Waco Central Texas Chapter of The Links, Incorporated: 2013

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Waco Chapter of The Links, Inc. Sponsors Fourth-Annual Santa Workshop

The Waco Chapter of The Links, Inc.'s 2013 Santa Workshop provided a great opportunity for members to share their gifts and talents with the community.

Attendees had a great time partaking in activities such as coloring, arts and crafts and cookie decorating. The event also included cookies and cocoa, and a surprise visit from Santa.

This year's storyteller, Mary Evans, was a hit with the powerful reading of her children's book titled, "Thunder and Lightning." She captivated the group's pint-sized audience.

"I was blessed and honored to share with the Links Waco Chapter," Evans said. "The young people who make up my target audience gave confirmation by their attentiveness, participation, and engagement that my picture book just might be a favorite of millions of children worldwide!"

The Links, Inc. founded in 1946, is one of the oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. The Waco Chapter of the Links, Inc, was founded in 1974 and is proud to be a contributing member of the Central Texas community.

The Waco chapter sponsors this free event each year.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Photos from the Bronze Eagle Fly-In 2013

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

2013 Links Luncheon Photos

Videos

Opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLB71ormVcQ

Finale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KwMZ66sPRw

Ty and Terri: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SS4i-SWpVs

Ty’s standup comedy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yB-5AWVSzU

Tracking volunteer hours is one problem that members of several organizations that I am in have. In order to make the task easier, I suggest the two iPhone apps below. The first one allows individuals and the chapter to track hours and to earn prizes by participating in a national contest. The second one allows users to track hours and email them to a program administrator. I recommend using both apps. I have provided descriptions below:

App 1: Reward Volunteers (http://www.rewardvolunteers.coop/faq.php)

Reward Volunteers is a free, easy way to track the time individuals and organizations spend volunteering in the community — and to earn rewards for contributions.

Individuals and organizations may use the Reward Volunteers iPhone app or Web widget to log volunteer activity and to get friends involved by sharing on Facebook or via email. Users can also take pictures using the iPhone app and share them on Facebook.

Users earn points by sharing their activity on Facebook or via email. The more "likes" and comments posts receive, and the more emails from friends, the more points individuals and organizations earn. The more hours a person logs at the organization of their choice, the more opportunities for them and the organizations they serve to win cash and prizes.

The iPhone and web app, created by Chalo Inc. in partnership with the Cabot Creamery Cooperative, uses Facebook Connect to help volunteers track their hours, share photos and post activity to Facebook (http://mashable.com/2012/03/30/reward-volunteers/).

An example of how the app may be embedded on a website is show here: http://hewitttx.wix.com/wacolinks2#!photo-gallery.

App 2: Volunteerica (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/volunteerica/id532676565?mt=8)

With Volunteerica, volunteers record their hours worked, what they did, and any donations collected. When they're done, they may email the report to their coordinator as a spreadsheet.

This simple app makes it easier for volunteers to track and submit their data, which increases participation and accuracy. The data is delivered to the coordinator in a standard, .csv format, which is easily read by any spreadsheet program.

(Note: users can only record service time in hour increments, so they will need to round up or down).