Fund raising in Student Organizations is a hassle!!!

I am in need of fund raising ideas. I am in charge of raising funds to go to nationals. My first thought was to do concessions at ASU. The thing is that we need insurance in order to participate. Obtaining insurance from our national headquarters means we have to pay $150 and think that is for one time. The other idea I had was to propose to major corporations. The thing with corporations is that we must have a 501 C3 status and we have a C4 status so that makes us ineligible. We can’t put on any social activities because we must have money to sustain us and then hopefully gain that money back plus some. If anyone has any suggestions please post on this blog. I will greatly appreciate it.

Recruiting--SMCC Starting a Chapter

As part of my internship I am responsible for starting new college chapters. I attended a Black Student Union (BSU) meeting at South Mountain Community College (SMCC) back in September. I stated to them what the organization was including history, focus, purpose, executive board, and local facts. It puzzled me at first because they had a ton of questions for me. After I attended the meeting I felt as though they were not going to become an affiliate of the NAACP. I was thinking that I had failed my mission. Then I realized that it was out of my control. Local community chapters do not follow up. They only show up once you are charted or you are not in compliance. As I have mentioned in earlier posts. There is a gap and just because a national organization approaches you to be apart of them doesn’t necessarily yield benefits. To my understanding, they didn’t want to be just another number to make Arizona look good but they wanted to reap benefits.

Lack of Motivation

In my experience with this internship, I feel a sense of lack of motivation in furthering my participation with this community adult chapter of the NAACP. I feel as though everyone has their hands out for financial support but there aren’t tangible benefits for people my age. I sense that there is a lack of organization and substance. The meetings are entertaining but what business and results are we seeking? Are the right people in the right places and positions of the organization? I feel that community sections should offer scholarships, leadership training, money management, and etc to already college students. I feel that there is a gap and that everyone is concerned with their own well being and trying to compete with other branches. I can understand why the community isn’t necessarily supporting the local NAACP. The only program is the Backpak Drive that takes place every July for children of the South Phoenix Community. The youth council is very productive because they have a state representative’s wife pretty much running the show and having her daughter step in as the President of the youth council. So that doesn’t really count. I wish the college chapters have more hands on coaching.

Rivalry Between 2 Community Branches of the NAACP?

This is just my own opinion but I feel that there is some type of rivalry between the Maricopa County Branch and the East Valley Branch of the NAACP. I attended the Maricopa County Branch meeting and as part of the meeting they read the mail. One of the pieces was a invitation from the East Valley NAACP to attend their freedom fund dinner that took place in October. The letter head of the invitation had certain Eastern cities such as Awahatukee, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and etc. The President made a remark as “they need to stop putting these cities on their letterhead”. I’m thinking…why does it matter? They are both trying to reach the same goals they just probably have a different approach. Just because its called Maricopa County doesn’t mean that everybody has to go to this branch meeting. Maybe they live in one of the cities that is listed in the letterhead and want to attend that branch meeting. Who cares? We are about the advancement of Colored people not competing amongst colored people. LOL I think it is petty and it’s a shame that high school things are still going on when you past 50 years old.

Maricopa NAACP Meeting

I attended the Maricopa County Branch of the NAACP on Saturday, September 25 at 10am. The meeting was located at the South Mountain Boys and Girls Club Center on Alta Vista and Central. The meeting was structured. You could definitely tell who was in charge and running the meeting. The President, Rev Oscar Tillman and the Secretary, Lynnette Campbell was sitting at the front of the room at a table facing the audience or members and visitors who attended the meeting. This particular meeting they were accepting nominations for the new executive board for the 2010-2011 year. They also discussed having a local walk to duplicate what the national organization was doing in Washington, DC or New York on October 2^nd. I felt that was a lost cause. You can’t expect something to be great and well organized if you are bringing it up to the genera l body a week in advanced. I don’t think that it even took place. FYI at least bring it up a month in advance. I thought it was cool that they had two meetings. The 10am meeting lasted an hour and was the executive board meeting. At the 11am meeting was for general members. Overall I think the meeting was ok. It wasn’t as informative as I would have liked. There was also a great amount of officers missing so we didn’t get to hear the officer’s report. Which I think is irresponsible on the absent officer part. If you know in advance that you will be missing then send in a report so that the organization isn’t held back because a report is missing. They also encouraged recruiting because they are in need of funds. I understand the recruitment is needed but there aren’t any tangible or direct benefits from joining.

The Maricopa County NAACP meetings usually take place on every 4th Saturday at the South Mountain Boys and Girls Club at 10am for executive board meeting which is open to the public and 11am for general members meeting.

College State of Mind

The College State of Mind was an informational fair. It was a chance for community college students as well as high school students to come out and learn about the different Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) that was present, transfering and applying to a university, and learning about the Phoenix College (PC) NAACP.
This event was a collaboration between the PC NAACP and the graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority Inc. Delta Beta Omega chapter.

Career Services--Resumes and Cover Letter Workshop

This was an informing workshop. I attended the workshop that was sponsored by the National Council of Negro Women, ASU chapter (NCNW ASU) and guest speaker Maryjo Douglas Zunk. In this workshop she discussed the difference between a CV and a resume, the different headings of a resume. It a great workshop since I am anticipating graduation in the Spring. The most important thing that I got out of this workshop is "create a treasury". A treasury is something that is filled with action  sentences of everything that you did or learned. She also noted to use objectives from previous classes syllabus.

Here is the link to the facebook event that was created by NCNW
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1433490620#!/event.php?eid=155328637834334

For information on NCNW here is our facebook group link and our website
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1433490620#!/group.php?gid=110632643121

Career Services
http://students.asu.edu/career

Super Saturday Scholars Program

We have just a few more dates for this semester to help kids from the South Phoenix area. Please check below at the description of this event.

This is a "Family Affair" filled with Educational Enrichment and Tutoring
The dates are Saturdays of each month starting with: Sept 25, Oct 9 and 23, Nov 13, and Dec 11....we will be preparing all 4th, 5th, and 6th graders for the AIMS in math and science
For information call 480.705.6557 or email: communityeducationservices@gmail.com
Here is the link to the facebook page for this event: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1433490620#!/event.php?eid=152602321427311
Here is the Community Education Services website:
http://cesinc.weebly.com/

1st Annual Hip-Hop Community Town hall "Hip Hop and Poltics"

This is a past event that took place last Saturday. This event is under the umbrella coalition that I am developing. Check out the description.

On October 30, 2010 at 7:00 PM the Phoenix metropolitan community will experience the 1st Annual Hip Hop Town Hall presented by the Phoenix College NAACP/BSU. This event will engage young adults in meaningful dialogue about current issues which are important to them in a format which is appealing to them and in a genre which many enjoy and value. The 2010 theme is “Spotlighting Hip Hop and Politics”. The purpose of the Hip Hop T...own Hall is to provide a platform for people to develop an awareness of and dialogue about issues which are germane to them and their communities. Hip Hop has a huge voice for many people, regardless of region, race, religion, class, etc. This Town Hall will provide a platform for the often unrecognized positive impact of Hip Hop through education and debate on community issues.

Partnering with the Phoenix College NAACP/BSU are the Black Entrepreneur’s Association, Inc., Peace Fest Organization, and Queen YoNasDa, hip hop artist, the National Director of the Indigenous Nations Alliance-Millions More Movement, and the initiator of Hip Hop 4 Haiti.

Students are dialoging and Hip Hop songs and videos are addressing current topics, such as immigration, ethnic studies, affirmative action, mosque placement, use of the n-word, etc. For those who may not find other venues appealing, there is a need to provide a platform for intellectual dialogue and to listen to all sides of these issues. In addition, many people are indifferent or unaware of current issues, and this forum aims to instill in them the need to exercise their citizenship through being fully informed and voting.

The 1st Annual Hip Hop Town Hall "Spotlighting Hip Hop and Politics" will bring overall awareness of past, present, and future pieces of legislation. The meeting will discuss how these laws affect or unite the community. Both local and national political leaders and hip hop artists will be presenters at the Town Hall which promises to be a very engaging and thought-provoking evening. For more information about this event, please email queenyonasda@aol.com or camilla.westenberg@pcmail.maricopa.edu

Passing the Torch

In my culture, I have heard on numerous occasions that it is time “to pass the torch”. Meaning the future leaders will take responsibility and step up to lead the next generation. The question that remains is “Are we ready to accept the torch?” I feel that our generation, generation Y or Millennial generation are not concern with continuing the legacy but are caught up with our own selfish needs. I think that if the elders prepared a layout or at least trained us in leadership or showing us the ropes we would be somewhat prepared. Also, we say that someone was investing in us we would feel somewhat obligated to continue the legacy and accept the torch.

FAQ--Color an Issue when joining the NAACP

I think it is somewhat ironic that the organization has had a white president for over 30 to 40 years and when I approach different people to join they have the expression “I’m not Black” look on their face. I think that if people took the time to give an organization a chance or possibly come out of their comfort zones this organization could be better than what it is. As I have mentioned in an earlier post, that the organization was founded by a multiracial group of people.