September 2008 enews

SAC VALLEY RETURNED PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION
AUGUST 2008 ENEWS

THANKS TO THOSE WHO’VE PAID THEIR ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES! PLEASE SEND YOUR $15 TO Sac Valley RPCVs, P.O. Box 161163, Sacramento, CA 95816.

1. ADVENTURES IN DINING – Hello Adventurous RPCV Diners,

At 7:00 on Friday, September 19 we will meet at Kabul Kabobs for Afghani cuisine. The restaurant is at 729 J Street in Sacramento. (Look for street parking on 8th Street or J Street. If that fails, there are public lots.) Entrees are generally $12-$15 and there are several options for vegetarians. See their menu on their website at http://www.kabulkabobcuisine.com/ but be aware that the entree prices are generally one or two dollars more since this was posted.

See the review in SN&R: http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=169101Please let Debra (debdebondt@yahoo.com) know by Wednesday the 13th if you’d like to be added to the reservations list.

2.      ANNUAL MEETING SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 3:30-8:00 AT COLLEGE GREENS LAWN AND TENNIS CLUB, 2707 Notre Dame Dr., (corner of Notre Dame and Lake Forest). Bring something to barbecue and potluck side dishes, drinks will be provided. Kids swim from 3:30, barbecue time at 5:30. There will be a Board election, and at 7:00 we will have a speaker from Friends of Yimbo, the Odipo family foundation from Kenya. Please contact Fran Kennedy for info, fkennedy100@yahoo.com.

3.   AMERICAN RIVER CLEANUP – On Saturday, September 20, the annual Great American River Clean Up clean up will be held from 9am to 12noon. The Sac Valley RPCV group meets at the Howe Ave. site, which is just off Howe Ave. on the south side of the American River (directional signs will be posted by 8:45 a.m. that morning). For more information, see: http://www.arparkway.org/garcu.shtml. Mary Ann also needs help putting up signs between 7:45 and 8:45 a.m. and taking them down when it's over. Contact Mary Ann at robinsm@scc.losrios.edu

4.   WORLD FRIENDSHIP DAY SEPTEMBER 14- FRIENDSHIP FORCE EVENT IN FAIR OAKS –

5. NPCA updates: Group Leaders Forum, Peace Corps Partnership Program, points of information

Dear Group Leaders:

Thank you for your recent discussion on this list.   I appreciate your sharing your experiences and the pros and cons of the various approaches. Following a reminder for the Group Leaders Forum (in case you have not yet made your travel plans), I will share some additional and/or clarifying information based on issues that came up in this week’s discussion.

Group Leaders Forum in San Francisco

Please make your plans to attend the Group Leaders Forum and associated meetings in San Francisco the first weekend in October (details subject to change):

Friday, October 3 at Mercy Housing California, 1360 Mission Street, Suite 300

12:30 – 5 pm: NPCA Board of Directors meeting

Evening: TBA

Saturday, October 4 at the Jewish Community Cultural Center, 3200 California Street, Fisher East

8:30 am: registration

9-10 am: Annual General Meeting (AGM)

10:30 am – 12 noon: Group Leaders Forum (GLF)

12 noon – 1 pm: lunch (on your own)

1 – 3 pm: breakout sessions on group capacity building

Evening: social event (TBD)

Sunday, October 5 at Golden Gate Park

            12 noon – Northern California Peace Corps Association annual picnic

As plans are further developed and finalized, I will update the NPCA website: http://www.rpcvorg/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=1562

Please note that the above webpage also includes a list of hotels and hostels in the area around the meeting venue. RPCVs interested in staying with other RPCVs may want to check the Hospitality Network directory or contact Annie Bovone at abovone@sbcglobal.net.

As always, while the GLF is open to all to attend, only one representative per currently affiliated member group may vote.

Groups planning on participating in the Group Leaders Forum should notify NPCA, including the following information:

   1. Official name of the group
   2. Name of designated voting representative
   3. Whether the representative will attend in person or will be on the phone

Please send the above information to me (anne@rpcv.org) by September 30.

Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP)

Given the recent discussion on this listserv, I asked the staff at PCPP for any text to describe/clarify the PCPP and the new Country Fund. While the description of the Fund is not yet on the Peace Corps website, below is the blurb that PCPP put into its last Partnership Program Newsletter rolling out Country Funds.

Are you a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer group and want to find a way to support your country of service? Are you a donor who is interested in contributing to projects in a particular part of the world? Now, the Peace Corps Partnership Program has a way for you to direct your donations to the country of your choice. As with our other Special Funds and Partnership Program projects, all donations to Country Funds are tax-deductible and 100% of your donation will be applied to Partnership Program projects. Please visit www.peacecorps.gov/contribute and click on the “Donate to Country Funds” link. You will be directed to a list of available Country Funds, where you may choose the one that best fits your interest. The Country Fund initiative was conceived in order to give individuals, RPCV groups, and other potential donors the opportunity to support the Peace Corps Partnership Program in a specific country, while giving posts the flexibility to determine how the money may be allocated.

Note from PCPP staff: “The key points are that that all donations to a Country Fund go to Partnership projects in that country and that the funds are allocated at the discretion of the Country Director.”

6. UPDATE FROM MOREPEACECORPS (www.morepeacecorps.org) - 1,130 is the number of people that have signed-up at www.MorePeaceCorps.org as of September 2, 2008. I am writing to ask you to please take three minutes to sign up at www.MorePeaceCorps.org by tomorrow, September 3rd at 5 PM (if you have not done so already).

5,000 by September 11… can we do it?

The goal is to have 5,000 people join the campaign by the ServiceNation Summit on September 11th to show the presidential candidates that we are serious about doubling the Peace Corps. By signing up, you will receive the e-newsletter, information about events, and action alerts. We do not message very often.

Finally, we are pleased to inform you that on September 6th, 110 house parties in 42 states and 15 countries will take place all over the country and all over the world to educate, fundraise, and generate letters to lawmakers. It’s not too late to host one. If interested, kindly contact May at maywilkerson@morepeacecorps.org.

Rajeev Goyal

Nepal 01-03

Nat’l Coordinator, www.MorePeaceCorps.org