Media Meditation #8: Giving Back For the Holidays

With the current economic stance, this holiday season you should give back to the community. There are opportunities from gift wrapping, to donating food, old clothes, and toys for tots, to playing music and other forms of entertainment. If you don't know where to look to help out, here's where:
Vermont Cares, the local AIDS non-profit organization that provides free HIV testing, and sponsored AIDS Walk, are in charge of the gift wrapping in the Burlington Town Center Mall. All you need to do is work a minimum of 3 hours wrapping presents for mall patrons. No talent in wrapping is needed!
Vermont Children's Aid is sponsoring the Holiday Spirit Program, which provides families faced with incarceration with a sharing and joyous environment. This organization is asking for donations, but also for volunteers to talk to businesses and to pick up the donated goods.
The Lund Family Center, whose goal is to support a therapeutic residential treatment program for pregnant and parenting young women, adoption and pregnancy programs, and child/family services, is asking clothes, toys, books, and household goods to make this season the best for those families that are unfortunate.
The Cathedral Square Senior Living is hosting musical entertainment for their senior citizens. If you are considering volunteering for this organization, musical talent is a preference.
Another volunteer oppurtunity is through the Flynn Center and Memorial Auditorium. Your job would include passing out buttons and selling tickets. The tickets and buttons are for First Night Burlington, Inc., an substance-free New Years' Eve event centered on the performing arts. All volunteers will get their own button.



This video was a broadcast for Channel 5 WPTZ News, covering the 25th Anniversary of First Night in Burlington. As each year has progressed since 1983, more and more people have attended reaching numbers up to 20,000. If you're looking to achieve 'Flow State,' here's an event to attend. The music played will stimulate your limbic system, yet at the same time might be triggering the flight reaction of your reptilian brain, depending on your preference of music. Also, for those performances not music related, will activate your neocortex. The PR campaign for First Night has covered everything, from posting volunteer opportunies online, and in newspapers, to putting up fliers and posters, and passing out buttons, around town. Even the news story adds to the knowledge of First Night around Burlington. All this advertising helps increase the personal shift of the event, providing the viewer with the information to participate. This video sponsored plain folks, and locally famous musicians, and even uses the persuasive technique of strength by having performances by war veterans. This year's big event is the Jamie Lee Thurston event. He will be performing from 9:00-11:00 at the Flynn Center for the Arts. The event has become a big performance, with a planning group entitled, FOOFN ( Friends of Our First Night). They plan everything from the two fireworks displays, circus event, performances from over 150 local artists, a talent show for ages 12-18, and arts and crafts.

“First Night has made Burlington's annual New Year's Eve celebration a safe, healthy, family-friendly event with activities and entertainment for the whole family.”
- Michael Schirling, Burlington Police Chief

For a fun, New Years Eve downtown Burlington is the place to be. Buy your ticket today from the Flynn Center.

For more volunteer opportunities, please click here.

Now you may be asking why is volunteering important for the holidays? Don't my parents tell me to save my money for my future? Although this is true, there are people out there who need it more than you do. The money raised by these organizations is all donated to helping others. Even if you don't have time to volunteer, any spare change you have will gladly be accepted by the Salvation Army, every penny counts. So please, keep your eyes and ears open. Watch the news, listen to the radio, read the papers, and attend or even better, participate in these events to help your community during this holiday season.

Media Meditation #8