Ms. Line is a volunteer crisis counselor with The Cottage Sexual Assault Center in Athens. By raising awareness about violence and sexual assault, Donna is making Athens a more peaceful community. Dr. King said, “Say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace…” So, every year Community Connection will be awarding the Drum Majors in Athens who, like Donna Line, turn their compassion into action.

TO OUR FANTASTIC MLK DAY OF SERVICE VOLUNTEERS: Thank you so much for making this year’s observance of MLK Day a success. You are helping build Dr. King’s vision of the beloved community!

Read the Community Connection 2010-2011 Annual Report.

Whenever I tell someone about SingleServe, one of the questions I inevitably get asked is whether or not the volunteering has led to matchmaking. Although it wasn’t really my vision for SingleServe to be a do-gooder’s Match.com, the query always comes up, and I always just smile and say no. But the truth is, maybe I should start saying yes.

See, about four years ago, when SingleServe started, I met Nikki Smith. She came to one of the first meetings when we were trying to figure out exactly what we were doing. Lucky for me, even though we didn’t quite figure anything out, she kept showing up – to our first project at the MLK Day of Service and then to Bike Athens and the Classic City Roller Girls and ushering at the Morton Theater.

Photo by Buck Sharp

Before long, we were hanging out in between SingleServe events. Becoming part of each other’s lives over dinners and happy hours and fro-yo. So much so that Nikki Smith came to my family’s Thanksgiving this year. And she was my date to the company Christmas party. This picture is from my 32nd birthday party this summer. Now, the two of us are training for a 5K because exercise is really only tolerable with the best of friends by your side.

When I think about it, what I really hoped for when I started SingleServe – aside for doing great things for the community – was friendship. Finding people who were around my age, facing similar situations in life, who were just generally great people. Meeting while volunteering and becoming more than people who stood side by side pulling privet. I can honestly say, as I look toward our fourth MLK Day of Service on Monday, that whether or not SingleServe ever leads to a date for our volunteers, it’s already led to true love.

Here’s to friends who didn’t know what each other looked like without work gloves and with makeup for almost a year. Here’s to SingleServing.

Join us on Monday by registering here. You just might find a friend for life while you’re planting a tree.

If you’d like to see the original post, please visit Ashley’s blog. Thanks again, Ashley!

HandsOn Northeast Georgia is looking for one AmericaCorps VISTA member to serve the Athens, Georgia, community. This VISTA member will work with the Whatever It Takes initiative to develop a “K-12 Liaison Advocate” program for Neighborhood Leaders. This program will provide those neighborhood leaders with the training, resources, and skills needed to advocate for families/parents with students in the Clarke County School District K-12 system and to build capacity within the neighborhood for families and parents to advocate for themselves. AmericaCorps VISTA members must be over the age of 18. The VISTA members will serve between February 2011 and February 2012, working 8:30am-5:00pm, Monday through Friday and any additional hours are necessary to complete their projects.

VISTA members will earn a stipend of approximately $10,000 in that time. Child care and health benefits are available. If the term of service is completed, VISTA members are eligible to receive a $5,350 education award or a $1,500 cash stipend. VISTA members may also be eligible for loan deferment. You may not hold another job during a term of service.

If you are interested in this position, please submit a resume and cover letter to Dawn Aiello at DAiello@communityconnection211.org. Please submit the name and contact information for at least two references with your resume. Within your cover letter, please address why you are interested in this work, why you feel you are a qualified candidate, and evidence of your perseverance in past and current community involvements. The deadline for applications is Thursday, December 15th at 5pm. For those asked to move forward in the selection process, interviews will be held on December 19, 2011.

Shortly after I started working at Community Connection I was fishing around in one of the storage spaces in our current office. That storage space happens to be inside the shower that’s inside our bathroom. Yes, there’s a shower in our bathroom. Strapped for space, we’ve repurposed it as storage. Apparently, I’m the only person in the history of this office to accidentally turn on the water in the shower. Luckily, all I did is get some packages of napkins and paper towels wet (thank goodness!) and spared the boxes of more important things that were on the other side of the shower.

So, NEEDLESS TO SAY, we are SO excited to announce that we will be moving on December 1st into a new building!! No worries, we’ll just be on the other side of Broad Street from where we are now in the Dickens Building. We can’t wait to have you come visit us there!

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Proceeds from all events benefit Community Connection of Northeast Georgia & Family Connection / Communities in Schools of Athens / Whatever It Takes

Night #1: Welcome to the Reconstruction – Athens Bands Play the Songs of R.E.M.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Doors at 6:00 p.m.
Georgia Theatre
215 North Lumpkin Street, Athens, GA 30601
Ages 18 & up (under 18 can be admitted if accompanied by a parent)
$15
Featuring (in alphabetical order): The Corduroy Road, David Barbe and the Quick Hooks, Futurebirds, Grogus, Jack Logan and Coventry Climax, John Keane and Nathan Sheppard, Kevn Kinney, Lera Lynn, Nanny Island, Romper Stompers (feat. Todd Nance of Widespread Panic, William Tonks & Jon Mills of Barbara Cue, and Daniel Hutchins of Bloodkin), 706, and Thayer Sarrano.
Advance tickets available at www.georgiatheatre.com and www.athensmusic.net.

Night #2: Back Where We Belong – R.E.M., Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982 – 2011 CD Pre-Release Party
Monday, November 14, 2011
Doors at 7:00 p.m.
40 Watt Club
285 West Washington Street, Athens, GA 30601
All ages
$15
The final CD pre-release party with silent and live auctions, exclusive video footage, raffle, and limited edition merchandise for sale. Auction items include a donated Rickenbacker guitar signed by all four members of R.E.M., framed signed guitar picks, an 8”x10” open edition signed archival pigment ink print of R.E.M. in Walter’s Bar-B-Que from 1984 donated by photographer Laura Levine, R.E.M. set pieces from past tours, archived t-shirts, and more.
Advance tickets available at athensmusic.net

Night #2 – 2nd Event: Toast of Chronic Town – Athens Finest Eateries Bring Their Best
Monday, November 14, 2011
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Ciné
234 West Hancock Avenue, Athens, GA 30601
All ages
$75 (ticket price includes admission to Toast of Chronic Town & both other release party events)
Sampling of food from more than 15 of Athens’ finest eateries, including Weaver D’s, The Grit, Five & Ten, Dondero’s, The National, The Four Coursemen, Ted’s Most Best, La Dolce Vita, The Last Resort, Loco’s, Marti’s at Midday, Mama’s Boy, Heirloom Cafe, Big City Bread, The Taco Stand, Taqueria Del Sol, Farm 255, Jittery Joe’s, DePalma’s and others. During the event, special screenings of R.E.M. live concert footage on an archived 35mm print and a special 90-minute R.E.M. video retrospective will be shown in each theatre.
Limited number of tickets available; number of tickets limited to 4 per order.
Advance tickets available at athensmusic.net

Please note that R.E.M. will neither perform nor be in attendance at any of the events.

For out-of-town fans coming to the events, the Hotel Indigo (500 College Avenue) has special $119 room rates for Sunday, November 13 and Monday, November 14. To reserve a room, call 706-546-0430 or 877-834-3613, e-mail EmilyKarst@indigoathens.com, or make an online reservation at www.indigoathens.com with the code REM.

A benefit preview listening party for each R.E.M. album of all-new material has been held in the band’s hometown since the release of 1992’s Automatic for the People. This will be the last preview listening party. For more information about the release party, contact Jeff Montgomery at 706-380-8269 or jeff@athensmusic.net.

About Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage:
After R.E.M. ignited the blogosphere on September 21 with the news that they had decided to “call it a day as a band” via a statement on their website, the beloved band have announced that they will release their final album, R.E.M., Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982 – 2011, on Warner Bros. Records on November 15, 2011. The album is a 40-song career-spanning retrospective that collects, for the first time ever, songs from R.E.M.’s entire back catalog, including the pioneering American band’s years on both the IRS label (1982 to 1987) and Warner Bros. Records (1988 to 2011). A brand-new song, “We All Go Back To Where We Belong,” was released on October 18.

In addition to liner notes written by band members Berry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe, the album also features three new songs that R.E.M. finished after they completed their last album, Collapse Into Now: “A Month of Saturdays,” “We All Go Back To Where We Belong,” and “Hallelujah,” which were recorded over the summer in Athens with Accelerate and Collapse Into Now producer, the estimable Jacknife Lee. The band came roaring back with those two albums in the last two years, achieving some of the best reviews of their career and enabling them to go out at the top of their game.

About the Beneficiaries:
Community Connection of NEGA is the umbrella agency that oversees three crucial services in Northeast Georgia. They connect individuals in the 14 county area to resources via the 2-1-1 Information and Referral Helpline, which provides more than 30,000 referrals to the individuals in need of services each year; they connect thousands of interested citizens to volunteer opportunities in our community via our Hands On Northeast Georgia program; and they connect organizations to resources (including each other) via the Non-Profit Development Alliance, which helps non-profit organizations receive the training, support and assistance they need while ‘incubating’ new programs to fill gaps in services.  For more information, visit www.communityconnection211.com or call 211 or 706-353-1313.

Family Connection / Communities In Schools of Athens / Whatever It Takes brings the community together to toward a simple goal: that all children will succeed in school and in life. Family Connection / Communities In Schools of Athens is a partnership of 90 organizations working with families to research, plan, implement, and evaluate strategic approaches to improve results for all children and families. It is the official planning and coordinating body for services for children and families in the community and is nationally recognized for its work. Whatever It Takes seeks to ensure that every child in Athens-Clarke County will graduate from a post-secondary education. For more information, visit www.witathens.org or call 706-369-9732.