Join the community of healthcare professionals concerned with preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), which at any given moment seriously affect 1.4 million hospitalized patients worldwide.

The HAI WATCHDOG* forums are intended to provide a place for health care providers to discuss issues and best practices related to Hospital-Associated Infections (HAIs).

Kimberly-Clark is committed to helping win the battle to prevent HAIs. As part of that effort, we are pleased to sponsor this new community site for healthcare providers to discuss HAI without discussion of product-specific information.

I am pretty stoked to have been mentioned on PR Web’s:  Public Relations Blogs – 25 Essential PR Bloggers You Should Be Reading.

What this will shortly result in is a renewed commitment to blogging on new media, new technology, monitoring, metrics, innovation, marketing, social media, and digital PR.

Forgive me but I guess I have been doing way too much working as president of Abraham Harrison and not enough generous, thoughtful, and insightful analysis of what I know.

So, in the upcoming days and weeks, I will aspire to re-activate.  I am pretty motivated after spending a couple days with industry experts and marketing gurus at the North American Alterian Engaging Times Summit 2010 in Chicago over the last few days.

Public Relations Blogs – 25 Essential PR Bloggers You Should Be Reading

Keeping up with what’s new and interesting in public relations news is important – vital strategies, tips and trends are shared each day that can impact your business. Whether you’re looking for best practices on press release distribution or simply how to take advantage of social media, these blogs will prove invaluable. To keep up with the hottest and highest quality content, below are 25 essential public relations blogs you should be reading:

PR Squared — PR Squared is a blog by Todd Defren, a principal at SHIFT Communications, which focuses on conversations about social media and marketing.

Brian Solis — Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks, gives insights into the convergence of PR, Traditional Media and Social Media at his popular blog.

Peter Shankman — Peter Shankman’s blog looks at thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising, creativity, and customer service.

Dave Fleet — DaveFleet.com is about communications, public relations, marketing and social media, and the areas where those topics intersect.

Danny Brown — This blog by Danny Brown, co-founder of the SRM group, focuses on the use of social media, PR and marketing,

Conversation Communications — This blog by Arik Hansen, principal of ACH Communications, covers all things related to digital PR strategy and community building.

Social Media Explorer — A blog by Jason Falls, Social Media Explorer, covers public relations, social media, search marketing and many topics in between.

Chris Abraham — Chris Abraham, President and COO of Abraham Harrison LLC, writes this blog on developing news and updates in the world of public relations and social media.

PR in Your Pajamas — A blog about integrating using public relations and business coaching for results, Elena Veis, tells how integrating these areas will lead to success for your business.

O’Dwyer’s PR Blog — O’Dwyer’s blog covers PR, public affairs, marketing and the world of communications.

TopRank Online Marketing Blog — The Online Marketing blog maintained by the team at TopRank Online Marketing provides helpful information on areas such as SEO, social media marketing, business blogging and online PR.

Influential Marketing Blog — Rohit Bhargava maintains the Influential Markeitng Blog, a site that focuses on information and resources on creating compelling marketing, advertising and public relations strategies.

AimClear Blog — The aimClear blog is a resource for search engine marketing for advertising agency, in-house and public relations professionals.

A Take on Tech PR by Drew Benvie — A blog by Drew Benvie, managing director of 33 Digitial, that gives insights and information on tech public relations and how it can help you.

Media Culpa — Media Culpa is a blog about media and public relations – with a focus on social media – written by Swedish PR practitioner Hans Kullin.

The Buzz Bin — The Buzz Bin provides a point of view on integrated communications, including PR, social media, interactive and general marketing topics.

Spin Sucks — Spin Sucks is the agency blog of Arment Dietrich and covers social media, online PR and all things in between.

PR Couture — PR Couture explores the ever-evolving role of public relations, marketing and social media in the fashion industry.

PRSA ComPRehension — PRSA ComPRehension is a blog on PR best practices from Public Relations Society of America members.

Beyond the Hype — Beyond the Hype conveys the opinions, insights and experiences in public relations and advertising from senior communications counselors at Lois Paul & Partners.

Adam Sherk — Adam Sherk is a Search and PR strategist, helping news and content sites with enterprise SEO and audience development, including social media marketing and other forms of online public relations.

Measurement Matters — Measurement Matters gives insights and information on the areas of public relations, social media and how media analysis and evaluation relates to them.

College Web Editor — College Web Editor is a helpful resource with information about the Web, marketing, and PR in higher education.

Deirdre Breadenridge PR 2.0 Strategies — Deirdre discusses social networking, blogging, microblogging, podcasting, streaming video, RSS technology and how communications is changing the way that businesses need to think.

Journalistics — Journalistics is a blog dedicated to covering all topics at the intersection of public relations and journalism today.

Be sure to check out the original post.

Abraham Harrison was named a finalist in PR News' PR Digital Awards in the Digital PR Campaign category for the work we're doing in developing new communities through online outreach for The Fresh Air fund.

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• The Coca-Cola Company - Expedition 206: 365 Days, 206 Countries, 1 Mission
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• JB Cumberland PR - Curious Chef: A Digital PR Success
• MS&L/Procter & Gamble - Tampax Pearl Outsmart Mother Nature PR Campaign
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Via Marketing Conversation & Chris Abraham & Abraham Harrison

• SIRIUS Satellite Radio – SIRIUS Patriot – Conservative Talk Radio, Conservative Radio, Right-wing Radio
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  Fox & Friends' Steve Doocy falsely claimed that "Fox News did not do" the Shirley Sherrod story "until after she had already resigned." In fact, FoxNews.com published a story based on the deceptively edited video before Sherrod resigned; indeed, a subsequent FoxNews.com article reported that she resigned "shortly after FoxNews.com published its initial report on the video."
• On Lacking All Conviction – National – The Atlantic
  On the great American scourge of racism, this administration must stand, sometimes publicly, for something. Failing that it will fall–indeed, already has fallen–for anything.
• Race and resignation, 24 hours of Shirley Sherrod – This Just In – CNN.com Blogs
• N.A.A.C.P. Releases Longer Video of Sherrod Speech – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com
  The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People apologized Tuesday to a black civil servant whose ouster the civil rights organization had originally cheered. Shirley Sherrod was fired from the Department of Agriculture for remarks she made in a speech in March. But after a 43-minute video was released putting her remarks into context, Benjamin T. Jealous, the N.A.A.C.P. president, apologized. On The Lede blog, you can watch the longer clip and compare it to the shorter version that was originally circulated.
• Former USDA official: Department's reconsideration is 'bittersweet' – CNN.com
  "If they had just taken the time to — even without looking at the tape — to look at me, to look at what I've stood for, to look at what I've done since I've actually been at the department, I don't think they would have been so quick to do what they did and so insistent," she said. "… To now come back and say, 'Well, we're willing to look at this,' it definitely is a little bittersweet."
  At the department, Sherrod said, "I didn't make a lot of noise. … I worked for fairness for everyone."
• Video: Watch the Shirley Sherrod Speech in Full | NAACP
• Former Agriculture Department Official Denies Racism, Is Backed By Fuller Video; Secretary Vilsack Stands By Her Firing* – Political Punch
  A former Department of Agriculture official said her termination was an unfair casualty of a larger political spat on race between the Tea Party movement and the NAACP, but Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack Tuesday afternoon stood by his decision to seek her termination based on a controversial anecdote she told earlier this year.
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• Vladimir Prelovac | Coding, WordPress, SEO, Games and Rants

While I consider New digg to be rather too slow in the game, having launched its new model well after people have moved on to Facebook & Twitter, I do really want to love digg for the Cult of Kevin Rose as well as for all the good things that Revision 3 has brought to the world of Web 2.0, podcasting, and online video.

We’ll see what happens but it looks like they have taken their innovative blend of community and attention data and have added a big dollop of Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon and have rolled it into something that has a mighty pretty interface.  We’ll see if it catches on. We’ll see if my clients ever ask for it as they have really stopped asking me for social bookmarking services.

Actually, digg is pretty smart because the real reason I am writing all of this is because I need to validate and claim my feed on the new digg by pasting this in here:

5e5953348fd7472997f7a4e50c0e2794

 

I love cars, exotic and exclusive cars doubly so, and I was not aware of the Bristol car company of the Great Britain, either as a classic auto or a current purveyor of handmade bespoke automobiles.

While Bristol Cars surely offers more exotic rocket-ship models that are well-flashy and rather vulgar, the Bristol Blenheim 3 is my cup of tea: nondescript, subtly sexy, rather boring, and so exclusive that even I would mistake the Bristol for something else entirely. No airbags, no ABS, nothing post-1980, actually, it seems.

How did I learn about it?  What I believe is a maroon Bristol 405 is a featured character in the British film, An Education. Check this out:

The Bristol Blenheim 3 is one of the world’s most remarkable cars. Bristol is the only remaining luxury car manufacturer under British control. It is also the last company that still creates its cars entirely by hand in the time-honoured manner benefiting from the exacting skill, precision and care of individual craftsmen. By deliberately restricting production to a handful of cars per week we ensure exclusivity and excellence of manufacture. The labour hours to build the Blenheim 3 are three to four times more than those of any other specialist luxury cars. This we happily accept as the cost of perfection.

Externally, a Bristol’s appearance is carefully tailored to achieve quiet understatement yet maintain an elegant, timeless line. The latest Blenheim 3 benefits from a sleeker, more rounded aluminium body whose softly sculptured nose conceals more efficient cooling ducts and a subtle ‘splitter’, which eliminates residual lift without any drag penalty. By blending modern elements with traditional Bristol proportions we have achieved an elegant Grand Tourer which looks distinguished in any surroundings.

Today’s traffic conditions require a vehicle with compact overall dimensions to provide enjoyable, stress-free motoring. The Blenheim’s major mechanical components are carefully laid out to avoid the usual massive centre console stealing interior room so that we may provide the interior width of a formal luxury car within the exterior width of a medium sized saloon. A rare feature these days is a generous area of glass (of exceptional optical quality) and slim pillars which give unrivalled outward vision. Combined with an unexpectedly tight turning circle the Blenheim allows brisk and enjoyable progress in traffic conditions and slips through gaps where traditional luxury saloons are often brought to a frustrating standstill.

Despite its compact exterior dimensions, Blenheim 3 draws on our logical Aviation heritage to maximise space within. The normally wasted area behind the front wheels is used for lockable compartments which house the spare wheel, battery and electrical components. The fuel tank is located above the rear axle line (the safest place imaginable) thus ensuring that the boot is deep and regularly spaced. Four six foot tall adults can settle comfortably into amply sized leather armchairs with generous leg, head and shoulder room. These high backed seats with integral headrests support you softly but fully while one of the strongest road car structures yet devised insulates you from unwanted harshness and vibration. The interior is trimmed by hand in a special flawless grade of hide created for Bristol, complemented by matched walnut veneer and Wilton carpet edge-bound in leather. Many hours are spent covering by hand the areas beneath with sound proofed multi-layered cushioned underlays to give that solid cosseted feel that is one of the great delights of a traditional coachbuilt body. In a Bristol, every journey becomes an occasion, a relaxing and satisfying place from which to observe the hectic world without.

It is not by chance that Bristol enjoys a reputation as a marque favoured by the most skilled and enthusiastic drivers. The Blenheim is unique among passenger cars in locating the entire engine and all major masses including spare wheel and battery within the wheelbase. This is essential, as it allows us to achieve not only the ideal front to rear weight balance but also the lowest possible centre of gravity and polar moment of inertia. The results may be felt every minute you drive – exceptional agility combined with imperturbable stability at speed and remarkable roadholding under all conditions. Bristol’s power steering system, unlike most others, has been developed to provide a true feel of the road, varying its feedback faithfully according to the amount of road grip that is available. Whether it is being used as a luxury Town Car or high speed Continental Express, Bristol’s painstaking engineering excellence puts the driver confidently in control and his passengers totally at ease.

Powering the Blenheim 3 is a large displacement naturally aspirated engine which has been optimised to perform economically and with exceptional responsiveness at low revs and light throttle openings. Indeed very few cars of any type offer more torque in relation to vehicle weight. You will notice this in the way that the car moves swiftly away from rest as if it weighs almost nothing. Every throttle movement will be answered with swift, obedient authority while a 70mph cruise requires an engine speed of barely 1,700 r.p.m. Should your mood or road conditions require it, the smooth yet responsive automatic transmission will immediately change down giving you access to a level of performance normally reserved for serious sporting machines.

By painstaking engineering and innovative design, Bristol have achieved what our owners most desire. A car sized to make the best use of today’s roads yet with the full accommodation of a formal saloon and the presence of a true gentleman’s Grand Touring coupé

Specifications

 

• ENGINE – Layout: 8 cylinders in Vee formation Cubic Capacity: 5,900 cc Bore: 101.6mm (4.00 in) Stroke: 90.93mm (3.58in) Compression Ratio: 9.25:1 Fuel System: Tuned runner aluminium plenum with multi port injection. Ignition System: Dual microprocessor sequential electronic ignition.
• DRIVETRAIN – Layout: Electronically controlled automatic with four forward speeds and reverse. Torque Converter: Stall ratio 2.19:1 with computer controlled lock-up clutch. Final Drive: 2.88:1 (3.06 optional) Overall Gearing: 40.72 mph/1,000 r.p.m. (38.52 optional).
• SUSPENSION – Front: Unequal length wishbones with coil springs, adjustable telescopic dampers, torsional anti-roll bar. Rear: Bristol 8-link axle with torsion springs, adjustable telescopic dampers. Limited slip differential.
• STEERING – Layout: Power assisted recirculating ball. Safety: Energy absorbing column with offset joints and twin progressive collapse sections. Steering wheel: 14″ diameter with hand stitched leather trim.
• BRAKES – Front: Self adjusting discs with four piston calipers. Rear: Self adjusting discs with two piston calipers. Handbrake: Mechanical linkage operating on rear discs.
• WHEELS – 7 x 15″ Alloy (7 x 16″ Alloy optional).
• TYRES – Front and Read: 215/70 x 15 (225/60 x 16 optional) Spare: Full sized located in front wing compartment.
• FUEL SYSTEM – Pump: Electric high pressure with external filter and regulator. Tank: 82 litres (18 lmp. gallons) – 109 litres (24 lmp. gallons optional) Filler: Concealed with remote electric release.

 

• DIMENSIONS – Length: 4.87m (15′ 10″). Width: 1.765m (5′ 9″). Height: 1.441m (4’8″). Wheelbase: 2.89m (9’6″). Track Front: 1.416m (4’7″). Track Rear: 1.435m (4’8″). Turning Circle: 11.912m (39′). Kerb weight: 1,728kg (3,870lb).
• PERFORMANCE – Acceleration: 0 – 60 mph in 6.3 secs.
• BASE PRICE £141,995.00
  VAT @ 15% £21,299.25
  Total UK Price £163,294.25

Further enquiries may be directed to the head office and showrooms:
Bristol Cars Ltd. the manufacturers
Unit 19, Shield Drive, Westcross Centre, Great West Road, Brentford, TW8 9EX
Tel: 020 7603 5555

According to a little test I took based on something I saw David Gelles play on Facebook, I went overt to I Write Like and took a bunch of my copy from my silly little blog-based spy novel, Hill Mole, and it turns out that I writer like David Foster Wallace — amongst my favorite writers. I am pleased with myself. Have you read Infinite Jest? W00t!

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

//

[I originally posted this over on Toytown Germany] I am constantly amused by how gentrification is considered some terrible plague by some along the same lines of a city blight or a flight.

It is always the artist’s fault. They move in to these neighborhoods because they’re poor and the ‘hoods are cheap. They open galleries and ultra-cheap-but cool little bars or get lots of square-footage lofts for cheap.

All is well until they invite a yuppie. It might very well be a patron of the arts or art collector or even a friend-of-a-friend who makes it to the bar.

Then, it is discovered and all that interest comes in: cheap new hip place that’s cheap and then the speculative real estate investors come in.

So, it is generally not the fault of the yuppies it is the fault of the cheap and poor hipsters who move into these new finds because they’re affordable and pristine and authentic — and then they create awesome little holes in the walls, boutiques, galleries, and show venues.

Hell, I am an entrepreneur and I guess yuppie and I would totally move to Neukölln now. Completely cheap and there are amazing green grocers and lots of U-Bahn access!

And I would probably feel OK to pay €500-€1500/month for a super-fly pad. And spend money in the neighborhood. Does that make me a villain?

Also, because I am there, it may well attract people who want to sell to me even though I am super-happy to shop at the Turkish groceries and bakeries.

The only way for places to remain authentic and cheap is to remain undiscovered and, at least in the USA, they need to remain red-lined and perceived at a little rough and dangerous– or at least alien and unforgiving.

It is a little too late for Neukölln but what of Wedding and Moabit?

[Originally posted on Agencyside.net, part 2 of 3. Read part 1] Our rationale behind using a long-tail strategy on behalf of our clients is that while A-list bloggers may well be at the top of their power, impact, and influence, we at Abraham Harrison invest in quality blogs and bloggers well before they’ve become so popular and pursued that they’re almost impossible to engage, generally from being busy, overwhelmed and/or well-paid for blogging. We identify bloggers who may have a smaller audience but are authentic and have readers who value their opinions.

This is not to say that we don’t ever do A-list outreach.  We do. But oftentimes we start with our long-tail blogger outreach, reaching out to upwards of 2,000 bloggers at a time.  When we’re done with the outreach, we’ll probably have 5 A-list bloggers and a big win with a TechCrunch post but, we’ll also make sure we have a couple hundred “additional” posts, creating a reach that goes “long” down the list of influencers and “wide” in the sense that it cuts across lots of territory in the blogosphere.

So, using our team of researchers and tools like Alterian SM2 and eCairn, we identify blogger communities and assess their interests, collect their contact info and their names, and then reach out to all of the bloggers we can find that match your demographic.  We tell our researchers that if they can’t find the name and email of the blogger easily within 5 minutes then the blogger probably doesn’t want to be found.  We do not let our lists and universes of blogs ever go stale. Even if we already have topic-appropriate universes for a client, we always “refresh” that universe to make sure that we remove all the abandoned blogs and add all the blogs that have, subsequent to the creation of that original universe, come online.

Once we have started collecting the universes — in the case of the HAI Watch campaign it consisted of medical professionals, patient advocates, and those writing about eldercare, as well as people writing specifically about infection and infection prevention –we start working on messaging and putting together and building up the campaign’s social media news release (SMNR).

Since I am an A-list PR and social media blogger myself, the team and I are incessantly on the receiving end of pitch after pitch.  From our experience, even top PR companies are sending their pitches to bloggers, as inline email posts or as Word Doc or PDF attachments.  Not only are these messages encumbered with attachments but they’re often also heavy with graphics, images, and tracking code.

Our messages consist of a simple, three-paragraph email with one link, to our online SMNR, in the form of a plaintext email.  We send it as plaintext, resisting the urge to embed branding or tracking code since the only sign of success when reaching out to blogs is a post or a tweet, and keep it as simple and as short as possible, as you will see below in an example of our email outreach, along with the variables.

Subject: This is International Infection Prevention Week

Hi <<First Name>>

Since this is International Infection Prevention Week, I thought the readers of <<blog name>> would be interested to know that Kimberly-Clark Health Care is on the forefront of protecting patients from Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and has put together a campaign dedicated to that prevention called HAI Watch: Not on My Watch.

We’ve created a site that has information for both healthcare professionals and healthcare consumers. If you decide to share this with your readers, please use any of the images, logos, videos, etc:

http://haiwatchnews.com

Please let me know if you have any questions and if you are able to post, I’d really appreciate it if you’d send me the link.

Thank you,

Barbara
–
Barbara Dunn
barbara@haiwatchnews.com
www.haiwatch.com

The email is all about brevity. It is also all about being clear with why we’re emailing and what we want: it is International Infection Prevention Week and we want you to blog about Healthcare Associated Infection prevention. Short and sweet. We need to have them at hello. If they’re interested, they can either hit “reply” and ask questions and do a “Turing” test — to see if we’re awake at the wheel, this happens a lot — or they can click through to http://haiwatchnews.com to see what we’re on about.

If you take a look at the SMNR, you’ll notice that while we never attempt to force feed a specific message to the blogger, we do prepare the copy on the SMNR pre-linked and pre-written in such a way that all a blogger has to do is select, copy, and paste into their blog composition window — and then easily add whatever else it is they want to say about the information. We realize bloggers are busy, so we try not to create any unnecessary hoops they have to jump through. When a PR professional posts their press release inline in the email or as an attachment, getting any photos, logos, images, links, or videos from that email to the blog posts is just more trouble than it’s worth for most bloggers and breaks the 5-minute rule by two or three times — and really tries the commitment of the blogger. [Originally posted on Agencyside.net, part 2 of 3. Read part 1]

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My friend Richard Laermer believes that President Obama’s lack of physical and visible anger is the direct result of being from Hawaii.

I am from Hawaii. Richard sees lots of similarity between the behavior of people he knows from Hawaii and the president — including me!

Maybe, however I also think it has a little to do with avoiding the “angry black man” label as well… sort of a hybrid.  The question is, why would growing up in Hawaii result in such behavior?

Well, I tried, below, to brainstorm some reasons, though it’s rough.  The long-story-short is that Hawaii is more influenced by the Asian social and cultural mores that state that one must do anything to save face and prevent shaming your opponent, allowing them an “out”  — and your foe must, as well, work hard to protect you from shame as well.

It is not that Hawaii locals, natives, and kama’ainas (localized haoles) don’t get angry, fight, and so forth — but the issue here is about shame.

It is about saving face and allowing your foe an opportunity to save face, too.

We (generally) don’t like to corner anyone — the mentality states that we allow other people to escape from a terrible situation with their pride intact and also demand that we’re allowed to do the same.

It is a little like this in the South as well, I have discovered.

And really WASPY people sort of play by some of these rules.

It is an Asian interpretation of “what goes around comes around” — by never cornering your enemy, you offer the best of both worlds while doing your best to prevent BBS (burnt bridge syndrome).

However, Asians; Hawaii locals, natives, kama’ainas; and the rest are not suckers or fools — this “lack of anger” is only temporary.

If the face-saver realizes that his foe has no desire to be helped and, worse, has not an open hand but a fist, this could get very messy.

So, we’ll see what President Barack Obama does at the end of the day — and what sort of “behind the back” plan he has…

Because, when the whole saving face thing doesn’t work out, the extension of this strategy is to stab your foe in the back.

And so ends my deep peering into my crystal coconut.

I just received a note a couple days ago from Ashley Lawson over at Miriam’s Kitchen — an email sent to volunteers at their Washington, DC, soup kitchen for homeless men and women; however, there’s some good general information and interesting stuff for anyone who may be interested in the  current state of homelessness in DC, in America, and some examples of organizations and kitchens that are working every day to help — and the people, like me, who love them:

Guest Facts — So far this year (from January – May), volunteers  have helped to serve a total of 29,515 healthy, homemade meals to our guests.  We truly can’t thank you enough for your incredible donation of time and energy.  Each of you make a huge difference in the lives of our guests.

As you may know, many of our guests sleep on the streets every night and many are battling severe mental health problems.  The warm smiles and conversations you share with our guests are just as important to their survival as the nutritious meals you help to prepare.

In January, we administered a survey of our guests, and would like to share 3 facts with you:

• The average length of homelessness of our guests is 5.5 years
• The age groups of our guests: 18-29: 8%; 30-49: 39%; 50-61: 45%; 62+: 8%
• At the time of the survey, 25% of our guests slept on the street

If you would like a full review of the survey, you may view it here.

What Miriam’s Kitchen Needs — Interested in helping to serve our guests beyond your volunteer shift?  Please consider hosting a donation drive to benefit our guests!  Our top needs for the kitchen and our guests: ground coffee, small bottles of lotion, razors and deodorant.

Since I wanted to give you more context, I grabbed this from the Miriam’s Kitchen website, www.miriamskitchen.org:

How to Help and How to Volunteer –

We are volunteer-driven. Just ask our 1,200 volunteers! This amazing group of volunteers put in more than 12,500 hours of service for Miriam’s Kitchen in 2008–the equivalent of having six additional full-time staff members!

We are always open to ideas for ways that community members can get involved, but here are a few ways you can help:

• Help Serve Breakfast — Breakfast volunteers arrive at 6 am and spend the next two hours chopping vegetables, flipping pancakes, baking biscuits and washing dishes.
• Help Serve Lunch — Lunch volunteers join us on Wednesdays from 11:30 am-2 pm and help prepare lunch, serve drinks and distribute door prizes to our guests.
• Help Serve Dinner — Dinner volunteers are needed every week night from 4-6:30 pm to help prepare and serve healthy meals to our guests.
• Help Prepare Dinner — Volunteers are needed on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-2 pm to help prepare recipes for our dinner service.
• Help Our Case Managers — Volunteers are needed to help sort clothes, hand out toiletries and interact with our guests every weekday morning and evening.
• Host a Clothing or Toiletry Drive — We rely on in-kind donations to provide our guests with clean clothing and new toiletries. Organizing a clothing or toiletry drive in your office, church, community center or neighborhood is an easy way to provide assistance to our guests. Please click here to our wish list.

Donate! — donate online!

• With a $25 donation, you will provide the food for a healthy, homemade breakfast for 25 homeless men and women.
• With a $50 donation, you will provide transportation to doctor appointments and job interviews to 40 homeless men and women.
• With a $100 donation, you will provide art supplies for our Miriam’s Studio’s Art Therapy class.
• With a $500 donation, you will provide one day of case management services to 80 of our guests.
• With a $1,000 donation, you will provide a healthy, homemade meal (breakfast or dinner) to all of our guests for one day!
• With a $2,500 donation, you will provide healthy meals and comprehensive case management services to all of our guests for one morning!
• With a $12,500 donation, you will provide a week’s worth of meals and services to nearly 1,000 homeless men and women.

Donate online!

I just received a note a couple days ago from Ashley Lawson over at Miriam’s Kitchen — an email sent to volunteers at their Washington, DC, soup kitchen for homeless men and women; however, there’s some good general information and interesting stuff for anyone who may be interested in the  current state of homelessness in DC, in America, and some examples of organizations and kitchens that are working every day to help — and the people, like me, who love them:

Guest Facts — So far this year (from January – May), volunteers  have helped to serve a total of 29,515 healthy, homemade meals to our guests.  We truly can’t thank you enough for your incredible donation of time and energy.  Each of you make a huge difference in the lives of our guests.

As you may know, many of our guests sleep on the streets every night and many are battling severe mental health problems.  The warm smiles and conversations you share with our guests are just as important to their survival as the nutritious meals you help to prepare.

In January, we administered a survey of our guests, and would like to share 3 facts with you:

• The average length of homelessness of our guests is 5.5 years
• The age groups of our guests: 18-29: 8%; 30-49: 39%; 50-61: 45%; 62+: 8%
• At the time of the survey, 25% of our guests slept on the street

If you would like a full review of the survey, you may view it here.

What Miriam’s Kitchen Needs — Interested in helping to serve our guests beyond your volunteer shift?  Please consider hosting a donation drive to benefit our guests!  Our top needs for the kitchen and our guests: ground coffee, small bottles of lotion, razors and deodorant.

Since I wanted to give you more context, I grabbed this from the Miriam’s Kitchen website, www.miriamskitchen.org:

How to Help and How to Volunteer –

We are volunteer-driven. Just ask our 1,200 volunteers! This amazing group of volunteers put in more than 12,500 hours of service for Miriam’s Kitchen in 2008–the equivalent of having six additional full-time staff members!

We are always open to ideas for ways that community members can get involved, but here are a few ways you can help:

• Help Serve Breakfast — Breakfast volunteers arrive at 6 am and spend the next two hours chopping vegetables, flipping pancakes, baking biscuits and washing dishes.
• Help Serve Lunch — Lunch volunteers join us on Wednesdays from 11:30 am-2 pm and help prepare lunch, serve drinks and distribute door prizes to our guests.
• Help Serve Dinner — Dinner volunteers are needed every week night from 4-6:30 pm to help prepare and serve healthy meals to our guests.
• Help Prepare Dinner — Volunteers are needed on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-2 pm to help prepare recipes for our dinner service.
• Help Our Case Managers — Volunteers are needed to help sort clothes, hand out toiletries and interact with our guests every weekday morning and evening.
• Host a Clothing or Toiletry Drive — We rely on in-kind donations to provide our guests with clean clothing and new toiletries. Organizing a clothing or toiletry drive in your office, church, community center or neighborhood is an easy way to provide assistance to our guests. Please click here to our wish list.

Donate! — donate online!

• With a $25 donation, you will provide the food for a healthy, homemade breakfast for 25 homeless men and women.
• With a $50 donation, you will provide transportation to doctor appointments and job interviews to 40 homeless men and women.
• With a $100 donation, you will provide art supplies for our Miriam’s Studio’s Art Therapy class.
• With a $500 donation, you will provide one day of case management services to 80 of our guests.
• With a $1,000 donation, you will provide a healthy, homemade meal (breakfast or dinner) to all of our guests for one day!
• With a $2,500 donation, you will provide healthy meals and comprehensive case management services to all of our guests for one morning!
• With a $12,500 donation, you will provide a week’s worth of meals and services to nearly 1,000 homeless men and women.

Donate online!

• TECH cocktail DC 9 @ DCWEEK – Entrepreneurs – Events- Eventbrite

• TECH cocktail DC 9 @ DCWEEK – Entrepreneurs – Events- Eventbrite