Seeking Volunteers - San Jacinto, CA

In one of my many hats, I serve as a Resident Services Coordinator/Youth Education Services for an after school program (ASP) for LINC Cares, a studio of LINC Housing (501(3)c). We provide affordable housing across the state of California among other strong attributes, you can visit our link below for more information. The ASP provides academic and recreational support in a safe and positive environment. The ASP is available to residents ages 5-13 (K-8th) and up to 15 children. If you're local and are seeking a rewarding volunteering opportunity, this one may be for you. Click on ---> flyer.


More information on LINC Housing.


Volunteers report to me. I should have 10 volunteers with 2 serving on each day. Volunteers work between 2.5 to 3 hours (3:00 to 6:00 or 3:30 to 6:00p) per week. You can volunteer more but one shift per week is required. I have a staff of 7 with 2 going inactive until the summer; therefore, I'm in need of 5 more active volunteers.


A huge chunk of LINC Housing is ran by volunteer staff - I think nearly 75%. We appreciate our volunteers! 

Habitat for Humanity Marathon 3/31 (Hemet, CA)

Habitat for Humanity in Hemet is holding a marathon on Saturday, March 31^st in which 100% proceeds will go to their organization.  More information on this organization can be found at www.habitat.org. (The information on the preceding link is outdated but will give you an idea of levels of sponsorship needed.)

Sign up to run ($65 for full, $55 for half). Fees go up after 2/14. Register at www.active.com.

Volunteers are needed for the day of the marathon.

The marathon starts at 8a and ends roughly around 3p. Volunteers are needed from about 6a until clean up around 5p.

Contact Patsy at 951-658-0235 for details on how you can make a difference.

Last year they raised between $30-35K. Let's go bigger this year. The need is definitely increasing.

H4H is looking for volunteers on an ongoing basis so if you can't make it to the marathon then you can help with hammer and nails by building or if that's not your thing, you can help with office work - grant writing, etc. at the Hemet office. 

Cooking and Kids - Stuffed Shells Recipe

This past Monday, I had the distinct pleasure visiting the home of Cooking and Kids’ owner, Vlada Vladic.  She wanted to share a savory dish but the catch was I had to help! Me? Yes! I thought how blessed I am to learn first-hand from an amazing mother who has a passion for cooking healthy. Just my kind of thing!

  

Cooking and Kids’ desires to “Help America conquer childhood obesity and related diseases, preparing children to pass on healthy lifestyles to our next generation by enabling young families to make permanent changes in their daily diets and lives… TOGETHER WE CAN DO THIS!”

Vlada offers cooking lessons in the student's home for up to 6 people for 2 hours for $100. This is a fantastic rate! To further inquire you may contact her through her website. She also creates live cooking videos from her kitchen sharing on YouTube. I highly recommend you subscribe to her channels, 57Vlada and CookingandKids. She is the winner of Food Network’s Family Feast Challenge 2010. You can enjoy her award winning recipe by visiting the article contributed by Barbara Rolek on About.com. 

I know you’re waiting on what we made so here it goes – Sausage and Vegetables Stuffed Shells.

Ingredients:

3 cloves of chopped garlic

¼ cup of olive oil

1 tbls of dry or fresh basil or parsley

¼ medium chopped onion

6 mild Italian sausages

½ cup shredded zucchini

½ cup shredded large carrots

12 oz of precooked jumbo shells 'al-dente'

1 egg

1 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese

2 cups of tomato sauce of your choice

Preheat oven to 360. In pan on stovetop, heat olive oil, add onions. Once onions are translucent add carrots but wait until they soften a bit before adding zucchini. Add sausage. While it's browning add garlic and basil. Remove from heat after all is cooked well. (We added an egg to keep the ingredients from separating.) Spoon the sausage mixture into the precooked shells. Top with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Top with foil for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.  Remove foil, add parsley and place in oven for 10 minutes. The foil keeps the shells moist, cooks the egg and brings the food to the right temperature. Buon Appetito!

We served this dish with a nice side of steamed broccoli coated with an EVOO and butter sauce.

Be sure to check out Cooking and Kids’ website and be on watch for her Facebook fan page. It is coming soon! 

Cooking and Kids was also featured in my Jan-Mar 2012 Conveying Awareness newsletter. You can find it here (available through 3/31/12).