Vox Partners with Community Cloth for "Refugees at Home" Trimester

Vox Culture looks forward to partnering with Community Cloth for our "Refugees at Home" trimester which will extend from September thru November!

(artwork by Jody Lee)

The Community Cloth is a refugee-led, refugee-owned microenterprise empowering refugee women in Houston that is run under the parent 501(c)3 organization, Our Global Village whose mission is to empower grassroots leaders around the world to improve their communities by providing knowledge, resources and support.

The project grew out of several refugee communities’ informal experiences of selling handmade arts and crafts, such as woven bags, knitted scarves, embroidered linens, rugs and more. Through a series of community meetings held over several months in late 2009, members of the refugee communities voiced a need for expanded and accessible opportunities for refugee women to produce and sell their wares, express their culture and heritage through their crafts, and learn new skills that will assist them in transitioning to life in the US. The biggest request was for seed capital for the women to purchase materials in order to produce their wares and build up their inventory to be sold. The group discussed the idea of offering funding, coupled with training and support, and the Community Cloth was born.

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Our goal is to highlight the unique stories of the refugee artisans and promote their cause through a three-event series under the theme, "Common Threads". More details to come!

Welcome Linda Fox - Vox Culture's Volunteer Coordinator!

Please welcome Linda Fox, Vox Culture's Volunteer Coordinator! We are so excited to have her on board to help mobilize and empower the most cherished asset of our organization...our people! :)

ABOUT LINDA:

"I graduated a little over a year ago with my Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston. When I'm not being an electrical engineer, I'm cheering on my Houston Cougars (Go COOGS!!). In my past life, I swam on the University of Houston Swimming and Diving Team.

I got involved with Vox Culture through my older brother, Andrew, who coincidently suggested I attend Access. He invited me to the Access Cooking Group/Vox Culture Crawfish Boil 2.0 event where I got to meet new people, including Vox Culture's Director, Alissa Kit. I heard more about Vox Culture's cause and their mission to alleviate poverty and injustice. It was unlike anything I was part of before, and I felt like something tugged at me that I needed to be part of Vox Culture.

I went out on a limb and asked for the lead organizing role for the Vox Culture Beach Clean-Up & BBQ event having no idea what it took to organize something that massive. I felt so accomplished and I had such a great time, despite getting drenched in the rain. I am just one person, but I realized that with a group of people working together for one cause, we can accomplish so much more.  Knowing that I can help orchestrate volunteers to work together...that is what makes me happy."

1. Skittles or M&Ms? Definitely Skittles. My favorite are the green ones.  

2. What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?  Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I think it was the only book that I was required to read in school that I actually liked.   

3. What is your favorite Quote? "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." – Ferris Bueller

4. What's the best advice anyone has ever given you? "Never be afraid to ask questions." – My dad

5. Favorite Food? Chinese food!!! My favorite dish is chow mein.

Escaping the Storm - Vox Beach Clean up & BBQ!

On event day, I buckled in three dozen kolaches into my car and the volunteers headed out to an area between Surfside and Galveston.

When we arrived on the beach, everyone was equipped with latex gloves, a black bag for trash and a clear bag for recyclables. Daniel Wang designed an interactive Trash Scavenger Hunt with varying points assigned depending on uniqueness of the item found. A few "high-value trash" items included a pizza box, boot, tire and foreign beer bottles. The group was randomized into teams of 4-5 and everyone went hard to work. We were hoping that the rain would hold up to have the BBQ on the beach, but about an hour and a half into trash hunting, the weather beat us. The wind picked up and people chased after toppled tents, and everyone else grabbed the food, threw them into cars and headed straight to the warehouse—just like clockwork. Within seconds, it started to down-pour—we all got our cars off the sand and escaped the storm. 

Back at the warehouse, the BBQ carried on—we enjoyed hotdogs, burgers, chips, watermelon and even a 28-inch party pizza! Despite the unexpected turn of events, everyone had high spirits. Being drenched in the rain and covered in sand added to the fun of this event. Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for...the announcement for the winners of the Trash Scavenger Hunt. Congratulations to the three teams that made it into the 300 club—scoring high points from the amount of trash and from finding interesting items such as sandals, loaded diapers and an entire tent!

Overall, the event was a huge success filled laughter and learning. Vox picked up over 30 x 45lb bags of trash to help beautify the beach. Thanks again to all the wonderful volunteers for a fun and exciting day!

Check out more photos here :)

Written by Linda Fox

June Newsletter: Beach Clean-up & BBQ on Sat 6/30!

a. 6/30 Beach Clean-Up & BBQ
b. Welcome Viktor Kopic!
c. 500 lbs of Crawfish
d. Volunteer with Vox!

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Vox has entered into the Green at Home trimester as we turn our focus on how to care for our environment. Join us for the  community building outing at the Beach on 6/30! (Artwork by Jody Lee)


a. 6/30 BEACH CLEAN-UP & BBQ - WATER YOU WAITING FOR?

 
Get ready for some fun in the sun with our mini-road trip to Surfside! Vox Beach Clean-up & BBQ half day adventure on Saturday, June 30. Learn 5 Fun Facts about Beach Clean-ups. Sign-up to join the excitement!

b. WELCOME VIKTOR KOPIC!

Vox is happy to bring on board our very first intern, Viktor Kopic! He will serve as a Research and Development Coordinator and help build out the cause side of the organization. Read more about his bio and international background. Researcher by day. Superhero by night.


c. EVER WONDER WHAT 500 LBS OF CRAWFISH LOOKS LIKE?

Crawfish, fried rice, hot dogs and bread pudding - Vox had a blast at the Crawfish Boil 2.0! Special thanks to the Access Cooking Group and volunteers for cooking up a feast! Check out the event pictures!

d. Volunteer with Vox!

Looking for ways to give back while having fun? Volunteer with Vox! We have some great initiatives in store and would love your involvement. Fill out this short interest form to get connected. Also, stay updated on what Vox is up to by signing up for our newsletter and "like"-ing our Facebook page!

See you at the beach!

5 Fun Facts about Beach Clean-Ups

1)      Beach Clean-Ups help the Local Economy –

Beaches are an ideal tourist attraction. By helping maintain the highest standards, and keep our beaches clean, we can ensure that tourists continue to visit local beaches. The revenue generated from the support of tourists is essential to the local population, whose main source of revenue revolves around tourism and fishing. Coastal tourism and commercial fishing are a vital part of the Texas economy, contributing about $8.9 billion per year.

2)      Beach Clean-Ups help keep the Ocean clean too –

Due to tide patterns in the Gulf of Mexico, trash dumped anywhere in the gulf is likely to end up on a Texas beach. During periods of high tide, the ocean may also sweep some of the trash or debris that has been left on the beach back into the sea. This in turn puts marine wild life in danger. Beach clean-ups help reduce this risk towards the survival of marine wild life, and helps the overall marine system remain a little safer and healthier for all.

3)      Beach Clean-Up Volunteers can make a Global difference –

Volunteers through state programs, such as the Texas General Land Office’s “Texas Adopt-A-Beach” program, can record information such as the source and type of debris collected on data cards provided by Ocean Conservancy. The data that has been collected over time has been instrumental in the passage of international treaties and laws aimed at reducing the amount of offshore dumping.

4)      Beach Clean-Ups and Texas –

The first beach clean-up to be sponsored by the state of Texas occurred in 1986. Since then, over 400,000+ people have volunteered to clean up beaches across Texas, through the “Texas Adopt-A-Beach” program, and have collected over 8,000 tons of trash over a span of twenty-six years. Among the earliest and most renowned beach cleanup in Texas was one organized by Linda Maraniss, a former employee of Ocean Conservancy (then known as the Center for Environmental Education). Being appalled at the amount of trash she saw on a trip to the beaches of South Padre in 1986, she would team up with like-minded people to organize a beach cleanup. In a mere two hours, 2,800 Texans would pick up 124 tons of trash along 122 miles of coastline.

5)      First state-wide Beach Clean-Up in the World –

In 1984, Judy Nielson, an employee of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), would attend a conference on plastics in the marine environment. This conference led her to conceive the idea of statewide volunteer beach cleanups to raise awareness of the proliferation of plastic debris in the environment. The world’s first statewide volunteer beach cleanup would be held on October 13, 1984, under the title “Plague of Plastics”. Local coastal garbage haulers would volunteer to haul all the collected debris to local landfills at no charge. In all, 2,100 volunteers removed 26.3 tons of debris at that first beach cleanup.

Written by Viktor Kopic | Research & Development Coordinator