May 14th, 2013 will offer two opportunities for community members to participate in the 2013 White Center Business Mixer. This will be a new collaboration with the White Center Chamber of Commerce. Attend when and where it makes sense to you!

This is an exciting time of the year at the CDA because we are announcing our new format, calling for volunteers and projects form the community. This year Spring Clean will span April through August with a huge celebration on September 6th, 2013. We have 5 months throughout the year to ensure the cleanliness and beautification our community. If you have a project that you want to lead or suggest please fill out the Project Proposal Form and email it to Marquise@wccda.org or drop it off at the CDA located at 1615 SW Cambridge St, Seattle, WA 98106. Projects can be done on multiple days if it is a need of the community to be done throughout the months.  If you are interested in volunteering for a particular day please follow the link Volunteer Link to sign-up. You can sign up for as many days as you want.

As projects come in we will be updating our blog, Facebook and Twitter. If you have any question or concerns about Spring Clean this year please feel free to contact Marquise at Marquise@wccda.org or call 206.694.1082. Look forward to making our community healthy, clean and beautiful over the next couple of months.

Need help finding a job or just getting your materials together to apply to jobs? Well the YWCA has some great resources to help you get ready and to explore the opportunities that are there. Check out the up and coming job fair or just drop by for some help on stuff related to jobs.

Buy Fresh in White Center, Delridge and Highpoint

“New Buy Fresh website promotes healthy food and produce in White Center, Delridge and Highpoint neighborhood markets and corner stores.”

The White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA), in partnership with the King County Food and Fitness Initiative and Communities Putting Prevention to Work, has created a new Buy Fresh website that highlights thirteen different neighborhood produce markets and retail stores that offer fresh fruits, vegetables, and a variety of healthy affordable food for multi-ethnic communities. The site has multi lingual headers reflecting the ethnic diversity of the community.

Included on the site are the business profile pages, previously used in print that introduce customers to local healthy food shopping options, including the merchants themselves, store specialties and merchants’ favorite recipes from their home countries. The pages list business hours, EBT and/or WIC acceptance, and a list of the most popular items always in stock.

“The website is an important tool for me to tell new and long-time customers about Phnom Khiev Market,” said Vichet Khiev of his store in White Center. “It is always great how word can spread just from people talking about a website. The merchant profiles are especially useful because neighborhood residents feel like they know me and can trust me.”

The website will likely expand and include other healthy retail stores in these neighborhoods. The plan is to showcase recipe cards and expand the merchant profiles into various languages such as Khmer, Spanish, Arabic, Somali, and Vietnamese.

The site’s purpose is to promote the accessibility of healthy, culturally appropriate fruits, vegetables and other foods for residents and visitors in the White Center, Delridge and Highpoint neighborhoods. Parts of Delridge and Highpoint neighborhoods are classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “food deserts”, defined as an urban neighborhood without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.

You’ll find the site at http://www.buyfreshsw.wccda.org

Made possible by funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Public Health - Seattle & King County.

White Center-Promise Summer Celebration-Friday, August 31st, 2012

“Success from cradle to college and career”

(White Center, WA)-Promise Summer Celebration 2012-Come celebrate the implementation phase of the White Center Promise Initiative. Get information about what implementation will look like, enjoy the company of your neighbors and enjoy a great time with free local food and performers.

To register and find out more information please click the following link: Promise Registration. Registration deadline is August 25th, 2012. Register before the deadline to recieve a “Special” parent gift and a book bag for your child.

To volunteer, please register at the following link: Volunteer Registration. You can register online or print out a registration form. Please fax registration forms to 206.658.8344 or drop it off at the CDA office located at 1615 Cambridge St. If you are under 18 please fill out a youth waiver form found at the above link.

Volunteers are needed!! To sign-up as a volunteer, please visit the following link: Volunteer Registration or contact Julie Hubbs, AmeriCorp VISTA Volunteer Manager and Fund Developer at 206.694.1082 x175 or at whitecentercda@gmail.com. Volunteers will recieve a complimentary T-shirt, refreshments and food at the event.

Spring Clean 2012 was a huge success with over 470 people participating in 23 different beautification and cleanup projects around White Center. We collected over 100 bags of compost, garbage waste, and recycling totaling over 2,000 lbs.

Thank you to the elected officials and professionals who attended the morning kickoff event and participated in the community clean up: US Attorney Jenny A. Durkan, Congressman Jim McDermott, King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, and Unincorporated Community Service Area Program Manager and representative from Dow Constantine’s office, Alan Painter.

Thank you again to all of the sponsors for making this event possible: Boeing Employers Credit Union, Bubbers, LLC, Chemo’s Mexican Restaurant, City of Seattle Office of Economic Development, El Dorado West, Habitat for Humanity Seattle/South King County, Impact Capital, King County Housing Authority, King County Parks and Recreation, Lee’s Produce, McLendon’s Hardware, Meat the Live Butcher, Norwest Graphics, QFC, Saars Super Saver Foods, Reed Paint, Safeway, Samway Market, Seattle Public Utilities, Sherwin-Williams, West Seattle Tool Library, the White Center Chamber of Commerce, and World Vision.

Check out coverage on Spring Clean 2012:

West Seattle Herald, West Seattle Herald, White Center Now, White Center Blog, West Seattle Blog, Village Concepts

And for more pictures, check out:

Mel Ponder Photography, Mel Ponder Facebook

Twitter: @WhiteCenterCDA

Facebook: White Center Community Development Association