Blog Lafayette

It’s not too late to donate much needed supplies to the local Head Start program.  We can drop off our donations at Industrial Federal Credit Union branches through July 30th. At least one of their branches is open late every day.

I found the complete list here.  I have more of the things on their list around my house than I thought I would. They need the obvious glue sticks and markers, but also facial tissues, children’s music CD’s, disposable diapers sizes 3-6, sidewalk chalk, craft items, ziploc bags and much more. Please check out the list and help if you can.

What in the world are you talking about!? I can just hear it now. What does a blog about Lafayette Indiana have to do with dragons?

Simple. Kids like dragons. And the Tippecanoe County Public Library is having a fun event especially for kids on Monday March 28th at 3:00 p.m. at the Klondike branch. The event is called “Dragonology.” It for kids aged 7 and up. Kids get to join the secret & ancient “Society of Dragonologists.” They also get to learn dragons secrets and how to defeat them with riddles. And best of all, they get to hunt for dragon eggs. Sounds like a fun time for your child or grandchild. Harvesting your child’s imagination is priceless. Here is a great chance to do just that. Have fun all!

As we all watch the news coverage of the aftermath of the historic 8.9 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan we are left with a couple of questions. What now? And, what can I do to help? There will be many relief efforts to choose from over the next few days and weeks. The list will grow as more people get organized. Most of the efforts will be legitimate and some will be scams. The key for each of us who would like to do something to help is to figure out which are worthy of our money and efforts.

There a few things that you can do. In a eHow.com article on “How to Check if a Charity is Legitimate” there are some great general tips you can follow to check a charity. Three good suggestions are:

1. Check charities that solicit nationally on the National Charity Reports Index.
2. Go to Guidestar online and do a free search for the charity.
3. Visit your Better Business Bureau website for information on regional charities. The Lafayette site is http://lafayette.bbb.org/

Charities are not necesarily relief programs but the idea of how to check up on them is the same so this article should be of help.

Another article that I came across this morning looks like a great source of information on how to help Japan in particular. The article, “Use Caution When Donating To Japanese Earthquake Relief, And Some (Legit) Ways To Give” gives information on some relief organizations that are in a position to offer real help. The article mentions both the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army. The Red Cross is mobilizing relief efforts in most local areas of the United States. The website for the National Chapter of The American Red Cross is http://www.redcross.org/, or to contact our local Tippecanoe County Chapter of the Red Cross go to http://lafayetteredcross.org/. If you choose to investigate options from The Salvation Army, you can go to their website at http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf or you can donate directly by calling (800) SAL-ARMY, or texting the word “Quake” or “Japan” to 80888 to donate $10.

One last idea that I am glad to be a part of personally is something that my wife is involved in. She is a full time merchant on eBay, with a store called Seasoned With Time. For the rest of the month she will be making all of her new auctions charity listings with at least 10% going to The GlobalGiving Project. She talks about this in her latest blog post, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund – GlobalGiving Project. We are thankful that eBay makes it easy for merchants to make contributions to various charities and relief organizations. For more information about Global Giving go to http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/?rf=twtr.

Giving help to people in need has never been easier.

It has come to my attention that within the next month several local area agencies will begin a task force to review a program designed to teach minority and other at-risk youth how to swim. The program they will be studying will be based on “The Josh Project“, a Toledo Ohio based program started by the mother of a young boy who died from an accidental drowning. Behind this initiative is an alarming statistic from a study by the University of Memphis that says “nearly 70% of African American children have low or no swim ability.” Couple that statistic with the ongoing and recent series of drownings of young people and you see why there is a need for a program like this.

The participants in the local task force will be the Hanna Community Center, the YWCA, Jim Sharp (head swim coach at Jefferson High School), and Lafayette Swim America. The goal of the participants in the task force will be to gather data locally to determine whether a program geared toward teaching the youth to swim can be paid for now and in the future and whether it can operate out of the YWCA Greater Lafayette’s pool.

To quote the press release for this upcoming project. “The vision for such a program is based on the success of The Josh Project, a Toledo, Ohio-based nonprofit organization that raises funds in order to provide low-cost swim lessons and water safety instruction for children who typically would not learn to swim.”

“Hanna Community Center Executive Director Dewayne Moffitt was inspired to initiate the local effort after following the story of six African American teens who drowned in the Red River near Shreveport, Louisiana, last August. The tragedy occurred as the teens were wading in shallow water and one of them strayed into an unfamiliar part of the river and started to drown. As the others attempted to save the first victim, all of them were pulled into the river and perished.”

When I heard the news story at the time, I remember thinking how tragic it was that so many kids drowned at the same time. As someone who grew up in the country, it is hard for me to imagine not being able to swim. I was taught to swim early and grew to enjoy the water immensely. Here’s hoping that the program will be implemented. Our local kids should have the same chance to enjoy the water that I did.

It is the weekend again and as usual there are plenty of things to do in the Lafayette area.

On Friday and Saturday the 25th and 26th there will be a Religious Arts Festival featuring two one-act plays by the Chancel Players of Lafayette. The first of the two plays will be “The Long Christmas Dinner” by Thornton Wilder. The action of the Long Christmas Dinner represents in accelerated motion 90 Christmas dinners in the Bayard home. It is a serious play lightened with humor of character. The second of the two plays will be “The Robe of the Galilean” by John McGreevey. It is based on scenes from The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas. This is a thrilling play of faith triumphant. It is about Marcellus, a Roman, who is seeking an answer to the riddle of Jesus’ life. The festival will start at 7:30 p.m. each evening at St. Thomas Aquinas Center, 535 W. State Street in West Lafayette. You can contact Camille A. Cripps by phone at 765-742-2693 for further information or send an email to them at chancelplayers@yahoo.com.

On Saturday morning, February 26, the Journal & Courier’s Scripps Regional Spelling Bee will take place. Only those students who have competed in and won their individual school bees are able to participate in the regional bee. Participating schools must be registered with Scripps. The registration will be at 8:30am and the spelling bee will take place at 9:00 am. The event will take place at the Sunnyside Middle School Auditorium at 2500 Cason Street in Lafayette. You can contact Kara Bishop at 765-420-5217 or by email at kbishop@journalandcourier.com for further information about this spelling bee.

Later that day the 21st Annual Spelling Bee for Literacy will also be held at the Sunnyside Middle School Auditorium. This will be a local spelling competition following a National Regional Spelling Bee. Teams of three (families, schoolmates, co-workers, etc.) will participate for fun. The event features Sameer Mishra as Pronouncer (2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion). Organize your team and sign up to win great prizes and have some fun. Pick up an entry form at he Lafayette Adult Resource Academy. The event will be held at 1:00 p.m. You can contact Sandra Wood at 765-476-2920 for further information or send an email to laraoffice@lara.lafayette.in.us.

Two more events will be held on Saturday. The Tippecanoe Storytellers Guild will have a storytelling event at the Tippecanoe County Public Library. The storytellers ask us, “What do you do with a favorite story? Read it. Return to it. And read it again. That’s why TCPL staff say stories are “the ultimate recyclable.” See the Tippecanoe Storytellers Guild perform favorite childhood tales. Bet you’ll say,”Tell it again!”" This event will be held at 3:00 p.m. at the Tippecanoe Co. Public Library on 627 South Street in Lafayette. For further information contact the library by phone at 765-429-0100 or visit their website at http://www.tcpl.lib.in.us/.

The last event to take place on Saturday will be one of my personal favorites, the “Wolf Park Howl Night”. The Howl Night features a lecture on wolf communication, the opportunity to see some of the staff enter the enclosure and interact with the wolves of our main pack, and the chance to howl with the wolves. This is truly a lot of fun for any of you who love nature and animals. The lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. at Wolf Park, 4004 E. 800 N. Battle Ground Indiana. For more information contact Wolf Park at 765-567-2265 or visit their website at http://www.wolfpark.org/.

On Sunday you can look forward to classical music at the Long Center for the Performing Arts. The theme is “Jeans and Classics”. Wear your best jeans to this laid-back Sunday concert. Enjoy light classical music in a casual afternoon setting. This will be a great family concert! The concert starts at 3:00 p.m. at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, 111 N. 6th Street, Lafayette. For more information contact Erica Pence at 765-742-6463, send them an email at operationsmanager@lafayettesymphony.org, or take the time to look at their website at http://www.lafayettesymphony.org/.

And lastly there is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Other Eric Carle Favorites”. This is a special event geared toward your little ones ages 3-8. Mermaid Theatre uses the magic of black light to capture the charm of the Very Hungry Caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a beautiful butterfly, Little Cloud’s travels through the sky, and the Mixed-Up Chameleon’s discovery of his own unique nature. The fun starts at 3:00 p.m. at the Loeb Playhouse, Purdue University in West Lafayette.
To get more information contact the Purdue Business Office at 765-494-3933 or email them at convocations@purdue.edu.