• Saturday, October 22, 9:30-12:30, we will be tabling at the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace.  Drop by to learn more about our organization, sign up as a volunteer, buy a t-shirt (only sizes left are XL and XXL, alas), pick up a copy of our community service booklet, or just to say hi.
• Monday, October 31, 5:00-6:30, we are organizing an 11th Street Halloween Extravaganza.  Click here for details.
• Wednesday, November 2, 5:30-7:00, we are meeting at Bloombars.  At 5:30 we will discuss NCHCA business, including new officers.  At 6:00, Laine Cidlowski from the Office of Planning will be discussing sustainability initiatives in D.C.  Finally, during the last few minutes of the meeting, we will discuss the formation of a Friends group for the 11th and Monroe Park currently being reconstructed.
• Saturday, November 5, 9:30-10:30, we are organizing a neighborhood clean-up.  Meet at 9:30 near Columbia Heights Coffee on 11th Street.  Following the clean-up, volunteers are invited to a discounted brunch at Meridian Pint.
• One other neighborhood event we want to point out: on Saturday, November 5, from 3:00-7:00, the North Columbia Heights Green will we’ll hosting a greening and green job fair (and screening of urban greening films such as Meridian Hill Pictures’s award-winning Community Harvest film and some new ones done by our job trainees).  Among other things, they will be giving unemployed residents a chance to apply for the DC Green  Corps, which is one of the country’s largest gateway urban forestry and greening job training programs.

• Other aspects of our 2011-12 agenda include working (with folks already making headway on this) on establishing and publicizing a Friends group for the 11th and Monroe Park, so that it is up and running when the park reopens, working on neighborhood parking issues, and improving neighborhood tree boxes / green space.

• Finally, as folks have noted on the Columbia Heights Listserve, rats are becoming a bigger and bigger neighborhood problem.  If folks have ideas for good speakers / strategies re: combating rats, please share them.  Some suggestions I have heard include (1) soaking rags in ammonia and leaving them where rat dropping appears, (2) making sure all trash cans and dumpsters on or near your property remain closed, (3) sealing holes in fences, (4) contacting a pest control company to fill rat holes / dens with poison, and (5) keeping your yard clear of piles of leaves and weeds.  If you notice a rat infestation in your area, definitely contact Gerard Brown at gerard.brown@dc.gov or 202-535-2636, who can help direct city resources towards abatement.  Most of all, we need to encourage our neighbors to be responsible regarding trash and litter in order for this problem to be resolved in the longer term. Here is a helpful webpage with more rat control tips:

http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/permits/ridrats/ratcontrol.html

We will have a public meeting in early November to address these and other issues, time and place to be announced.

Speaking of new neighborhood businesses, we heard from Jackie Greenbaum about her forthcoming taqueria on 11th Street at our May 4th meeting.  Detailed minutes from that meeting, including notes from her presentation, can be located here.  As discussed in more detail in the minutes, we also covered new initiatives related to neighborhood parking, landscaping, and improving the dog park.  Please contact us if you would like to assist in any of these endeavors.  [I note that we are missing a few old meeting minutes; the full archives will be updated soon].

The meeting’s guest speaker will be Akeya Dickson from the Washington Post’s Daily Gripe, to discuss how her blog can be an accountability tool for citizens to have their complaints answered by DC agencies.

This will be a planning meeting during which we (a) vote on proposed revisions to the NCHCA Constitution and Bi-Laws (follow the links to view the proposed versions … there are relatively few proposed changes, and you can see those proposed changes in all capital font in these documents), (b) discuss logistics for the upcoming Great Day of Service, and (c) begin planning our agenda for the rest of 2011.  If you have suggestions for projects you would like to see the NCHCA get involved in, particularly projects you are interested in taking an active role in planning, please drop by the meeting to discuss!  The more specific / realistic / discrete the project suggestion, the better …

On a side note, if you represent a community service organization and you wish to participate in the Great Day of Service, please contact jeff.zeeman@northcolumbiaheights.org.

In addition to the organizations presenting at the meeting, Brainfood has an urgent need for volunteer classroom assistants at its Columbia Heights site.  More details below the break.

 What is Brainfood/what does Brainfood do?

•  Brainfood is a non-profit youth development organization in Washington, DC. Using food as a tool, Brainfood builds life skills and promotes healthy living in a fun and safe environment.
• Target audience: DC high school age youth mostly from public schools and public charter schools
• At Brainfood, we provide youth with a safe and structured environment where they are encouraged to take healthy risks, challenge themselves, learn new skills, and make healthy choices. 
• Brainfood currently has 2 programs that serve youth in the Washington DC community at our 2 program sites (Columbia Heights & Chinatown)
• Our Columbia Heights kitchen is located in St. Stephen’s of the Incarnation, and currently hosts two classes of approximately 15-18 students on Monday-Thursday
• Our Weekly Classroom Assistant position is a volunteer position where individuals assist class one day per week, from 4:00-6:30 until May 19^th. 
• We are looking for energetic individuals who are passionate about working with youth and cooking. 

What do Weekly Kitchen Classroom Assistant do during class?

• Act as mentors and positive role models to our youth
• Assist youth with cooking and executing recipes (In each class, students cook, clean, and eat whatever dish they’ve cooked as a group.)
• Help staff facilitate activities
• Have fun!

What have we been doing lately in class?

• Students just finished learning knife skills, and we’re now cooking great fall vegetable dishes, including Asian Sesame Noodle Salad, Ratatouille, and Vegetable Curry.
• We assisted at the White House for Halloween, and got to meet both the President and the First Lady and help them hand out treats to trick-or-treaters (see www.brain-food.org for photos and write ups!)
• If you’re interested in reading more about Brainfood programs, you can check out our blog: http://www.brain-food.org/blog

Individuals interested in more info about volunteer opportunities should contact carina@brain-food.org, or 202-615-6182.

• Mike Scalise from 826DC, which opened October 24 in Park Triangle. 
• Lisa Pollin from LIFT-DC
• Nathan Mishler from Thrive DC. 

Our final clean-up before our winter break will take place the following Saturday, November 6th.  Meet at 11th and Park Road at 9:30 A.M., followed by a discounted brunch at Meridian Pint at 10:30.  Look forward to seeing you there!

Speakers at the meeting will include:

• Mike Scalise from 826DC, which opens October 24 in Park Triangle.  Check out this great slide show of the 826 construction progress.  Anyone need any Unicorn Tears??
• Lisa Pollin from LIFT-DC
• Nathan Mishler from Thrive DC.  Oh, and for anyone going to the soccer game tonight, be sure to bring a toiletry donation for Thrive DC so you can cash in on a two-for-one ticket promotion!

We still have t-shirts left in sizes large through XXL (plus one last small), so if you didn’t get a chance to snag one at Columbia Heights Day, either bring $15 dollars tonight or contact jeff.zeeman@northcolumbiaheights.org to arrange for a pick-up. And be sure to check out photos from Columbia Heights Day on our Facebook page.