September
This past month has been pretty busy: college essays to work on, scholarships to apply to, schoolwork to fulfill...but nonetheless, I've made time to learn more about my topic and do some hands-on activities with the organization I'm volunteering at.
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| Native American Ceremonial Staff donated by local Native American community. |
It was really nice to see so many people come out and be willing to help. With this type of effort, we were done in under two hours.
Recently, Uncommon Good witnessed the completion of a new office building for it's staff members as well as the community. The build was amazing. Instead of using a conventional stick-frame design, the architectural firm in charge of the project, CEDG (Claremont Environmental Design Group) used...older building techniques. The office is constructed entirely out earth, more than 50% of which was already on-site. By using methods such as cooling chimneys, thermal mass, natural lighting, and grey water systems, the building is immensely eco-friendly and cheap to maintain. What's more is that the community helped in the actual building process.
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| Native artwork on the walls of Uncommon Good's New office building. |
Thus far, I've learned a couple of important things about non-profit work and keeping a non-profit organization in order. First off, because non-profits financially rely on donations and fundraising, a good public image must be maintained. Websites should be updated frequently and public relations should be handled with care. Secondly, although government sponsorship can be good, it is wise to be wary, because things can turn bureaucratic pretty quickly.
I plan to expand my borders by volunteering at other non-profit organizations so that I may learn not just about community-aid and environmental foundations, but also about others, such as health and legal-aid non-profit foundations.
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