One Brick in DC

My Life As a Cow

Me as a Cow at 'Farm Sanctuary Walk for Farm Animals 2010'

One Brick events have offered me the chance to get involved with lots of different things in every corner of the Washington region, but I have never had to dress up as a cow!

That all changed when I volunteered at a One Brick event to support Farm Sanctuary’s ‘Walk for Farm Animals 2010′ on October 2 this year. Farm Sanctuary are a non-profit dedicated to preventing abuse of farm animals. One Brick volunteers assisted with registering walkers at their annual event. This is a great example of how One Brick can help out a group with extra staff for special events. Most of our volunteers were distributing literature and freebies to the registered walkers, but one extra job needed to be done: somebody had to put on the cow suit, and walk around to promote the event!

Since it wasn’t a very hot day, and I always like to help out, I offered my services as a cow. I had no cow experience, but this was not required. Actually, it was a lot of fun. Everybody loves a 6-foot walking cow, it seems. Apart from dogs…several dogs that I met were NOT happy with me, and made it known with a lot of barking and snarling!

You can check out more photos of the event here.

Rrrockville is grrreat!

Post-volunteering social in Rockville!

Any volunteers from Rockville / Montgomery County out there?!

Or have you ever wanted to find out what goes on at the northern extremes of the red line?

Well, One Brick is active in Maryland with several regular events…including our upcoming clothes sorting slot at the Rockville Interfaith Clothing Center on Saturday 31st July (Click here to RSVP).

The last time I managed this event was in January, when there was snow on the ground. That’s certainly changed, but I am confident that the staff at RICC will still be there, doing excellent work to provide unwanted clothing to those who need it most. It’s a rewarding volunteer experience, and it doesn’t take up your whole day (only 2 hours!). Like the last time, I’ll be taking the RideOn bus from Twinbrook metro station, but there is plenty of parking for volunteers who need it.

One of the things I like about this event is that the RICC is pretty close to Gilly’s Craft Beer and Fine Wine, which is an extremely friendly little deli just off Rockville Pike. They sell delicious sandwiches and you can select from several of their craft beers on tap, or from their incredible range of bottled craft beer for a small ‘corkage’ fee. (Non-alcholic beverages are also available.) If I get my way, we’ll be going back there for the post-event social!

Right now we’ve got 6 volunteers signed up for this event. I’ll probably close the event when we get to about 12 volunteers or so, because there’s only so much space in the clothes-sorting area! Hopefully see you at the end of July or at some other MoCo event soon!

Heros of ShamrockFest!

THANK YOU to everybody who came out to support One Brick at Shamrockfest! The weather was dreadful but thanks to our FANTASTIC volunteers, we managed to make sure that nobody was short of Harp, Guinness or Smirnoff! It was a pleasure to work with such motivated volunteers. And with 50 people taking part, this is a new record! Congratulations everybody for taking part in One Brick DC’s biggest ever volunteer event!

It’s too bad that the weekends on either side of ShamrockFest have amazing weather, but the day of the event was marked by a monsoon. Hopefully if we pour beer at Shamrockfest again, we’ll be more lucky, and next time we’ll know exactly what to expect on event day!

Thanks again everybody for taking part. Be sure to check the website for 55 photos from the event plus details of other One Brick volunteer opportunities, many of which are inside in the warm!

ShamrockFest Time!

ShamrockFest is DC’s biggest St Patrick’s Day Party, and One Brick is going to be there in force! Since I am from Ireland myself, it gives me great pleasure to be bringing a huge team of One Brick volunteers to the event this coming Saturday, March 13th. Every One Brick volunteer will be helping to make sure everybody has a great time at the party AND will raise funds to support One Brick in DC!

The Plan

NEW SHIFT TIME: We are now starting work at 11 a.m! We have changed the shift time because the organizers have asked us to help sign in event guests starting at 11 a.m. The good news is that we will be finishing earlier…by 6.00 p.m! This will give us more time to enjoy the party when our shift is done.

Starting from 10.30 a.m, we will be welcoming volunteers with donuts at East Capitol Street and 19th St SE. We encourage volunteers to take the metro to Stadium/Armory station and walk one block north. Our staff will be waiting for you at East Capitol Street and 19th St SE. You’ll recognize us because we’ll have our orange One Brick fleeces, and we’ll be standing next to a One Brick banner. We should stand out well, because everybody else will probably be wearing green!

Please try to arrive by 10.40 a.m. so we can get everybody into position in time to start at 11 a.m.

What we’ll be doing

11 a.m. – 11.30 a.m. we will be registering event guests. At 11.45 a.m. we do TIPS training to handle alcoholic beverages. From noon – 6 p.m we will be serving drinks in the ‘beer trucks’. We will be working in groups, but if you are with friends you can work together and everybody will be with a One Brick event coordinator at all times. After 6 p.m. we are free to enjoy the party, and we encourage you to join us afterwards for the One Brick volunteer after-event social at Hawk & Dove (Pennsylvania Avenue SE, 6 minute walk from Eastern Market Station)

What else you need to know

All staff will get regular breaks throughout the day, and food and refreshments will be available. It’s probably a good idea to wear waterproof footwear and dress appropriately for March weather! Try to bring the minimum personal belongings to the event site, because there are no secure areas there. If you need to secure personal belongings, please bring this to the attention of a One Brick event coordinator when you arrive. We can lock your belongings in a secure place for the duration of the event. This is going to be the trunk of a designated car, so we won’t easily be able to access your stuff during the shift.

PLEASE do NOT drink alcohol during our shift! The organizers are operating under strict regulation from the DC ABRA, who will be present at the event. Seriously, anyone drinking alcohol during the shift is likely and liable to get kicked out. We can all enjoy a beer together when we get done at 6 p.m., so please wait till then!

Final thanks

THANK YOU to everybody who is taking part in this event! Your participation in this event will support One Brick and enable us to keep providing free support to non-profits in the DC area!

I’d also like to thank everybody at Hi-Ball Events for supporting One Brick and giving us the opportunity to help out at what is sure to be an absolutely fantastic party!

Please feel free to leave a comment to post any questions or comments about One Brick’s participation in Shamrockfest 2010. This is going to be a great party and I’m looking forward to seeing you on Saturday! Happy St Patrick’s Day! ~Sam~