News
HSU Theater Department Hosts Neighbors for Christmas Play
The Hardin Simmons Theater department invited the North Park neighbors to attend their child friendly Christmas Play: "Peter and the Wolf".
Approximately 40 Northpark neighbors attended the HSU play, Peter and the Wolf and enjoyed the production. It has become an annual tradition for the HSU theater department to have a child friendly play around Christmas time for the Abilene community, and each year they specially invite the Northpark neighbors to attend for free. Thanks!
A Special Gift
Neighbors thoughtful gifts help show love and support for the work at the Northpark Friendship House.
Several of our Northpark neighbors brought thoughtful gifts by the Friendship House this year including gift cards, homeade breads and cookies, but one gift truly showed that the Friendship House is making a difference in the life of the elderly in the neighborhood. One senior who began reluctantly attending the neighbor lunch several years ago, now never misses the event and always shows up with a smile on her face and a story to share. This year she truly gave a special gift to show her appreciation. She made a homeade skirt for Danyel Rogers, the community coordinator as a way to show how much she cares for Danyel and the work she is doing in the community. This was such a thoughtful and special gift.-THANK YOU TO OUR LOVING NEIGHBORS, YOU TRULY ARE A BLESSING!
Friendship House Open House
The North Park Friendship House hosted an open house for the We Care Team and the Hardin-Simmons Family for their support in sponsoring the House.
The open house was held on Tuesday, December 11 at the North Park Friendship House. Over 40 We Care Team members and HSU faculty and staff came by to see the Friendship House and enjoy some fellowship and homemade goodies. We at the North Park Friendship House want to thank everyone who came by to visit and support our work in the neighborhood and Abilene Community. We hope to make this an annual event.
Family Night Fun
The NorthPark Friendship House Hosted a Family Night to end the Semester. We had over 40 neighbors and volunteers attend.
To end the semester the North Park Friendship House always tries to have a family friendly outing for the families who have participated in after school activities. This semester we took the kids, their families and the volunteers to the Gymnastic Sports Center. The families had a blast! Some of the parents enjoyed the foam pits and trampolines just as much as the kids. The volunteers enjoyed the time with the kids before the Christmas break and enjoyed meeting the children's parents.
Friendship Park in progress
CCC partners with other local groups for new pocket park in Old Town Abilene
Old Town Abilene is preparing for a new pocket park in its neighborhood. Located at 417 Meander St, Connecting Caring Communities is partnering with the Old Town Abilene Neighborhood Association and the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest to open the park.
A sign announcing the park was put up this past weekend and work will continue as winter turns to spring.
Read this article in the *Abilene Reporter-News *for information about the park.
Second Annual Fall Festival a Success!
Reflections on the Autumn activities at the College Heights Friendship House!
The month of October was a busy one at the Friendship House. One of the best parts of the month was the Fall Festival that was held on Halloween Night. Folks from all over the neighborhood came out to enjoy the cool weather, talk with friends, have some great food, and meet some new faces.
On the night of the Fall Festival, the Friendship House underwent a huge transformation into a spooky and festive scene of good ole’ family fun! The kids got a chance to bounce in 2 of our huge Air Castles. One was a gigantic princess and the other one was a larger-than-life jaguar. Kids and teens of all ages took advantage of this opportunity to let their energy explode into these bounce houses.
Several individuals came out to provide us with a yummy cake walk and some other Autumn-style games. I believe almost each family ended up with a cake or desert at home.
If the fun and games weren’t enough to make it a grand night, the food sure was! We were up to our waists in hot dogs, chips, sodas, and specialty deserts for our wonderful adults of the neighborhood! There was plenty to go around and it was a treat to sit down and enjoy one another’s company as we shared in the news of each of our lives.
Thanks to EVERYONE who came out to make it a night to remember!
Neighbor Helping Neighbor
A Northpark Neighbor reaches out to the elderly on her street during the Holiday Season.
One of the neighbors in the North Park Neighborhood, we'll call her by her first name only, Diane, called the Friendship House to see about getting help with groceries to cook a Thanksgiving lunch. However, Diane was not asking for the food for herself, she wants to cook lunch to take for the elderly who live on her block. She admits a few of them get one meal from meals-on-wheels but she wants them to have a full Thanksgiving feast, homeade in her own kitchen. She is a great example of how neighbors can reach out to one another. Diane is herself disabled, but this doesn't stop her from helping others. A couple of Hardin-Simmons Faculty and Staff pitched in and were able to get groceries for Diane to have everything she needs to prepare the feast.
CCC Sponsors ArtWalk
CCC redefined ArtWalk sponsorship
November's "Thanks Giving" ArtWalk theme was a perfect fit for getting the message of Connecting Caring Communities out. As sponsor of ArtWalk on November 8, CCC also held camp at Minter Park where we gave away Tshirts, signed people up for the Caring Team, talked about CCC and showed our newest video on the water wall.
We were glad to meet many new friends and sign up over 50 Caring Team members.
CCC also sponsored two story-times with Golden Books The Little Red Hen and The Tawny Scrawny Lion at the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature (NCCIL). This included a great stick puppet show.
ArtWalk served as our kick-off to Abilene Dinner Table sign-ups. Abilene Dinner Table will be held on Saturday, January 26, 2008. You can learn more and register at www.abilenedinnertable.com.
Thanks to all our volunteers and staff who helped make our presence at ArtWalk a huge success!
Trivia Night Success
Over $600 raised at first ever Trivia Night!
Great food, great fun and lots of competitive trivia fun was had at our first annual Trivia Night on Saturday, November 3 at the Family Life Center of First Baptist Church.
Chick-fil-A, MCM Elegante Suites, Buffalo Wild Wings, Domino's Pizza, Gatti's, Starbucks, and Dr. Pepper were generous donors of food and prizes for the enjoyable evening. Terri Burke, CCC board member and executive director of Texans for the Arts, was the emcee.
Much thanks also goes to Stephanie Fletcher and Jeremy Tatum, CCC staffers who worked very hard to make the Trivia Night a reality. The $600 raised at the Trivia Night will be used by CCC to continue its work in community renewal throughout Abilene.
The evening was so much fun, plans for future Trivia Nights are already being made.
HSU Girls Basketball team to come to Friendship House
The girls basketball team will be doing activities with the North Park neighborhood kids at the Friendship House as part of the Exercise and Nutrition class this Thursday- October 25th
The kids and volunteers have been enjoying the Exercise and Nutrition class offered on Thursday afternoons at the Friendship House. We have had Tae Kwan Do classes, had Physical Therapy students teach fun exercises, learned about the nutrition of various fruits and vegetables, and in the Spring will have dance classes for the kids. Its a fun way to help our children stay active, learn about basic nutrition and explore different activities they may have never tried.