THE CITIZEN BLOG
THE CITIZEN BLOG
New Partnership Brings Online, On-Demand Volunteering to Atlanta
Hands On Atlanta and CareerVillage.org announce a new partnership at the Points of Light Service Unites 2018 Conference.
Always looking to innovate and lead where volunteers can better serve the Atlanta community, we're excited to announce an impactful new way to help youth excel in college and career through CareerVillage.org, an online, on-demand volunteer platform.
Hands On Atlanta and CareerVillage.org announce a new partnership at the Points of Light Service Unites 2018 Conference.
Always looking to innovate and lead where volunteers can better serve the Atlanta community, we're excited to announce an impactful new way to help youth excel in college and career through CareerVillage.org, an online, on-demand volunteer platform.
CareerVillage co-founder and Executive Director Jared Chung made the announcement on Monday evening, live from the main stage at the fabulous Fox Theatre, inviting the audience to participate in the digital volunteer opportunity to give advice to underserved youth. Volunteers from Hands On Atlanta and Points of Light were on the ground throughout the entire conference celebrating and supporting those who decided to take the challenge. Through this initiative, thousands of people were able to help students across the country by supporting them in their future careers.
Jay Cranman, President and CEO of Hands On Atlanta said, “Being able to facilitate this awesome partnership is an incredible opportunity for Atlanta youth and a perfect example of the power of volunteerism. With CareerVillage.org, youth can ask college and career readiness questions, and professionals can answer from anywhere at anytime. We’re excited to continue to push the needle on new and innovative ways to connect volunteers to the needs of our community.”
Jared Chung of CareerVillage.org said, “I’m excited to work with Hands On Atlanta and Points of Light. They are amazing organizations who have been championing service and volunteerism for decades. Joining forces with them is a great opportunity to push digital volunteering forward. The reason we can provide career advice to youth at such massive scale is that digital volunteering is accessible and flexible. Anyone can participate, whether as an individual, with a company, in church groups, or in the field, and everywhere in between.”
Are you ready to use your college and professional experience to help the next teacher, programmer, or president?
Have you tried an online volunteering platform before? Let us know your experience and other ways ATLiens can do something good - online.
Learn more about the Service Unites Conference and Points of Light here.
Atlanta Unites Over Supper and Service
“And one of the great liabilities of life is that all too many people find themselves living amid a great period of social change, and yet they fail to develop the new attitudes, the new mental responses, that the new situation demands. They end up sleeping through a revolution.”
Reverend Dr. King's passion for service and helping others is at the core of our work. Our mission and values to ignite a passion for service and create life-long community volunteers through civic engagement, diversity and inclusion, community partnerships, and the pursuit of excellence read more like a quote from one of his iconic speeches than something we try to pursue everyday.
To say the MLK Day holiday is important to us is an understatement. Our small, but mighty team, dedicates months of our year to planning and executing a series of events to try and honor his legacy and commitment to service the best we can. Because this year is the 50th Anniversary of his assassination and the MLK Day of service fell on his birthday, we went big and asked you to go big with us. Once again, you stepped up and 1,800 volunteers showed up to serve at 30 projects across metro Atlanta!
Special thank you to all of our sponsors, volunteers, nonprofits, and schools who came together to help make it all happen. Keep reading to view more details and to view photos from our 2018 MLK Day events.
2018 hands on atlanta signature sunday supper
On Sunday, January 14, 2018, nearly 200 corporate and civic leaders came together at The Gathering Spot to break bread and barriers at the Hands On Atlanta Signature Sunday Supper. Hosted by 11Alive's Cheryl Preheim, the evening was full of meaningful dialogue and featured a moving performance from actor Leon Rogers, as he relived portions of Reverend Dr. King's "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution."
The focus of the night was a fireside chat with Prosperity Now's Dedrick Asante-Muhammad and Nathaniel Smith of Partnership for Southern Equity. The two shared the stage to explore Reverend Dr. King's "Poor People's Campaign" and take a closer look at the issue of economic inequality then and now. Dedrick brought a national perspective, while Nathaniel held a local lens on the challenges (and work) being done right here in Atlanta. Other speakers included Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO, V.P. of Community Relations for Coca-Cola North America, Lori George Billingsley, and the CEO of Points of Light, Natalye Paquin.
The diverse room of attendees had a chance to then discuss the issues presented to learn from each other and form some solutions on how to solve the problem of economic inequality.
Watch the Signature Sunday Supper in it's entirety:
The Signature Sunday Supper was complimented by 50 self-hosted Sunday Suppers across metro Atlanta. In partnership with Civic Dinners, changemakers stepped up to host and attend these unique and fun events, sharing dinner and dialogue. Final numbers of attendees are still rolling in, but you can see some of the highlights here.
2018 mlk day of service
To celebrate Reverend Dr. King's birthday, it was back to what we do best: rally ATLiens in service! In total we had 30 projects and almost 1900 volunteers come out from English Ave. all the way up Buford Highway.
It was cold, but that didn't stop volunteers from making their impact felt across the city. Parks, nature preserves and schools hosted several beautification projects, building benches, gardens, painting, and more! Volunteers delivered meals to seniors, planted trees at several cemeteries, packed medical supplies, and more.
The day of service was larger than anticipated, thanks to the incredible support from the 20+ corporate sponsors who came out help us celebrate. A huge thank you and special shout out to our title sponsor The Coca-Cola Company, who's been supporting our MLK Day of Service efforts for almost 30 years!
Inspired to act? Consider making a donation or sign up to volunteer!
Thousands of Volunteers Rise Up for Hands On Atlanta Day
You did it Atlanta. You showed up by the thousands and helped celebrate the city's biggest day of service in grand fashion. From helping raise funds for hurricane relief efforts at our Kick-Off Party, to rolling up your sleeves and getting to work, you showed what it means to be an ATLien. You showcased what empathy and inclusion looks like and more importantly, what can be accomplished when service unites!
In a word, wow!
You did it Atlanta. You showed up by the thousands and helped celebrate the city's biggest day of service in grand fashion. From helping raise funds for hurricane relief efforts at our Kick-Off Party, to rolling up your sleeves and getting to work, you showed what it means to be an ATLien. You showcased what empathy and inclusion looks like and more importantly, what can be accomplished when service unites!
Let's take a look back at some of the special moments from the 64 projects and 3,000 volunteers that made the 28th Annual Hands On Atlanta Day such a success.
The Kick-Off Party
Changemakers turned up and turned out for the Hands On Atlanta Day Kick-Off Party. The fundraiser for our sister HandsOn Affiliate organizations impacted by the recent hurricanes saw over 300 attendees who helped with a service project, enjoyed the finest brews Monday Night Brewing has to offer, ate delicious BBQ and helped honor Mayor Reed and First Lady Sarah-Elizabeth Reed with our Changemaker Award for their commitment and dedication to service.
The Mayor and his family surprised attendees with an announcement to match all donations during the event, giving us a total of $5,000 that we'll donate to hurricane relief!
Kaboom! Playground Build with KIPP Vision
Delta and Kaboom! got things started at KIPP Vision Primary School with the energy and excitement we've grown to expect from their annual playground build. The DJ blasted tunes, the volunteer vibes were plentiful, and Atlanta's own Silento surprised everyone with a fun performance! The build ended with King of Pops and a surprise $20,000 donation from Delta to KIPP! The tone was set for the rest of the day as 63 other projects were rockin' and rollin'.
We couldn't make it to all of them, but check out these highlights from around the day.
TREES Atlanta at Oakland City MARTA
More than 150 volunteers chipped in for a beautification project with TREES Atlanta. Lee Street was buzzing with community leaders and teammates from Mercedes-Benz, Nebo Agency, and Crosslink. Planting a tree is no easy task, so the pro's started the day with step-by-step instructions and then the volunteers broke out into groups and got to planting. A camera crew from Major League Soccer's Beyond the Stands was on-site to feature the community focused work Atlanta United support club, Terminous Legion gets into every month.
By 1:00pm we were the top trend on Twitter!
Not only did volunteers show up in person, but they shared their volunteer vibes all across the internet! Our Instagram and Twitter accounts were on fire all day, and for the week #handsonatl surpassed 3.7 million impressions.
Discovery at Parklane Elementary
Over 100 kids showed up for a morning full of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programming. Volunteers from FirstData and Mercedes-Benz worked through the curriculum and finished the day with plenty of high fives!
Changemakers at Peyton Forest Elementary
The all-new Hands On Atlanta Changemakers Board teamed up with FirstData at Peyton Forest Elementary to help with some paint projects throughout the building. They arrived ready to add some color and energy, but ended up taking away much more than they gave.
“What we’re trying to do here is change the trajectory of children’s lives. And the way we do this is to offer them an alternative to what life can be. And one of those things is coming to a place that makes them feel like they deserve it, to let them know that they are worth it.”
Hustlin' with 48in48
Skills based volunteers crammed into an all-new co-working space in Underground Atlanta to build 48 websites for 48 nonprofits in 48 hours. The social innovation hack-a-thon brought together some of Atlanta's top creatives and developers to pull it all off.
Thank You!
Thank you to the 3,000+ volunteers who came out, to the more than 30 corporate sponsors who helped make it happen (especially our Title sponsor, Delta). Thank you to the 64 nonprofits and schools for your hard work in planning and preparation. Thank you to our partners (TEDxPeachtree, 48in48, and A3C), and a special thanks our team - the hardest working service nerds in the business! THANK YOU all for the impact you helped create.
What's next?
Go volunteer! We have projects listed on our site every day of the week. Our next annual day of service will be our MLK Day of Service, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the King Holiday.