Pledge 5 Clothing Drive benefiting St. Francis House

Anyone’s life can take a turn for the worst when you lose the most basic necessities due to sickness, unemployment or other extenuating circumstances. Homelessness is a problem, and not just in urban locations.  In January 2010,  the Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry counted 1,292 people in the homeless population.  A year later, the homeless and displaced population of Gainesville still needs all the help it can get.  

St. Francis House is the only homeless shelter in town. You can read about their large role in providing help to our community here.

What can WE do?
Well, there’s a lot we can do. This month, Pledge 5 Foundation asks you to join the cause and pledge to donate gently-used clothing to the St. Francis House. There are boxes set up all around town for your donating convenience!

Not only will you help someone out by keeping them warm during these winter months, but donating clothing items such as suits and shoes can give an unemployed person the confidence to interview for a job and get them one step closer to leading a self-sufficient lifestyle. A small deed like cleaning out your closet can make a big difference. 

St. Francis House doesn’t just help clothe the city’s homeless. It’s also a soup kitchen. Contact Jared Salter, the volunteer coordinator at (352) 378-9079 ext. 317 to see how you can be a server.
Then, put all your bets on us! Donate your clothing and play with us at the “Taking It off for Charity” Poker Tournament on January 28. See you there!

Mixin' & Minglin', MUBbin' & Scrubbin', Prankin' & Poker Playin'!

We’ve had a very busy week here at Pledge 5 Foundation, but we’ve also had a lot of fun!  In addition to preparing for our second annual “Taking It Off For Charity” Poker Tournament, we also held our Pledge 5 Community Mixer, which took place on Wednesday night at Sharab Lounge.   Our new interns got to “mix and mingle,” Pledge 5 Gators brought new spring recruits, and various community members who support Pledge 5 Foundation came out to hear about the exciting events and drives we have coming up this season!

Several members of Pledge 5 Foundation and Pledge 5 Gators went to the University of Florida last Friday to clean the music building for our first Pledge 5 public service event, the “MUB Scrub.”  After the event, a few of our interns participated in the Dorm Prank contest sponsored by ApartmentsInGainesville.com.  They started in Beaty Towers, blocking the entrance to the dorm by pretending that they were frozen.  Because they were “frozen in time,” as they described it, some of the residents had a difficult and very awkward time trying to get into the building.  To finish off the night, they sang a song about Pledge 5 in the elevator and to a confused Beaty resident. Check out the videos here and here!

 MUB Scrub

We’re also starting a campaign called “Stock Our Office!”  As you know, Pledge 5 Foundation is a nonprofit organization that promotes public service through events, charity drives and other community initiatives.  Unfortunately, our office is lacking a lot of materials and equipment that we really need!  So we’re offering logo placement on marketing material, promotional opportunities at our events and online marketing opportunities to those who wish to contribute.  Our current “Wish List” includes office supplies, chairs, a desk, a couch, a water cooler, lamps, an area rug, wall art, plants, etc.  If you’re interested in donating any of these materials (or anything else you can think of!) please contact Pledge 5 Foundation Director Ben Fox at (352) 577-8667 or ben@pledge5.org.

By the way, our “Taking It Off For Charity” Poker Tournament is in just two weeks, so practice your pa-pa-pa poker face!  And make sure you follow us on Twitter and Facebook because we’ve got some fun contests coming your way to win free VIP tickets!

Build a Stronger Community with Pledge 5 in 2011

As we all ease into the New Year, we strive to keep our resolutions alive. Pledge 5 Foundation wants to help you keep your community service goals by making a difference in the community.

We are starting the semester off with a chance to do some spring cleaning. Clean out your closet and donate your gently-used clothing to those who need it most. We all know January can get surprisingly cold here in Gainesville; imagine not having a way to keep warm during these winter months! The drive will be held through January 31st and will benefit the St. Francis House. Boxes for clothing collection can be found at all of the apartments listed on www.apartmentsingainesville.com.

Try your luck this year by participating in the “Taking It Off For Charity” Poker Tournament on January 28th at The Vault in downtown Gainesville! Entry is free, and a $20 donation can get you the whole experience: VIP band access, food and beer from Hooters from 7-10 pm, and chances to win thousands in prizes. Get $5 off by donating your gently-used clothes at the door. Doors open at 6:30, tables will be open until midnight.

Did You Know?

January is National Blood Donor Month! One pint of blood can save up to three lives. Someone needs blood every two seconds. About an hour of your time can help them. LifeSouth Community Blood Centers hosts blood drives throughout the year at their donation centers and seasonally on campus. If you see a bloodmobile around campus, stop by and see if you are eligible to help!

We have some great events planned for the semester. Keep checking our Facebook page and our Twitter @Pledge5 for more updates.

Let’s create change in 2011!

Pledge 5 Foundation Welcomes Our Spring 2011 Interns!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. It's the only thing that ever has." 
-Margaret Mead-

Adriana Ruiz         

Hometown: Miami/Mexico

Major: Public Relations

Adriana is excited to meet amazing people and to learn to plan events.

Random Fact: She carved her name in the Eiffel Tower!

 

Alyson Landry

Hometown: Tampa

Major: Photojournalism 

Alyson is excited about working with a nonprofit and understanding Gainesville through a community service lens!

Random Fact: She has an extra bone in her foot!

Becca Greenwood

Hometown: Lake Mary, FL

Major: Public Relations

Becca is excited to get some hands-on experience in the field while working with a passionate and motivated group for an awesome cause.

Random Fact: She plans to study abroad in Spain, and hopes to be able to speak Spanish fluently when she comes back!

 

Breanne Brock

Hometown: Winter Springs, FL

Major: Advertising

Breanne is excited knowing that the work we will be doing is for charitable events and we will

hopefully be improving other peoples’ lives.

Random Fact: She has been a vegetarian for almost two years.

 

Carine Nguyen

Hometown: Longwood, FL

Major: Telecommunication-Production

Carine is really excited to gain friends with a common passion in community service while gaining more experience in editing/creating videos.

Random Fact: She is a huge history buff and enjoys reading books and watching documentaries or movies based on history.

Caroline Vickers

Hometown: Madison, FL

Major: History

Caroline is excited to be working with motivated individuals who all want to give back to the Gainesville community.

Random Fact: She has grey hair and her hometown has a population of 3,000.

Daniela Guzman

Hometown: Weston/Colombia

Major: Journalism

Daniela believes this internship program is a great opportunity to meet other people who share an innate passion for service. She is excited to come up with new ideas and to put them to action, working together for a greater cause.

Random Fact: She danced ballet for 12 years.

 

David Armas

Hometown: Gainesville

Major: Advertising & Marketing

David is excited to get to use his creativity to promote Pledge 5 events and work with a fun, committed team.

Random Fact: He has traveled to 10 countries within the past four years.

 

Dina Lewis

Hometown: Miami

Major: Telecommunications

Dina is excited about the experience that she will gain from working with equally driven and passionate people and the many internal lessons she will learn from them.

Random Fact: Dina has a fascination for Ghost hunting. So far, she has ghost hunted with her dad and brother in Key West and St. Augustine. Next up is Savannah, GA!

Karina Gonzalez        

Hometown: Miami/Colombia

Major: Photojournalism

Karina is excited to learn about other aspects of media, promotions and event coordinating as well as practicing and improving her media skills.

Random Fact: She hates celery. 

 

Katerina Sardi        

Hometown: Miami

Major: Telecommunications 

Katerina is excited about doing good for the community through this internship, as well as meeting new people with the same interests as her.

Random Fact: She is usually very quiet at first, but she open up after a while.

Kelsey Grentzer

Hometown: Palm Harbor, FL

Major: Journalism

Kelsey is excited about the opportunity to help the community through her interest and skills in photography.

Random Fact: Her biggest aspiration is to travel the world, and she hopes to eventually work and travel as a photojournalist for a magazine like National Geographic. 

Kiersten Campos-Van Zant

Hometown: Panama City Beach

Major: Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management (specializing in Recreation and Event Management)

Kiersten says that the work that goes behind every type of event fascinates her, and she is very excited to experience the overall exposure to such an assortment of events and the background work.

Random Fact: Kiersten calls herself an Air Force brat. Growing up, her family moved often, so she has never lived somewhere longer than six years. Her family has been stationed in New Mexico, Italy and Florida.

Maria Galindo

Hometown: Boca Raton/Colombia

Major: Public Relations

Maria is excited to work with a comfortable group of people and learn the basics of public relations with hands-on experience. 

Random Fact: She can only remember her dreams in North Carolina!

Natalia Rodriguez

Hometown: Daytona Beach/Colombia

Major: Public Relations

Natalia is definitely looking forward to working with everyone at Pledge 5 and learning from other interns along with the staff.

Random Fact: When she first moved to the United States, the only words she could say were: chicken, I don’t know, yes, no and french fries.

Natalie Arenal        

Hometown: Pembroke Pines

Major: Telecommunications 

Natalie is excited about working as a group to help better the Gainesville community, and feeling like she has accomplished something.

Random Fact: She is obsessed with fish, and has two fish tanks in her room!

Paul Flagg

Hometown: New Port Richey

Major: Public Relations

Paul is most excited to learn a lot about PR, and to make an impact in peoples' lives. 

Random Fact: Christmas is Paul's favorite holiday! He has two

Christmas trees in his living room!

Sonya Matejko 

Hometown: Tampa

Major: Advertising

Sonya is excited to contribute to the community through beneficial events while gaining real internship experience from it.

Random Fact: She is extremely clumsy. She ran into a wall and bruised her cheek recently. "We’ll have to work on that," she says. 

Wrapping up toys as we wrap up the year!

The year is drawing to a close, and it has been a very exciting one!

First, we want to give a HUGE thank you to everyone who attended our Toys for Tots events. We collected over 100 toys, and that's not including the toy bins still at all of our toy drive locations! If you missed out on the charity poker tournament or the Gainesville "Gifts" Back benefit show, no worries! You can still make the holiday season brighter for a local child by donating a new, unwrapped toy at any of the properties listed on ApartmentsinGainesville.com. The toy drive will end on December 15th.

So you might be wondering, what is there to look forward to now? Besides the holidays and all the delicious things that come with them, the start of a new year kicks off a whole new round of events! The first will be "Taking it off for charity,"  a strip poker tournament on January 22nd. Don't worry...not all the layers are allowed to come off! This event supports a clothing drive for St. Francis House, a very deserving charity that aids the homeless and is crucial during the frosty winter.

In February, you can make your dog's tail go crazy with the Kanapaha 5K-9, a 5K that will lead you and your dog through the UF campus. The money raised will be given to the Alachua County Humane Society to purchase food, supplies, and make sure all those happy hounds can find a home!

Other spring events include a Pledge 5 golf tournament and public service drive and, of course, Gator Stompin'. Please continue to check the blog and become a fan on Facebook to get all the updates! You can also follow us on Twitter.

My last announcement is for any students at the University of Florida or Santa Fe Community College who are looking for an amazing spring internship! The Pledge 5 Foundation will be hosting an Intern Mixer at Sharab Lounge on Wednesday, December 8th to not only show appreciation for the fall interns, but also provide information for potential new interns! Enjoy free food and drinks and learn about the following internship openings:

Event Management - Public Relations - Graphic Design - Web Design - Marketing - Advertising, Videography - Photography - Public Service

See the Facebook event page for more information!

I hope you have enjoyed the blog because I certainly have had a lot of fun writing it! This is my final blog post on behalf of Pledge 5, so thank you for for reading and I hope you continue to do so. Happy holidays, everyone. Please remember to give more than just gifts this season--get out there and make a change in your community!


--Jenna Hankins
The Pledge 5 Foundation