volunteer – Page 7 – Salem Main Streets

Citizen of the Month – Andy Gerard

May 172014

Andy Gerard – Photo Credit Social Palates

Salem Main Streets is pleased to continue with our Citizen of the Month feature! The intent of this feature will be to spotlight individuals who are going above and beyond to make downtown Salem a great community in which to live, work, and play. Hopefully, you’ll learn new ways that you can help as well. This month we are spotlighting Andy Gerard, the volunteer mastermind behind the Salem YMCA‘s brand-new recording studio.

The son of a music teacher, music has always played a significant role in Andy’s life. Andy first came to Massachusetts from New Jersey as an undergraduate in sociology at UMASS-Amherst, where he continued to play a variety of instruments in addition to his classwork. He went on to attend the School of Audio Engineering in New York City and worked at a number of recording studios while living in NYC. Andy transitioned into software engineering after moving to the Boston area, where recording engineer positions are few and far between, but he maintains a small studio in his basement for his own projects.

When Andy originally found out about the Y’s hopes for a recording studio via Facebook, he thought that his background as a recording engineer might prove useful and offered to help. He found that professional quote the Y had received was going to be too expensive to pull off and worked with them to develop a more achievable plan. In addition to playing the role of consultant, Andy built and donated the computer that will serve as the central hub for the recording operation. He hopes to continue helping as a teacher and engineer once the recording studio is truly up and running.

Andy volunteers for several other local causes, including Solarize Salem. He enjoys the ability to give something back, noting out that his wife City Councilor Beth Gerard’s love of volunteering often encourages by example. Andy appreciates that the recording studio at the Y is truly a community project and points out that a recording gives students something tangible to walk away with to mark their accomplishments. In addition to serving as an educational opportunity and creative outlet for students, the Y hopes that members of the Salem community will also begin using the recording studio as a resource.

Want to help support the YMCA’s recording studio? Come to Ames Hall at the YMCA, One Sewall Street, TONIGHT (May 17) at 7:00 p.m. for a benefit concert with Soul Rebel Project, The Dejas, Qwill, and Kevin William Klein – specifically to support the Y’s music program and the new recording studio! Tickets are $20 at the door with a cash bar. Find more information here.

Do you know a good candidate for Citizen of the Month? A neighbor, a colleague, a random do-gooder you’ve consistently noticed around town? We want to hear about it! Email Kylie at kylie@salemmainstreets.org with recommendations.

A Day of Learning, A Day of Fun

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May 102014

School is in session this Saturday as Education Day breaks out all over Salem Ma. But it will be unlike anything you’ve seen before. Classes are in skin care, recycling, rope making, mixology, Farmers Market, photography and more.

The Salem Education Foundation is presenting the “2nd Annual Hats Off to Education Weekend” as a way of promoting community involvement and investment in the public schools of Salem, Ma.

The schedule as posted by SEF includes:

Workshops and Fun Activities, at Old Town Hall, 10am – 3pm
・   The Community Development Coalition will host a bilingual scavenger hunt in Old Town Hall and visitors can take part in a session titled “Journey through the Immigrant Experience”
・   TD Bank will offer finance classes for teens and adults
・   John Andrews of Social Palates and “we_are_Salem” will offer a photography class
・   The House of The Seven Gables will offer bilingual “Dominican Tales”
・   Salem Historical Tours will speak about the city’s rich history
・   The North Shore Career Center will offer workshops on how to build a resume and find a job
・   Henry Miller’s Architecture Lab at Boston Architectural College will offer two hour long workshops on how to build a speaker for your handheld device. Space is limited for this workshop. Please register by emailing Henry.Miller@the-bac.edu
・   Additionally, children will have the opportunity to look at gemstones, learn about beekeeping, brush up on their Harry Potter facts, learn about the importance of recycling, healthy food and gardening and engage in arts activities

Free Community Read Book, Old Town Hall, 10am – 3pm
・ The Community Advisory Board will give away copies of “The Good Thief,” written by Hannah Tinti, a Salem native. This is the book selected for the city of Salem’s first Community Read.

Activities at the Salem Common will include:
・   The Hogwarts Hustle Kids’ Fun Run at 10:30am This is a half-mile fun run for kids age 12 and under. There will also be a dash for kids 4 and under. Kids are encouraged to dress as their favorite Harry Potter characters. Finisher ribbons will be awarded to the first 100 runners
・   12 noon Basketball Tournament! Email Andre at adaley@bgcgs.org
・   Adults and children alike can have a Zumba experience with the energetic Gina Grinarml
・   Learn circuit training with Kerry Murphy
・   Play in a basketball game with Mayor Kim Driscoll
・   Hula hoop and free dance to the rhythms of Mamadou’s drummers!

Performances, at Old Town Hall, 10am – 3pm
・   The Salem High School Jazz Band
・   Destination Imagination team Challenges
・   School-age Latin and African dancers from Greg Coles and his Salsa for the Schools program
・   A theater group and other local talents

The SEF mission is to provide funding for projects that further students’ educational experiences in science, mathematics, the arts and humanities. It supports projects that go beyond the scope of those funded by the Salem Public School Department. And it works with the larger community to make schools a true community enterprise by promoting and coordinating volunteerism and participation in the schools.

Learn something and have a lot of fun.

Reaching Out to the Community After Tragic Fire

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May 072014

We discuss Salem fun activities and developments on a regular basis, but this time out, the spotlight falls on a tragic event involving an early morning house fire in our city.

In response, on Tuesday, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll posted this to her Facebook page:

As you may know, an early morning fire at 60 Dow Street has left several families in need of assistance. At present, seven units have been affected by the fire, resulting in the displacement of 45 individuals, including 16 children.

In the aftermath of the fire, which broke out early this morning (approx. 1am), the families were placed at the Council on Aging building on Broad Street with the assistance of the Red Cross. As of this afternoon, the Red Cross has provided vouchers for up to two-night stays at a local hotel and families have been transported to this location for the night.

In terms of needs, housing is the top priority at the moment and we are working with a number of organizations to help in this regard, including the Salem Housing Authority and our local Veterans Department. We are hoping that some of the units that were minimally damaged can be made habitable again within the next week, but we still expect there will be residents in need of housing. Anyone interested in renting a housing unit in Salem to one of these families should contact the Mayor’s Office at mayor@salem.com and we’ll forward your information to the prospective families.

In addition, many families lost a majority of their possessions, including clothing, furnishings and other household items. We are working to set up a fund at Salem Five Bank where charitable donations can be made to assist families financially with purchasing items they need. Anyone wishing to make a donation should make the check payable to the ‘Dow Street Fire Victims Fund’. Donations can be mailed/dropped off at Salem City Hall, Mayors Office 93 Washington Street, Salem, MA 01970.

Lastly, we are putting together a list of clothing needs for those affected and will be setting up a drop off location for a clothing drive for families. Details on the clothing needs are below.

Call for Clothes (Children and Adult size shoes, pants and shirts):
– One 6-month old
– 7 Boys & Girls 5-10 years-old
– 9 Boys & Girls 11-19 years-old
– 9 Men & Women 20-30 years-old
– 17 Men & Women 30+

As you can imagine, this has been quite traumatic for many of the folks involved and I want to recognize and thank the city departments and outside agencies who have stepped up to help out, in particular the Red Cross, who was on the scene early along with our own Salem Fire Department (great stop by our firefighters).

We have received offers of assistance from near and far – including the Governor’s Office and several local individuals – and I am hopeful that we can provide some level of assistance to those most in need. Salem is great at coming together in a time of need and we’ll provide additional updates and ways you can help over the next several days.

Wiki Spotlight on Salem’s PEM

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May 032014

Spreading the word about Salem, MA to a global audience is up to you today. The Peabody Essex Museum is holding an all day Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, 9am-5pm in the Create Space 2 area of PEM. It is open to the public and free of charge.

Native American and Chinese art collections will be the focus of the day. It will be a fun-filled event with a social purpose. And another great way to spend a Saturday in Salem doing something completely different than last week!

“We’re bringing together Wikipedia editors, museum staff and anyone interested in joining the ranks of Wikipedia’s global volunteer editor corps to share PEM’s unique resources with the world,” explains Ed Rodley in a recent Connected PEM blog.

Rodley, who is Associate Director of Integrated Media at PEM, adds “We’ll be uploading images of objects from our permanent collections, while learning how to write and edit Wikipedia articles…and meeting new friends.”

With over 4 million English language articles, Wikipedia is considered the world’s most successful online encyclopedia. Anyone with Internet access can be an editor but there are of course rules and guidelines.

Training, advice and guidance will be offered at PEM Edit-a-thon by experienced Wikipedians as well as by museum personnel.

You are advised to bring your own laptop and charger.

Lunch will be provided (pizza) plus coffee, tea and water, but you may bring your own.

For a full schedule of the day’s activities go to the PEM Edit-a-thon Wiki page where you can also sign up.

Citizen(s) of the Month – Stephanie Hagyard and Christian Haselgrove

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Mar 242014

Hot on the heels of our first Business Spotlight, Salem Main Streets is pleased to introduce another new monthly feature – Citizen of the Month! The intent of this feature will be to spotlight individuals who are going above and beyond to make Salem a great community in which to live, work, and play. Hopefully, you’ll learn new ways that you can help as well.

This month we will spotlight not one, but TWO, citizens on the month – Stephanie Hagyard and Christian Haselgrove, co-founders of Salem Volunteers.

Stephanie, a 9-year-resident of Salem working at a local mortgage company, and Christian, a 7-year-resident working in IT and medical research, actually met while volunteering. The two had both signed up to volunteer at Salem Oktoberfest. Christian was the only one to show up in lederhosen. Clearly, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Skip ahead to 2013 – the two friends were volunteering together at the Salem Film Fest. They started chatting about the lack of a central place for potential volunteers to learn about opportunities around town; Christian had only found out about volunteering at the Film Fest because Stephanie happened to mention it. With that, Salem Volunteers was born.

Salem Volunteers strives to be a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities around town. While they do not physically match volunteers with organizations, Stephanie and Christian manage a website, a weekly newsletter, and an active Facebook profile to promote the many organizations and events in Salem looking for volunteer help. All of this is accomplished on their own time and expense.

Both Stephanie and Christian are extremely active volunteers, explaining that volunteering is a great way to give back, share your passions, and connect with the community. They’re two of Salem Main Streets’ most reliable volunteers – in the past year alone, one or both have volunteered to help at the Salem Arts Festival, the Salem Farmers Market, the Haunted Happenings info booth, and New Years Eve.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Stephanie and Christian yet, keep your eyes open at the next community event you attend. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself and ask how you can help, or email them at info@salemvolunteers.org now to get started!

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