Make A Difference Day: Denver

Make A Difference Day is held on the fourth Saturday in October every year and encourages the nation to come together for one day and participate in service projects that will directly affect their community in a positive manner. Projects were completed all over the country that truly made a difference in their community!

Mile High Youth Corps spent the day working on Fairview Elementary School, a school located in the neighborhood of several of our locations. Special thanks to the principal, Norma Giron for letting us work with her on such a special project! Listen to the speech she gave to the over 120 VOLUNTEERS!!!

The MHYC community joined with parents and students of the elementary school, Veronica Garcia, our friends from Ricoh-Ilkon and other community members to paint benches, clean up the playgrounds, plant trees, paint portions of the building and provide some overall maintenance to the garden. Thanks again for all you came to support!




We would like to thank all those who helped to make the day possible with their generous donations! Thanks from MHYC to John Alexander at Home Depot, Brigid McRaith for her art supplies, the Million Tree Initiative, Kim from Park People/Denver Digs, Cici’s pizza, Tagawa Gardens, Diane Wilson at Applewood Seed Co and Einstein’s Bagels for their delicious breakfast.

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Snow is Here!

Every kid is hoping to hear the words “snow day”, when the first snow falls in Denver. With that phrase comes the opportunity to build snowmen, have a snow ball fight, NOT GO TO SCHOOL and snuggle up inside their warm houses with a cup of hot cocoa.

For our crews, the snow falls and it is just another day in the office…. well sort of. Both fall land crews braved the cold and headed out to continue their projects in Centennial and Genesee.

GREAT WORK GUYS AND GALS!!!

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New Colorado Springs VISTA

Hi! I’m Kate Prestine, the new VISTA at our Colorado Springs field office. I’ll be doing marketing and outreach for MHYC down here. I’ve got about a month and a half under my belt and so far, so good!

A little about me:
I’m originally from Southwestern Michigan, but call Indiana my home – spent a little over half of my life there. I’d been living in Indianapolis for nearly three years before I moved out here. I’ve got a B.A. in Journalism from Indiana University and have been using those communications and graphic design skills quite a bit here. I’m recently engaged – my fiance is a VISTA up in Denver with Trout Unlimited, but only goes up about one day a week, so we live in the Springs. I really dig hiking, paddling, biking, good beer, skiing and music. (I’ve been playing guitar for about 10 years now and am taking my first violin/fiddle lesson next week!) Also, as mentioned in my tiny monthly update profile, I have been enjoying sporting socks with Teva sandals thoroughly. (You get shunned for that sort of behavior back in the Midwest!)

Accomplishments at MHYC so far:
-Formed an advisory council for this office; consisting of community members who will meet once a month to help us brainstorm marketing, recruitment and fundraising.
-Obtained Jimmy John’s for our crew on Make a Difference Day (Oct. 22)
-Designed a MHYC postcard for the Combined Federal Campaign and had 2500 printed.
-Designed flyers and a magnet for the Combined Federal Campaign, as well. To be printed and distributed soon!

So after about a month and a half, I’m feeling pretty good about everything. If you know of anything I’m doing wrong or could be doing differently though, please don’t hesitate to contact me! Though I feel confident, I’m certainly still new! But it’s a pleasure to be here and I look forward to the rest of my year with MHYC.

Contact:
Kate Prestine
katep@mhyc.net
719-630-7421

Kate Prestine, 2011-2012 VISTA for MHYC Colorado Springs

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Career Day!

Chatter was heard throughout the building as Corpsmembers were given the opportunity to speak with staff about possible opportunities for future employment after their term at MHYC is over.

It was a great morning where CMs could learn more about what staff does on a day to day basis AND staff got a chance to learn more about CMs that they had maybe never met before


The conversations were all about next steps, how to market yourself in this job economy, possible opportunities at MHYC and questions about how staff got to the job they are at now.

Thanks to the CMs of Leadership Council for putting this great day together!!

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Did you hear that!?

Finally, fall is here!!!! And do you know what that means!? Ghosts, goblins, vampires and zombies will soon be roaming our streets AND our special event will be happening soon. This year promises to bring your two favorite things together…. MHYC AND GHOSTS!

We have enlisted Paranormal Investigator, Kevin Sampron, to lead a tour around the mansion identifying some paranormal evidence. I asked him to give a little more information to prepare us for what we may be in for:

The SpiritPI Team

My name is Kevin Sampron and I am the President and Founder of Spirit Paranormal Investigations. I created SpiritPI in 2005 after capturing the voice of my deceased Mother answering a question posed graveside. That proved to me beyond the shadow of a doubt that spirits do exist and we have the means to communicate with them. SpiritPI has performed many paranormal investigations at historic haunted Mansions, Libraries, Restaurants, Homes, Museums and Clubs throughout Colorado and we have captured some amazing paranormal evidence. We are experts at capturing ghost voices otherwise known as Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP’s and have an amazing collection. At Halloween, SpiritPI provides fun and informative presentations and private ghost hunts in some of Denver’s most famous locations so be sure to join us if you dare! People always ask me what the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me while hunting for ghosts. I have had many experiences including hearing disembodied voices and screams, ghostly footsteps, and I have even been touched several times by unseen hands! My favorite paranormal event occurred while investigating the Highlands Ranch Mansion. There is the ghost of a child that roams the hallways and one night during an investigation I felt a strong tug on the back of my shirt. It felt just like a child trying to get my attention. When I turned around and saw that nobody was there I immediately put my arm out and asked to take my picture with the ghost. Several pictures were taken and in just one you can see a white glowing anomaly floating right in front of my outstretched hand!! You can see that picture and other great evidence at our website located at http://www.SpiritPI.com

Want to attend? BUY TICKETS NOW!

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In the Summer Sunshine

The weather in Denver is becoming more and more unpredictable. With September ending and October gaining speed, I expect to see leaves changing, feel cool breezes coming through and sense a crispness in the air. These are the things I have come to expect from my fall growing up on the East Coast, but I am here now. And Colorado offers us longer days with more FAR MORE sunshine, and you know what? Who could ask for more!?!

Colorado gives the summers a couple extra weeks that only few in the country are lucky enough to have! Our summer work is over, but the sunshine and 65 degree + days are constantly reminding me of all the good memories that the last couple of months gave me. Let’s take a second to forget that school started, swimming pools are closed and BBQs have been put away, and instead remember the most recent Colorado summer.

All photos were provided by an incredible day at the end of summer to celebrate the work MHYC CMs did in the field and to have a little fun! Our winners of the Olympics were CO Springs crew, H1N1, who beat out everyone in the tug of war and mini contests throughout the day.

What a great look back on the summer… The Aspens are changing in the mountains reminding us that an even better fall season is still ahead

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