Community Collaborations

BACKGROUND
Community Collaborations International (CCI) works with universities, high schools, youth programs, families, church groups and others to provide support for service oriented travel in the US and Internationally. Our goal is to place volunteers where they are needed most and to provide a safe and fulfilling volunteer experience.

We need:
More food donations
Additional showers
A big meeting tent
15 passenger vans
Tools of all kinds
A school bus

11/24
Auction is NOW OPEN
Place Your Bid. Whether you're looking for something unique for yourself, searching for a gift for a special someone, or looking to add a little adventure to your life, you're sure to find something in our Auction Catalog . Every bid helps us get the job done in New Orleans and Mississippi.

10/8
Show Us Your Support Today

Beginning on November 13, 2006, Community Collaborations International will be holding an online auction to raise much needed funds. We need your support!
We're asking you to participate in one of the following ways...
How You Can Help:
Donate.
We need Auction items to add to our catalog. If you have valuable merchandise, rare collectibles, business or personal services or access to unique events, we need your contribution today. Click here to Donate.
Be a Sponsor.
Contact us at CCInternational@cmarket.org or 425 350 0967 to take advantage of promotional opportunities for your business or to pledge your individual support.
Tell Your Friends.
Do you know someone who would be interested in supporting our cause? Please share the news of the online auction with your friends so they can be part of the excitement.
Refer a Friend to our auction so they can get involved.
Thank you in advance for your continued support! We look forward to your item donation and online bids!
Check out our entire auction catalog!

http://www.communitycollaborations.org for more info. http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/01/09/43c1f27ac785d
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/01/09/43c1eb3a58d4c

Article re: One Group's trip through CC:
Waveland, Miss., is more than 1,000 miles away. But the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's influence there isn't finished.
During winter break more than 90 UNL students, faculty and staff members traveled to Waveland, a Gulf Coast town of about 7,000, to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
On Friday evening about 80 of those trip participants gathered to share their experiences with approximately 20 other UNL administrators, faculty and staff members. Afterward, students gathered to discuss how they could continue their work in Mississippi.
When Katrina plowed its way through the South in late August, it wiped out entire towns, displaced hundreds of thousands and became one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history. During the trip participants continued efforts to clear debris, rebuild homes and churches and listen to residents' survival stories.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs James Griesen applauded the student participants for learning early in life the rewards of volunteerism.
"There's no better feeling in life than being of service to others," Griesen said.
Two faculty members and two students did their best to describe the trip on behalf of the entire group.
Phyllis Larsen, an advertising senior lecturer, talked about how the students built relationships and stepped outside their comfort zones as they picked up trash, hung drywall, moved heavy furniture and tore down old buildings.
Larsen said the service trip also made students more engaged.
"It was dirt-under-your-fingernails real," Larsen said. "Our only power tools were our muscles and our brains."
Allen Ratliff, a sophomore English and sociology major, said the trip challenged him to grow.
"I was able to go down and see just something I wouldn't have otherwise been able to see," Ratliff said.
After showing a three-minute video clip of their experiences and ending the presentation, trip participants gathered to discuss how they could continue to help the Waveland residents.
The meeting was a continuation of a group brainstorm the participants had during one of the last nights of their service trip. During the meeting, participants said they didn't want to just go home and tell people about what how they helped others – they wanted to keep helping.
After going through a number of ideas on how to raise funds and spread awareness about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the group agreed to start a smaller task force to implement the ideas.
Some ideas included having a photo exhibit of the trip in the Rotunda Gallery of the Nebraska Union, holding a tool drive and raising funds during the spring football game.
During the meeting, Linda Moody, assistant director of Student Involvement, announced arrangements were being made to send another group of students on a relief trip to Waveland during spring break.
Emily Snodgrass, a senior elementary education major and relief trip planner, said the goal of the meeting was to harness the students' enthusiasm for service in the area.
"I think that it was important to really make the most of the energy and passion that students on the trip felt and transform that into action," Snodgrass said.
"We're not done. - Nobody is finished. We left Waveland, yes, but our hearts and passion to serve them has not."