How can maps help us understand, shape, and gain perspective on the world we live in? This exhibit features maps of where our food comes from locally and globally, maps comparing unemployment rates of past and present recessions, and self-determinist bike routes. These visual conversations will seek to effectively quantify the positive and negative effects we have on the world, the health of our world today in reference in to the past and future, and emphasize the subjective nature of map making and our ability to shape the world we live in.

Thursday, May 7th, 5-10pm @ SEA Change

625 NW Everett, Gallery #110, Portland, OR 97209

YOUTH PROGRESS ASSOCIATION BENEFIT “SOUP SMACKDOWN”

Portland non-profit Youth Progress Association (YPA) announces a benefit event for their R.O.Y. (Recovering Oregon Youth) project. The ROY Project is YPA’s vocational training program for at-risk youth and provides specialized job-readiness training for low functioning adolescents aging out of DHS and Oregon Youth Authority custody. It builds skills through the assembly and sales of products (currently “Soup in a Tube). The project helps reduce poverty and increases the likelihood that our clients will successfully transition into independent employed adults.

DATE: Wednesday, May 13th

TIME: 6:00-6:30 snacks; 6:30-8:30 movie & discussion

LOCATION: 700 N. Killingsworth, PDX 97217, CIO office

The Center for Intercultural Organizing (CIO) is showing the documentary "Mai's America" to explore the topic of dealing with the anxiety and confusion inherent in a cultural or social environment contrary to one’s own, otherwise known as culture shock. If you have made the US your second home or have tried to make a second home in another country, this event is an opportunity for you to share your personal story of culture shock and the challenge of feeling “foreign”. View the journey of one newcomer, then share and listen with others who have struggled with identity in a foreign land.

The Johnson Creek Watershed Council (JCWC) will present the Riffle Awards at our Annual Meeting Luncheon at Reed College’s Kaul Auditorium on Thursday, May 21. The Riffle Awards honor individuals, community groups, civic leaders, and businesses whose work supports and enhances the mission of the Johnson Creek Watershed Council. Keynote speaker Charles Hudson, the Public Affairs Manager for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, will share the stage with the 2009 Award winners. “One of the valuable things that we can do as a Council is highlight the diversity of cultural perspectives on watershed health and natural resource management,” said JCWC’s Executive Director, Matt Clark.

Join The Freshwater Trust for a FREE premiere screening of “Changing Course,” a film about real landowners and their land, about why streams and rivers need restoration and how restoration professionals struggle to do their work. The film also shows how some are working to improve efficiency and remove barriers to landowners inclined to do good work. Through candid interviews about actual projects in Oregon, “Changing Course” shows how innovation could move stream restoration into the 21st century.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A with filmmaker and restoration “stars” featured in the film.

When: Thursday, May 14th, 7pm

AmeriCorps VISTA position at CASA of Oregon

 The Oregon Microenterprise Network is now accepting applications for an AmeriCorps* VISTA to be placed at CASA of Oregon beginning on August 21, 2009 for a one year term working on projects that build assets and financial security of low-income Oregonians.

  Mission and organizational information: CASA of Oregon is a private, non-profit Community Development Corporation and Community Development Financial Institution. CASA’s mission is to develop housing, programs and facilities that improve the quality of life and self-sufficiency of farm workers and other low-income populations in Oregon.

Join Portland-area nonprofits for a workshop on alternative fundraising strategies on Wednesday, May 20th from 6:00-7:30. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network will lead this session and will provide a new way of thinking about capital accumulation and asset distribution, focusing on managing financial risk and achieving financial security. The benefits of alternative fund raising techniques including planned giving strategies will be discussed. Successful case studies that have brought value to organizations will also be explored.
 Refreshments served.

$15 per session. Space is limited register online today at:

When: Wednesday, May 20th – 6:00 – 7:30 Where: ShoreBank Pacific, 1101 SW Washington St.

EVENT PLANNING VOLUNTEER

OMSI has an immediate need for a short term, special project volunteer to plan our Design Studios Family Night event. (event dates: May 26th and 28th)

We need to implement what we call “Family Nights” for our Design Studios exhibit. Design Studios is currently in prototype form. This event would be an opportunity to put about 20 prototypes of the exhibit activities into one room to simulate the future exhibition. We will invite members of the target audiences to explore the exhibition and provide us feedback. We will collect data with observation, interviews, and surveys. This event will involve about 60 families and 25 staff members. The dates for the events are the evenings of May 26 and 28 (Tuesday and Thursday).

Leave No Plastic Behind

Position summary: Be part of a team that is implementing a series of workshops geared to reducing the daily use of single-use plastic. Leave No Plastic Behind creatively enlightens consumers of all ages about the impact their daily routines have on the environment. Our goal is to sharply decrease the demand for single-use plastic through creative awareness campaigns and the development of business models that begin from the waste, up.

We are currently looking for volunteers interested in and excited about expanding the positive affects of plastic independence and community interdependence. (see www.lnpb.org for current projects).

Requires dedication, attention to detail, people skills and creativity.

Leave No Plastic Behind is seeking instructors and/or developers of natural body care products to share their knowledge with participants in a workshop series.

We are currently developing a program to bring awareness about the harmful affects of plastic and teach participants alternatives to the single-use plastic items that have increasingly become a part of our daily routine. The program addresses skin care, hair care, general personal care, mouth care, and other personal body care. LNPB will cover ingredient expenses for recipes we've budgeted into this project.

If you are looking for a creative way to promote your body care product line or services and further an important cause, please contact us. All skill levels will be considered.

Down by the Riverside Ivy Pull

Date: Saturday, May 16, 2009

Time: 9:00 – Noon

Meet at the Nature Center at Tryon Creek State Park