*A Thank You for VISTAs *Ways to get your VISTA work recognized *Free & low cost activities in Greeley/FC *Santa Fe Stew - DELICIOUS! *Do you know Cathy Millon of Girl Scouts of Colorado? Now you do! *New VISTA leader: Erika Rogness

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The Untold Story: Young Philanthropists in Your Community

I would like to start by thanking all of you for taking a year (or more) of your time to serve

communities that need it! Few people are willing to continue to live on college-like funds

after they have graduated while spending their work week trying to improve their own

communities or the new area they have relocated to. You commit to being available 24/7,

volunteer many hours, take on challenges you are given, and all so you can fight poverty

or make someone's life better . It's incredible to see a great group of people that have so

much heart to do all that it takes to make their organization a success. Without

your contributions and passion many things would have been difficult for your site to

accomplish. Once again, I thank you all and applaud you for your great work. I also thank

the supervisors who allow you the opportunity to learn new skills and give you the freedom

to work on projects with the same objectives in mind.

In saying this, the monthly newsletter known as the AmeriCorps Vista's "The Verse" will

include free/cheap upcoming events, deals on meals/recipes, V^3 (Very Valuable VISTA),

and resources for work related materials. If you would like additional items in the

newsletter please let me know and I am more than happy to take anyone's contributions to

add into the newsletters. This is the introductory newsletter so future newsletters will have

more resources! I look forward to this new year with a wonderful group of VISTAs that I

hope to learn more about while making a difference!

Cheap & Easy Meal for Days! Santa Fe Stew

I personally love this

recipe because I can

make it for parties or

just to eat and then

freeze the rest for

another meal! This

turns out pretty thick

so you can either eat

it as a stew

or dip tortilla chips in

it! Enjoy!

1 ib lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 can stewed

tomatoes, chopped

1 can Rotel with green

chilis

1 can corn

For the Health Conscious Pesto Tuna Salad

1 (6 ounce) can

canned tuna

1/4 cup prepared

(or homemade) basil

pesto sauce

6 sun-dried

tomatoes

2 tablespoons

mayonnaise

2 tablespoons

grated

Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a bowl, mix the

tuna, pesto, sun-

Better Recognize How to get your work

known at your site

Attend Staff meetings: If you

have staff meetings at your site,

make time to attend a few of

them. You can update the staff

on what you are doing as a

VISTA or just use it to meet

people and make connections.

Pass out your monthly

newsletter: This new

monthly newletter of

AmeriCorps VISTA's "The

Verse" will include portions

specifically for your VISTA

accomplishments! You may

want your supervisors to see

1 can pinto beans

1 can black beans

1 lb. mild Mexican

Velveeta, cubed

2 tsp. of chili powder

1 tsp of cumin

dash of salt

Brown hamburger

with chopped onion in

skillet pan. Throw

browned meat and

onions into big pot

and began mixing

in all other ingredients

WITH the liquid in the

cans (I drain the corn

a little, but NOT

completely). If you

don't want to use chili

powder or cumin, you

can use a chili mix or

a ranch mix. Simmer

in pot until all cubes of

Velveeta are melted.

Let cool to thicken.

Eat with sour cream,

tortilla chips, or

straight with a spoon!

dried tomatoes,

mayonnaise, and

Parmesan cheese.

Cover and

refrigerate until

ready to serve. It's

good on a croissant.

If you prefer more of

a crunch, add celery

and onions to taste.

this or pass it along to people

you volunteer or work with.

Accomplishments will be taken

from progress reports or emails

sent to erika@unitedway-weld.org

Business cards: Do you have

business cards? Be sure to

pass them around! Ask your

site if they are able to print

these for you or there are sites

that will print them for free. You

can create business cards on

Vistaprint.com and just pay for

them to be shipped!

Your sites web page: Many

sites list their staff on the web

page, make sure your name is

there. You can talk to your sites

webmaster or tech department

about getting your name up as

well as information about your

sites VISTA project.

Bulletin boards at work: use

your work bulletin board to post

announcements about

upcoming events or work that

VISTAs have done. This helps

promote all VISTA events and

recruit volunteers!

Site's newspaper/newsletter:

If your site has a newsletter or

newspaper, consider asking for

space to do a bi-monthly VISTA

column. It helps remind staff

and community members about

events, shares resources, and

uses the time to talk about the

importance of your program!

What's Happenin' December

All events FREE unless marked

otherwise

12/21: Winter Solstice - yup the earth's

axle tilt is farthest from the sun today!

Blackbird Celtic Music, 7pm at Poudre

River Public Library 201 Peterson Street,

Fort Collins

Darkwave's Nightmare for Xmas 8pm at

Hodi's Half Note 167 N College Ave, Fort

Collins

12/22: Karaoke night at AJ's 7:30-

midnight at 735 16th st, Greeley

12/23: Trivia night & Live music at The

V^3: Very Valuable VISTA

Cathy Millon - Girl Scouts of Colorado

1) What is your most prized possession?

My most prized possession would have to be my

laptop. It’s the most functional thing I own – music,

movies, Internet, fanmail, etc. – plus it’s full of

stickers that express my personal passions and

political stances – feminism and liberal stuff like

NOW (National Organization for Women), Obama,

Amnesty International, etc

2) Worst fear?

I most fear being stuck in a professional or personal

situation that I couldn’t get out of. I never want to

end up in a job that I don’t enjoy or that doesn’t

challenge me, and I never want to be living

somewhere feeling like I couldn’t leave. I like my

freedom.

3) What do you want to be remembered for?

Jager 8pm-10pm at 822 9th st,

downstairs, Greeley

Cheap Eats: 35 cent wings all day at

Jacksons All-American Sports Grill 2100

35th Ave Greeley

12/27-12/30: FREE Holiday Skate School

Session Mon-Thur 11:25am-noon Ice

Haus 1000 10th st Greeley

12/31: KRFC's 26th Annual Resolution

5K Run at 7pm CSU campus in front of

the Lory

01/01: New Year's Day 5K & Annual

Blowout Sale 10am at Runners Roost-

Front Range Village 2720 Council Tree

Ave, ste 112 Fort Collins Your entry fee

includes a running item (you choose from

a bin), post race munchies and

refreshments, raffle prizes. Gear 70% off,

footwear for $30 plus other sale items.

01/02: Free FUN Skate 12:30pm - 1pm at

the Ice Haus

* Public Skate Sessions Ice Haus: Mon-

Sun noon-1:30 Wed 6:15-7:45pm $4

weekday $5 weekend $2 skate rental

I want to be remembered for my fearlessness –

scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef, bungee

jumping, skydiving, moving to a new state, taking

things head-on and knowing that I’ll be able to

make it work out.

4) What’s the best surprise you’ve ever had?

So far, the best surprise I’ve had was winning the

United Way of Gratiot County Volunteer Award in

2009. I had no idea I was even nominated. Only

one person on the committee knew who I was and

they still awarded me a very prestigious title. I was

extremely proud of myself and flattered that

someone nominated me AND I won!

5) If you knew you COULDN’T fail, what would

you want to try?

I would want to try living in a country like Sweden or

Switzerland. I know nothing about their history,

culture, politics or social climate, but I love the

languages and would want to try really living

somewhere completely different than what I know.

6) Why did you become an AmeriCorps VISTA?

I applied to be a VISTA for a multitude of reasons. I

love volunteering and knew this would be a great

opportunity to experience a whole system of

nonprofits. I also really wanted to move to Colorado

and have a passion for working with women and

girls. I was able to work for an organization that

filled those needs for me while also teaching me so

much about large nonprofit organizations. Plus,

VISTA looks great on a grad school application

(and, you know, ed. award!).

7) What personality trait gets you in trouble?

I think my fearlessness gets me in trouble when I

say the wrong thing and make people

uncomfortable with my bluntness. Sometimes I

assume other people are as fearless as I am.

8) What do you miss the most about home?

Enjoying the Adirondacks in NY New VISTA Leader Erika Rogness

I am very excited to be the new VISTA leader

with United Way of Weld County! Volunteering

is something I began in high school when I

started performing with a Quintet for Christmas

at a senior citizens home. I continued short

stints of volunteer work during high school and

soon after into college when I assisted in

hosting a Halloween party for Sudanese

refugees and joined VoluntEARS with

Disneyland while I interned there. After

graduating from college with a bachelors in

hospitality management (tourism/event planning)

I was able to gain a job in outdoor tourism right

outside Zion National Park. Never having

canyoneered before and only wall climbing

instead of rock climbing they put me through an

amazing course for the first month of learning!

This however, was a seasonal job, and I couldn't

be out of work for 3 months. I had always

wanted to join AmeriCorps and this was my

opportunity. I did an interview for the earliest

start date I could find and one month after I was

done in Utah, I found myself in Vermont serving

as a VISTA for a youth oriented substance

abuse prevention coalition! During my service

WATER. Growing up on Lake Huron spoiled me! I

miss having a perfect breeze off the lake, jumping

in when it’s too hot out, and going for a boat ride to

clear my head. Plus, kayaking, fishing, tubing – I

love being on the water.

9) What do you love the most about being in

Colorado?

I love feeling like I can go anywhere and do

anything. Camping in the mountains is awesome,

and I love my commute to work along the

mountains. It’s really cool to watch it snow in the

mountains – way cooler than watching it rain on a

lake.

term I had fun & there was little training on-site;

it was more a "hit the ground running, sink or

swim" position and I loved every minute of it! I

learned more than I ever could have imagined,

saw incredible things, enjoyed the East coast,

got to visit old friends, and made lifelong new

friends! I was sad to go, but I feel that learning

new things, seeing new amazing sights, enjoying

the West again, and making new friends can

only be an even greater experience here in

Colorado. I truly believe that new experiences

rise up your spirit! Here is one of my favorite

quotes to sum up my thoughts:

"You are wrong if you think that happiness in life

comes soley from your relationships with people.

The wonders of life are in everything we see and

anything we do, we just have to change the way

we look at things."

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