Volunteers needed for V4CF booth at 'Peace and Justice Festival' March 21

Save the Date! Peace Fresno has announced the 'Peace and Justice Festival,' and as we did at last year's 'Rally in the Valley,' Volunteers For Change-Fresno plans to participate.

Want to help? V4CF needs volunteers to staff its booth at the event, scheduled noon-5 p.m. Sunday, March 21, at the Fresno Fairgrounds. At our booth, we plan to tell visitors about V4CF's mission and vision, all while seeking to meet like-minded people who are open to working for the Change we seek. We also need volunteers for booth set-up and teardown.

Fortunately -- especially for those who experienced sunshine, heat, rain, cold and hail all within the five-hour span of last year's event -- the 'Peace and Justice Festival' will be held indoors this year, at the Fairgrounds' Junior Exhibit Hall.

Want to volunteer? Contact V4CF via e-mail at v4cfresno@yahoo.com. In your message, please specify the times you can assist. We look forward to seeing you there!

Behold, the Obameter!

It's been a rough week for progressives. The Massachusetts Senate race goes south, the Supreme Court shifts campaign-finance laws firmly in favor of continuing dollar-fueled oligarchy, Air America goes dark. So if you're like me, you may be looking for something to brighten your day, something that might remind you of our overall progress on the work we've undertaken before and after Election Day 2008.

So, courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times, comes 'The Obameter,' an online feature that's tracking President Obama's progress on his campaign promises.

So according to The Obameter, how's he doing? Very well, as it turns out. By their count, so far President Obama has kept 91 promises so far, with another 275 in the works. By any standard, that's a good count.

Want to see for yourself? Visit the Obameter at http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/. Or, look on the upper-right corner of this Action Blog... we've added it to this website as an automatic feed.

Scenes from today's MLK Day march

More than a dozen V4CF members braved the (forecast) rain and wind to participate in Fresno's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade, held Jan. 18 in downtown Fresno.

As V4CF marcher Nancy Griesser reported, "We had a great time at the parade! Several who signed up didn't attend but others did so we had a fine complement of V4CF members on board. And, luckily for us, the rain held off."

Here's how it looked, with photos courtesy of Kris Arden and Nancy Griesser. Thanks to all who participated!

Get out your marching shoes: V4CF to participate in MLK Day parade Jan. 18

Want to show your support for equality? Join V4CF as we march in this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, scheduled Monday, Jan. 18, in downtown Fresno.

V4CF participants will have the opportunity to carry our 'Volunteers For Change-Fresno' banner and perhaps the 'CHANGE' sign shown on the Fresno Bee's front page after last year's event.

We plan to meet at 9:15 a.m. Monday, Jan. 18, in front of St. John's Cathedral, 2814 Mariposa Ave. in downtown Fresno. While we will not have a more specific meeting place, participants should look for others wearing our new black-and-green 'Volunteers For Change' t-shirts. Please wear your own V4CF t-shirt and dress warmly.

Scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., the march will proceed from the Cathedral to the Veteran's Memorial Auditorium, with a commemorative program honoring Dr. King's legacy to follow immediately at 10:45 a.m.

With the numbers of participants expected, carpooling or taking mass transit to downtown is indeed recommended. We hope to see you there!

MLK Day celebrations will include 'Mountain of Food' collection and distribution

In conjunction with Fresno's celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the Community Food Bank (CFB) invites V4CF members to participate in the 'Mountain of Food' collection and distribution.

Want to donate? Instead of bringing canned goods or nonperishables to the MLK celebrations, CFB asks that volunteers consider making a monetary donation. The food bank can achieve a greater distribution through its bulk food purchases than it can through donated food stocks.

To donate or for questions, contact Wendy Negri at (559) 299-5052. Wendy will collect any donations before and during the event, and will give them to the Community Food Bank representative.

Volunteers needed for two food distributions, scheduled in February in Firebaugh

Join Volunteers for Change-Fresno as we work with the Community Food Bank to distribute food in Firebaugh. Volunteers are needed for two sessions:

• Tuesday, Feb. 9- Coordinator: Wendy Negri (559-299-5052)
• Tuesday, Feb. 23- Coordinator: Kris Arden (559-978-1736 or kkarden@yahoo.com)

Each session is scheduled 8 a.m.-2 p.m., or until the food to be distributed runs out.

The distributions will take place in Firebaugh's Maldonado Park, located at 1601 Thomas Conboy Road. The coordinator will provide more details & contact each person who signs up closer to the date of the event.

Did you know that you can get a free ticket to Disneyland for helping out with this opportunity? For more information, visit http://www.disneyparks.com.

Homelessness in Fresno, water to be the topics at next V4CF General Meeting Jan. 12

Save the date, V4CFers! With the holiday season relegated to memory, it'll soon be time to get together again, to continue the work we began more than a year ago.

With that in mind, Volunteers For Change-Fresno invites all members and interested folk to attend our next General Meeting, scheduled 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, in the large meeting room of the Fig Garden Library, 3071 W. Bullard Ave., in Fresno. The library is on the southwest corner of Bullard and Marks, in the shopping center.

The evening will include:

• A presentation by Gregory Barfield, Homelessness Prevention Manager for the City of Fresno. Mr. Barfield will spend 15 minutes briefing us about what Fresno is currently doing for the homeless in our area, and will also address what is being planned for the future.
  

• An update from V4CF Water Issue Team leader Bob Merrill, who will provide some information for the group about this important issue.
  

As always, it'll be 'the more, the merrier.' We hope to see you all Jan. 12!