Hot Projects: Week of Nov. 5

Discovery Program @ Panola Way

Saturday November 10 From 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Lithonia)

The Hands On Atlanta Discovery program is a volunteer-led Saturday tutoring and enrichment program. The program reinforces weekday learning through academic assistance, educational games, field trips, service-learning projects, and other enrichment activities. Students are engaged in a variety of subjects depending on the needs of their particular schools. Our goal is to have a one-on-one volunteer to student ratio, allowing for individualized attention and the building of relationships between students and volunteers.

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Helping Mamas Big Move!

Wednesday November 14 From 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM (Snellville)

Helping Mamas connects helping mamas to mamas needing help by connecting agencies that serve families in need with baby supplies. We serve 50 partner organizations and served over 6,000 children. Helping Mamas is growing and serving more families in need and are moving into a bigger space. Come out and help pack and move into a new space.

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Project GRANT canopy care

Saturday November 17 From 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Grant Park)

Project GRANT (Greenspace Restoration and Neighborhood Teamwork) convenes monthly in the park for work sessions. These sessions will tackle labor-intensive projects throughout the park including invasive plant removal, tree canopy care, trash pick up, and special projects. Thanks for helping take care of Atlanta's historic Grant Park - we look forward to seeing you!

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Thanksgiving Dinner With the Community

Saturday November 21 with shifts From 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM (NW Atlanta)

Thanksgiving Dinner With the Community is for those who need a meal, and for those who would like to share a meal. We will serve those who are homeless, living in hotels with children, seniors living alone, and men & women who reside in ex-offender re-entry programs. This meal is for the “Haves and the Have-nots”. All volunteers are asked to sit and eat and spend time with our guests, in addition to their volunteer assignment. We will also have clothing, medical screenings, haircuts, manicures, and a safe, fun space for children.

hanksgiving Art and Food With Adult Day Program

Wednesday November 21 From 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (South Fulton)

InCommunity partners to enrich and sustain the lives of individuals who have developmental disabilities, their families, and their communities. A main goal for our group homes is to bring our individuals out into the community to expose them to new experiences and members of their community. Volunteers will bake thanksgiving desserts and play games with the residents of the group home.

Hands On Atlanta Holiday Helpers

Tis the season to give back and we've made it so easy, it's a holiday miracle! Hands On Atlanta is offering up some fun and impactful holiday volunteer activations for our corporate partners. We hope you and your company join us in making a positive impact on our city, celebrating the holidays with your team in doing something good! 

(We promise this will be a bigger hit than a tacky sweater contest.)

Listen to this week’s episode of The Weekly High 5 for a fun conversation about how your company can get involved in service and why it’s a no brainer for the holidays!

Here are some great ideas!

• Host an Office Donation Drive 
  Students need winter coats and clothing, books and snacks leading up to the holidays. We can provide barrels and a list of specific items for your employees to donate, then deliver your donations to one of our partner schools.

• Partner Up!  
  Roll up your sleeves and rally a team of up to 40 with a placement at one of our 100+ nonprofit partners.

• Host a Literacy, Meal or Hygiene Kit Build  
  Put together kits with up to 100 members of your team! These are fun and fast moving projects to get your company into the holiday spirit

• Strategic Reading Lesson with Students at a School 
  Work one on one with students at a selected partner school for a fun and engaging strategic reading lesson for up to 100 members of your team

• Dream up something good!
  Have an awesome idea for a custom corporate volunteer activation? Give us a call! We can dream up a perfect project together.

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Sound good and want to know next steps?! Reach out to our Corporate Partnerships Manager, Lara Wagner, to get started.

Email: lwagner@handsonatlanta.org

Phone: 404.979.2838

Hot Projects: Week of Oct. 29

Meadow Habitat Restoration

Saturday November 3 From 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (Buckhead)

Blue Heron Nature Preserve is seeking a small group of volunteers to assist with restoring the meadow habitat spaces along our outdoor trails. As the weather is becoming increasingly cooler, we will be removing many of the plants and flora which seasonally bloomed during the summer, but have now died back. This project will entail working outdoors to pull, cut, and remove large plants, as well as general trail maintenance and clean up.

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TeamWorks! Kickoff

Saturday November 3 From 9:45 AM - 12:00 PM (Westside)

Hands On Atlanta TeamWorks! is a program that betters metro-Atlanta through meaningful service projects. Kick-off is the first meeting of every round. It is an orientation - a chance for volunteers to meet, form teams, and learn about the projects planned for that round. It is not a service project. For five to six Saturdays after the kick-off, teams compete to have the highest turnout at service projects that impact a variety of causes and communities throughout Greater Atlanta.

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Household Hazardous Waste Event in Johns Creek

Saturday November 10 From 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM (Johns Creek)

Keep North Fulton Beautiful is an environmental non-profit that provides education and conservation programs to the communities of Johns Creek and Sandy Springs. Our mission is to educate and activate our community in the beautification and conservation of our environment. Volunteer roles will include checking customers' registration and identification, directing traffic, and distributing snacks and water to other volunteers.

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Open Hand Meal Delivery

Saturday November 10 From 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (NW Atlanta)

Open Hand helps homebound seniors and others suffering from disability or chronic disease by providing Comprehensive Nutrition Care™(CNC), a combination of nutritious, home-delivered meals, and nutrition education. Volunteer drivers are a critical part of the service Open Hand provides to the community, since a majority of the organization’s clients are homebound. In fact, a volunteer driver is quite often the only person a client may see on any given day. Volunteers will pick-up meals, deliver meals to clients using their own vehicles and gas, and return the delivery list and delivery bags back to the Open Hand site.

hanksgiving Art and Food With Adult Day Program

Wednesday November 21 From 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Marietta and South Fulton)

InCommunity partners to enrich and sustain the lives of individuals who have developmental disabilities, their families, and their communities. A main goal for our group homes is to bring our individuals out into the community to expose them to new experiences and members of their community. Volunteers will bake thanksgiving desserts and play games with the residents of the group home.

Hot Projects: Week of Oct. 22

Girl Scouts STEM Expo

Saturday October 27 & Sunday October 28 Shifts All Day (Hapeville)

Experience one fun-filled, tech-tastic day! Girls of all ages will explore Science, Technology, and Engineering & Math (STEM) through fun and educational activities designed around STEM based themes with interactive exhibits, and workshops! We are expecting over 300 attendees ready for fun! Volunteers are needed to be registration helpers and greeters, program assistants and help with clean up.

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Household Hazardous Waste Event in Johns Creek

Saturday November 10 From 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM (Johns Creek)

Keep North Fulton Beautiful is an environmental non-profit that provides education and conservation programs to the communities of Johns Creek and Sandy Springs. Our mission is to educate and activate our community in the beautification and conservation of our environment. Volunteer roles will include checking customers' registration and identification, directing traffic, and distributing snacks and water to other volunteers.

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Food Forest Grow-and-Learn

Saturday November 10 From 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Lakewood)

Help grow the Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill, the largest food forest in the U.S. This 7.1 acre site is located in the heart of one of Atlanta's largest food deserts. Food forest "grow and learns" are held monthly at this site. Grow and learn opportunities include: planting and caring for the orchard and community garden, composting, bees, invasive species removal, trail building and more! The food forest ranger and guest speakers will share lessons along the way.

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Open Hand Meal Delivery

Saturday November 10 From 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (NW Atlanta)

Open Hand helps homebound seniors and others suffering from disability or chronic disease by providing Comprehensive Nutrition Care™(CNC), a combination of nutritious, home-delivered meals, and nutrition education. Volunteer drivers are a critical part of the service Open Hand provides to the community, since a majority of the organization’s clients are homebound. In fact, a volunteer driver is quite often the only person a client may see on any given day. Volunteers will pick-up meals, deliver meals to clients using their own vehicles and gas, and return the delivery list and delivery bags back to the Open Hand site.

Chomp and Stomp Welcome Center

Saturday November 3 From 2:30 PM - 6:00 PM (Cabbagetown)

Hands On Atlanta is partnering with the Chomp & Stomp, Cabbagetown's annual festival benefiting the neighborhood's parks, green spaces and community center! We need volunteers to staff two Welcome Centers over the course of the day. Proceeds from the Chomp and Stomp festival benefit the parks and public spaces in historic and diverse Cabbagetown, Atlanta’s first Landmark Historic District. The festival is 100% volunteer managed and run Volunteers will be working at welcome centers, which sell chili spoons (“ticket” to festival), tokens for beer and mixed drinks, and festival T-shirts.

It Takes a Village

Photo by Chris Rank

Pulling off a massive day of service isn’t easy, or for the faint of heart, and to make this past weekend’s Hands On Atlanta Day happen, we had to dig deep and rally the troops. We had 35 corporate sponsors come through (thank you, thank you, thank you and high fives) to support more than 50 projects at nonprofits and schools throughout metro Atlanta. We leaned on our title sponsor, Delta Air Lines, to set the tone for the day at Bolton Academy with 150 employees and another 150 families and community members who rolled up their sleeves to build a Kaboom! playground and outdoor classroom in just 6 hours! But that’s just the start…

Photos by Chris Rank

Each one of our staff and members of our board lead projects, our friends and sponsors at iVision not only put a team together to volunteer at Helping Mamas, but they also joined Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO on a guided tour of 3 projects, filming the entire adventure (coming soon). Almost 150 task leaders and Hands On Atlanta Civic Leaders stepped up to lead teams and oversee specific project tasks. Hey, someone had to show all these volunteers how to build the bench and plant the tree!

“I had a great day visiting our school sites and seeing so many Atlantans serve on a Saturday! Special shout out to Louis on your team and the volunteers from IBM who painted 3 levels of Price! We appreciate you and your partnership. Congrats on another great Hands on Atlanta Day and always encouraging us to #dosomethinggood.”

— Dr. Meria Carstarphen, Superintendant Atlanta Public Schools

Around 10:00am we were the top trend on Twitter (lasting until almost 4:00pm) and that was thanks to everyone sharing their service! Over 100 volunteers stopped by the Delta Vacations pop up projects along the Beltline. Our new friends (and gracious hosts) at New Realm Brewery gave us the green light to experiment with this wild idea of 4 nonprofits - Atlanta Beltline Partnership, Trees Atlanta, Park Pride, and Hands On Atlanta all coming together to build park benches and bikes, pull weeds and paint terra cotta pots. The team at 48in48 lead a design day, where skills based volunteers came together to create an awareness campaign, highlighting some of Atlanta’s biggest challenges and how you can help be a part of the solution (coming soon).

Our Changemaker Board of young professionals volunteered at Frank L. Stanton Elementary, while for the first time ever, we had all of the Hands On Atlanta Discovery program sites buzzing at 8 partner schools across metro Atlanta. That means parents were engaged, volunteers tutored and mentored, and more than 500 kids had fun doing STEM activities!

You might be asking yourself, self that all sounds amazing (a real community effort) but what does it all mean? Well, I’m glad you asked because we ran a few numbers and here’s a few things we accomplished:

• 34 community spaces and parks were built or improved

• 18 gardens were built or improved

• 9 schools received a makeover, including 4 new outdoor classrooms

• 65 benches and 28 picnic tables were built

How does all this happen? Here’s a quick snap shot of some of the nuts and bolts:

• 1385 pair of gloves

• 235 shovels

• 57 wheel barrows

• 400 paint brushes

“The support this year was phenomenal! We truly appreciate all the supplies and equipment, the snacks and t-shirts, the leadership, our corporate sponsor, LabSolutions and the other volunteers, who provided the smiles, sweat and commitment. They really worked hard and it was really hot out there! So keep up the good work. ”

— Shirley Coleman, Director of Development & Marketing, Sadie G. Mays

And who could forget the Hands On Atlanta Day Kick-Off Party at the Monday Night Brewing Garage on Wednesday?! 300 ATLiens came out for brews and fun, 20 nonprofits showed off the awesome work they’re doing, and we unveiled our volunteer t-shirt design contest winner! Thanks to all the designers, the sponsors and judges, and of course YOU for more than 1,600 votes to help determine the final 5.

“Saturday was flawless! You guys did such an amazing job especially with multiple projects going on at one time in one space. There was never a time in which I thought we needed more people or more supplies. You guys had it all planned and ready to go for us. I look forward to next year’s Hands on Atlanta Day!”

— Meagan Brooks, Atlanticus

There’s more, so many more incredible, selfless individuals who helped pull off another impactful Hands On Atlanta Day. Thank you to everyone, it really does take a village. This was year 29 of Hands On Atlanta Day and we’re already looking forward to seeing so many of you back for our “dirty” 30 next year. Stay tuned!

Introducing the 2019 Class of Civic Fellows

The Hands On Atlanta Civic Leadership Program, powered by Constellation, recently welcomed it’s 10th class of Civic Fellows! 18 changemakers from around metro Atlanta are taking their service to the next level and will participate in the year long program featuring leadership training and mentoring. The Civic Fellows will also have the opportunity to build a year long relationship with a dedicated nonprofit partner to manage service projects, recruit volunteers, oversee service days and provide education to volunteers as to the mission of their nonprofit partner.

Listen to an interview with new Civic Fellows Ashley Adams and Bryan Robison on The Weekly High 5 podcast!

“In efforts to remain in a constant state of contribution and gratitude, I applied to be a Civic Fellow as an opportunity to give back, develop and further hone my leadership, program management, fundraising and problem-solving skills. The opportunity to be a part of the 10th CLP class is exciting, as I look forward to forging new relationships with my peers, prospective volunteers and the communities we’ll serve.”

— Ashley B. Adams

The Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellows represent the premier volunteers of our organization. These are the leaders that go above and beyond to meet the challenges facing our community. Please help us welcome the incoming class!

Meet the 2018/19 Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellows:

• Ashley B. Adams, Product Management and Marketing Manager, NCR

  Nonprofit Partner: A.G. Rhodes - Cobb

• Javon Carter, Training Specialist, Anthem

  Nonprofit Partner: Breakthrough Atlanta

• Ganelle Cross, Business Design Coordinator, Mcgregor at Associates Architects

  Nonprofit Partner: A.G. Rhodes - Wesley Woods

• Caitlin Daugherty Kokenes, Communications and Engagement Manager, RedefinED Atlanta

  Nonprofit Partner: Truly Living Well

• Jessica Gibbs, Teacher, North Metro Academy of Performing Arts

  Nonprofit Partner: Breakthrough Atlanta

• Tiye Glover, Sr. Financial Analyst, Comcast

  Nonprofit Partner: Trees Atlanta

• Emealia Hollis, Creative Services Specialists, Lockton Companies

  Nonprofit Partner: Open Hand Atlanta

• Antonette Igbenoba, Data Protection Analyst/Owner, The Privacy Source

  Nonprofit Partner: Action Ministries - Women’s Community Kitchen

• Marie Jones, Teacher, The Roane School

  Nonprofit Partner: A.G. Rhodes - Atlanta

• David Lee, CSP 1/Supervisor, Support Services Group of Georgia

  Nonprofit Partner: InCommunity

• Jenna Mulvey, Administrative Coordinator, Frago, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP

  Nonprofit Partner: InCommunity

• Kendra Chanel Murphy, GAP Adjuster, Safe Guard

  Nonprofit Partner: Discovery at Scott Elementary

• Andrea O’Neal, Mail Agent, Delta

  Nonprofit Partner: Discovery at Brookview Elementary

• Tayla Reid, AmeriCorps Service Leader, Clayton State University

  Nonprofit Partner: West Atlanta Watershed Alliance

• Brian Robinson, Commercial Project Controller, Omnetric Group - A Siemens Company

  Nonprofit Partner: MedShare

• Victoria E. Shelton-Stroud, Owner, Shelton Power Consultants

  Nonprofit Partner: Discovery at Thomasville Heights

• Nicole Shepard, Student, Georgia State University and Visiting Researcher, Georgia Institute of Technology

  Nonprofit Partner: Discovery at Usher Collier Elementary

• Sivi Thomas, Student, Georgia State University

  Nonprofit Partner: Breakthrough Atlanta

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Powered by

The Civic Leadership Program is made possible by Presenting Sponsor, Constellation.  Constellation, an Exelon company, is a leading supplier of electric, natural gas, and energy products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States. Through their support of the Civic Leadership Program, Constellation has further demonstrated their commitment to sustainability, not just of natural resources, but of the Atlanta communities and families.

Top 10 Hands On Atlanta Day Projects to Sign up for Right Now!

Trying to pick your favorite Hands On Atlanta Day volunteer project is like trying to pick your favorite King of Pops flavor... You're leaning towards Chocolate Sea Salt because duh, Chocolate Sea Salt, but that Raspberry Lime is so dang refreshing!

We get it. It's tough. So, to help make it a little easier on you, we hand selected our Top 10 (11 actually, we tossed in a bonus at the end) Hands On Atlanta Day volunteer projects that you can sign up for right now! There's a little bit of something for everyone - get dirty, work with kids, volunteer your creative skills, and more! 

1. TREES ATLANTA  
OCT. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, Thomasville Heights

We're looking for 40 more volunteers will pull nuisance weeds, control invasive plants and protect native trees and plants along the trail.

2. INCOMMUNITY (ROCKDALE CARES) 
OCT. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, CONYERS

There are 50 positions left open for volunteers to help with pressure washing, moving gravel and landscaping.

3. HANDS ON ATLANTA DISCOVERY
OCT. 6: 9:45AM -12:00PM, METRO ATLANTA

The Hands On Atlanta Discovery program is a Saturday morning tutoring program that offers one-on-one and small group enrichment activities for at-risk children. We are looking for volunteers across multiple schools to lead activities and help with reading and math skills for students in kindergarten through 5th grades. Click the button below to view a list of all the schools and locations!

4. KABOOM! PLAYGROUND BUILD WITH WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 
OCT. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, METRO ATLANTA
 
8 more volunteers are needed to help with yard clean up, playground building, mulch distribution and cooking.
*All volunteers must complete a background check and sign a confidentiality agreement in order to serve.

5. FRANK L. STANTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
OCT. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, VINE CITY

We’re looking for 30 more volunteers to help assemble & stock the food pantry, assemble holiday hygiene kits and landscape the campus.

6. PEOPLE TV
OCT. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, METRO ATLANTA

25 more volunteers are needed to help repaint hallways and green room, packing + labeling tapes, clean and organize and shred documents.

7. CHASTAIN HORSE PARK
OCT. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, CHASTAIN PARK

We're looking for 50 more volunteers to help remove invasive plants, sweep & clean out barns, sand and repaint existing trail manipulatives and clean jump poles.

8. KIRKWOOD NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION - CLAY CEMETARY
OCT. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, KIRKWOOD
 
We're looking for 25 more volunteers will clean and maintain the historic Clay Cemetery. Tasks are based on current needs and may include weeding, spreading mulch, cutting grass and cleaning headstones.

9. REDEEM COMMUNITY OUTREACH
OCT. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, NW ATLANTA
 
There are still 65 volunteers positions available to help spread mulch in the fruit orchard, and community garden and cut the grass.

10. CRAWFORD LONG MIDDLE SCHOOL BEAUTIFICATION
Oct. 6: 9:00AM - 1:00PM, METRO ATLANTA
 
20 more volunteers is all it takes to beautify the schools by painting, building picnic tables and benches, beautification, and building a dry erase board.

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Discover Your Impact at Discovery

For the last 28 years, volunteers have been working with students at elementary schools teaching health and wellness, STEM concepts, social and emotional learning (SEL), and more through the Hands On Atlanta Discovery program.

To learn more about this impact program, I sat down with Candice White, Discovery Program Manager, to learn more about why Discovery is so important (now in 11 Title 1, public schools covering from Smyrna to East Point, serving nearly 1,400 students - almost 90% of them receiving free and reduced lunch) and how volunteers, like you, can get involved.  

TIM: For starters, 11 schools, 1,400 students… how do you manage to get it all done?

CANDICE: Well, we’ve added 6 new schools this year and honestly, it’s been a whirl wind! I love it! It’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve received a ton of support from the staff at the schools, our awesome AmeriCorps members, and of course the volunteers who come out each week are fantastic. We have some great School Captains (the point person at each Discovery school) and Grade Captains (running the actual sessions with the students, implementing the curriculum) working hands on in the schools.

“No matter where we come from we’re all a part of the greater Atlanta community and we have to support each other. I feel like it really does take a village to raise each and every child and why not be a part of that village?”

TIM: That’s awesome. [High five!] What do the students learn at Discovery?

CANDICE: Our curriculum varies from school to school, crafting each program to meet the unique needs of the students. We touch on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) which are essential life skills and how the students interact with themselves and each other, as well as health and fitness. We don’t have a ton of time with the kids each Saturday (just a couple of hours) so, it may be a quick experiment learning how an airplane flies or a challenging team building project to create something brand new.

We know that across Atlanta literacy is a huge issue, but we try to be really mindful to not make it like sitting in a classroom for the students. Discovery is a fun addon to weekly learning! It’s also a time to build meaningful relationships between the volunteers and the students.

TIM: I like how the students are learning in fun, creative ways, but Discovery offers more than just the curriculum, right?

CANDICE: Correct. We provide a breakfast and take home snack for the students - mostly fruit or breakfast bars. One day, last year I noticed 1 little girl trying to take more than we are supposed to pass out. At first I didn’t realize what was going on but then it was 3 girls and then more and more. They were just hungry. Then I noticed some of the students coming in with torn shoes and clothing. It was a shock for me and it’s a often a little unsettling for some of our first time volunteers to experience some of the poverty levels these students and families are facing. So Discovery schools are part of our wrap around services we provide to help enrich students’ minds and bellies.

TIM: This sounds like a great program for the students, but also like a really meaningful opportunity for volunteers to get involved.

CANDICE: Most volunteers come for the first time to just see what it’s all about (it’s challenging to explain the “secret sauce” it’s like Disney, you just have to experience it) and they end up having a great time, making connections with the students. We encourage volunteers to come back, because the connection is reciprocal and even if it’s just once a month or a few times a year, the students look forward to seeing the familiar, friendly faces of our volunteers.

If you’re looking to mentor and enjoy making an impact on youth, while also learning something new from them, I think Discovery is the way to go. I think it’s important for people to understand the needs and challenges these students face, as well as getting to know someone that’s a little different than you. No matter where we come from we’re all a part of the greater Atlanta community and we have to support each other. I feel like it really does take a village to raise each and every child and why not be a part of that village?

TIM: So, you have 2 daughters, do they attend Discovery?

CANDICE: I have 2 that are ages 10 and 6 with another on the way! They always give me feedback and they love going to Discovery. Once I can get them out of bed, they really do look forward to going. This year projects they do in Discovery are even coming home and we get to continue the learning and experimenting!

TIM: After 28 years of Discovery, what’s next for the program?

CANDICE: Richard and Debbie Goldsmith kicked things off 28 years ago and still serve at Discovery today! The success of the program is largely due to the incredible support and energy of people like them to help keep it going. As we expand into 11 schools this year, we’re also launching at the Centers of Hope, an after school program at C.T. Martin Recreation Center, implementing some of our curriculum with a big focus on literacy. A lot of the students need help with homework and with reading, so that’s what we’ll be supporting. Again, our AmeriCorps team has been great, stepping in and leading this experiment.

TIM: Well, I’m sold on Discovery. How do I get started?

CANDICE: I thought you’d never ask! Volunteers can get started by signing up to serve for Hands On Atlanta Day. For the first time ever, we’re going to have all 11 schools participating in Discovery on the same day. There are plenty of opportunities at most of the schools and we’re hoping for a big turn out.

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Send Candice your baby name suggestions and any questions or ideas you have for Discovery at cwhite@handsonatlanta.org. If you’d like to help support the meals and materials for Discovery, consider making a donation to Hands On Atlanta.