Prayer request

For any of you who are praying people, please keep my friend Leslie in your prayers. She is the p.m. kitchen intern, but has spent the last two days in the hospital with what's not appendicitis, but two very painful cysts. We don't know yet if she is going to have to have surgery to have them removed, but there is that possibility.

She is in good spirits (that is, drugged beyond belief) buy wants dearly to return to camp. As an intern staff, we have been taking turns staying with her in the hospital. She arrived there Thurs. around 6 p.m. and waited in the e.r. until Friday morning. Corinne stayed with her that first night (and she didn't get any sleep). Max, Kyle, and I went to visit and got back to camp around 3:45 in the morning. Some of the other girls visited her yesterday. Max and I stayed over last night.

I asked Leslie how she was doing spirituality, and she said good. I didn't have any time to pry deeper, but do pray for the glory of God to shine through this experience.

Pray for patience for us; these doctors are slow and communicate poorly. It's very frustrating. I want her to be healed; pray for that too. Nevertheless, not our will be done, but Yours, O Lord.

This whole experience has been amazing. My brothers and sisters here are sacrificing their time to work (even free time) to spend with a sister we've known for less than a week. (Leslie came on Sunday.) I have never been a part of an organization that has manuevered so well through an experience like this. It's like we are water, taking the shape of whatever container we are in. Several of the property staff who live here yearround have commented on how they have never had an intern staff like ours. It's pretty amazing.

I'll keep you, the readers, updated.

P.S. We got our staff shirts and I think our nametags are in!

Let brotherly love continue. Somewhere in the Bible.

Here's an update on the Family Feud: After allowing the boys to take the lead, the girls were down by two points (but not really because one must never remember the unmentionable points scored by los chicos the first night There were three of them). The girls have had two additions to TG (Team Girls): Leslie from Washingtion state and Kelly from Alabama.

Rules have been now established that points cannot be given if the competition wasn't agreed upon prior to be worth points. For anyone who has ever played games with me or the Bingaman side of the family, you know that we just don't work this way. But I'm managing it. Cheating will probably be used to improvise, but as of yet, none exist, at least from my standing.

One the way back from picking Leslie up from the airport, we played Burn Up, the game where you roll up all the windows and turn on the heater. The first to complain loses. It ended in a draw. Kyle and Corinne tied. (Side note about that trip: We (Kyle, Corinne and I) left to get Leslie at 8 a.m. and picked her up about 9:35 a.m. As the copilot, I successfully navigated us, and we only had one circle we had to make at the airport because we drove to the wrong level. Kyle and I had agreed before that we would switch places (Corinne was driving) and I would take the back on the way home. So we pick up Leslie and make the switch. We left the airport at 9:40 a.m. (mind you, it took one hour and 35 minutes with this copilot) and didn't get back to camp until 1:45 p.m.!!!!! It was FOUR HOUR TRIP home! Every turn we could have missed, we did. All I'm sayin' is the new copilot (Kyle) needs to work on his navigational skills.)

Anyhow, we attempted to play Freeze Out (the opposite of Burn Up) and seven of us stood in the freezer for nearly 30 minutes before deciding it's just a game and not worth losing any toes over.

Well, last night, the girls regained the lead from a game of Nertz that los chicos wagered three points. (Not the same three points as before. This one game was worth three points to whoever won.) Max and Kyle were pretty upset. I'm not sure they've informed the rest of their team.

Go girls, go!

The Church at Southwind

As interns, I expected that we would have a little more structure to our group than what we do ... we still haven't had a rules talk and I don't even know what my daily schedule is. We are very much on the "however it works, do it that way tract". One thing that has really disappointed me is the lack of worshipping together at a scheduled time where everyone can (and would) attend. But it hit me last night that the Church is here. Wednesday night, Corinne and I prayed together. It was just like Sunday morning with Daron, BJ, Genn and Heather. Then last night, we prayed for Karyn's head leader in W. Virginia who has a cyst on her ovary and ended up sharing shortened versions of our life stories. This is how Church is supposed to work. Meeting each other where we are at and going with God from there. This is so exciting because I was feeling so "lost" without the structure of the intern program, but it was the Holy Spirit's doing to leave the doors wide open for a camp church to develop. I definitely think that this "spontaneous" praying and such will continue this summer as an opportunity to practice being the Church. At least that is what I'm praying.

I have found out that most of the interns here can see how Christianity is more than the Do-do ministry, but similar to myself, don't exactly know how the working out of that looks. As we seek intimacy with God, I know He will deepen our faiths and allow us to walk at a new level of Christianity. Corinne asked me about spiritual warfare last night (at around 3 a.m.), so I know we will continue to talk deeply about that.

break time

So today reminded me of my time in the Dominican Republic as I spent the morning painting our outside chairs. Good times.

I have been certified in more things in the last two days than I have in the last two years! First aid, CPR, and last night, we took a defensive driving course! The last time I did that, I was 14! We had no "supervisors" in attendance, so we decided a group effort would get all of us the best grades. We watched the hour-long video in 35 min. and then played Swib in the gameroom followed by a dip in the pool.

I'm working by myself today because my boss, Angel, is not coming in. So, I've done a couple displays and got on the computer to make signs. Boy, this sounds so familiar ... almost like home. :) (Hi to everybody at the GBS) ... I fit in so well in this store because it is like home, unlevel floors, cramped storage space, and too much stuff for the space we have. I feel at home.

I've been here three days, and I already miss it. Home, that is. My heart seems to be divided (against my wishes). Everything here reminds me of something at home. For now, I know this is a place that I am supposed to be, and my will's choice is to "wherever I am, be all there". You know what that means: Suck it up!

Update in the Intern(al) Family Feud: the boys have taken the lead. Swib is a game played on a pool table that requires great strength to push people out the way. It's kinda like full contact Eight Ball if anyone knows what I'm talking about. They beat us for three games. Do I need to say that they had four players and we had three. And the unmentionable three points from before.

I thought I'd never make it to a computer!

WOW! What a full two days it has been! My brain is on information overload - I'm trying to type as fast as I can so that I can get everything down that's important! First, apologies for the people who have been reading the same posts over and over ... it was my intention to leave news before I left, but ran out of time. And this is the first that I've had access to a computer (though I should be doing inventory now!) So here's a quick rundown of my last three days!

After partying it up at the Glovers on Sunday afternoon, our (that is, Sam and me) departure time for KC quickly got pushed back from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. to 5:30 to 6 p.m. before we actually left town. We stopped in Salina for supper with Uncle Rick and Aunt Marla, where she served Indian cuisine that was very different. It was good to spend time with them, even though she kicked us out right after we finished so we could get on to Jason and Amy's (my cousins who live in Olathe) for the night. So we climbed back in the car and drove, arriving at approximately 11:30 p.m. Amy and Baby Jaron were sleeping, and we, being as tired as we were, headed straight to bed after Jason let us in.

Monday, Sam dropped me off at the airport (thanks to him for carrying my bags to the checking counter!) and I was on my way to a summer of surprises! My flights went well, though I'm not sure why I had to fly to minnesota in order to fly to Orlando, but the ticket was cheap, so that's ok. I arrived in Orlando about 5:40ish and made it to the shuttle service with two minutes to spare from their departure time of 6:30! They would have waited, but Robert, the shuttle driver probably would have been not so happy. I met Corinne (office intern) and Max (maintence intern); we had a fun two hour ride to camp!

When we got here, it was dark, so we took the night tour from Kyle (program tech)and Branden (kitchen intern), even though there was nothing we could see. We moved into our house! The girls are staying in the property house, where we have leather (for true!) couches and our kitchen. Today we even got a hand-me-down mixer the same size that Amy Glover blew up! (Blew up the motor, that is!)

We played 19 games of "YOU KNOW" only because the boys (Kyle and Max) thought they could beat us, but alas, it was to no avail. The score is 10-9, but we gave the boys three extra points we're not supposed to talk about.

Yesterday, I took First Aid/CPR training with my boss, Angel, as my partner. Not that I had to give her CPR, but we shared a dummy. Angel came in late, so the teacher didn't like us and she talked very harshly with us because of it.

Last night, we made our first official run to Walmart and Blockbuster! I'm looking forward to Target.

Anyhow, now I really have to work, so I'll update more later!

Isn't Baby Mei Mei adorable?!!!!!!!!!
Much Love.

My summer address

Here is my address for the summer:

Jayna Montoia, intern
c/o Southwind
18115 SE 95th St. Rd.
Ocklawaha, FL 32179

Telephone: (352) 288-2500
Facsimile: (352) 288-6232
www.younglife.org/southwind

I will be accepting letters, postcards, care packages, blown-up beach balls, etc. Please no lives rats, as it is illegal to send such through the U.S. Postal Service.

I'm leaving Sunday afternoon-ish (May 15) and will be back on Aug. 8. Just remember 8-8)

Why there's been no post for a week:

Making the Most of Your Resources

Doing public relations for nonprofit agencies is no different than working for large corporations with the general exception of the size of one’s budget. But one must realize there are other kinds of resources beyond money, including people, time, and talent. Chapter 7 (of my nonprofit p.r. textbook) discusses how “with good leadership and the right commitment, even a volunteer team operating on a minimum budget can achieve good media coverage.”
First, one should start by thinking creatively as to where money is available for nonprofits. Many large national and community foundations provide funds; one should investigate local foundations grant guidelines for eligibility. Individual donors may also be able to support media efforts with in a nonprofit organization. Corporations will also share some media time or space with nonprofit organizations – at the end of a radio advertisement or a small print ad.
People power can come from several places. First, local colleges are a great place to find potential interns who are willing to work for free in order to gain experience. It’s important to remember that interns are not experienced and do require supervision and support. They are not to be thrown in to a p.r. job and expected to know exactly what to do. Executive loan programs allow nonprofits to benefit from the experience and expertise of corporate CEOs who take a paid leave of absence to work with a nonprofit organization in order to take a break from their daily routines. They are more likely to be found in Fortune 500 companies. Retired journalists and media executives are another place to look when searching for people who have experience working with the media. Pro bono advertising and public relations support provide a final place to find money to spend in communicating with the media about an organization.
For small volunteer nonprofits, in order to implement a good strategic communications plan, a media committee should be established along with a committee chair. This person should be given authority to recruit others to serve on the committee who would be able to write, edit, proofread, create media kit, do graphic design and desktop publishing and use computer databases or the Internet for research. The chair would also need to develop a list of media contacts and encourage people on the communications committee to use personal connections they already have established to help earn media coverage. It is also important to have an answering machine for the committee chair in order for media to have a place to call. One should also check to find any used electronic equipment (i.e. computers, printers, scanners, etc.) that could be donated or purchased cheaply.
For midsized nonprofit organizations, it important to have a communications person who reports directly to the executive director, not three or four levels below. A communications person is going to need to be able to get approval quickly and easily, so making him jump through hoops of extra people in a hierarchy, not only wastes the communications person’s time, but also hurts the overall public relations effort for the organization. These nonprofit organizations should also learn to delegate responsibilities to people who are capable of completing the task well.
Large nonprofit organizations have the benefit of have a considerable budget to drawn upon for strategic communication. These nonprofits are able to use bimonthly polls or focus groups to get information that can be disseminated to smaller levels of the organization.
Teamwork is a great way to do public relations in a small nonprofit organization. According to Denise Cavanaugh of Cavanaugh, Hagan & Pierson in Washington, D.C., when running a press operation, “managers should try to create a team of people with interchangeable skills.” Each major activity should be included in an overall project work plan that designates the task, the person to whom it has been assigned, the priority it has been accorded and the deadline.
Finally, in working in teams, it is important to celebrate the team’s successes and evaluate its performance in order to find areas of improvement. Also important is the ability to remain flexible with the process of strategic communication as the industry is perpetually changing in order to adapt easily to new circumstances.

Dedicated (and submitted tomorrow) to Jennie Straight and members of my nonprofit public relations class.

Punctuation madness

I'm glad to know that I am not the only person in the world who recognizes the necessity for accuracy in writing, especially punctuation. A suggestion from my brother, Sam, I am now most interested in reading a No. 1 British bestseller called "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss. All readers of this blog and other punctuation sticklers are required to check it out:
http://www.eatsshootsandleaves.com. The basic thesis is taken from the panda joke, reprinted without permission here:

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

Don't get me wrong, I love punctuation and grammar. But I must voice my concern of the use (or in this case, lack of use) of the comma in lists of three objects or more. I was always taught growing up that one should include a comma before the "and" in any list, with an understanding that though it was "optional", it was highly recommended. For example, if I were to write, read, and sleep, I would include the comma after read. According to the Associated Press, children today are instructed to exclude the comma after read. I am thoroughly disappointed with this teaching because I have developed not only the habit of include said comma, but also an affinity for it. It looks nice and doesn't take that much more time to write it.

Here's the bottom line: this would make a wonderful Christmas gift or half-birthday present for me or anyone who loves the particulars in the English language.