NYdV News
"Life Experts"of Policy Bureau Divisions of the Cabinet Office, Government of JAPAN

Greeting from Executive Director

History of NYdV

Happy Anniversary

Our Future

You are the HERO
Ms. Michiko Iyoku
Ms. Etsuko Ito

Activity Report
2/18 Soup Kitchen
2/24,25 NYdV Bazaar
4/16 Park Clean Up

NYdV @ Media
Active English, February NY Walker, Issue: 4.28

Message Connextion Bracelets

Back Number

Spring 2005 (Vol.3)

Let's make a difference with NYdV

NYdV News "Life Experts"of Policy Bureau Divisions of the Cabinet Office, Government of JAPAN

Policy Bureau Divisions of the Cabinet Office, Government of JAPAN selected individuals this year as "Lifestyle Experts." One of the five people chosen in the overseas section was NYdV's Executive Director, Ms. Noriko Hino.

What is a "Lifestyle Experts"?

A "Lifestyle Experts" is a person whose influence brightens and cheers up people around them and challenges others to cultivate a new lifestyle. He or she is one who excites public interest and influences people to become more like them by encouraging others to greater aspirations in their lives.

Introduction to Noriko Hino
She believes in the ability of volunteering to create a bridge between people over the wall of social stratums. Based on this belief she founded a non-profit organization to educate and promote volunteer activities.Since then she has shared many deeply moving experiences and has touched many people's lives. While doing so, she has also learned that, by helping one another, one can learn how to enrich their own lives as well.

Greetings from NYdV

Thanks to everyone on our 3 year Anniversary!
Thank you for your warmth and support as always. I am Noriko Hino, NYdV's Executive Director. Thanks to everyone involved, we have reached our third year anniversary at NY de Volunteer. "Let's start NY de Volunteer!" is our catchphrase, which has contributed to the completion of 100 volunteer promotional projects involving approximately 2000 people. This is due to the support of our volunteer staff, about 100 people in total who share a passion toward volunteering and promoting volunteer activities. We intend to devote more of ourselves in the future, so please give your support.
Noriko Hino
Executive Director, NY de Volunteer Inc.

NYdV History

2002/05	Our first volunteer activity: A Park Clean Up
2002/08	Starts project: Cafe de Volunteerer
2003/01	becomes incorporated as an official NPO
2003/10	becomes eligible for a 501(3)(c) IRS tax-exempt status
2003/10	Our first domestic volunteer tour takes place
2003/10	The birth of Tokyo de Volunteer in Tokyoer
2003/11	Lecture at the NPO "pallet" as a guest speaker
2004/02	Lecture at the JETAA International Conference
2004/03	Lecture at the Japan Society
2004/03	Promotional video begins to air weekly on MNN
2004/06	First volunteer tour from Japan
2004/08	receives NY state tax-exempt status
2004/11	Original project series "Beauty Volunteer" begins
2005/05	secures office space for the organization

Happy Anniversary NYdV

Congratulations

on the third anniversary of

NY de Volunteer Inc.

Thanks to everyone at NY de Volunteer for your continued support of New York Cares' annual volunteer service events. We have been continually impressed by the dedication of your volunteers since you first joined us for New York Cares' Spring Clean-Up Day in 2002. Your team members demonstrate dedication, commitment and enthusiasm. Thank you for helping New York Cares make New York City a better place to live for all New Yorkers.

We look forward to seeing you at New York Cares Day 2005 and our other future events!.

NY Cares Inc.

Our Future

We are Move Forward!

In the past three years, we have been providing easy-to-do volunteer events and information. We have assisted those who have an interest in volunteering, but have never done so before, or those who don't know where to start. In the future, our goal is to have "Potentials," those who have started volunteering regularly, to continue to join volunteer activities. Then, we would like these "Potentials" to begin participating in promoting volunteerism and acquire the skill to manage group projects. From there, we aim to develop the next generation of project leaders who will be able to implement their own ideas and projects towards contributing to society.

Currently our management staff has developed a new focus in preparation for our reconstruction:
° Volunteer Point System
° Leadership Development Program.

We are looking for directors who have a wealth of experience and knowledge and who would be able to offer support for NYdV. We would be very happy to have your cooperation in further developing NYdV operations. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
Noriko Hino, Executive Director of NY de Volunteer Inc.

You Are Our HEROS

NYdV's projects are coordinated with the efforts of one full-time employee and about twenty volunteer staff members. This time, as our featured HEROES, we would like to introduce two essential members of our operating staff.

Staff Member, Ms. Michiko Iyoku:

I have been working as one of NYdV's staff for three years now and I feel that this organization and I have grown up together. I'd like to talk about what I experienced in joining and organizing volunteer activities at NYdV.

First of all, I realized that for everyone to work harmoniously and for things to go smoothly, it is important that rather than attempt some outrageous goal, I should first start with something manageable.

Secondly, I feel that it is important that we communicate with respect and consideration for each other. I noticed how wonderful it is to meet someone as though it were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a unique occasion, and how important it is to have that attitude of savoring every moment of every day. Now I know how such actions relate to prizing oneself, others and nature. Although many people may feel the same way, I think the reason I have this opinion now is because I try to use what I have gained from my experience at NYdV.

I also feel it is important to have leadership and time management skills. You must take responsibility for your work inside of an organization and communicate closely with others. I'm very grateful to be in an environment where I am able to learn these skills as a student before I go off on my own into the world.

Finally, I have come to realize some truths of reality through volunteering, which tends to be harsh. I sometimes feel powerless in making the world a better place. However, as long as I can move forward, I will do what I can do and spend my time to try to improve the world. How can I achieve this? I think working with non-profit organizations, which work at the grassroots level (one of which is NYdV) has helped. Furthermore, through these non-profit organizations I would like to keep progressing and hold feelings of satisfaction and gratitude everyday.

General Operation Director, Ms. Etsuko Ito:

I've participated as a NYdV staff member since September 2004, when I joined NYdV's Yosakoi Parade. Currently I am in charge of NYdV Newsletters. I've been in America one and a half years. Previously I worked at an NPO in Japan, which promotes reproductive health.

In addition I also taught a foreign language as a volunteer to students who joined study tours overseas. When I lived in California, I volunteered to work at a soup kitchen and helped coordinate events in the South East Asian Community there.

I first began promoting volunteer activities at NYdV as a core member of the volunteer staff. I dealt with difficulties in planning such as how to involve every one of the participants in an activity. But now it's a very important part of my life because it provides wonderful experiences for me such as having the pleasure of being "welcome" wherever we go, working with people who have same purpose and meeting other New Yorkers. I think that concerning oneself with local issues and to be involved is also invaluable.

In addition, it is interesting to be able to see what goes on in an organization and to take part in an operation such as NYdV, which is a relatively young NPO founded only 3 years ago. I've learned a lot from the projects, especially in the way of fund raising in the United States.

In the past 8 months of activities, one memorable impression I have is from the NYdV Christmas gift-wrapping event. The bookstore requested NPOs for wrapping instead of hiring a wrapping staff. We took this opportunity to advertise ourselves and at the same time received tips. I think this way of collecting donations was very practical. In America, the way of raising money and doing business between business organizations and NPOs is very flexible, but in Japan this is not the case. As I gain more insight about NPOs in America and actively take part in the volunteer community, I hope to be able to overcome new hurdles and challenge myself further.

NYdV Activity Reports 2005 1-4

1/22	Cultural Exchange between Japan and US "New Year's Party," organized by JETAA
1-4	Volunteer at the Nippon Club_Gallery
2/18	Soup Kitchen Volunteer Event
2/19	School Clean Up Volunteer Event
2/24, 25	Bazaar
3/4	Cultural Networking Night," with JETAA
3/13	Make-up Volunteer Event
3/14	Soup Kitchen Volunteer Event
4/16	Park Clean Up Volunteer Event

Total number of participated volunteers:	150
Total number of subscribers of mailing list:	1050
Total number of messages sent/posted:	30
Total number of web visits:	464103 hits

Feb 18: Bowery Mission Volunteer

I am Emiko Mizumura, the leader of this group volunteer. This is a report on a soup kitchen volunteer event on February 18th at the Bowery Mission. The Bowery Mission is a religious non-profit organization founded in 1879, which aims to help homeless people rejoin society. They provide food, shelter, showers and clothing as well as various job training. Among shelters in NY, the Bowery Mission is one of the most active shelters and many volunteers participate to support its operation.

* Summary of the day
First we sorted out many donated clothes. We separated the piles into male, female and children's clothes, then by season and then finally by size. We also folded them all. Next, we served meals. The food service was separated into two periods. The first was for serving residents of the shelter who were receiving job training. The second was for serving the homeless outside the facility. During the first serving we couldn't tell whether they were homeless or staff members, because they were working towards re-entering society and dressed neatly. The second food serving took place at 1PM after our own lunch break. Just as we thought, the second serving had a different atmosphere compared to the group we served before, but we felt closer to them than if we were to have seen them on the subways or the streets.

This may be because they made eye contact with us and said "Thank you." After serving food, we had a tour inside of the facility. There were beds for those who are chosen by lottery everyday, a library, computer rooms in order to help residents return to society and sleeping spaces for people who are receiving job training. We were able to look around the facility, which visitors are usually not able to see. We were impressed by how nice the facility was.

*Comments from Volunteer Participants

"I thought that it was very wonderful to see people challenging themselves to a new life through this kind of organization." "

On top of being able to take part in the rehabilitation centers' mission, I was able to see a world that I would not normally be able to see. Thank you."

Feb 24,25: NYdV Bazaar

Sumikin Bussan Corporation, a regular NYdV supporter, donated approximately 400 knitted pieces of clothing for women. Although these samples had not been labeled for merchandised sales, they are believed to be items sold at popular stores like Theory, Anthropology, Urban Outfitters, etc. These clothes ranged from spring wear to winter wear, in sizes S to LL and for ages 10-50.

The Bazaar, which took place on February 24th and 25th, was held at "Gallery New York Number" in Midtown Manhattan, which was provided by Yoshizaki Studio Inc. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the number of guests was over a hundred people and the profits totaled $2,550.50.

Thank you so much to everyone for coming.

In this event we received donations of surplus inventory and raised money for our non-profit organization. This event has helped to secure our operating funds. If there are any other businesses that would like to support us through donating surplus goods we would be more than happy to accept. We look forward to hearing from you. ÅI
Contact Noriko Hino, Executive Director (noriko@nydevolunteer.org)

Apr 16: Park Clean Up

I'm Emiko Mizumura, a group volunteer leader. On April 16th, we participated in "Hands on New York Day," organized by NY Cares.

This was our 4th time to join this annual event. Five other organizations in New York also cleaned up the same park. Volunteers took over Claremont Park, the 2nd largest park in The Bronx. We worked together at a slope of the park. First, we separated into five teams of five people each. Then we started each of the tasks (i.e. gathering garbage, leaves and branches). Working at a slope was much harder than we expected. I was surprised that so many uncaring people litter so much trash such as bottles, cans, clothing, broken umbrellas, etc. While gathering all of the garbage, we had to be careful in packing those items. We packed so many bags of garbage in the morning that we could not load it all on the garbage truck. There were huge bags of leaves and branches, which could not be carried by one person alone. After a one-hour lunch break, we moved to a different slope and continued our work. We finished at two-thirty.

After that, we joined a party hosted by "NY Cares" that lasted from 4 to 6PM. Volunteers who worked in different locations on this day also joined the party. There were many NYdV volunteers who enjoyed conversations with New Yorkers in English. The party took place on the rooftop of one of New York City's recreation centers. There is nothing like beer under the sun after working hard! This NY Cares' program is conducted each spring and fall. The next event takes place later this year and is planned on Saturday, October 22nd. NYdV plans to attend again.

* Comments from Volunteer Participants

"I think that this (volunteering) forms a common bond that overcomes the barriers of different races, languages, gender and daily discontents. This strengthens our sense of pride and our hope that each New Yorker can help support our society in the future."

"I was glad when people who came to the park thanked us. Everyone worked together to make the park really sparkle."

"It's been a long time since I have had such a good work-out. My body feels so refreshed."

NYdV@ Media

NYdV has been featured in the following media!

"If you live in NY," Active English,
February 2005, by Alc Publishing.

"Japanese American Community," Ms. Noriko Hino, NYdV's Executive Director, was elected "Lifestyle Experts" by the Japanese Cabinet Office,
NY Walker, Issue: 4.28.

"NY de Donation," Picky's,
Vol. 29

NY de Volunteer Promotional Video aired
every Tuesday at 8:00pm on Ch. 57
(MNN, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Time Warner Cable).

Message Connextion Bracelets

In cooperation with the Online shop "Cose belle", which sells underwear for breast cancer patients, we now sell NYdV goods online as part of our fund raising. Our "Message Connextion Bracelet," has been introduced in fashion magazines such as Vogue and InStyle. They have also been popular among celebrities. The bracelets are fashionable and come with a case where message plates and photographs can be inserted.

The cost of the bracelet is $98.00. (30% of sales will be donated to NYdV. )

A NYdV original message plate is included.

Front:

Share Love.
Be Happy.

Back:

NYdV

choose envelope from three types

B1000-02 B3075-01 B-2000

Shop online at: http://cosebelle-ny.com/connextioncases2.asp

Support NYdV

Please Support NYdV!

In order for us to keep on running our programs, it is essential to have sufficient operational funds. By giving us contributions, you will be able to participate in educating our community and building a society where individuals can make their own social contributions. Why don't you join NYdV to create a better society?

Please support us: (All contributions are tax deductible.)

Please send checks for donation!

$25, $50, $100, 300, 500, 1000 and any amount you want,

Make checks payable to:
NY de Volunteer, Inc.;
601 West 110th Street Suite10K5,
New York, NY 10025

Please donate to us through the Internet.

Click the left button!
You can use the Web site, Network for Good!
You can donate through the Internet securely and easily!

We Are Very Grateful For Your Support!

Let's make a difference with NYdV

Congratulations on the third anniversary of NY de Volunteer Inc.

Congratulations

on the third anniversary of

NY de Volunteer Inc.