Giving back: Gifts to the community

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As the economy reflects the deep freeze and darkness of December, gift-giving goes beyond family and friends to give back to a hurting community. From the United Way’s Give 5 Now campaign to Second Harvest and foodshelves, there are many ways to give. Here are four smaller places where your dollar can make a big difference. Heart of the Beast
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater closes temporarily on December 26, planning to re-open February 11. If you know Heart of the Beast only through the MayDay Parade, check out the HOTB website to learn about the many programs it provides in the community throughout the year. Continue Reading

FREE Twin Cities holiday activities

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Money is tight this holiday season. Whether simply cutting back on gifts or thinking about shaping your dreidel out of those leftover Thanksgiving potatoes, most Twin Cities residents are scoping out ways to save. Fortunately, there are plenty of activities about town that will get you in the spirit of the season without landing you in debt. Ice Skating at Rice Park (plus free music at the Landmark Center)One of the Twin Cities’ best free ice rinks is The Wells Fargo Winter Skate in Rice Park, where skaters glide around under a colossal tree worthy of Rockefeller Plaza. Proximity to the beautiful Landmark Center makes taking in a free concert after your skate a great way to stretch your day of free holiday fun. Continue Reading

Volunteering for the holidays and beyond

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Last month, I wrote an article about volunteering opportunities in the Twin Cities for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I listed several opportunities that I found on volunteering Web sites such as volunteermatch.org for people who wanted to volunteer for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the information quite right, and Tashia Weisenburger from Aeon called the Twin Cities Daily Planet saying that though they had volunteer opportunities for the week of Thanksgiving, there were none for the actual day of Thanksgiving. I spoke to Weisenburger briefly on the phone, and she said that there is a large demand for volunteering opportunities related to the holidays, but less so for the rest of the year. It turns out other volunteer coordinators in the Twin Cities are in the same predicament. Continue Reading

December 17 Test: Are you ready for DTV?

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Set your clocks for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008. This Wednesday, full-power TV stations in Minnesota and 28 other states will voluntarily participate in a nationwide analog shut-off test. The FCC is organizing the nationwide soft shut-off, which will last for five minutes at 6:30 p.m. local time. During the test, TVs receiving analog signals will display a red banner with text on the screen alerting viewers that they must take action to continue receiving TV programs after Feb. Continue Reading

Where to go for heating help

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Although winter is not yet officially here, with snow on the ground and temperatures dipping into the teens, Minnesotans face another season of high heating bills. “Many people believe that you just don’t get your heat turned off in the cold winter months. That’s not true,” said Catherine Fair, director of energy assistance programs at the Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties. Where to go
If you need to set up a payment plan and apply for heating assistance, do it as soon as possible. If you live in Minneapolis, call 612-335-5837 or go to the Minneapolis Community Action web site. Continue Reading

“Gifts of impact” appropriate this holiday season

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The Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches has a great idea for this holiday gift-giving season that was made all the more important by this past week’s dismal state budget and employment reports. The appeal from the faith community comes as lawmakers and government officials at state and local levels look at cutting social services to cope with budget deficits, and as unemployment, bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings continue to mount. Holiday shopping done right!by GMCCWe were tired of all the depressing economic headlines and frankly tired of feeling like there was little we could do about them. So we at the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches decided to put a little twist on this holiday season. We ask a simple question: What if we didn’t buy that sweater for Dad, that perfume for Mom, that poinsettia for our clients, that box of chocolates for our neighbor? Continue Reading

Snow / Nieve / Daus / Baraf

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For snow emergency information in St. Paul, go to the web site or call 651-266-PLOW. For snow emergency information in Minneapolis, go to the City’s snow Web page or call 612-348-SNOW. For more complete snow information from both cities, read on. Saint Paul snow season facts & figures• Online Information. Continue Reading

Holiday gifting

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It’s official. The US economy is in recession. Over the past twelve months, thousands of Americans have lost their homes, and even more men and women have lost their jobs. With such a grim outlook, it is evident that many Americans will not have “happy holidays”; and many families on low wages will have to work harder during the holidays to bring something home for the holidays. Community organizations in the Twin Cities can be channeled to reach many of these people in need. Continue Reading

Recession-proofing the holidays: Plentiful pumpkins provide holiday cheer

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With cash in short supply this year, and plastic not so trendy anymore, we may have to turn a little more creative in our gift-giving traditions this holiday season. I remember long ago when my children were small, and we faced a tough economy in the 1970s. With many children in school and many teachers to remember at Christmas, we thought hard about gifts to give them that we could afford. Our pumpkin crop was plentiful that year and we stumbled on the idea of cooking up the pumpkins and making pumpkin bread for each of the teachers. We harvested and scrubbed the pumpkins, baked them in the oven, then pureed them in the blender. Continue Reading