Coming up this weekend and beyond.....

This weekend the Brooklyn Public Library's Marcy Branch is asking kids to contribute a new book and make some bookmarks for kids who are still displaced by Hurricane Sandy.  The event is from 1:30 to 2:30 at 617 DeKalb Ave. at Nostrand Ave.  We are going to head over there, and I'm thinking I may bring a copy of Brave Irene, one of my favorite children's books, written by William Steig (check out this odd video of Al Gore - ???? - reading the book aloud).  It seems fitting to send a book about a little girl who screws her courage against a fierce storm to help her mother, a dress maker sick with a bad cold, by delivering a dress.  Come join us - it will be fun, warm, and the kids can look at books when they're done.

By the way, the Brooklyn Library has some volunteer opportunities for older kids - those 12 and up can be Book Buddies, help read to younger kids, plan events for children at the libraries, help out on other projects.  Kids who are 14 and up with tech skills can be Computer Coaches.

Some other ideas - if you can't make to Saturday's March on Washington for gun control (came up too quickly for me to organize a way down there) but want to be there in spirit, you can join the New Jersey chapter of One Million Moms for Gun Control for a rally in Jersey City from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  I've written below about what a valuable experience the New York march and rally was for us on Martin Luther King Day.  If you weren't able to make it (and/or you live in New Jersey!), or are eager to make your voices heard again on this important issue, head on over to Jersey City.

And here's something else I found through New York Cares, a chance to work with Concrete Safari do some winter maintenance on their green spaces in East Harlem - there are two work days listed, one on February 2nd and one on February 9th, family friendly with 10 and up specified, but if you were interested and your kids are younger it's worth contacting them to see if you can join.  The group runs a leadership program for youth, promoting healthy living and stronger communities by creating and maintaining new green spaces in East Harlem.

Its cold out there - keep your brave Irenes bundled up!