In the News:

• 20th Anniversary Oklahoma City Remembrance
• Earth Day
• Spring Cleaning
• In the Spotlight
• Board Business

Commit to the Oklahoma Standard 

Service - Honor - Kindness

• Service means giving your time to someone in need.
• Honor the victims and survivors of the 1995 bombing.
• Kindness involves everything from holding a door for a stranger to cleaning up your neighbor’s leaves.

Earth Day 

Did you go Green on Earth Day? 

Going Green means practicing an environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible lifestyle, as well as making decisions to help protect the environment and sustain natural resources. To find out more ways to live a sustain life, visit: http://www.50waystohelp.com/.

America's PrepareAthon

April 30 is America's PrepareAthon! Join others across the country in practicing emergency preparedness. Over 5 million have registered their activities planned for this event.  To register your center, visit the America's PrepareAthon! website. Also check out the AP! Fact Sheet and Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

Quote of the Month: 

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” 

—Albert Einstein

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20th Anniversary Oklahoma City Remembrance

Sunday, April 19th marked the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City (OKC).  The nine story building housed 16 Federal agencies and one of our child care centers, America’s Kids. The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum hosted the 20th Anniversary Remembrance Ceremony by observing 168 seconds of silence at 9:02 a.m. honoring those who lost their lives that day. During the program, Former President Bill Clinton spoke of hope and healing. In remembrance of this 20th Anniversary, we are reminded of the Oklahoma Standard which includes performing one act of service, honor and kindness.

The memory of those lost are honored every day with a 3.3 acre Outdoor Symbolic Memorial site, featuring 168 glass based chairs, Gates of Time, a 318-foot Reflecting Pool, Survivor Chapel, Rescuers’ Orchard, Children’s Area and Survivor Tree.

To learn more about the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum visit their website.

Earth Day

Spring Cleaning

It's Spring time, a great time to clean up and clean out.  You can help celebrate National Healthy Schools Days by de-cluttering classrooms. Administrators can help by creating a system to encourage teachers to dispose of unneeded materials. The following questions can help you and your team brainstorm on how to make your classrooms more open and inviting:   How can teachers reduce the amount of material and visual noise, which is very unsettling to children? Are teachers stockpiling toilet, paper towel rolls, egg cartons or other materials for a rainy day? Focus on organizing what they regularly use and get rid of unneeded materials. Is classroom storage an issue? Consider a central supply location for all teachers to access. Assign a coordinator to ensure it stays organized and useful. Do you have items that are broken, missing parts or not developmentally-appropriate? Pull these items and discard. Are you hoarding teaching materials or items that have not been used in the past year? Pull these items and discard. The Education Facilities Clearinghouse (EFC) has developed a de-clutter checklist to assist in making classrooms healthier. For more information or to access the worksheet, visit: http://www.efc.gwu.edu/resources/library/decluttering-checklist/.

In the Spotlight

Region 6 

The Kindergarten Prep Class of Centennial Mall Child Care Center in Lincoln, Nebraska has been working on ways to show kindness throughout their everyday activities. The children learned about kindness and what it means to be kind to those around them.  In addition, they also learned how to show ways of kindness to those around them in their local community. To demonstrate different acts of kindness, the class helped families in need by making tie blankets for those less fortunate at the City Mission.

Board Business

Fresh Fundraising Ideas

Now that you have set fundraising goals, you need to put a fundraising strategy in motion. We all know that fundraising can bring great rewards, but it can also be relentless pressure. When you have had some success, it is hard to avoid getting stuck in the same routine, year after year. Here are some fresh ideas that might give your plans and fundraising calendar some new energy:

• Go lowbrow. This is a fun alternative that turns the usual gala on its head. The objective is to decrease the production budget and apply those funds to your mission. Instead of holding that fashionable cocktail party or dinner at a high-end hotel, hold a themed event at a local cafe or similar venue. The event tickets can be the normal amount, if possible try to get the costs sponsored. If this is successful, try alternating years, one fancy, one lowbrow.  

• Micro-giving.  You can continuously receive small donations while other fundraising initiatives are underway. Micro-giving can be tied to professional sports. People can commit to donating $1 every time your home team scores a run or wins a game, and even though the individual gift is small, the more people you get to pledge the better. Contact a local sports team to ask if the team would provide a signed jersey, team paraphernalia or box seat tickets for a future game.

For more fresh fundraising ideas, visit: http://richardmale.com/fresh-fundraising-ideas/.