February 8, 2009 - New York Times, Travel / The Good Hotel
January 2009 - On Tap Magazine (OnTapOnline.com) - One Brick DC is On Tap's Group of the Month
October 2008 - Brewtopia chooses One Brick as its Charity of the Year!
September 2008 - One Brick featured on GreatNonprofits.org
January 21, 2008 - WTTG FOX-5 News, Washington DC / Holly Morris: Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
January 2008 - O, The Oprah Magazine - IF YOU HAVE ONLY...
- "4 Hours: Paint a school, restore a marsh, or do other volunteer work - with a little help from onebrick.org, which organizes one-time projects in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco (more cities coming soon)."
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January 1, 2008 - Discovery Channel/PlanetGreen.com - Volunteer Hassle-Free with One Brick
December 27, 2007 - GridSkipper.com - The Alternate San Francisco Dating Scene
- "God can't smite you for hitting on other volunteers while working at One Brick; you're helping humanity, after all. One Brick is a great organization for noncommittal volunteers to volunteer somewhere. Check out their calendar for a list of places and events that need volunteers and apply accordingly. No commitment to build houses every Saturday for three months wherein you have to face that girl you met and jilted after the first date. Just be sure to do some actual work, for fuck's sake -- don't be a complete ass. There's even a One Brick benefit on New Year's Eve at the Westin to serve as the ultimate icebreaker."
Read Story
December 5, 2007 - San Francisco Chronicle / CHRONICLEWATCH - Working for a better Bay Area
November 28, 2007 - Saratoga News / Four Saratogans are One Brick volunteers
November 19, 2007 - San Francisco Chronicle / Bay Area charities need volunteers all year - not just at holidays
November 15, 2007 - Gazette.net / One Brick helps Katrina victims
October 29, 2007 - Daily Herald / Mundelein volunteer to help Katrina victims
October 17, 2007 - San Francisco Chronicle / CHRONICLEWATCH - Working for a better Bay Area
August 2007 - VolunteerMatch Nonprofit Spotlight
July 11, 2007 - San Francisco Bay Guardian / Best of the Bay: Best Local Nonprofit
July 2007 - San Francisco Magazine / Best of the Bay Area: Best Community Do-Gooder
June 3, 2007 - About.com:San Francisco / Join One Brick Volunteers - Help Rebuild in New Orleans
May 16, 2007 - SF Weekly / Best Way to Volunteer
May 7, 2007 - KFOG Morning Show (104.5/97.7) / Mark Stender on One Brick
March 27, 2007 - Current TV / Quick and Fun Good Deeds
March 18, 2007 - The Wave Magazine / Good Karma: Ideas on where to "give a little bit."
January 25, 2007 - Time Out Chicago / Helping Hands
January 17, 2006 - Daily Candy - San Francisco / Brick House
January 8, 2007 - Palo Alto Daily News / Goodwill Database Gaining Supporters
January 8, 2007 - San Francisco Examiner / Clearinghouses Find Volunteers
December 20, 2006 - CBS5 News, San Francisco / Building a Better World One Brick at a Time
December 18, 2006 - One Brick Founder Receives Prestigious "Jefferson Awards For Public Service"
December 17, 2006 - San Francisco Chronicle / JEFFERSON AWARD - One Brick makes volunteering easy
October 4, 2006 - NBC4, Washington DC / New Organization Offers Commitment-Free Volunteering
August 28, 2006 - Daily Candy - Washington DC / The Commitments
July 18, 2006 - ABC7 News, San Francisco / Building Communities One Brick At A Time
SF Magazine - Best of the Bay Area 2007: Best Community Do-Gooder
SF Weekly - Best of San Francisco 2007: Best Way to Volunteer
SF Bay Guardian - Best of the Bay 2007: Best Local Nonprofit
SF Bay Guardian - Best of the Bay 2006: Best Local Nonprofit
SF Bay Guardian - Best of the Bay 2005: Best Local Nonprofit
SF Bay Guardian - Best of the Bay 2004: Best Local Nonprofit
The City and County of San Francisco - Dedicated Volunteer Group Award
California Park & Recreation Society - For Significant Contributions to the Community
Words of Recognition
Thank you so much for volunteering with us at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer this year. Your support for this event was truly invaluable and helped make our 10th anniversary better than ever! With your help, we supported 21,000 walkers and raised 1.6 million dollars for cancer research, education, advocacy and patient programs!
I heard such wonderful things about everyone after the event! The registration leads say this year's event check-in was smoother than ever, the park looked fantastic, and countless people have told me how impressed they were with volunteers who stepped up and helped out in areas where they weren't assigned. Thank you for being such an amazing volunteer!
Sometimes the volunteer positions may not seem very important or useful, but I want to emphasize just how essential each person is to the success of this day. With all that they have to deal with, cancer patients and survivors gather strength and find themselves able to cope with all of the effects of cancer by attending these types of events and seeing all of the support out there.
I've really enjoyed working with you for this inspiring and uplifting event, and I sincerely hope to see each and every one of you again next year! Thank you again for dedicating your time and efforts to Making Strides!
Sincerely,
Cassie Clark
American Cancer Society
All of us at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago - staff, policy and program volunteers, members and clients - consider ourselves extremely fortunate to partner regularly with One Brick volunteers.
Assisting with special community events such as YMCA Healthy Kids Day at South Chicago Y and Haunted Hallways at McCormick Tribune Y; painting residence rooms at Lawson House Y and classrooms at North Lawndale Y; cleaning fitness equipment and organizing storage space at New City Y and High Ridge Y - our experiences with One Brick volunteers have always been gratifying. They are hard-working, enthusiastic, concerned about their community, and just plain fun to work with!
Staff at our YMCA centers throughout the city now contact me to say they want a One Brick volunteer group, not just any volunteer group. They've become the volunteer group 'of choice' here at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
Linda Dean
Annual Giving Liaison and Volunteer Management Director
YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago
Your organization is so well run and everything I read and hear about it is always so positive. You are truly inspiring and most needed in this world!!!!! Thank you!
Denise
One Brick Volunteer
Happy New Year! On behalf of everyone at Lincoln Park Zoo, I want to thank you for help as a ZooLights volunteer this year. It was an amazing season weather-wise and we actually set a visitor attendance record with an incredible total of 200,700 visitors over the 25 nights of ZooLights. (That is an increase of more than 100,000 visitors over last year's attendance number!) Your enthusiasm, patience, and holiday spirit helped to make this event an enjoyable experience for each and every one of our visitors. Thank you for taking time out of your busy holiday schedule to join us. We truly appreciate your support and I hope to see you again next year!
Thank you and have a wonderful year!
Ellen Izenson
Volunteer Services Manager
Lincoln Park Zoo
Dear Wonderful One Brick Volunteers,
The DIA DE LOS MUERTOS FAMILY FESTIVAL fund raiser at the Randall Museum held on Sunday, November 5, 2006 was a great success! Because of you nearly four-hundred people got to spend a spectacular afternoon at the Randall Museum. Attendees got to make crafts including papel picado, sugar or ceramic skulls, paper marigolds, Day of the Dead headdresses, skull bracelets. They got to see the Mexican folklorico dance troupe Xochtil Cultural, dance themselves to the music of Los Boleros, and listen to Day of the Dead stories from Olga Loya. Visitors also got to shop at our fabulous silent auction and enjoy beverages and Mexican food while enjoying a spectacular view of San Francisco.
Although the lobby was set up to greet visitors with the beautiful altar by Jose Lizarraga, it was really all of you that made everyone feel so welcome. Whether you helped at the prep party the week before (how else could we have made two-hundred sugar skulls?), helped to decorate the museum or the goody bags, make a craft, support the auction, set up, clean up or manage the food, it was your spirit that energized the event. We made over $20,000, and around 75% of the funds raised will go to accessible programs at the museum.
There is NO WAY we could not have done this without YOU!
We can never thank you enough and hope you had fun.
Wishing you a great 2007.
Sincerely,
Nathan Robinson
Volunteer Coordinator
Randall Museum Friends
Dear Charity and Amy,
I'd like to thank all the OneBrick volunteers who painted at Lawson House YMCA a week ago. I was amazed by the number of volunteers and the enthusiasm they brought with them! They did a terrific job -- and because they worked so hard, we were able to fill all those rooms with formerly homeless men and women in time for the holidays.
Please pass my thanks to them, along with my best wishes for a joyous holiday season.
Lisa Boulden Williams
Executive Director of Housing
YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago
Hi Dave,
I would like to thank you and all of the volunteers from One Brick helped us with our event this past weekend at the Masonic Auditorium.
For 12 years now we have been producing "Help is on the Way" and it has grown to become the Bay Area's largest annual AIDS benefit concert and a major source of funding for many local AIDS service agencies.
This years show was our largest and most successful ever!
As you know, One Brick volunteers helped us in many areas - both with setup on Saturday and during the event on Sunday. All of these volunteers did an excellent job and helped tremendously with the smooth operation of a large event with over 2,200 guests.
I continue to be impressed with both the One Brick organization and the quality of the volunteers you have assembled. You and your team were a pleasure and a delight to work with.
Please extend to all of the volunteers my most sincere appreciation for a job well done.
David Rogers
Volunteer Coordinator
Help is on the Way XII
The Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation (REAF) http://www.reaf.org
Good morning, One Brick!
I've been thinking about all of you, and what a wonderful experience it's been working with One Brick on our last two events. It always goes so quickly, and there is never enough time to really get to know anyone or to feel like we've thanked you properly....
So THANK YOU! We seriously could not have done it without your help. We learned last year that with only about 200 parents in our school ... and expecting maybe half to participate .... if we were to ask 40 of them to run game booths, not only would many not show up, but there would hardly be anyone left to play games and raise money! So our event entirely depends on the help of outside volunteers at this point. And we truly appreciate your help. Everyone was amazed at the positive and fun attitude of your volunteers ..... just like last year.
Thanks again for all of your hard work.
-Erik
Sunnyside PTA
I wanted to thank you for all of your help getting people together for our park cleanup on Saturday. I was thrilled that you got so many people to come out, and I was impressed with their enthusiasm. I hope it was fun for the group!
Carol Fox
Friends of Morningside Park
Thank you ever so much for volunteering with us. Your involvement with our students is priceless. Because of your generosity of time many neglected young people feel cared about, and are now developing a belief that they can change not only their everyday experience, but also their future. Their world is enriched through their exposure to you and we invite you to join us again and again.
Ruth Shuman
Publicolor
Dear One Brick friends,
From all of us at Streetside, we thank you for your amazing contributions to our events. From mailings to journal making to fundraisers, your volunteer teams are a cornerstone of our efforts!
Thanks,
Tara
Dear Mike,
We would like to thank One Brick for the generous support with the Marin Cancer Project benefit, What Motivates You? To Search for the Cause on April 1, 2005. The evening was inspiring, successful and seemed to really motivate the crowd - the feedback has been fantastic! Thank you for the wonderful support from the One Brick volunteers, they were fantastic! We could not have done this event without each one of them.
Your continued support truly helps us to move forward with the important programs that the Marin Cancer Project is implementing. The work we are doing brings us closer to understanding factors contributing to the elevated cancer rates in our communities.
On behalf of the Marin Cancer Project, thank you! Looking forward to having you more involved with MCP in the future.
Warmest regards,
Judi Shils
Director, Marin Cancer Project
Dear Dave and all the One Brickers:
Dave, thanks for organizing making this event happen.
One Brickers, I want to thank each and every one of you for your great energy you shared with Creative Arts Charter School! It was amazing to not only have the task accomplished that we needed done, but to have everyone be so sincerely helpful and willing to do whatever was asked of them. The school smells and looks so much better and has increased my enthusiasm for the return of the children to their school - clean walls and all. We have done some painting and hope to do much more this coming weekend, but whether there is paint or not, it is so much better than before.
Again, thanks for your genuine help that not only made a more beautiful, conducive environment for our children, but also allowed me to remember there are a lot of very cool people in the world with good hearts. Sometimes the district can discourage some of us in the education world but people like you can remind us why we do what we do; we educate children on how to be caring, generous, outward looking adults. Your example is much appreciated.
Take care,
Maria Jenerik
Creative Arts Charter School
I'd like to compliment to great work done by your group of volunteers at Lake Merced last Thursday. That was an incredible effort, and having pulled a little iceplant myself I know whereof I speak.
When you visit the Mesa you may note that most of the iceplant is on the periphery. When we started this project more than seven years ago that was not the case. The entire Mesa was covered with iceplant. Since there was little in the way of grasses and seed bearing plants there were few insects, fewer birds, and the place was pretty desolate. The work of many volunteer groups such as yours has wrought a major transformation and brought back to life an important piece of San Francisco.
Thank you again.
Thanks again for a great effort.
John Plummer
President
Friends of Lake Merced
On behalf of the guests, staff, and Board of Directors of St. John's Bread and Life Program Inc., I want to pass along a BIG THANK YOU for your time and effort! This past week has been National Volunteer Week. However, I tend to think that every day is Volunteer Day at Bread and Life since we rely so heavily on you wonderful people. Everyday, I have the privilege of interacting with people who are determined to give back to their community in one form or another. Again, thank you and keep up the good work!
Sarah Hardin
Volunteer Coordinator
St. John's Bread and Life
Hi Brian,
I want to thank you, One Brick and all of the volunteers for making this past Saturday such a tremendous success. The garden couldn't be in better shape, which is so important given this approaching Wednesday. It was a pleasure working with One Brick, and I hope we can continue to work together in the future.
Thanks again,
Daniel
Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition
I just wanted to thank One Brick for coming out to the Kite Festival. We couldn't have done it without all of the super OneBrickers.
I do apologize that we were short on the volunteer jobs. I never thought we'd get so many volunteers -- it was an events coordinator's dream come true.
I look forward to working with One Brick again in the future.
Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!
-Kim
Friends of Recreation and Parks
I just wanted to thank you again for the great workparty turn-out of enthusiastic volunteers last Saturday. Lisa and I were very happy with all the work that was completed. It was great to get all that ivy removed, and new plants in the ground--the creek really did look transformed. After the huge rainfall that followed the workday, I took a visit to the creek and was glad to see that all the plants held their ground and were looking happy (and well watered!).
Thanks again. Any time One Brick would like to get muddy in the creek again, let me know and I'd be glad to set up another work day.
-Apple
Friends of Baxter Creek
Dear One Brick:
Thank you so much for contributing and donating to the Catwalk Couture Fashion Show and Soiree. It is due to your efforts that we could produce this fundraising event. And because of your participation we had a very successful, sold-out evening!
Along with having a great time, we were able to support Rebuilding Together in their endeavors to help the community. We are deeply grateful for your participation.
Warmest regards -
Valerie Britt
Dear One Brick,
Thank you for all your help running the International Beer Festival. Your volunteers all worked so hard, and we hope they had fun, too.
Parents and beer vendors alike had the highest praise for your enthusiasm, hard work and friendliness. We couldn't have done it without you!
Take care, and many thanks again!
Cathy Cormier
Volunteer Coordinator
21st Annual International Beer Festival
Dear One Brick,
On behalf of the patients and families we serve please accept my heartfelt thanks for your support at Light The Night San Francisco.
You all just jumped right in and took charge. From muscles to balloons...we needed you and you did it.
See you next year!
Krystn Kuckelman
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Campaign Manager
Dear Charlotte and Dave --
On behalf of everyone at Compass, I want to thank you, Jay, Christina, and all the volunteers you brought us last night to help stuff 9,000 brochures. Half of those met our most urgent deadline to the mailhouse this morning. The others will be distributed beginning next week.
Your volunteers were excellent. Thanks for getting everyone to come on such short notice. We were so impressed with everyone being here on time, working so hard, being so organized, and so self-motivated. You've saved us hundreds of dollars and a couple of weeks of labor.
Thanks for your support.
-- Janice
Janice Lee
Community Outreach Coordinator
Compass Community Services
From our Volunteers
I started going to a couple of events a month, but now I'm addicted and go to nearly all of them. I feel good about volunteering my time to One Brick while enjoying the benefit of constantly meeting new people and making lots of new friends. I've gone to the movies, bowling, ice-skating, street fairs, dinners, concerts, musicals and baseball games with friends I've met through the One Brick. Rock climbing was an activity I would not have gotten around to and found that I love if it weren't for One Brick. I look forward to getting up early on the weekends to attend events with friends from One Brick. I've even discovered that volunteering and going out often has given me more energy and I require less sleep. One Brick is one the best things I've done for myself....I love it!
Thanks again for letting me join the group last night. It was a great time, and definitely a rewarding experience. I WILL be back again to help out.
-Pat
I just picked up running as a way to get back in shape. I met Marlene at that event where One Brick staffed the March of Dime's Walk America. Turns out that quite a few other One Brick'ers also run. So, now, I have 3 different running partners that I meet up with, depending on our schedules, to go running.
One Brick definitely subscribes to the work hard, play hard philosophy. It has helped create balance for me by providing the opportunity to meet new friends, see old friends, and do something good for the community.
What appealed most to me about One Brick was its focus on building friendships and relationships through community volunteerism. I started out coming to just a few events here and there, labeling cans at the food bank, building a playground at an elementary school, etc. But, I soon found that there was a core group of volunteers - we all knew each other, from different events, and quickly became friends. It's funny, but now, it's almost like we're in some sort of sitcom or something - like we're straight out of the cast of "Friends." Not only do we all attend One Brick events together, but it's like one constant party. In the past month, we've all gone to Pluto's in the Marina for dinner, followed by a drunken game of Trivial Pursuit, we've gone bowling, ice skating, we came in 4th place at Trivia Night at a bar called Mad Dog in the Fog in the Lower Haight, we all went to a party in Berkeley at which Brandon's band was playing, and this coming Wednesday, everyone's coming over to my place to order in some pizzas and clean out my wine rack. It's crazy, but pretty soon I'm going to have to quit my job, just to keep up with my social life.
I just wanted to let you know I had a great time at the Zoo! I don't know if it was the ride on the Puffer or the dirt down my pants that made it so fun...hehe!
Look forward to another upcoming event soon!
Seanna
I think this is such an excellent idea! What a wonderful way to make new friends and do something altruistic.
Thanks,
Stacy
I really couldn't imagine finding so many cool friends in the area without One Brick. It's not just the different events and going out and whatnot. It's like in college, when you would just show up at your buddy's door, unannounced, and just hang out on his couch eating stale chips and watching Comedy Central. The coolest thing about having met all these awesome people through One Brick is driving home from work, calling up one of the friends I've made from One Brick and saying, "Hey, Jennifer, what are you up to right now? You're studying for the LSATs? Screw that. I'm coming over, and we're gonna watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer." If I really think about it, it really does make sense in that through something like One Brick, you would find so many cool people. Everyone's pretty young, well educated, you know they got good hearts - after all, they're dedicating their time to volunteering for non-profits - and everyone is open to being social and looking to have fun too.
You know, thank you for starting OneBrick. It really has been the only way I could volunteer when I was flying, and some weeks, it was the only social interaction I had at all. You've really created something neat, and One Brick has become an important part of my life. So thanks.
Your group is great, I had such a good time pitching in for the Playground event. If it wasn't for prior work (networking) commitment, I would have driven all the way up to the city to party with some of the people I met... such a fun energetic group.
Had a great time at the Habitat for Humanity event yesterday - really enjoyed meeting you and the others, and of course feeling that I had a productive day, for a change.
Just wanted to tell you I had a really good time on Saturday. 3 hours of actual work does a boy good, and it was fun to do it with all those folks. I've told several people about my Saturday, and they all think it's cool. So thanks for keeping this going and organizing these events -- I know it's a lot of work!
-Jonathan
From the Community
I woke up this morning to the sound of shovels scraping across the sidewalk. I looked out my window and saw dozens of people picking up trash and pulling weeds from the cracks in the concrete. My street looks nicer than ever. You've reminded me of why San Francisco is a wonderful place to live. Thank you!
--Carly
