Beaver Creek Halloween Spooktacular

Submitted by Ashley Johns, AmeriCorps VISTA for Beaver Creek Adult Center and Beaver Creek Transit

Candy Donation box placed at the Adult Center.  There were 

8 boxes placed throughout the community and this candy will 

be given out to the trunk or treaters!

Out here in Beaver Creek we have been busy organizing the Third Annual Halloween Spooktacular!  (Beaver Creek is composed of the Rimrock, Lake Montezuma, and McGuireville communities).  Back in September, at a Youth and Families meeting, Kristyn Conner and I were appointed this year’s “Spooksters” to organize and execute the event.  I love Halloween, it’s my favorite holiday next to the Fourth of July, so I was a-okay with helping head this event!  Our first order of business was to contact community members that had organized the event in the past and figure out a game plan.  We wrote letters for donations and were able to accumulate some kid’s meals toys from the Camp Verde McDonald’s and the Cottonwood Taco Bell.  We were also able to get gift cards from the Camp Verde Wendy’s and coupons for a free ice cream from the Camp Verde Dairy Queen.  We had to accumulate around 1,000 prizes and were able to exceed that amount with these donations and left over prizes from last year!

To our surprise, everyone out here loves this event and wanted to help out!  We were able to find volunteers pretty easily because everyone wants the children here to have a safe and fun Halloween.  Spooktacular is important because here in the Beaver Creek community, there are no sidewalks or street lamps!  By having a special event in one well lit area, we are able to ensure a safe Halloween for all.  This year we will have 9 “trunkers” that will provide “trunk or treat” for the children.  The trunkers will park their cars in our designated area and pop their trunks so the children can trick or treat between the vehicles.  Some participants even decorate their vehicle, so we’re excited to see what the cars come dressed as!  There’s even talk of my Kia showing up as Pikachu!

We will also have plenty of games and activities for the kids.  Our games include a ball toss, a bean bag toss, putt-putt golf, a Go Fish game, and a witch hat ring toss.  There will also be other fun activities such as face painting, bracelet making, cookie decorating, and a “Spooky Kitchen”.  There will be music and food, including s’mores and caramel apples, and of course we will ensure a safe environment by having the local fire department there, as well as crossing guards to get to the event.  Our local Kiwanis group was generous enough to handle the legalities of the event and get the permit from the county, as well as donate the hotdogs and music equipment.  We have some awesome Kiwanis members here in Beaver Creek!!!

The days are quickly counting down to the event, and this coming weekend will be spent decorating and preparing as much as possible.  I am very confident that this Spooktacular will play out great, and that the kids will have a lot of fun.  Kristyn and I have put a lot of ideas, hard work, and organization into paving the way to making next year a little easier on the head “Spookster”.  Cause that’s what VISTA is all about right?  Leaving behind a sustainable plan, and this event needed some VISTA overhaul to get it kicked into gear.

This entire event is put together solely with volunteer hours and donations.  Without the community’s generosity, this event couldn’t happen!

I know Ke$ha will be wandering around, making sure that things go smoothly.  And I hear a lady bug will be joining her.  Anything for the kids right?!  Halloween, here we come!

Introduction to Prescott Area Women's Shelter

Written by Arielle Black-Foley 

I walked into Prescott Area Women’s Shelter (PAWS) having no real idea what to expect. I had never worked with a homeless population before, so I was fairly clueless what brought our guest to the shelter, what the dynamic was between staff and guests, and even what a typical day was like in the shelter. One thing was clear to me from the beginning; the shelter was a lot homier than I had imagined. On each bunk was a colorful quilt, and above each bed there was a colored frame honoring the individual(s) who helped pay for that bed. The women’s spirits matched the colorful room; rather than a building full of hopelessness and gloom (as I had prepared myself for), I noticed that women seemed generally quite happy and at ease here.

Sure, women would have their bad days, but at the end of the day, PAWS was a second chance for them, and they were committed to doing whatever they needed to get back on their feet. The staff also did their best to insure each woman’s success. The Case Manager here met weekly with each woman, creating weekly goals and monitoring their improvement. The really exciting part: it’s working! I have already witnessed 12 women transition out of PAWS since August. 

The sad part is that there is such a need for our services. We have served 4,703 women in this year alone, and have had a consistent waitlist since opening. You can always help us to provide food, shelter, and access to resources for homeless women and children by donating goods, making a monetary donation or volunteering in the shelter. 

Yet, there is a more immediate way to make a difference. The Prescott Area Women’s Shelter (PAWS) invites you to join us for our Holiday Fundraiser, which will be taking place on November 18^th from 5 to 8 PM in the Ballroom at Hotel St. Michael. The Event will consist of a silent auction, and a raffle filled with wonderful items from local artists and business owners (cash and check only; no credit cards). There will be delicious appetizers as well as a cake table with coffee, tea and sweets. Tickets are $35 a person.

For more ticket information, please contact Patricia Brockert, at irishpatmike@msn.com, or by telephone at 928-541-0063.

For general information on our shelter, please go to www.prescottshelter.org.

9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance: A huge success thanks to the Prescott community!

The Serve Yavapai Team sorting donated food.  

This year, Serve Yavapai launched a county-wide food drive in honor of the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy and in recognition of the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. We decided to run a food drive, because food insecurity is a major problem in Yavapai County.  With Arizona’s child poverty rate now at 31% (second only to Mississippi as the highest in the states), it makes sense that food security programs have seen a tremendous increase in demand over the last two years.  Open Door, for example, has seen an increase of 132% in meals they provide in just the last year. In Yavapai County, 28.4% of all children (age 18 and under) live below the poverty level, and in three schools within our county, more than 90% of students are on the free or reduced lunch program.

During the two weeks, over 20 food collection sites (see the full list of our community partners below!) across the county saw a consistent flow of food donations from local community volunteers.  We also had fantastic participation from schools throughout the county.  In Cottonwood, Mountain View Preparatory School received over 1,400 pounds of food and delivered it to the Old Town Mission in Cottonwood.  In Prescott, over 100 students from Prescott High School, led by their Student Government, volunteered by donating over 350 pounds of food.   We are excited to announce that a grand total of 502 volunteers participated in the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance by donating 3,538 pounds of food. That’s over one and a half TONS!   This food has been delivered to local food security programs. “I can't thank you enough for the BIG food donation from the 9/11 food drive” said Dianne Iverson of the Coalition for Compassion and Justice (CCJ), “Our clients are enjoying real choices for the first time in a while. I know it was a lot of work and I really appreciate it. Lots of smiling faces today!”

For those of you who don’t know much about the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, it became formally recognized by Congress in 2009.  The day reclaims the legacy of September 11^th and creates a permanent, positive tribute to all those who lost their lives, and those who rose in service after the tragic events.  Hundreds of organizations in communities across the nation commemorate this day each year with community-based service projects.  We feel honored to have led the community in commemorating this 9/11 Day of Service through a successful food drive that will make a huge difference for families struggling in poverty.