Monday Mailing
Year 20 • Issue 02 16 September 2013 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Quote of the Week: “Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you, to leave this world better than when you found it.” -- Wilfred Peterson. Oregon Fast Fact #49: Oregon is now the only state to prohibit self-serve gasoline.
The Rural Data Portal Get The Bike Wheels Rolling In Your Community! Growing Organic Seed in Oregon On-Farm Training Astoria, Oregon: Where Everything Old Is New Again Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail's New Link Triggers Economic Plans in Cascade Locks How Chris McCandless Died Liquor, Wine and Beer -- All Three to Be Sold in More Oregon Stores ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Extended as Part of House of Representatives Spending Bill The 10 Happiest Countries In The World, And Why We're Not One Of Them Crakin’ the Wall: Five Simple Steps to a Powerful Presentation Funding Opportunities
1. The Rural Data Portal The RURAL DATA PORTAL is a simple, easy to use, on-line resource that provides essential information on the social, economic, and housing characteristics of communities in the United States. The RURAL DATA PORTAL is targeted toward rural communities, but a wide range of information is presented for the nation, states, and counties for rural, suburban and urban areas. Most of the information provided in the RURAL DATA PORTAL comes from Housing Assistance Council (HAC) tabulations of various public use data sets such as the 2010 Census of Population and Housing, the American Community Survey (ACS) and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data. The Housing Assistance Housing (HAC) is a national nonprofit organization that supports affordable housing efforts in rural areas of the United States. To access the full story, click here. 2. Get The Bike Wheels Rolling In Your Community! Bicycling is an easy way to make physical activity part of your day. More and more people in communities all across the country are getting around by bicycle, but there is still tremendous room for growth in the number of people biking on roads everywhere! How can we change that? One of the most powerful ways to increase the amount of bicycle travel is for communities to adopt bicycle friendly laws and policies. These policies can remove obstacles to bicycling; create incentives for bicycling infrastructure; and make it easier and safe to get around by bike!
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Figure out where to start, and learn how to effectively use policy to promote bicycling in ChangeLab Solutions’ new publication, Getting The Wheels Rolling: A Guide to Using Policy to Create Bicycle Friendly Communities. 3. Growing Organic Seed in Oregon On-Farm Training Join Organic Seed Alliance and Adaptive Seeds for a day-long farmer training on organic seed production. Learn fundamental skills for developing and adapting varieties to your organic farm. Topics of instruction include: the biology of seed production seed harvesting and cleaning choosing appropriate seed crops for your system and climate maintaining the genetic integrity of varieties with appropriate population sizes and isolation distances conducting variety trials basic on-farm breeding techniques Prior experience in basic seed growing is recommended. Pre-registration is required. WHEN: Tuesday, September 17th. 10am - 4pm. WHERE: Adaptive Seeds, 25079 Brush Creek Rd, Sweet Home, OR 97386. COST: $30 fee includes day-long training & lunch. Register here! 4. Astoria, Oregon: Where Everything Old Is New Again We arrived in Astoria after dark. It was just before 9 p.m., and the streets were deserted. The only sign of life was the electric blue neon sign marking our hotel, the only sound a dull buzz from the light. As soon as we checked into the Norblad Hotel & Hostel, we were directed to Fort George Brewery, the only place we were guaranteed to get a meal at this hour. Just around the corner, the brewery looked a lot like the hotel -- a two-story, brick building spanning almost the entire length of the block, the street outside as desolate the Norblad's. Inside, however, we found a whole different story. The bar was warm and lively. Glasses clinked and groups of friends scrunched together around tables, playing board games or sharing food. Sliding into a large booth by the window, we joined the party. Men young and old sported bushy beards -- the kind Brooklyn hipsters aspire to grow themselves, only these ones were looked authentic and not for show. The same plaid shirts that have become a quintessential item in the hipster wardrobe looked much better here. If Portland, the socalled birthplace of the hipster, has become disingenuous, Astoria feels just the opposite. It's not trying to be gritty, rustic and cool -- it just is. As we drank house-brewed beer and ate fresh albacore tuna fish and chips, we felt far from Brooklyn, but also right at home. To access the full story, click here.
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5. Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail's New Link Triggers Economic Plans in Cascade Locks This weekend's opening of a missing link in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge bike route has the town of Cascade Locks eagerly anticipating the recreation-based economic opportunities it should bring. The Oregon Department of Transportation will dedicate an $8.1 million section of the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail at 11 a.m. Saturday on the trail's new McCord Creek Bridge. The new 1.6-mile section of state trail is part of a seven-mile paved path for cyclists and walkers that reaches west from Cascade Locks. The trail flows into a 27-mile segment of Historic U.S. 30, which is open to vehicles as well as cyclists, as it passes Multnomah Falls and ends at Troutdale. The route parallels Interstate 84. To access the full story, click here. 6. How Chris McCandless Died Twenty-one years ago this month, on September 6, 1992, the decomposed body of Christopher McCandless was discovered by moose hunters just outside the northern boundary of Denali National Park. He had died inside a rusting bus that served as a makeshift shelter for trappers, dog mushers, and other backcountry visitors. Taped to the door was a note scrawled on a page torn from a novel by Nikolai Gogol: ATTENTION POSSIBLE VISITORS. S.O.S. I NEED YOUR HELP. I AM INJURED, NEAR DEATH, AND TOO WEAK TO HIKE OUT OF HERE. I AM ALL ALONE, THIS IS NO JOKE. IN THE NAME OF GOD, PLEASE REMAIN TO SAVE ME. I AM OUT COLLECTING BERRIES CLOSE BY AND SHALL RETURN THIS EVENING. THANK YOU, CHRIS McCANDLESS AUGUST ? From a cryptic diary found among his possessions, it appeared that McCandless had been dead for nineteen days. A driver’s license issued eight months before he perished indicated that he was twenty-four years old and weighed a hundred and forty pounds. After his body was flown out of the wilderness, an autopsy determined that it weighed sixty-seven pounds and lacked discernible subcutaneous fat. The probable cause of death, according to the coroner’s report, was starvation. To access the full story, click here. 7. Liquor, Wine and Beer -- All Three to Be Sold in More Oregon Stores Looking for a beer chaser to go with that shot of whiskey? Soon you won't have to visit two stores. Oregon's liquor board gave the go-ahead Thursday for any state liquor outlet to sell beer and wine along with booze if the agent wants to and can get the necessary licenses. The move is part of an overall effort by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to loosen, or "modernize," state liquor sales in light of changing consumer tastes and a push for privatization.
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Last year, the agency gave approval for four liquor outlets around the state to start selling beer and wine as a pilot project. Apparently it's working. Revenues at those four stores rose an average of 12 percent, compared with 7.8 percent statewide, according to OLCC data released Thursday. To access the full story, click here. 8. ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Extended as Part of House of Representatives Spending Bill Congress extended the “Monsanto Protection Act” for an additional three months in a hush vote on Tuesday. The law, which protects Monsanto and other biotech giants from the threat of lawsuits and denies the federal courts from putting a ban on GMO sales, was a last minute addition to the House of Agriculture Appropriations Bill for 2013 and is part of the short-term FY14 Continuing Resolution Spending bill. The law attached itself to the HR933 spending bill as a resolution to the possible government shutdown back in March. But the “Monsanto Protection Act,” which was highly controversial among its opponents, is here to stay after Republicans largely supported the three-month extension. The new expiration date of the spending bill is December 2015. To access the full story, click here. 9. The 10 Happiest Countries In The World, And Why We're Not One Of Them Economic output is a crude measure of national success. It accounts for negative transactions (like sales of handguns) as much as positive things (like education spending). Rich people do tend to be happier. But the same isn't true for countries: the U.S., for example, has become richer without improving well-being overall. Hence, researchers have become interested in alternatives--in particular, measuring happiness more systematically (though one recent study claims it's nearly impossible to create an economy based on happiness). The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development now produces a Better Life Index, while Bhutan--a great advocate for happiness research--publishes a "gross national happiness" index. To access the full story, click here. 10. Crackin’ the Wall: Five Simple Steps to a Powerful Presentation Before I share the 5 simple steps, here are the 3 most important words… You. Them. We. The first part is about…YOU. Why are you there? What do you want people to do, or be, differently as a result of your talk/event/connection? Make it real! Make it now! Inspire a change! Complete this sentence: “I am here to ______________________.” I recently had the opportunity to work with a Food Share organization. My talk focused on giving the volunteers tools to provide experiences, provoke thought and ignite a new way of interacting—so that they can inspire their audiences to connect WITH hunger in a new way. Now let’s address THEM. Greet people as they arrive. Shake their hands. If you see someone who feels intimidating to you, definitely shake his or her hand. This seemingly small gesture creates a ‘we’ before you’ve even started speaking. If the group is large, take a few minutes to go around and meet people. Introduce yourself. Find out what inspired them to come. By the time you do Page 4 of 6
speak, you’ve created a WE room. Now that you’ve created a ‘we’, you want to engage and strengthen the ‘we’ with a powerful talk. Although I don’t usually like ‘formulas’, you might use the following as a framework from which to build. THE 5 SIMPLE STEPS TO A POWERFUL PRESENTATION: 1. Begin by sharing your personal investment in the issue. I’m not asking for the polite, “I’m Gene and I’d like to talk about hunger.” NO! I’m asking you to GET REAL, real fast. Share a story that grabs them and gets them to take notice. If you don’t feel a bit exposed right here, you’re probably not doing your thing! Then ENGAGE THEM. You might ask, “Who in this room has personally experienced hunger? Who knows someone who is struggling or has struggled with hunger? Who here feels guilty for having too much when others don’t have enough?” These powerful questions get your audience involved in the topic. After this interaction, restate why you are there to speak, using power words. 2. Share facts in a tangible form. I love facts and statistics. Most people really appreciate relevant statistics that engage them in a concrete way. If your organization distributes thousands of pounds of food a week, translate that into a ‘seeable’ form. How many truckloads is that? How many people will it feed? 3. Highlight WHAT YOU DO. People want to know, specifically, the scope of what you or your organization does. They want to know HOW you are making a difference. It’s important to provide clear, engaging, succinct information. This part must be as compelling as your story! Engage them again. You don’t necessarily need to have a conversation. You might ask for a show of hands. Ask them, “How many of you were familiar with the scope of our work? Who here had any idea what farmers across America are doing to fight hunger?” Your job is to share and engage— engage and share. 4. Inspire hope. This is an important step. You might find that your statistics are disturbing or your clientele unsettling. No worries. I know an organization that works with one of the seemingly least desirable populations, teens on drugs. Guess what? Those teens are our future. When you convey trust in their potential, you inspire hope and help your audience believe. If you aren’t inspired, they can’t get on board with you. Tell a story of transformation. Help them realize their role in creating change. Inspire them because you believe. 5. Call them to action. Here’s the important part. DO NOT SELL THEM ON YOUR ORGANIZATION. Get them engaged in the cause. This is not to say that you don’t offer ways to be involved with you. But, more importantly, stand in your commitment to your cause…not JUST your organization. Ask people to commit to one action they can take to make a difference, no matter how big or small. Do tell them that you need their help…but more than anything, you want them to join you to make a change. In the end, remember, if we try to ‘sell’ to people, they will often resent the approach. If we offer inspiration for change, they will remember us as a leader offering tools for transformation. Keep asking yourself, “If I were in the audience, which would I want?”
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11. Funding Opportunities National Indian Health Outreach and Education (NIHOE III) - Application deadline: Sep 22, 2013 Funding for a national Indian organization to conduct outreach and education, and training and technical assistance designed to improve Indian health care and further health reform opportunities. Sponsor: Indian Health Service NBCC Foundation Rural and Military Scholarship Programs - Application deadline: Nov 1, 2013 Scholarships to increase the availability of counselors in underserved areas, with the current priority areas of rural and military communities. Sponsor: National Board for Certified Counselors Foundation Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company Foundation Community Service Grant - Application deadline: Nov 1, 2013 Provides funding to dental hygienists for projects aimed at improving oral health or providing oral health education. Sponsor: American Dental Hygienists' Association American Kennel Club Humane Fund Invites Applications from Women's Shelters that Permit Pets Grants of up to $1,000 will be awarded to nonprofit organizations for operational support and capital improvements related to the housing and maintenance of pets belonging to domestic abuse victims.... Deadline: Quarterly (November 15, February 15, May 15, and August 15) RedRover Seeks Applications From Emergency Shelter Organizations to Help Victims of Domestic Abuse and Their Pets Grants of up $3,000 will be awarded to help victims of domestic violence and their animal companions stay together during times of crisis.... Deadline: October 30, 2013 National Art Education Foundation Seeks Applications for 2013 Art Educator Grants - Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded for programs that aim to promote and improve the teaching of art and/or encourage research and experimentation in arts education.... Deadline: October 1, 2013 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Announces New Family Engagement Initiative - Grants of up to $500,000 will be awarded to public entities and nonprofits to support effective family engagement models that address obstacles faced by low-income families.... Deadline: September 23, 2013 (PreApplications)
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