Decorating for Christmas

Last week, Michelle and Seth went down to the Human Solutions Warming Center to help put up some Christmas decorations. It's been a hard year for a lot of folks out there and we thought that maybe even a few decorations around the center might brighten their day just a little bit.

So, we put out the call to our volunteers for decorations and food for the center and, once again, you came through for us! A big thank you to Laurie, Margena, Trevor, and Carla for their donations. Over the last month, we have been able to bring hundreds of meals to the shelter. Michelle and Seth spent a few hours down at the center putting up a small tree, window clings and hanging lights. It definitely had a more "homey" feel to it after we were done. We only hope that it brings a smile to some of those families down there.

Thanks again to everyone. You are all making our city, and world, a better place to live. And it really makes us proud to call ourselves Oregonians!

Who has Time to Help This Thursday June 18th??

Does anyone have Time to Help finish a bedroom? We were contacted by a woman who needs help finishing a bedroom. She is pregnant with a due date in two weeks. She and her 1 year old daughter have been sleeping on the couch as bedroom needs work. She has all the supplies but doesn't have the knowledge or ability to finish this room. We will be putting up insulation, sheetrocking, mudding and taping, as well as painting. We will be heading out Thursday morning, June 18th to get started on this project and hopefully have this project completed quickly!!
If you have Time to Help this neighbor please email us at wevegottimetohelp@q.com or call 503-953-6018!

More Amazing People! Deb and Jeff

We received a call from a woman who had been following our blog for a while. Deb and her husband, Jeff, were in the process of moving and had some extra things they no longer needed. Instead of donating them to a local charity where they could receive a tax write off they offered them to us to help with projects. They believed in what we are doing and wanted to help us continue the good work. Jeff even dropped the items off at our house. They donated painting supplies, yard tools and other miscellaneous construction items that will definitely make continuing to do what we do easier in the future.

A heartfelt THANK YOU to Deb and Jeff!! We were overwhelmed with your generosity and it just shows us time and time again, how many good people there are in the world.
Thank you so much and we wish you the best on your next stage in life.

Busy week starting tomorrow 4/28!

Good morning to all!

This is going to be a really busy week and we could sure use some help. We have quite a few projects going on and we would love to get them all completed! We still need some neighbors to sign up for these projects and can't do all of this alone.

The first project we have going on is Project #24 that involves sheet rocking, mudding and taping and painting a small bedroom and bathroom This project is scheduled to happen on Wednesday the 29th. The next is Project #27 that is basically patching a few small holes and painting an office and hallway for a battered women's and children's shelter We are scheduled to be there on Thursday the 30th. The next on the list is to finish is Project #19. We still need to rototill, build a garden, lay a brick pathway, haul some debris away and to build an arbor. We are looking at going out all day Friday the 1st of May. Also on tap for this week is just the moving of some large potted plants, from inner SE to N Portland. Anyone with a truck or small pickup could get this one done.

If you can lend a hand with any of these projects, please email us at wevegottimetohelp@q.com and let us know which project(s) you are going to help with. Thank you!

We also have a lot of other projects coming up and we need more help! If anyone has some time to give to your neighbors in need, we would really love to hear from you. Thank you all for everything that you have been doing for our communities and keep up the great work!!

Extreme Yard Makeover update

Well, yesterday was PHENOMENAL! We had over a dozen volunteers show up and take time to help someone they don't even know. It literally gave us chills. Things are changing. There is a new type of thinking and a new type of community emerging from these dark times. It is tremendous to see that change and lucky enough to be a part of it.

A huge thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers yesterday: Aaron, Mel, Meri, Mary, Brooke (and Captain Jack), Kelli, Abby, Julie, Dwane, Cindi, Lucas, Ryan, Louanne and Seth. Absolutely incredible!

It was a great day and we got so much work done. There is still more work to do and, hopefully, we can get some more people out there within the next week or so. We still need to rototill, lay bricks down around the flower beds and build an arbor for the large grapevine in the back. If there is anyone that would like to volunteer to build the arbor, that would be great!

Seth and Trevor are going over to the project this afternoon with a truck and a trailer to haul all of the debris away to the dump. Let's get another group together next week and finish this project up! Who's coming with us?

Here are some photos from yesterday. We will be taking more and posting them soon. Thanks again to everyone yesterday. You are all tremendous human beings!


4 trees had to come out along the back fence.


Cleanup after the trees came down.


Weeding, weeding, weeding!


This area of the yard...before


...after.


Digging out a new herb garden!

Overgrown rose bush...before

...after.

Some of the 12,000,000 bricks that needed to be separated into various piles.

Just a couple of the yard debris piles.

We can't thank you enough for all of your hard work!

Got Time to Change a Life?

We've Got Time to Help. We've Got Time to Help strengthen communities. We've Got Time to Help each other. We've Got Time to Help pay it forward. We've Got Time to Help others stand strong when they are at their weakest. We've Got Time to Help shine light even on the darkest of days. We've Got Time to Help total strangers. We've Got Time to Help change the way communities think. We've Got Time to Help promote social responsibility. We've Got Time to Help show our neighbors that we care. We've Got Time to Help change the world.

These are just a few of the phrases that we have used over the last couple of months. They are but a few of the reasons why we started We've Got Time to Help.

This is the first major call that we have made for volunteers. We have many, many projects and we could use some more volunteers to help us get them done. We get calls for help almost every day and only a portion of the projects actually make it to the blog. A lot of them are taken care of almost immediately.

Our next big project is, what we affectionately call, The Extreme Yard Makeover. We could definitely use some more people on this one. This is a great chance for everyone to get out and help a deserving family while meeting others in your community who are as committed as you are to Paying it Forward. Please give us a call at 503-953-6018 or email wevegottimetohelp@q.com to find out more details.

You don't need any specific skills, just a willingness to get your hands dirty. Even if you can only spare an hour or two, it would be such a big help. It will be a lot of work but it will also be a lot of fun, and even more importantly...it will be worth it.

Believe me, we understand that it's hard. It's hard to volunteer to help someone with their yard when you don't have time to tend to your own. It's hard to help a total stranger when you have a world of troubles on your mind. It's hard to step out of your comfort zone and meet with a group of strangers. Please know that we completely understand.

We come home almost every day tired, sore and wondering if we are in over our heads. Then, we get up the next day and do it all again. If it wasn't worth it, we wouldn't do it. But we get up every day, with smiles on our faces (and Ibuprofen in hand), with a strong feeling of community, and the knowledge that we have, even in some small way, made a difference in someone's life.

Let me tell you, my friends, it doesn't get any better than that.

OPB and Community Involvement

We were contacted last week by Sarah Rothenfluch from Oregon Public Broadcasting's show, Think Out Loud. This is such a great opportunity for us to get the word out about what we do and how we can help people. The show will run from 9am-10am on Monday. Please, spread the word and let anyone in your community know that we are here to help them in any way we can. Sarah's approach to this story is fitting the pieces of our community into a larger social puzzle.

She will also be interviewing a prior customer of Modern Color (the small business that we helped close their doors) and how he had to reduce his advertising budget which directly affected Modern Color; how Desi Miller and crew turned Modern Color into Moso Graphics; how Michelle and I (Seth) turned unemployment into a positive experience and how a laid-off heavy equipment operator used F.I.D.O. (Friends Involved in Dog Outreach) to help him provide food for his animal allowing him to keep his pets instead of having to turn them over to a shelter. If you have time please listen to this informative community driven program.

Bark Dust, Weeds and Stones- Oh My!!

This should have been posted about a week ago. Jen and Aric are tremendously generous people.

We received a call a couple of weeks ago from a woman who needed help. She indicated she had Multiple Sclerosis and had recently fallen. She had purchased some bark dust and was now unable to spread the bark dust around her flower beds. We sent out an email to our volunteers.

Jen and Aric responded with what seemed to be the speed of light. We had not even had a chance to post about it yet and they had already been out and taken care of this woman. Besides helping spread the bark dust they ended up pulling weeds, raking, and putting in a stone walkway so she could use her walker between rows of plants.

Thanks to both of you, Jen and Aric, for always offering to go above and beyond what is asked or expected!!

Below are some photos showing what a great job they did!!

The Portland Upside

We had a wonderful conversation today with Rob and Sara, the creators of The Portland Upside. They came over to our home and we had a great talk about their new newspaper. They are a couple who was tired of all the negative news stories from the local and national media. So, instead of sitting by and watching the news, they decided to change it.

Instead of reporting on murder, rape, the economy, etc. etc., they chose to start a new (free) newspaper that reports on the Upside of life in the Portland area. They will be highlighting a lot of local, community based organizations and individuals in their monthly issue.

People or organizations that are choosing to unite communities, instead of divide them, will be discussed. They need all the support that you can give them.

This is truly a wonderful, and long overdue, venture. They are funding this out of their own pocket because they believe in this so much. We have highlighted their website on the left hand side of this blog.

Please check them out and support them any way that you can. They need all sorts of volunteers to help spread the word. They need volunteer writers, web designers, reporters, photographers and editors.

Or maybe, you know a local store or business that would be willing to offer The Portland Upside, free, to their customers; or perhaps a local coffee shop that you frequent would be happy to spread the positive news. No matter what the outlet, we could all use some good new these days.

Business Fair - April 3rd,4th and 5th

As you may or may not know, We've Got Time to Help is going to be at the New Chances Vendor Fair at Jantzen Beach this Friday 5pm-9pm, Saturday from 9am-9pm and on Sunday from 9am-6pm.

We thought this might give us a chance, not only to meet some new volunteers, but to get the word out about our group and what we do. The more people that know about us, the more people we can help. This is a chance for us to not only tell people about what we do, but to try to explain why this world would be a lot better place if we all lived by "Pay It Forward".

Anyway, so if you like, come down and talk to us. We would love to meet some new friends!

See you there!

Article about what we do in Chronicle of Philanthropy Magazine

We've Got Time to Help was contacted in February by a reporter for a magazine called The Chronicle of Philanthropy. This is a national bi-weekly magazine covering the nonprofit world. The reporter, Brennan Jensen, ran across our blog while researching a story about laid-off workers and jobless college grads turning to volunteerism. He contacted us to learn more about our efforts in Oregon. Seth did a phone interview with this reporter and it is now published. The article gives lots of examples of how others across the country are working toward a similar goal. It is great to see others similarly getting involved. You can read the article here: http://philanthropy.com/free/articles/v21/i10/10002601.htm

We appreciate Mr Jensen for giving us this opportunity to get the word out about We've Got Time to Help.

Moving Project on April 4th

Hi all, we just received a call from a woman who needs help moving. She has a 1-bedroom apartment with no appliances. A couch, dresser and bed are the largest items. She is unable to lift the heavy things and asked if we had people with trucks and any others are willing to help.

We are going to be at her apartment at 9am on Saturday the 4th. If we can get a few people on this one, it should be a nice quick move.

Who's Got Time to Move?

Wheelchair ramp

Got time to help a family in need?

We just received an email from a wonderful couple whose close friends are going through some very rough times right now. Here is a recap of their email to us:

The woman just recently had a stroke and the husband has some rather severe heart issues and is on disability. They also have a teenage son. The woman would love to be able to come home to her family, but they have no wheelchair access (ramp) at their home and they might need some minor modifications to the inside so that she will be able to maneuver around.

Some or all of the materials can be purchased by the friends, but they can't afford to hire someone right now. This is exactly why we started We've Got Time to Help!

These are good people, they have worked hard all their lives and now they need a little help from us!

They live just about 5 miles outside Battleground Washington, so we were thinking we could pick a day for a group of us to go up there so that some of us could carpool. We would like to get this done as soon as possible so that she can come home! She will be in the hospital for the next month, so we have some time to get a group and plan together.

Please let us know if you will join us on this most worthwhile cause!

Call or email us is you can help! 503-953-6018 or wevegottimetohelp@q.com

Modern Color

First of all, thank you to all of the volunteers that showed up to help, especially on such short notice. Lynn, Aric and Jenn, Mel, Trevor, Seth and Michelle all showed up to help out a family business tear down their shop. Margena and Rodger from King's Embroidery also donated about a dozen shirts with We've Got Time to Help's new logo embroidered on them. Margena and Rodger worked late into the night on Friday, just to make sure that they could have our shirts ready for us. Thank so much to King's Embroidery!!

We wish we could have been there under different circumstances or for a happier occasion. But, unfortunately, Modern Color was one of the latest casualties in this economic downturn. They are a great group of people who deserved more than to have to shut their doors.

So, the volunteers started showing up around 9am and immediately got to work. Anything from talking loads of trash to the huge dumpster to dismantling equipment. Everyone was a great help! We didn't get all of it done, but we made a big dent. Seth is going back out there Monday, March 2nd (tomorrow), to help out some more. Anyone is more than welcome to give us a call at 503-953-6018 if you'd like to help out this week. There is more moving to be done and more breakdown of equipment that needs to happen. Just give us a call or email if you're interested.

The owners of Modern Color also said that they are going to try and open up a smaller shop ASAP. They are hoping to be operational in their new location within a week or so. Please keep them in mind if you need any signs or banners or you know of someone who could use their service.

Thanks again to everyone for helping out on this! You are much more appreciated than words can say.

We've Got Time to fix a fence

Well, Michelle and Seth headed out to Troutdale this Saturday, looking forward to helping some neighbors in need. After arriving we saw quite a bit of damage and a large tree down. We spoke with the home owners and walked around the site. Luckily, a friend of theirs had taken down the part of the tree that was on the fence, so we didn't have to break out our chainsaw! Whew!

One lone volunteer, Randall, came out to help us in our endeavor! Thanks so much Randall! We couldn't have done it without you. Too big of a job for 2 people!

We walked around and formulated a plan and then just dug in (literally). We were a little apprehensive at first, but as we got going, it was a pretty straight forward job. We dug 8 new holes, all 2 feet deep and filled them with concrete. We then set the new posts and attached the support beams. It was a hard, dirty job, but after we finished, it was all worth it!

We didn't put up the actual fence slats. We are giving the concrete some time to set and besides, it was really, really, really (did I say really?) windy out there. If we had finished the fence with wet concrete, it would have come down again!


The first hole!


Part of the missing fence and you can see the huge downed tree on the right.


More of the missing fence. The missing part was basically a big "T". About 50 feet total needed to be repaired.


Seth, looking like he thinks it's a photo shoot! Get to work!

Some of the new fence posts set in concrete.

This is Randall. He was such a huge help! Thanks again, Randall!

The frame of the new fence. It took about 7 hours to get everything done.

It looked really good (if we do say so ourselves)!

We were absolutely beat after we were done. We could barely get back in the car afterwards. But you know what? We'd do it all again in a heartbeat!

Big Project this weekend, Sat the 21st!

UPDATE: If you find yourself with some extra time on your hands today, and you would like to come out and help us, please call 503-953-6018 as we will be on site and not near our email. Thanks to all!

We have had a big call for help from some neighbors who live in Troutdale. They lost 5 sections of fencing, a gate and had a tree fall onto some of the fence.

They are buying all of the materials this week, but they need some good old-fashioned labor. Lots of hands on this project for sure. The more the better, we think. It would be great to get a couple of people who have done some wood working and concrete along for the ride!

We also need a (at least one) person with a chainsaw(s). We need to move some of the tree so that we can fix the fence.

We are hoping that we can get at least 15 people out there this Saturday, come rain or shine!

Who's coming with us? Call Seth at 503-953-6018 for the address and directions.

Also, anyone that can offer rides to a couple of our volunteers, that would be great! We can take a couple, but we don't have a big vehicle. Thanks to all!!

Here's how you can be a part of this...

...just email us or call us (both our phone number and email address are on the right-hand side of this page and also at the bottom of the page). Let us know that you want to help. Let us know that you are ready to go out into our communities with other volunteers and start making a difference in the lives of those who need it. We will not accept payment from the people we help and we do not give money out. Most of us are unemployed and can't afford to give any of our money away. What we do give is time. Time and hard work. Time and dedication. Dedication to ourselves and our neighbors.

You can remain anonymous, or you can have your picture and name on our blog. You can help with every project or just one. You can choose to do physical labor or you could help with office/computer/phone work (we don't do fundraisers). You could volunteer to make food or drinks for project volunteers. We need everyone involved. No job is too small.

As for the projects themselves, again, no project is too small. We have helped people with simple things like fixing a leaky pipe under the kitchen sink or dropping off food to a needy family. We have some bigger projects, too. People who need major electrical and plumbing work done. Painting. Home repairs. Gutters installed. We will always do our best to help those who ask for it.
This is a horrible time economically for a lot of people. Too many people are being left behind while the economy worsens everyday. Jobs are being lost and lives are being harmed. We have all vowed to not let that happen anymore. Not on our watch. We will all do whatever we can, when we can, to make a positive and (hopefully) long lasting effect in people's lives.

Please join us. We (the volunteers) are having a get together this Wednesday the 11th of February and we would love to have as many volunteers come as possible. Most of the people coming are new to We've Got Time to Help and haven't been on a project yet. This will be a chance for most of us to share our ideas and experiences, to brainstorm about how we can best help those in need and to meet each other and see the excitement that we all share.

Not affiliated with any group other than Humanity.

Community Works!!!

Well, we are back from helping deliver furniture and household goods to a family in need. It was great! We had 3 volunteers show up, ready to help in any way they could! Thank you so much to Lynn, Hall and Trevor for all your help! A Big Thank You to all who donated items as well, including Margena, Aelinn, Lynn, Linda, Hall and Trevor!!

Just a few minutes ago, we received an email from the woman who called us for help. I could go on and on about what we did today and why we did it, but I think that I'll just let her letter speak for us all.

To see what started this all, just click on this link http://wevegottimetohelp.blogspot.com/2009/02/call-for-help.html and read the original posting.

Needless to say, this letter quickly brought us to tears. Here's the letter:

"Hi Seth, Michelle, et al.... I want to thank you ALL for the help, hard work, and loading/unloading/moving you did for my friend today!!!! It was amazing! I was overwhelmed with all the items donated including food, clothing, furniture, time, hard labor, vehicles, etc.

Thanks to you who wrestled with not one, but TWO sofa sleepers up a flight of stairs, into an extremely narrow entry and into place inside the apartment! Whew! Only Giving and Generous People could do that! Thanks for getting everything set up, cushions in place, table reassembled, chairs in place, baby clothes, tiny little shoes, and even the food brought in!!!!!! You all were fantastic!

Networking works! Community works! Love for your fellow "man" works! I saw it in action today!

My friend's doctor told her to go home and rest, no delivery today. She has another appointment at the hospital to deliver on Tuesday! The original due date was for Valentine's Day. But the kid wants "out" early I guess.

She got home around noon. She thought she was in the wrong apartment! For the first time since I've known her, she was speechless....and that's no small feat!

Like me, she could not stop saying thank you. The girls pulled her by the arm into their room and said, "Look! Our room is not empty anymore!" She called her mother and told her what happened and her mother told her to call me "MOM". She stated that her daughter has a mom in America now....Mom #2!

Again, thank you all for making this happen for her and her small, but growing family. The girls were delighted! The teenage boy was delighted! She and her SO were delighted! And all of you made it happen for them.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!

Count me in as a member of your "giving" community. I wanna be like you when I grow up!

Love to you all!
Lynn"


Here's a couple of photos from today. Please join us!!

Michelle, Seth, Trevor and Hall. Thanks, too, to Lynn for taking the photo!

Trunks, hatches and beds were packed full of items!!

Trevor was able to fit 3 couches in his truck alone! Thanks Trevor!!

Tomorrow morning

Well, tomorrow morning (Saturday the 7th) is when we are making a delivery of household items to the family in need. We are very excited. If you plan to join us or you have other items to donate to this family, please let us know. We will be leaving our house (email for address) at about 8:30 am. If you can make it, we would love to have you!

As far as we know, the family is unaware of our efforts.

We have a sofa/love seat, dining table (no chairs, though), a coffee table, a stroller, food and some clothing for the family. All of these items were donated by people who just want to help. You guys and gals are great!

A BIG thank you to all that have donated time and items to this wonderful cause! Please join us.

On the radio this Friday!

Earlier this week, we were contacted by the KBOO radio station (FM 90.7) and asked if we could be interviewed on their Friday Night radio show. Of course, we shouted a resounding “Yes!” What an opportunity to get the word out about We’ve Got Time to Help. The show will start at 6pm on Friday the 6th and will be an interview/call-in lasting an hour.

If you are available, please tune into the show. Or even better, call into the show and ask any questions that you might have. Hopefully, this will garner us new opportunities to get the word out. Thank you to KBOO and to Bridget Sullivan (the Event Producer) for this chance to speak to so many people!

You can find links to the show at http://kboo.fm/node/11938 and at http://kboobreadandroses.blogspot.com/

Please take a few minutes to listen to the show and PLEASE tell us what you think! We would love to hear from you! You can also listen to it here: http://kboo.fm/node/12082

Also, please see the post below for an opportunity to help a family this Saturday! Thank you for your time.

Seth and Michelle