Springfield's First Food Day Celebration

This Saturday, the Springfield community came together to celebrate National Food Day for the first time.  It was $2 to get in and all the proceeds went to Ozarks Food Harvest. It was the perfect match for fundraising and fun!

I volunteered with the beau's pre-professional society and happened to be paired with some PRSSA members too. We had fun selling Smart chicken sandwiches and Quinoa salad from Momma Jean's. 

The Wilhoit Plaza was a great place for an outdoor event downtown! And the weather was beautiful, even in the middle of October.

I absolutely adored chatting with those girls. That is why I love volunteering. You never know who you will meet. 

Every moment is a moment for networking!

And Ozarks Food Harvest is such a good cause! I interned their the summer before last, and I just keep coming back because they are such a great community organization!

Do you have a place you always volunteer at?

-Beth

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Coffee News: South Central Barista Competition

So this post is a little late, but you know what they say better late than never, or in this case, "better latte than never". The South Central Barista Competition was 3 weekends ago, and my co-worker Jacque Desmarais competed in it.

Jacque in her element!

She was on FIRE!

We were so pumped at The Coffee Ethic when we found out she made finals, and even more pumped when we found out she got THIRD PLACE!!! This was only our second year represented at this competition, and it was exciting to have The Coffee Ethic win a trophy.

For some background, the South Central Barista Competition is a regional competition for Baristas, or professional makers of coffee drinks. The competition is fierce and prestigious. Competitors make 4 shots of espresso, 4 cappuccinos, and 4 signature espresso based drinks in under 15 minutes. Competitors are judged by 4 sensory judges, 2 technical judges, and a head judge. The top 6 make it to finals and qualify for the United States Barista Competition, or the USBC, which is this weekend in Houton, Texas.

Joe's Awesome Mustache

The top 3 finalists of the South Central Barista Competition were all from Missouri and include:

• #3 Jacque DesMarais, The Coffee Ethic (Springfield, MO)
• #2 Stephen Schuh, Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting (St. Louis, MO)
• #1 Joe Marrocco, Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting (St. Louis, MO)

(By the way, Joe like Robbie used to work at my mom's cafe in Cape Girardeau. So I am SUPER pumped about 3 current and past co-workers competing at the USBC this weekend.)

Here is a video I made in honor of Jacque competing this weekend at the USBC:

Here is a video Kaldi's made to introduce Joe. It is pretty funny:



I will post the results for the USBC soon!

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Pray for Japan

I am writing an article about Springfield's relief efforts with the recent Japan disaster.

Can I be honest with you all for a moment?

With Spring Break and school and work,

I kind of avoided the whole suffering in Japan thing.

I know, it is a terrible disaster,

but I didn't let myself come to grip with the incredible reality that so many people were suffering.

Then I talked to Jeff Nene, the PR Directer at Convoy of Hope.

I watched their video

and 

listened to horrific stories

and

was confronted with the faces of despair.

Here is what Jeff had to say:

“We’ve have never faced anything like that before in our disaster response history,” Nene said. “Japan didn’t suffer a disaster. They suffered three disasters one right on top of the other. You have the earthquake then you have the tsunami, which has caused much greater loss of life and loss of buildings and property than the earthquake did, and then you have the nuclear problem on top of that, which just hampers the response. We have people in those zones that can’t come out of their houses. We are afraid to send a team to those areas for fear of radiation exposure, so we have had to step out of our comfort zone and do things differently than we are accustomed to.”

 Japan's disasters are so great relief has been done from afar.

Jeff said that 350,000 people are still left homeless.

It is incredible to think about those in Japan,

but there is hope.

There are people everywhere pulling together for Japan's sake--

including Japan.

They are fighters.

Springfield is doing their share of relief as well.

Next Monday, Springfield's Nakato is donating all their sales they make that night to Japan.

Since Isesaki, Japan, has been Springfield's sister city for 25 years, the city is sending funds to them to help them through this tough time just like they did for us in Ice Storm 2007.

Don't ignore it like I did at first

avoiding the hurt.

Empathize with our brothers and sisters across the globe.

Pray for Japan.

Pray For Japan from Convoy of Hope on Vimeo.

If you want more information on how you can be a part of relief work in Japan, check out my Ozarks News Journal feature.

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Social Media Boot Camp with Sarah Evans

Today, I attended a Social Media Boot Camp with Sarah Evans and Social: IRL. It was incredible. Sarah Evans is a PR and new media consultant at Sevans Strategy and a guest writer for Mashable, a prestigious social media blog. She also has her own blog at PRsarahevans.com and is a "social media freak", and her Twitter is @PRsarahevans and leads a Twitter chat called #journchat.

Photo here

 Here are my 7 Social Media Tips from her today:

1. Hone in your passion when blogging. If you care about what you are writing about, it will show.
2. Twitter is all about the "re-tweet". Always leave room for others to "re-tweet" your tweet.
3. Always create a Facebook Fan page for business NOT a personal profile page.
4. Every moment is a PR moment. "Tweet" about news breaking news you experience such as earthquakes, and journalists may come to you.
5. Make Social Media Releases that are SHAREABLE with strategic time releases.
6. Blog headlines are for search engines, and "Tweets" make it attractive to click on.
7. Do not "pitch" Bloggers, but partner with them and establish relationships instead.

It was a great event, and I left with lots of ideas and networking opportunities. The Coffee Ethic even catered the event, so I baked the muffins for the event. Coffee and Community really did collide for me today! I also got to spend lots of time with my classmates and my former internship supervisor, Lindsey Neddenriep. My fellow Bear Communications member Doug and I came up with some great ideas for Urban District Alliance. I appreciated Ben Smith of Social: IRL to bringing such a reputable social media guru to Springfield, MO.

Extra tip from Sarah: Share a little "link love" with others. Link others and sometimes they will link you back. It's about the relationships you create online and continue offline.

Do you all have any tips for Social Media and PR users? Pin It

Wine, Fashion, and Beer

So this semester has been a successful one for Community Relations in PRSSA at Missouri State, if I do say so myself.

In one week, we volunteered at a Wine Tasting at MacDoodles for GYN Cancer Alliance, walked the runway for a Girls Night Out at Talbots for Ozarks Food Harvest, and put on Beerfest at the Shrine Mosque for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks.

Here are some pictures to enjoy: 

Wine Tasting for GYN Cancer Alliance

"Girls Night Out" for Ozarks Food Harvest

Lindsey, PR Manager at OFH, could not help but try on an outfit even though she was not planning on being a model.

All fashion show photos are from http://www.facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest

Sorry, no photos from Beerfest because I did not attend, but I hear great things from my fellow PR volunteers. And I look forward to what next semester holds for PRSSA!

P.S. Wednesday is World AIDS Day, and I plan on spending it at the Candlelight Vigil at Founder's Park in Springfield, MO sponsored by AIDS Project of the Ozarks. The event starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 6 p.m. Please consider attending to support the people in our community struggling with this terrible disease. If you cannot make that, mark December 6th on your calendar because Jeanne White-Ginder is speaking at MSU in honor of World AIDS DAY.

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I am a Barista

Pic by Koni

I am a Barista at a local coffee shop in Springfield, MO called The Coffee Ethic and have been for one year now. However, I have been a Barista for 4 years starting at my mom's cafe: Grace Cafe. Unfortunately her shop closed down two years ago, because Cape Girardeau wasn't ready for her coffee. She was ahead of her time.

Pic by Liz Church

Now, I am going to school in Springfield and work at the most EPIC coffee shop in the world: The Coffee Ethic. A year before I moved to Springfield, I lived in Bolivar and use to drive 45 minutes just to get a cup of coffee from this place. I really am living a dream come true!

Pic by Koni

Sometimes I am just in awe of coffee, the process it has to go under before it gets to a customer-- especially, espresso. It is just beautiful sometimes. The rich color takes my breath away.

Pic by Me

 I always joke that I do my best Barista work in my skinny jeans. You know just reinforcing the third wave stereotypes, but I don't have any tattoos or facial hair so I am already an oddball. ;)

 

Pic by Koni

My favorite part of being a Barista is the people. I have met so many great people in the Springfield community and from all over the world. In fact, today, I met a guy who rooms with a Barista in Dayton, Ohio and was told he had to try our Clover. Also, two Baristas from a Tulsa, Oklahoma shop called Topeca came in, and we had some great conversations.

Pic by Koni

The sense of community created in a coffee shop is incredible, and I love what I do. Pin It

Halloween Night at the Museum

Friday night, it was PRSSA's first volunteering event coordinated by me. Me, Lindsey, Travis, and Doug all helped out at The Discovery Center's Halloween Night at the Museum.

It was such a neat idea. Kids came dressed in costume and could go to different booths that were both scientific and about Halloween. The grand finale involved blowing up pumpkins. I didn't get to see it because I was cleaning, but it sounded like a lot of fun.

My favorite part of volunteering at events like this is meeting new people. I greeted with a sweet lady named Linda, who was a Drury student in a Organic Chemistry class. During candy lulls, we got to chit chat, and it is always fun to meet new people. :)

 It was so fun! I was a greeter at the door, so I had the best seat for all the cute costumes the kids wore. There were a lot of Spidermen, Woodys, and Buzz Lightyears. I also gave out candy at the end, so I think I was automatically the kids favorite volunteer.

My friend, Megan West, who works at The Discovery Center, was also there and a cat like me! It was good to see her at her work place.

Travis, my beau, was a sheriff. He was so sweet to help with my volunteer event!

Me, Doug, and Lindsey posed for a picture for at the end of the night. (Lindsey was a "cereal killer", which was pretty creative.) All in all, I would call this event a great success for The Discovery Center and PRSSA. Looking forward to more opportunities to volunteer this year!

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AIDS Walk 2010

Through my Public Relations writing class, I have been writing with a partner, Kim Perry, for a local non-profit organization, AIDS Project of the Ozarks. They are such a great organization providing relief for HIV positive individuals in 29 counties through Southwest Missouri. Their services include medical help, financial aid, non-perishable item pantry, counseling, etc.

This Saturday, I participated in their event, AIDS Walk. It was so fun like one big family block party including a bounce house, face painting, and red hair extensions, of course.

Around 10, everyone gathered for the walk, which was phenomenal. It is hard to describe. I was all alone amongst this tight nit community. Watching all of these people with a deep connection come together as a community and walk together proudly was breathe taking. I was so honored to be a part of that.

I also ran into a Coffee Ethic regular, Casey Cox, who introduced me to much of the staff of APO. It was great to talk to him and learn about all of their needs as an organization and what they are doing in the Springfield community.

After the walk, there was the Dog Parade. Oh my goodness, there were so many dogs dressed up in the most adorable outfits. Here are just a few:

The experience as a whole was amazing. I walked, met new people, got a T-shirt, and some red extensions! I hope that next year I will be able organize a group to walk. 

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My Way to Fight Hunger

www.hungeractionmonth.org

September is Hunger Action Month. 


What is Hunger Action Month? It is a month dedicated to hunger awareness in America hosted by Feeding America and its network of food banks. I interned at Ozarks Food Harvest, the southwest Missouri food bank, and learned so much about hunger. There are so many people struggling for survival in America especially in the Ozarks. Did you know that 1 in 6 Americans struggle with food insecurity? Did you know that 1 out of 4 children in the Ozarks struggle with food insecurity?


Hunger is a serious problem in our society that can be fixed with people who are willing to fight the fight. My Way to Fight Hunger is to blog about it and volunteer at Ozarks Food Harvest whenever I can. I also took the pledge to fight hunger. Did you know that if you take the pledge to fight hunger at Ozarks Food Harvest's website you can help them win a truckload of food? 


There are so many ways you can help Ozarks Food Harvest and Feeding America. You can donate food, money, or your time. I challenge you to take the pledge to fight hunger and to check out Ozarks Food Harvest's website for more ways to help our community: www.ozarksfoodharvest.org.


Be a neighbor to those struggling with hunger in our very own backyards. Blogging and volunteering is my way to fight hunger. What is YOURS?


Let us find better way TOGETHER!


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