Around Town: August 17-19

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Julia Cain

Planning your weekend? Consider a non-profit destination, such as …

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

A 12-week public art celebration offering free cultural events and promoting creative expression, Artland Temporium features exhibits, dance, concerts, poetry readings, and games and free to the public. Check out the full schedule for this weekend right here.

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW)

The DCAC Gallery is open from 2:00 to 7:00 PM on Wednesday through Sunday; so you can check the final week of “Wallmountables.” Any artist can purchase up to four 2′ x 2′ spaces and work is accepted from a wide range of media.

Accokeek Foundation (3400 Bryan Point Rd, Accokeek, MD)

Join a kitchen table conversation and introduction to the epicurean delights of colonial Marylanders; explore “receipts” (recipes) and meal preparation on Saturday at noon. Learn more right here!

Potomac Conservancy (River Center at Lock 8, 7906 Riverside Drive, Cabin John, MD)

Extra busy Sunday with Potomac Conservancy! A Canal Stewards river cleanup begins at 10:00 AM, followed by a Tree ID Walk at noon (can you tell a sycamore from a maple tree?) and Wilderness 101 at 1:30 PM. More info right here.

Around Town: August 10-12

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Julia Cain

A few great nonprofit destinations for your weekend …

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

HomeAid Northern Virginia (at Pfitzner Stadium, 7 County Complex Court Woodbridge, VA)

Help HomeAid send 200 kids and parents to watch the Potomac Nationals vs. the Winston-Salem Dash on Friday at 7:00 PM; for many of these children, this is the first baseball game that they’ll attend. Learn more right here.

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What the Coffee Means

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Spur Local

By Matt Bright, Earth Sangha’s Tree Bank Coordinator

Earth Sangha Tree Bank / Hispaniola is a partnership with a group of small-holder farmers who live along a section of the Dominican Republic-Haiti border. Our goal is to create a system in which tropical small-holder farming is more compatible with native forest. Such a system, we hope, could one day benefit small-holders in the many parts of the rural tropics. This guest post is an excerpt from First Hand, a series of essays and videos intended to show you what it’s like to do small-scale “green development” in a rural, developing-country context.

Our Rising Forests Coffee is, to our friends in the DC area, the most visible and tangible achievement from our work in the Dominican Republic. Drinking our coffee is not just a delicious way to start your morning (now available in dark roast: order here!); it’s also an important way to support our conservation efforts. Our coffee supports our Tree Bank, provides much-needed income to our farmers, and encourages conservation.

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Around Town: August 2-5

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Julia Cain

Some great nonprofit destinations for the coming days:

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW, Washington, DC)

Topher and Joe, purveyors of fine improv comedy, join with special guests Sistine Robot and Season Six this coming Friday at 10:00 PM. Tickets available right here.

Accokeek Foundation (15769 Livingston Road, Accokeek, MD)

On Saturday at 10:00 AM, Eileen Watts of Hard Bargain Farm offers a hands-on exploration of basic cheese-making; participants will assemble two recipes: a semi-soft farmer’s cheese and a 30-minute mozzarella. Sign up here!

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (641 D Street NW, Washington, DC)

Following the Saturday 8:00 PM performance of The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Woolly presents a one-time-only conversation with Mike Daisey and Apple, Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak. More information right here.

Around Town: July 27-29

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Julia Cain

Have a great final weekend of July, Greater Washington!

And best wishes to all those taking part in the Smith Center’s July Week-long Cancer Retreat in Comus, Maryland. Learn more about retreats here and other Smith Center programs right here.

Olympics of the Mind at Higher Achievement (Alexandria, VA)

500 scholars from the DC region come together for a day of friendly academic and physical competition — and the exciting conclusion to Summer Academy — this Friday. Check out this video about the event!

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Around Town: July 21-22

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Julia Cain

Have a great weekend, Greater Washington! Plus we have plenty of places to spend it, such as …

Accokeek Foundation (3400 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek, MD)

Green Thumbs volunteers look into the history of heirloom vegetables and the practices behind organic gardening, from planting and harvesting to managing weeds and pests, on Saturday from 9:00 AM to noon. Learn more right here!

Alexandria Seaport Foundation (Duke Street Boat Shop, 2 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA)

Join in ASF’s 30th anniversary celebration and dory boat christening this Saturday at 10:00 AM, food and refreshment included. Check it out right here.

Volunteer Fairfax (Rock Bottom Ballston, 4238 Wilson Boulevard Suite 1256, Arlington, VA)

At VolunTrivia on Saturday at 1:00 PM, teams of up to 6 players will compete for a chance to win the $200 1st place prize as well as over $300 in other prizes. Register your team online this way.

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New Ownership

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Julia Cain

Last week, we linked to several lessons on philanthropic work offered up by Katie Couric of ABC News and Ann Friedman of the SEED Foundation (among other women leaders) in The Atlantic. This week, MSNBC reports that “Women exert new influence on philanthropy:”

“Women are taking ownership,” said Andrea Pactor, associate director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University, which has found that female-headed households are more likely to give to charity than male-headed households; and that in nearly all income groups women give more than men.

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Around Town: July 13-17

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Julia Cain

Have a great weekend, friends! And consider visiting a local nonprofit, such as …

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

A 12-week public art celebration offering free cultural events and promoting creative expression, Artland Temporium events include exhibits, dance, concerts, poetry readings, and games and free to the public. Check out the full schedule for this weekend right here.

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW)

Super busy this weekend: The Extermination Machine at 7:30 PM today through Sunday, Nightmerica (presented by Theatre du Jour) on Friday at 10:00 PM and Saturday & Sunday at 5:00 PM, and a Loose Ends Artist Talk on Sunday afternoon. The full schedule is right on the website.

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In The Community Minutes …

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Marie LeBlanc

By Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator

Each month, WAMU features one or more local nonprofits in a segment called “Community Minute.” This month, two Catalogue for Philanthropy charities are featured on the radio and online: City Kids Wilderness Project and Man Can Stop Rape. While we always enjoy reading about our nonprofits in the Catalogue, hearing directly from staff members on the radio brings their stories to life in a new way.

City Kids Wilderness Project offers experiential learning programs for inner-city youth, utilizing the outdoors and a natural environment as a classroom for academic, recreational and life skills. Development Associate Mike Macrina shares the story of a City Kids alumnus who is now a freshman at West Virginia University, and will be working in Alaska with the National Outdoor Leadership School this summer — and attempting the first all-African American summit of the highest peak in North America.

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Single Ray

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Julia Cain

A single ray of light from a distant star falling upon the eye of a tyrant in bygone times may have altered the course of his life, may have changed the destiny of nations, may have transformed the surface of the globe, so intricate, so inconceivably complex are the processes in Nature. (February 1983)

The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter — for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way. He lives and labors and hopes. (July 1934)

— Serbian-American physicist Nikola Tesla, born today in 1856