Misc

5th Bridge, the Northfield-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting habits of volunteerism and philanthropy, announced a request for proposals (RFP) process to gather ideas for a large-scale volunteer event to be held in the community later this year or early next year. Through the process, the group aims to collect ideas from partnering organizations interested in co-hosting an event that will engage between 250 and 2,000 volunteers in a locally based activity. The deadline for submission is April 30, 2012.

High school students in the Northfield Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) approved a total of $2,000 in grants to support five projects and activities designed to promote high school graduation among Northfield youth.  All grants were made possible through funding from the “100 Best Communities for Young People” award that Northfield received from America’s Promise.

It is time to start thinking about summer!  The 2012 Northfield Community Services adult summer softball league meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 13th at 8:00 p.m. at the Northfield Community Resource Center (NCRC) in room 225.

At their February 2012 board meeting, the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Board approved mini-grants to support 10 projects and activities designed to benefit and support Northfield youth. 

Funded projects included:

WINGS (Women in Northfield Giving Support) invites Northfield area non-profit organizations to apply for a 2012 WINGS grant. These grants are given in support of projects benefiting women and children in the Northfield area. Applications must be submitted electronically by March 16, 2012. A workshop will be held on Thursday, March 1, at the Northfield library meeting for anyone seeking more information aboutthe grant process.

Springtime comes bearing gifts: sunshine-y days, blankets of colorful flowers, and an upsurge in cute bunny sightings. But have you thought about doing something nice for nature this season? This spring, the City of Northfield is pleased to introduce two new incentive programs: the rain barrel rebate program and rain garden cost share program. The programs are a direct result of Northfield’s stormwater ordinance, updated in 2010, which identified incentive programs as a means to reduce stormwater runoff volume and pollution. The Environmental Quality Commission and city staff have been working with the city’s Minnesota GreenCorps stormwater service member Dustin Demmer since then to design, and now implement the programs.

Northfielders are invited to attend the Preparing for Life in Families Social Science Conference this weekend (February 17–18) hosted by the St. Olaf College social science departments. The event celebrates 100 years of family study at St. Olaf and fits this year’s “Transformations” theme at the college.

The conference is free and open to the public. No registration is required.

The latest issue of Intersections, Carleton’s email newsletter for the Northfield community, is out now. You can read the issue online or subscribe to the newsletter via the College's Community Connections website.

Stories in the February 2012 issue:

• Chronicle of Higher Education: "In an Old School Building, Carleton College and Its Community Enjoy New Lessons"
• Carleton Joins St. Olaf, NDDC in College-Community Collaborative Plan
• Getting to Know: Sameena Ahmed '12, ACT Volunteer
• Video Feature: Tour of Perlman Teaching Museum, Sneak Preview of Winter Term Exhibits
• Carleton Announces Formation of Center for Community and Civic Engagement
• Carleton, St. Olaf Make Annual Donation to City of Northfield

Read the full newsletter online.

Survey and Raffle!

Answer questions about diversity, immigration and what it means to be a citizen for the chance to win one of the two $50 Target gift certificates. Survey closes on at 5 PM on March 31, 2012. The survey takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete.

This is not a political survey: we gather information only for academic purposes. The survey is anonymous. The information you provide for the raffle is kept separate from your answers and is not handled by those who conduct the survey.

To view the survey, click here: http://tinyurl.com/nfld2012

If you have any questions or need help with filling out the survey, please contact Anna Moltchanova by phone (507) 222 7163 or e-mail amoltcha@carleton.edu.

Four teenagers who organized a benefit concert for a family who lost their home in a fire are the December 2011/January 2012 recipients of the Healthy Community Initiative’s  “Making a Difference” Award.  The award celebrates those groups and individuals in the community who have a positive influence on Northfield youth.

Within hours of learning of the Thanksgiving Eve fire that destroyed the home of the Haslett-Marroquin family, ARTech students Gabby Frenstad and Olivia Upham and Northfield High School students Jasmine Barksdale and Jon Fried rallied support for the family through a Facebook page and organized a concert and bake sale.  Their efforts have raised more than $6,500.

"What is Your Legacy?" will be the theme of the annual meeting of Women in Northfield Giving Support (WINGS) to be held Saturday, Jan. 28, at the Weitz Center for Creativity at Carleton College. The event will run from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and is open to the public.

The Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Board recently approved mini-grants to support five projects and activities designed to benefit Northfield youth.  Funded applicants included:

•The Northfield High School for the 10th Grade Career Fair.  The high school will host a career fair for all 10th grade students, giving them an opportunity to explore career interests and make connections with adult community members.  At the career fair, community members will speak to students about their careers and answer any questions that the students may have.  Juniors and seniors from the high school will be involved with the planning and implementation of the career fair.  The event follows a “Career Opportunities” lesson taught in all 10th grade classrooms.

"A fresh start", "time to get organized", "my cupboards are a disaster".  Have you used any of these phrases lately?  Why not begin the new year with a fresh look for your medicine cabinet by properly disposing of unneeded and expired medication?  Disposing of medications in an environmentally safe way is easy for Rice County residents.  Getting rid of unneeded or expired medicines helps keep them away from people who might abuse them.

The Take It to The Box program opened on September 22, 2009, with disposal boxes located in the lobbies of the Northfield and Faribault Police Departments.  Since that time, the program has collected and safely disposed of 5,670 pounds of medication!

Recently, the Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) successfully applied to have Northfield named as one of the “100 Best Communities for Young People.“  As a result, the MYC received funding to support efforts in the community to encourage high school graduation.

With this funding, the MYC is making grants available to groups to help promote graduation and increase our local graduation rates.

A total of $2,000 is available for Northfield projects.  The application is designed to be short and easy to complete.  It can be found HERE.

Applications are due by Friday, January 27, 2012.

Questions?  Call 664-3524 or email nfldmayorsyouthcouncil@gmail.com

Well, not really! According to a study from the Minnesota Department of Education, almost 50 percent of children in Minnesota are not fully prepared for kindergarten. Additionally, research indicates that investments in high-quality early education yield a high public return in terms of lower educational costs, crime rates, and social service expenses, and the highest returns come from investments in at-risk children.2 If we do not create an early childhood care and education system that supports these children in the early years, the state will face more costly expenditures on these same individuals when they are adults.  And Northfield is no different!

The Northfield Early Childhood Initiative Coalition will be hosting a dinner meeting to provide a time for networking with child care providers, and early childhood staff and district K through 3 teachers to ensure that all Northfield children are school ready.