CCE

Blogathon: Blog For Katrina Relief

On July 29, Sharon Gerald and I will be participating in a twenty-four hour blog for charity--specifically, we'll be blogging to raise money for the work done by volunteers in Pearlington, Mississippi.  We'd like to invite you all to join us in blogging or in sponsoring us while we blog every half hour for twenty-four.

The charity that we're blogging for, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, is one which Sharon works with.  As you may know from reading Composition Southeast, Sharon has been volunteering a great deal of time this summer in Pearlington, helping them begin to get back on their feet.

You may be wondering what a secular blog is doing fundraising for a religious group. Here's the answer: I've wanted to do some sort of effort through CCE but have been cautious about raising money until I could find a group that used all funds for rehabilitating the area.  I decided to go with the Baptist group because I know that Sharon can vouch for their integrity and that the money will go directly to relief. Additionally, I want to stress that many religious groups are at work in Pearlington, working cooperatively to help the residents of the town.

If you want to join us and blog for a few hours on the twenty-ninth, or if you want to sponsor us, please send us an email by Thursday evening.  We'll get you set up on the blog or refer you to donations.  And if you would write a blurb about us on your blog and include a link here, that would be beyond wonderful.

Best,

Joanna

Let's Rethink Things

I've been away for a month and suspect that the second half of my summer will be taken up with non-blogging matters, so I'd like to take a hiatus from this blog and return in September, fresh and organized, and create a CC festival then.

Have a good summer.

It's Carnival Time

  Announcing CCE's First Annual Teaching Carnival, From July First through July Last.

Send us assignments and commentary, and we'll post them here,

Or here,

Maybe even  . . . . .here.            

So, relax, vacation, enjoy the next month.    And when July rolls around, send us your best!

Summer Volunteering For Katrina Clean Up

Sharon Gerald of Composition Southeast posted this appeal the other day, and I hope she doesn't mind that I'm reprinting it here.  Essentially, she's asking for volunteers to go down to Mississippi and help rebuild the homes that were damaged. It's something to think about.  Here's what Sharon has to say:

As you may or may not be aware, there is still a whole lot of work that needs to be done on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to clean up and rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Many of the families were poor before they lost everything they had. Many of them have lost their jobs and their vehicles in addition to losing their homes. Insurance companies are not always paying out in areas flattened by the storm surge. The only hope these families have of getting out of the cars, tents, and campers they are now living in and back into homes is through volunteer labor.

Often, people in academics have some time in the summer when they can get away. If you are one of those people, and you would like to volunteer, let me know.

If you know of any church groups, civic groups, student groups, or just groups of friends who could come down to work, let me know.

Of course, people who have some carpentry skills are much in demand as volunteers, but even I've been down working on houses, and if I can do it, anybody can.

Keep it in mind. If you can make it down during the summer to work, I will put you in touch with a church group that is working very hard in the recovery efforts. I'll even come pick you up at the airport and lend you a sleeping bag and a tent. :)

Oh, yeah...people need money to rebuild too. If you can't come, but you can help financially, I can put you in touch with the people who will put your dollars to very good use as well.