Hello Everybody
I am writing my last blog for Think Detroit PAL today. : (
The past six months have been great here and I have learned a great amount of information that will come in handy as I enter the professional working field.
I just want to thank everybody here at TDP for all of their help and support these last six months. The people here are truly amazing!! If you are ever looking for a great family to be a part of, TDP is the place to be.
Thank you everybody for everything!!
and Thank you readers
Have a great day
Mariel
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Hey everybody,
Like I said earlier, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been pretty hectic around Think Detroit PAL lately. Summer programs and fall programs have all come to an end, the cheer competition has come and gone and only the football final game has to be played at Ford Field.
Winter sports are beginning and this year we have indoor track, boys basketball and girls volleyball offered here at Think Detroit PAL. It is going to be a great winter season!!!
I will keep you posted on more information!
Thank you for reading
Mariel
ps - have a great day!!
Like I said earlier, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been pretty hectic around Think Detroit PAL lately. Summer programs and fall programs have all come to an end, the cheer competition has come and gone and only the football final game has to be played at Ford Field.
Winter sports are beginning and this year we have indoor track, boys basketball and girls volleyball offered here at Think Detroit PAL. It is going to be a great winter season!!!
I will keep you posted on more information!
Thank you for reading
Mariel
ps - have a great day!!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Lately
Hey everyone, sorry I haven’t been updating lately, things have been kind of crazy around here. Busy busy busy. Anyway here a few things that have been going on at Think Detroit PAL lately:
I’m excited to say that I have been chosen to help with the MVP of Detroit event. I really cant say much about it but its very time consuming.
Think Detroit PAL has a new CEO. I would like to congratulate Michael C. Porter, who will be taking over in early 2011.
Sports wise at Think Detroit PAL, football and cheer has started up. There has been a few games as well as a few homecoming games for the teams. Soccer has also started up and many kids from our soccer camp decided to play on our league : )
Our $40 for 40 campaign is going on still, we are getting closer to our goal day by day, all donations are helping out tremendously.
On a sad note:
I’m sad to announce that one of the people that work for Think Detroit PAL has lost his mentor a few weeks ago. Greg Hicks mentor Leroy “the Wood” Bougard, passed away from a heart attack on September 4, 2010. Mr. Bougard was the principle of Kettering high school, and has been working to keep the school open for years. He was a mentor, father figure, and coach to all of his students at Kettering. Greg will be putting on a memorial in honor of him within the next few weeks so I will keep you posted on that.
Hope everyone has had a safe summer, and is enjoying the cooler weather that we have been having.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!!
Mariel
I’m excited to say that I have been chosen to help with the MVP of Detroit event. I really cant say much about it but its very time consuming.
Think Detroit PAL has a new CEO. I would like to congratulate Michael C. Porter, who will be taking over in early 2011.
Sports wise at Think Detroit PAL, football and cheer has started up. There has been a few games as well as a few homecoming games for the teams. Soccer has also started up and many kids from our soccer camp decided to play on our league : )
Our $40 for 40 campaign is going on still, we are getting closer to our goal day by day, all donations are helping out tremendously.
On a sad note:
I’m sad to announce that one of the people that work for Think Detroit PAL has lost his mentor a few weeks ago. Greg Hicks mentor Leroy “the Wood” Bougard, passed away from a heart attack on September 4, 2010. Mr. Bougard was the principle of Kettering high school, and has been working to keep the school open for years. He was a mentor, father figure, and coach to all of his students at Kettering. Greg will be putting on a memorial in honor of him within the next few weeks so I will keep you posted on that.
Hope everyone has had a safe summer, and is enjoying the cooler weather that we have been having.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!!
Mariel
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
This week started out with the Paul W. Smith Golf Classic tournament which went off beautifully. Everybody had a great time and the weather was perfect for such an event. Since everybody was at the event on Monday, everybody seems to be doing catch up for the rest of the week. Meetings were held, emails had to be read, and all had to get done fast because today in the office we are having a potluck. Our very own Laurel Whalen is leaving us this week. She has been offered a teaching job at Wayne State University this coming fall. Laurel will not be leaving all of us for good though, which we are very appreciative for that, she just will not be in the office as much as she has been. All of us at Think Detroit PAL would like to wish Laurel the best and congratulations.
Besides the Golf Classic, nothing huge has happened this week. There isn't any camps that are going on this week so that gives some of our officers some time get some other work done. It all has to get done because next week starts the set up for soccer camp. : ) Which will run the week of Aug. 30.
Thank you everyone, and good luck Laurel!!
Have a great day!
Mariel
Besides the Golf Classic, nothing huge has happened this week. There isn't any camps that are going on this week so that gives some of our officers some time get some other work done. It all has to get done because next week starts the set up for soccer camp. : ) Which will run the week of Aug. 30.
Thank you everyone, and good luck Laurel!!
Have a great day!
Mariel
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Here a couple campers pose for a picture
We love smiling faces here at Think Detroit PAL
Here are the boys playing lacrosse after lunch
This week was the lacrosse camp for Think Detroit PAL. I was very excited to see so many kids sign up for this sport that has been recently new to the state of Michigan. Warrior lacrosse helped out the camp by donating not only boys lacrosse sticks, but the girls field hockey sticks also, to which the campers get to take home and use for years to come. They also donated enough lacrosse balls and the jerseys for every camper, and gave away equipment and t-shirts as prizes. It was really cool to see such a big company caring so much about the youth. To help teach the camp, a couple coaches from the surrounding area schools came along with a couple of their players. The coach from Brother Rice high school, the coach from U of D Jesuit, and players from Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley, Farris and Michigan State all came to help out. As well as a bunch of other players who play for their club teams. Like I said before, it was great to see so many people care for the kids. I know that some of the kids don't realize it yet, but sports are very important, and to have people there at those levels teaching them is such a great honor.
It was my first experience seeing a camp being put on, to where I didn't have to coach it, and it was a great experience. There is so much preparation that goes into these camps. Every day each kid received lunch, to which had to be picked up and put out for the kids to receive, tables needed to be washed, water jugs had to be filled, water bottles had to be given out, registration was still going on, and at the end of the day, EVERYTHING needed to be cleaned up and prepared to do it all over again the next day. I have a lot of respect for the people running the camps and the directors. Think Detroit PAL does a great job of having great people to work all of these. The last week in August is the soccer camp and I’m hoping to be part of the planning action for that.
Hope everyone has a great rest of the day and a great weekend.
Thanks
Mariel
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sports and Work
Hey everybody,
Today I was thinking about how sports have affected my everyday life, where I would be if I didn't play sports, and what I have learned by playing sports.
For me, playing sports started at a very young age, I did gymnastics I believe when I was 4 and I have played some sort of sport ever since then. I have learned a great deal not only about the sports world but about my self and what it takes to be a team mate. I also learned how to stay calm in situations and make sure you always do what you are capable of doing to help people, no matter what the outcome.
An example of this would have to be this past Friday. The St. Hedwig ribbon cutting ceremony was taking place. Everything was going smoothly, I brought a friend of mine and my brother to help set some things up as well as be there for the ceremony, and they did a great job in doing everything they could. They were always there asking what needed to be done and just doing it. It was a great sense of team work between them and everyone from Think Detroit PAL that was there, Kristen, Chris, Ken and Greg, as well as myself. Everything looked great! Chairs were set up, balloons were put on the fences, the ribbon was done, redone, and done again, until it looked perfect. All the little details were done way ahead of schedule, and everything looked perfect when people started showing up.
People were enjoying themselves, camera crews were there getting interviews, PAWS from the Tigers foundation was there to take pictures, like I said, everything was great, until the rain came!
As soon as the ceremony started, George Guzman was addressing the crowd, getting things going, when all of the sudden the down pour of the season came through. It was pouring!!!! Again, as a team, we sprinted into action getting everything covered up, microphones taken down, pictures put under the tent. It all happened smoothly and fast. Once it was all covered and put away, it stopped raining. We got everything back out and set up and within 5 minutes we were ready to go again. George Guzman started speaking again, and without warning, water started pouring from the sky again. Harder and faster then the last time. It poured like that for a good hour and a half as we cleaned everything up and put it all away. The event was cancelled. No Magglio, no ribbon cutting, no baseball game on the brand new beautiful field.
It just goes to show that no matter how well things are going or how prepared you are, the outcome of the game may never be what you are expecting.
Even though the event didn't take place, it was great to see how well people work together for the same cause, and even in the rain, fans are always going to be there for the favorite player.
Thanks everyone,
Mariel
Today I was thinking about how sports have affected my everyday life, where I would be if I didn't play sports, and what I have learned by playing sports.
For me, playing sports started at a very young age, I did gymnastics I believe when I was 4 and I have played some sort of sport ever since then. I have learned a great deal not only about the sports world but about my self and what it takes to be a team mate. I also learned how to stay calm in situations and make sure you always do what you are capable of doing to help people, no matter what the outcome.
An example of this would have to be this past Friday. The St. Hedwig ribbon cutting ceremony was taking place. Everything was going smoothly, I brought a friend of mine and my brother to help set some things up as well as be there for the ceremony, and they did a great job in doing everything they could. They were always there asking what needed to be done and just doing it. It was a great sense of team work between them and everyone from Think Detroit PAL that was there, Kristen, Chris, Ken and Greg, as well as myself. Everything looked great! Chairs were set up, balloons were put on the fences, the ribbon was done, redone, and done again, until it looked perfect. All the little details were done way ahead of schedule, and everything looked perfect when people started showing up.
People were enjoying themselves, camera crews were there getting interviews, PAWS from the Tigers foundation was there to take pictures, like I said, everything was great, until the rain came!
As soon as the ceremony started, George Guzman was addressing the crowd, getting things going, when all of the sudden the down pour of the season came through. It was pouring!!!! Again, as a team, we sprinted into action getting everything covered up, microphones taken down, pictures put under the tent. It all happened smoothly and fast. Once it was all covered and put away, it stopped raining. We got everything back out and set up and within 5 minutes we were ready to go again. George Guzman started speaking again, and without warning, water started pouring from the sky again. Harder and faster then the last time. It poured like that for a good hour and a half as we cleaned everything up and put it all away. The event was cancelled. No Magglio, no ribbon cutting, no baseball game on the brand new beautiful field.
It just goes to show that no matter how well things are going or how prepared you are, the outcome of the game may never be what you are expecting.
Even though the event didn't take place, it was great to see how well people work together for the same cause, and even in the rain, fans are always going to be there for the favorite player.
Thanks everyone,
Mariel
Thursday, July 22, 2010
40 for 40
Hey everyone,
One of the campaigns that I am working on for Think Detroit PAL is the 40 for 40 campaign. We are asking for donations of $40 for the 40 years that we have been helping the youth of Detroit. If you have any intrest in donating or would like to check out our progress please take a look.
One of the campaigns that I am working on for Think Detroit PAL is the 40 for 40 campaign. We are asking for donations of $40 for the 40 years that we have been helping the youth of Detroit. If you have any intrest in donating or would like to check out our progress please take a look.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
St. Hedwig
Hey everyone, hope everyone is having a great day.
So one of the projects that I am working on here at Think Detroit PAL is the St. Hedwig ribbon cutting ceremony, which will take place at 1 p.m. on July 23, 2010, at the St. Hedwig park itself.
The ceremony is to officially honor Detroit Tiger Magglio Ordonez for his thoughtful contribution and commitment to Detroit's youth, and the park. The cool part about the ribbon ceremony is that Magglio Ordonez will actually be there at the park for all the festivities.
Including the ceremony, there will be a baseball game taking place, the unveiling of Summer in the City's mural that they have donated to the park, and a baseball game is nothing without a barbecue that will take place after the official ribbon cutting itself.
St. Hedwig has received many renovations which include a new baseball diamond, new infield, outfield fences, dugouts and bleachers. A few softball diamonds were also cleaned up and freshened up for the children to play on.
I'm very excited about this ribbon cutting ceremony and to see the community come together and receive a great gift for the children.
Thank you everyone, and have a great afternoon
Mariel
So one of the projects that I am working on here at Think Detroit PAL is the St. Hedwig ribbon cutting ceremony, which will take place at 1 p.m. on July 23, 2010, at the St. Hedwig park itself.
The ceremony is to officially honor Detroit Tiger Magglio Ordonez for his thoughtful contribution and commitment to Detroit's youth, and the park. The cool part about the ribbon ceremony is that Magglio Ordonez will actually be there at the park for all the festivities.
Including the ceremony, there will be a baseball game taking place, the unveiling of Summer in the City's mural that they have donated to the park, and a baseball game is nothing without a barbecue that will take place after the official ribbon cutting itself.
St. Hedwig has received many renovations which include a new baseball diamond, new infield, outfield fences, dugouts and bleachers. A few softball diamonds were also cleaned up and freshened up for the children to play on.
I'm very excited about this ribbon cutting ceremony and to see the community come together and receive a great gift for the children.
Thank you everyone, and have a great afternoon
Mariel
Thursday
Hello everyone, I'm sorry that the post was late, Thursday consisted of coming into the office and looking some information up on the D. Duane Hurtt Memorial Golf Outing being held on August 27,2010. I am currently writing a press release for this event. With no time to waste though, Kacy and I got in the car and went to Jayne Field.
Janyne Field is a field that Think Detroit PAL is in charge of cleaning up. It is, I believe, 7 baseball diamonds that need renovations and some clean up.
The AON financial group was there to donate their services in the clean up process, as well as some local guys who were playing on the fields as we showed up donated their services. It was great to see people in the community care about how their parks look. The clean up included picking up the litter around the parking lots, painting the Jayne Building and bleachers, cutting down the trees and shrubs that have grown through the fences of the baseball diamonds and renovating all the dug outs.
I worked there the whole day, taking picture and helping to take down some trees there.
Anyway, I hope everyone had a great day and a great weekend
Thanks
Mariel
Janyne Field is a field that Think Detroit PAL is in charge of cleaning up. It is, I believe, 7 baseball diamonds that need renovations and some clean up.
The AON financial group was there to donate their services in the clean up process, as well as some local guys who were playing on the fields as we showed up donated their services. It was great to see people in the community care about how their parks look. The clean up included picking up the litter around the parking lots, painting the Jayne Building and bleachers, cutting down the trees and shrubs that have grown through the fences of the baseball diamonds and renovating all the dug outs.
I worked there the whole day, taking picture and helping to take down some trees there.
Anyway, I hope everyone had a great day and a great weekend
Thanks
Mariel
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
getting into the swing of things
Hello everybody, today was my 3rd day at Think Detroit PAL. This morning was fun while at work, Greg, the guy in the desk next to mine (who I have been warned about on being loud) came into work today. He is a trip!!! He was very funny and blast to listen to!!! I told him he was gonna be in my blog posting today and got excited after he actually read my blog. So here is your posting Greg!!! you keep me laughing when your here at work. I hope you enjoy your vacation!!!!!
Soo today started out on finishing up the press release from yesterday, and more of my focus went on to finding platforms for the 40 for 40 campaign that Think Detroit PAL is hosting. Im very excited to start that campaign and see what ideas of mine will be used : ) itll be a great learning experience. The only downfall to working on that this morning was my computer kept freezing sooo it took a little bit longer then what I expected, but it got done: ). I also worked on making goals for the social media aspect of Think Detroit PAL. As of October I would LOVE to have 5000 friends on our facebook and at least 300 followers on twitter. I would also like to have 30 followers of this blog!! I think that would be awsome!!!!
So far I believe the hardest part of this job, besides the actual work part of the job would be finding something to wear lol. Being an athlete I own jeans and sweat pants, soo business casual is a challenge in itself, but besides that and watching my puppy watch me leave the house in the morning ( I just recently became the owner of a 2 year old yorkie chihuahua, who I adore : ). I am fully enjoying my experience here!! I love it so far, and am learning a ton of information!!!!! Im enjoying everybody here in the office and the attitudes and excitment about programs and kids that everyone has!!
Tomorrow I will be at Jane's field to take some action shots of the clean up that TDP is putting on, hopefully I will beable to get some great shots to post on here for everyone to see!!
Thank you and I hope everyone is having a great day!!!!!
Mariel
ps. I would also like to thank Sean, my new facebook friend, who is intrested in being a videoographer for TDP!! Thank you for making me look good as I recruit people for volunteering!! : ) Thank you thank you!!!!
Soo today started out on finishing up the press release from yesterday, and more of my focus went on to finding platforms for the 40 for 40 campaign that Think Detroit PAL is hosting. Im very excited to start that campaign and see what ideas of mine will be used : ) itll be a great learning experience. The only downfall to working on that this morning was my computer kept freezing sooo it took a little bit longer then what I expected, but it got done: ). I also worked on making goals for the social media aspect of Think Detroit PAL. As of October I would LOVE to have 5000 friends on our facebook and at least 300 followers on twitter. I would also like to have 30 followers of this blog!! I think that would be awsome!!!!
So far I believe the hardest part of this job, besides the actual work part of the job would be finding something to wear lol. Being an athlete I own jeans and sweat pants, soo business casual is a challenge in itself, but besides that and watching my puppy watch me leave the house in the morning ( I just recently became the owner of a 2 year old yorkie chihuahua, who I adore : ). I am fully enjoying my experience here!! I love it so far, and am learning a ton of information!!!!! Im enjoying everybody here in the office and the attitudes and excitment about programs and kids that everyone has!!
Tomorrow I will be at Jane's field to take some action shots of the clean up that TDP is putting on, hopefully I will beable to get some great shots to post on here for everyone to see!!
Thank you and I hope everyone is having a great day!!!!!
Mariel
ps. I would also like to thank Sean, my new facebook friend, who is intrested in being a videoographer for TDP!! Thank you for making me look good as I recruit people for volunteering!! : ) Thank you thank you!!!!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
2nd Day
before!!
AFTER!!!!! it looks great!!!!!
Hello everyone, to Kristen's suprise I came back to Think Detroit PAL for my second day of work!! She didnt think I would.
Today seems to be going by very fast for me. My duties today included some proof reading for a program that is going to be sent out. I worked on some social media stuff. I'm looking on trying to find how I can use social media to help with the Think Detroit PAL's 40 for 40 campaign. We are asking for donations of $40 in honor of the 40 years that Think Detroit PAL has been around helping the city and children of Detroit. : ) any information from anyone on that would be greatly appreciated.
I also got to do a press release for the ribbon cutting at St. Hedwig park. Think Detroit pal as well as the Detroit Tigers Foundation and Magglio Ordonez started renovations on a park last year and completely transformed it. The renovations include two softball diamonds receiving great improvements as well as one other diamond being completely renovated into a regulation-size baseball diamond, including an outfield fence, dugouts, bleachers, and new benches. Its actually pretty cool, Kristen is head of the renovations for this park and has some great in site on all the information. There are a lot of people incorporated in making this park accessible for the children to play baseball.
Besides work, nothing too crazy happened here today, besides a lot of phone calls on a lacrosse camp that Think Detroit PAL is hosting next week : )
more pictures of the renovations at St. Hedwig park can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkdetroitpal/sets/72157624326265165/with/4774916836/
Anyways, Ill post again tomorrow.
Hope everyone is having a great day!!!!
Monday, July 12, 2010
First official Day
Hello everyone, I would like to introduce myself, my name is Mariel VanOverbeke and I am the new communications intern at Think Detroit PAL. Think Detroit PAL is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to help build character in Detroit's youth through sports and academics. It is currently one of the largest non-profit urban youth leadership programs in the nation, and serves 13,000 youths annually. More information on the organization can be found at the website ThinkDetroitPAL.org.
A little about myself... I am currently a senior Wayne State University, majoring in Public Relations. I play volleyball for Wayne State and I have done a numerous amounts of sports, anywhere from t-ball to cheerleading, from soccer and now volleyball. I also tried swim for a day. (didn't work out too well for me). Sports are very important to me and I believe in what Think Detroit PAL has to offer for children. Every child should be given the opportunities to play sports.
Anyways, so today is my "official" first day here. I have come in for meetings before as well as coached a volleyball camp in the past for them, but today is the first official day. The person looking over me is Kristen, who is in charge all the communications here at Think Detroit PAL. This organization all together is like a tight knit group of people who are all here to serve the children, and I am very lucky to be a part of it. Everyone working here is extremely welcoming and helpful with any questions that I have. All with a smile on their faces as well I might add. : ) So today was my first day, kinda overwhelming... I got a list of some projects that I will be working on which I am proud to say I have already started, (this blog being one of them). My list of duties include press releases, some social media information as well as some news letter articles. At first it seems pretty overwhelming but I'm sure as time goes on, I will get into the swing of things and hopefully produce some good things. I will keep posting, but for now, I gotta get back to work because this doesn't seem to be work to me : )
Have a great day everyone!!!
You can follow ThinkDetroitPAL on facebook as well as twitter : ) were always looking for followers and friends : ) : )
A little about myself... I am currently a senior Wayne State University, majoring in Public Relations. I play volleyball for Wayne State and I have done a numerous amounts of sports, anywhere from t-ball to cheerleading, from soccer and now volleyball. I also tried swim for a day. (didn't work out too well for me). Sports are very important to me and I believe in what Think Detroit PAL has to offer for children. Every child should be given the opportunities to play sports.
Anyways, so today is my "official" first day here. I have come in for meetings before as well as coached a volleyball camp in the past for them, but today is the first official day. The person looking over me is Kristen, who is in charge all the communications here at Think Detroit PAL. This organization all together is like a tight knit group of people who are all here to serve the children, and I am very lucky to be a part of it. Everyone working here is extremely welcoming and helpful with any questions that I have. All with a smile on their faces as well I might add. : ) So today was my first day, kinda overwhelming... I got a list of some projects that I will be working on which I am proud to say I have already started, (this blog being one of them). My list of duties include press releases, some social media information as well as some news letter articles. At first it seems pretty overwhelming but I'm sure as time goes on, I will get into the swing of things and hopefully produce some good things. I will keep posting, but for now, I gotta get back to work because this doesn't seem to be work to me : )
Have a great day everyone!!!
You can follow ThinkDetroitPAL on facebook as well as twitter : ) were always looking for followers and friends : ) : )
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