Friday, April 30, 2010

New York Times Gets Immigration Right

Today's editorial in The New York Times about Arizona's recent immigration law (SB 1070).  The Times editors point out that this law does not just affect Arizona.  "The poison is spreading," they say -- and they are right.  Read the editorial, it's well worth it.

Want to do something about inhumane immigration policies?  AFSC is involved in actions across the state tomorrow.  May 1st is International Workers' Day, and a national day of action for immigrants rights.  If you live near one of the following cities, come join us!  Click "read more" to see the list of actions in North Carolina.

Interns Reflect on Paint for Peace

The murals we began earlier this month are finished!  Our interns, who came as part of Guilford College's Principled Problem Solving program, did an excellent job with the whole project.  They wrote up a review of the process, which we're sharing with you.  Click "read more" at the bottom to see the whole thing!



The reference photograph
The American Friends Sevice Committee (AFSC) partnered with the Guilford College Center for Principled Problem Solving (CPPS) to organize a community-oriented mural painting project titled “Paint for Peace”. The intension of the mural project was to raise awareness about the civilian cost of war in Afghanistan. There were many people who were involved in this project. Lori Fernald Khamala, the AFSC NC Immigrant Rights Program coordinator, took the lead with the logistics of the project while the AFSC interns, Hannah Swenson, Layth Awartani, Jossie Dowling and Courtney Mandeville took on the planning and implementation of creating murals. The Paint for Peace project was created as part of a national project that is based out of the AFSC-Chicago Office.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

New website

AFSC just updated its website!  We now use a system called Drupal, which will give us a much better ability to keep the site up-to-date, coordinate events, and spread news of what we do.  However, in the meantime, it looks pretty bare!  We're going to be adding to the site bit-by-bit, bringing the old content back and adding new, exciting things.  We hope you'll stick around and see what it look like when we're done.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Alternatives Fair Tomorrow!

Just a reminder to everyone that the Take Charge of Your Future Alternatives Fair will take place tomorrow, Friday April 9th.  We'll kick things off at 3pm and be around until 7pm at the Greensboro Central Library, downtown at 219 North Street.  We have an exciting cast of employers, alternative opportunities, and workshops.  We hope to see you there!

Helpful information:
Participants
Map / directions
Workshop schedule

AFSC Named Certifying Organization for President's Volunteer Service Award

The President's Volunteer Service Award was created in 2003 to recognize volunteers for "renewing their commitment to helping others and making new connections that bring us closer together as families, as neighbors, as communities, and as a Nation."  AFSC is proud to have been named a Certifying Organization!  This means that we are able to officially certify the hours worked by volunteers at AFSC.  Volunteers are recognized for the award at various levels depending on the number of hours they have contributed.  (Click "read more" at the bottom of this post to see the hour levels.)  AFSC volunteers can learn more about getting their hours certified by talking to Area Coordinator Ann Lennon (alennon@afsc.org).  We are always accepting applications for volunteers and interns!  For more information on volunteering, contact us.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Thanks for coming to Paint for Peace and the Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace

On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of hosting the Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace as they came through Greensboro.  We started off the day with our Paint for Peace event, where we made mural panels for a national project that will become a travelling exhibit.  The pilgrims helped us paint, as did the Dream Walkers, who are marching from Florida to Washington, DC to demand that Congress pass immigration reform and the DREAM Act.

Painting for Peace at Guilford College