Re-FashioNYC

I love when things just make sense, especially when it's for a good cause.  I received a brochure in the mail for re-fashioNYC, a partnership between the city of New York and Housing Works.  The program provides donation bins to apartment buildings with over 10 units.  There is no cost to the apartment building and all proceeds are donated to fund lifesaving services for low-income and homeless New Yorkers living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.  What a brilliant idea! 

Apparently, New Yorkers throw away over 200,000 tons of clothes, towels, blankets, curtains, shoes, handbags, belts, and other textiles and apparel.  Imagine if all of that went towards a good cause instead of a landfill. 

I must admit that I LOVE cleaning out my closet, it's such a good feeling, but it's much harder to drag bags of used clothes through the streets of Manhattan than it was to put it all in my beat up Buick and drive it to the Goodwill in Minnesota.  Now, I can simply bring it to the re-fasioNYC bin downstairs!

So, if you're making room in your closet for classic essentials, take some time to fill out this online inquiry form and request a bin for your building.

Giving Back: Urban Debate

I'm sorry to have slacked a little on the posting this week but I'm back with a very important post. It's a volunteer opportunity that will allow professionelles to use their skills to improve the lives of underprivileged high school students. Most of us have benefited enormously from good education allowing us to succeed both personally and professionally. It's time to give back and support those who may not have access to the same opportunities.

Urban debate leagues bring debate programs into inner city high schools. High school debate dramatically increases the likelihood for future academic success among its participants. The statistics are impressive. The LA Times reports, "Literacy scores among debaters have increased by an average of 25%. High school graduation rates among regular participants are nearly 100%, and more than 75% of urban debaters attend four-year colleges."

There are urban debate programs in 18 cities across America and they desperately need enthusiastic and capable volunteers to serve as coaches or judges. I would imagine that each and every one of these leagues would love to capitalize on the skills of the professionelles reading this blog. No debate experience is required. Debate is actually an activity that is very easy to pick up so long as you have analytical and communication skills and the passion to impart those skills onto others. Here are the details:

If you're an HLS student, as many of you are, the easiest way to volunteer is to join Harvard Law Students for Urban Debate. Please contact, Hrishi Hari at Hhari@jd11.law.harvard.edu for more information.

If you're are not an HLS student but live in the Boston area, please contact Steve Stein at Steve@bostondebate.org for volunteer opportunities with the Boston Debate League.

If you live in Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Southern California/Orange County, Phoenix, Denver, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, Austin, Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Detroit, Memphis, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Providence, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Washington D.C., please contact Eric Tucker at Erictucker@urbandebate.org for volunteer opportunities in your city.