternative name for a really big, huge and awesome football game here].

How it Works

The way a Civic Dinner works is super simple. You’ll start with introductions, and then get into three big questions, with one voice at a time, and equal time to share. While everyone loves to talk, you are there to listen far more than speak. And most importantly, you should share from your heart, be real, and be kind.

Your Role as a Host

As a host, your main role is setting a date, a time and location for friends, neighbors and colleagues to gather together over food and follow the simple conversation guide Civic Dinners created for Bridging the Racial Divide.

Here are just a few things to keep in mind as a host:

• Select a date register your dinner on civicdinners.com/theracialdivide

• Dinners can be in homes or restaurants (like at partners King + Duke or Miller Union)

• Everyone pays for their own meal or brings a dish if it is potluck, so there is

  no cost burden on the host

• The Host Guide (you’ll receive after sign up) includes all prompts and questions that guide the conversation so you can sit back, relax and listen as you follow the guide

• Civic Dinners are designed to be inclusive, so try to invite diverse voices to

  the table to create a robust conversation

• Remember to share photos with @handsonatlanta, @thekingcenter and @CivicDinners using the hashtag #bridgethedivide

• After the dinner, Civic Dinners will follow up with guests with a survey link to

  share their reflections, ideas and actions with The King Center to inform a

  national report on how we can bridge the racial divide

Get Started

Signing up to host a Civic Dinner is easy! It’ll take you just a few minutes to get set up and start inviting your network. Don’t feel like hosting, but want to attend? Perfect. There are plenty of open dinners you can join. Don’t wait, start planning your Civic Dinner now.

A Beginner’s Guide to Volunteering in 2019

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, in 2018, more than 1.2 million metro Atlanta volunteers contributed 105 million hours of service, worth an estimated $2.5 billion. Woah. Additionally, 42% of metro Atlanta residents do favors for their neighbors and more than half of y’all donated $25 or more to charity. Give yourself a high five!

If you're feeling inspired and looking to make right on your new year’s resolutions, we’ve got you covered with our Beginner's Guide to Volunteering. Whether you're a seasoned, volunteer pro, or just getting started, check out these tips and fun ways to do something good in 2019.

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Make Time

Just like anything else in your life, if it’s not on your calendar, it’s probably not happening. You might have blocked time for the gym, to read that book, learn to cook, or to spend more time with your family, but don’t forget about scheduling time to volunteer! Simply adding time to your calendar is a great first step. Once you’ve set time aside, then you can browse our calendar of volunteer opportunities for projects Monday-Saturday.

Short on time? We get it, but don’t sleep on CareerVillage.org, where with just a few minutes of your time, you can answer career and college readiness questions for opportunity youth across metro Atlanta and beyond. Pro tip: This is a great time filler while running/walking on the treadmill.

Finally, you can take giving back with you by downloading Purposity’s free (and super slick) mobile app. Get one weekly notification of a need in our community, read their story and decide if you want to help, all from your phone.

Use Your Skills

Volunteering is more than painting a wall or planting trees (while important and bring a ton of positive impact to the community) and the need for skills-based volunteers is on the rise. Are you a lawyer, accountant, web developer…or have any kind of specific skill? The Atlanta nonprofit community needs your help!

A great first step is to reach out to an organization you’ve volunteered with in the past or would like to volunteer with in 2019 and ask if they could use your help.

[Insert phantom coughing noise here] we have a ton of skills-based volunteer needs here at Hands On Atlanta! For example, we’re looking for handy volunteers who can help write the instructions and do the assembly of beds and bedroom furniture for homeless and low income children.

Looking for something ASAP? To celebrate MLK Day, the United Way is hosting a Day of Innovation and looking for skills based volunteers to think up innovative solutions for some of our communities’ most complex problems.

On January 25-27, our buds at 48in48.org are organizing a 48-hour Super Service event and they’re looking for marketing and tech pros to help build 48 websites for 48 local nonprofits.

Why dip your toes when you can belly smack your way into skills-based volunteering!

Serve With a Friend

Whether out at a movie or on the bike path, having a partner in crime is always more fun. Bringing your bestie, a co-worker, or a significant other with you volunteering is the best. Check out these fun, daily, group friendly opportunities you can sign up for now:

• Books for Africa – Hang indoors and pack boxes of books for children in Africa. Volunteers as young as 12 can serve and they can accommodate groups up to 40!

• Dad’s Garage – Help out Atlanta’s top improv theater by checking ID’s, running the line at the bar, scanning tickets, ushering and more. The best part? You get to see the show for free! This is one of our more popular opportunities and they go quick.

• Trees Atlanta – It will eventually stop raining… and when it does, you should totes help care for plants and projects around town with Trees Atlanta. They offer daily, morning and afternoon shifts, and plenty of fun.

Make New Friends

So, you’re new in town (welcome!) and swiping through your apps to meet someone new has grown old? Give volunteering a try. There’s no better way to meet good people than at a service project. Check out our TeamWorks! program and join our next Kick-Off on January, 26 for a fun and borderline competitive series of volunteer projects.

Our pals at Community Bucket have monthly service projects for young professionals that come stocked with a post event social and the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network have bi-monthly volunteer events as well. No need to be a member to join, just more good people, doing good.

Want to try something different? You can create a space for people of diverse backgrounds to connect and come together to solve some of our city’s toughest challenges by hosting a Civic Dinner.    

Make A Difference

Here in Atlanta, 3 out of 4 children considered “economically disadvantaged” are not reading on grade level by the 3rd grade. This is major because 3rd grade is the turning point for students when they start reading to learn and shift from learning to read.

There are lots of ways to help with these literacy challenges, including volunteering with our Discovery program. On Saturdays throughout the school year, volunteers read with, tutor and work with students in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities. Learn more about Discovery and the impact volunteers create here.

The Pajama Program has a fun, daily opportunity to read stories with kids at their reading parties. You can read up to 4 books and engage the kids in conversation about the books after.  

Get a jump start on solving the literacy challenges facing Atlanta’s youth by signing up to serve as a Talk With Me Baby @ Work facilitator. You’ll learn how to provide parents and caregivers the tools and strategies to support early brain and language development.

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These are just a few ways you can start 2019 off on the right (service) foot! What other ways are you planning to give back this year? Let us know on Facebook, by commenting on this post.