08.09.06- This fall DBPT will be represented in SIX states! We are excited to have new sites coming in South Carolina, Delaware, and California. Once detailed information on the sites are available, I will post them on the service sites page.

Also, I would like to recognize that volunteer award winners this year:
Volunteer of the Year, Maine - Michael Klaus
Volunteer of the Year, Maryland - Arooj Rana
Volunteer of the Year, New York - Linh Hoang
Deora Bodley Award - Shauna Anthony (DBPT Brooklyn)

Congrats and thank you so much for all you do!

04.09.06- Spring is here! And Project Team has begun to hit its' stride. All nine sites are up and running well, with the activity themes creating more structure and links between the sites. The theme for March's activities was "Diversity: Teamwork in a World of Differences". Though spring break split up the month, all sites were able to introduce diversity which leads nicely into April's theme: "Putting the UNITY in Community". Through this month's activities, we will give the kids a chance to think about where they live. What represents their community? What is their place in their community? And so on... This month will conclude with the kids doing a community service event that will benefit their local area in some way. I am excited to see the ideas that we will come up with.

Project Team is pleased to have Christine Jermusyk as its new Fundraising Coordinator. Throughout the summer, we hope to raise the funds necessary to take the program to the next level. While plans for the Deora Bodley Unity Center are on hold, there are other exciting developments that are in the works. We will need to establish a budget to accomplish our short and long-term goals.

Finally, we have new tshirts and hoodies in. The cost $8 and $20, respectively and if you would like one (or both), please contact Jason at jason@projectteam.us.

01.26.06- It has been quite some time since the last update! Sorry about that. The Fall semester was successful for Project Team, yet challenging because of changes in leadership in both Maryland and New York. Both sites adapted well and the activities were more successful than ever before.

Next week our spring "season" will begin and I expect that we will continue to grow in the right direction. I want to focus on volunteer participation, getting funding, and connecting more to our communities through service events. Also, you should soon see some cool developments with our website, including a place to access Board of Directors meeting minutes and site activity recaps. If you have any other ideas, please email info@projectteam.us. Thanks!

10.13.05- DBPT Maine is up and running at all four sites, but there has been delays with Maryland and New York. One of the sites in Maryland started this week, while the other two will begin this coming week. New York will also start next week. We have a lot of volunteers and I'm excited to finally see everything ready to go. Let's do it.

09.27.05- The IRS has approved DBPT as a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3)! So we will now begin the search for funding for the Deora Bodley Center for Unity. We hope to open the center in the Fall of 2007.

The always ambitious Maine (Colby College) chapter of DBPT has started working with yet another site- Albert S. Hall School! This marks the 9th program that Project Team currently runs and the 12th since we were founded in March of 2003.

09.06.05- Just two more weeks until DBPT starts up for the year! We're working hard on getting the activities together and organizing some events. In response to Hurricane Katrina, we plan to hold one service event per month for this semester to help with the relief efforts. In January we hope to take some volunteers down to New Orleans to help out with the rebuilding. More information on that in the future!

For now, if you are able to, please donate to the Red Cross or Salvation Army. Thanks.

08.08.05- It has been a busy summer for DBPT. The big news is the our 501(c)3 application has been submitted to the IRS and is pending approval. We are very confident that we will be approved and are now looking to apply for grants and do major fundraising so that we can expand our efforts. Our board of directors has been revamped and we have already had our first board meeting via conference call with our second coming tomorrow. We are planning out the program curriculum for the year as well as service events, and are working on how we want our organization to be structured and the direction that it will be going.

We have also added an advisory board that will provide us with experienced guidance as we work towards setting clear goals and defining our plan to achieve them. Check the "Board of Directors" link.

We gave out volunteer awards for the 04-05 year and these were the winners:
Deora Bodley Service Award: Mark Tappan
National Service Award: Kate Nevius
Volunteer of the Year- Team Maine: Jamie Manzer
Volunteer of the Year- Team Maryland: Brendan Thomas
Volunteer of the Year- Team New York: Amy Ernst

Plans have begun for the Deora Bodley Unity Center in Baltimore, Maryland. We are looking for a site that we can remodel at a low cost and we hope to open an after-school community center to serve about 25 kids (quality before quantity!) within the next two years. The center will also serve as the main office for the Project Team program, from which we will promote our program nationally. A more detailed timetable will come soon.

If you are interested in volunteering with DBPT or helping us with construction on the community center, please email info@projectteam.us. Thanks!

05.11.05- Project Team is now an official nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of Maryland under the name of "Deora Bodley's Project Team Inc.". The next step is getting 501(c)(3) status from the IRS.

The fundraiser in New York raised nearly $500 and was a great time! Thanks to all who came out and supported us!

Starting next Fall, Project Team New York-Brooklyn will start a youth running program with support from the New York Road Runner's Foundation. Expect to see lots of new things going on next year. We are going to have a busy summer planning!

04.11.05- The semester has been going great overall and we are excited to announce that Project Team is now officially an incorporated organization in the state of Maryland. This is the first hurdle in the process to gain 501(c)3 staus, which will allow us to accept tax-deductible donations.

Gina Ciarniello has become the new Activities Coordinator on the national board while Jamie Manzer has become the new Director of Community Service Outreach.

The a capella fundraiser at Colby College in Maine was a success, raising $400. You can read all about it here.

Jason Woody was named volunteer of the year for the Brooklyn Central YMCA. There will be a ceremony on Wednesday, April 27 at 6pm at Chelsea Piers in New York City. Contact jason@projectteam.us if you wish to attend.

02.08.05- Project Team has gotten off to a great start so far this semester. We are pleased to have two brand new sites- one in Maine (South End Learning Center, Waterville) and one in Maryland (Highlandtown B&G Club, Baltimore). Check out the "Service Sites" page for more information.

The national board is being revised and new positions are being added. Jen Roberts (Team NY) is now the Fundraising Coordinator. If you are interested in any of the positions listed on the "National Board" link, email me at jason@projectteam.us.

Look for the first edition of Project Team's monthly newsletter in early March!

01.17.05- Good news- Project Team is on its way to becoming an offical 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The problem is that we will need a significant amount of money to be able to complete this process. Therefore, I hope to have some sort of fundraiser planned shortly. Ideas are appreciated.

There is now a Project Team message board. Please go here to participate.

01.03.05- To find out how you can help out the tsunami relief/recovery effort, please click here.

12.12.04- Hello! I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that Project Team NY has been going very well. We have some great volunteers and the kids seem to be excited to have us there. We're looking forward to next semester when we will have more time to do things that we'd like to.

UMBC will go through some changes over the next month. Arooj Rana will be taking over as the director and we may change one of the sites because of the distance. I'd like to thank Jen Morse for taking charge and doing a great job for the past few months. I'm sure that it has been a learning experience for all of the volunteers.

Over the next month, I will look into the possbility of making Project Team an official nonprofit organization and will be looking for other nonprofit groups to hold a fundraiser with. Also, I will start a Project Team membership program and it will simply be called "Friends of Project Team". And finally, the first electronic newsletter ("Team Monthly") will come out next month. Happy holidays!

11.11.04- After some complications, Project Team NY is finally getting ready to start. We will be working with the McBurney YMCA in Manhattan and The Clinton School in Brooklyn and we are very excited to get started. There is a great group of volunteers up here.

Also, Project Team Maine has a new site that I didn't mention in the past, which is at The St. John School in Winslow, Maine. Project Team is growing very rapidly and we now volunteer at seven different sites! See "service sites" for the updated programs.

10.14.04- Today marks the only national day that recongnizes after school programs. There is an initiative called "Lights On After School" that will bring attention to the nation's programs today through numerous publicity events. We, as an after school program have done an amazing job this past year working in our communities and trying to improve the lives of local youth by serving as their mentors and teaching them teamwork, expecting nothing in return besides the satisfaction of doing what we think is right. We really do have a great Team. Rather than hosting a publicity event, I would like to take the chance to thank all of our volunteers and the employees at the schools and after school centers we work with for their dedication to youth and for supporting Project Team. You are the one's who make it happen and I am sure you know that there is no need for publicity today, because we do this for the kids, not the cameras. Thank you all!

09.15.04- Project Team has now added yet another new site in Baltimore- the Middle River Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. There are now three locations in the Baltimore area that Project Team volunteers at.

Also, there has been great news from the Maine program that Colby College now recognizes Project Team as an official school club and volunteer program. This means that the Maine program will be funded and will have school support as it continues to grow and succeed. Kate Nevius (also VP of Project Team) has done a great job up there.

09.07.04- Project Team is very proud and excited to announce the addition of two new sites: New York City (Brooklyn) and West Baltimore (Franklin Square). More coming soon!

04.05.04- As time runs down for the semester and my undergraduate college career, I have been thinking about who would be willing and able to take over the Project Team program at UMBC (which is the main program of all so far). I am happy to be able to trust the program in the capable hands of Brendan Thomas, Desi Tubb, Jen Morse, and Kathleen Galan. They are all currently freshmen students at UMBC, but have all developed quickly as leaders. I would describe all of them as very involved, motivated, likeable, and trustworthy individuals. I have no doubts that they will not only be capable of running the program, but they will even make it better. I couldn't ask for a better group.

As far as my personal direction and what I'll be doing with the program...
I am in the process of choosing a graduate school to attend. I will be in search of a master's degree in Public Policy and Nonprofit Management. It is my goal to expand the Project Team program nationwide within the next five years. After I am able to accomplish that and have had some experience with management in the Nonprofit sector, it is my goal to open new, innovative community centers for children in urban areas. I would like to open the first center in Baltimore and call it the "Deora Bodley Community Center". But that is looking far ahead. For now, my options for grad school in order (at the moment) are University or Oregon, New York University, University of Baltimore, and New School University. Wherever I attend graduate school next fall, I will start a Project Team program there immediately.

03.12.04- The past few months have been great for Project Team. The program is building each day and we are forming a promising plan for steady growth. We have lots of new volunteers and everyone is fitting in well and doing a great job overall with the kids.

Jen Morse, Ian Workman, and myself (Jason Woody) are all heading to the University of Pennsylvania for the weekend to attend the COOL Idealist national conference. Basically it is a conference for community service student leaders from all over the country. We hope to meet some cool people, learn from the workshops, and promote Project Team. We hope to meet people who would be interested in starting a Project Team program on their campus(es).

01.28.04- Welcome to the new year- the one of good times for all! Project Team is growing even more as both Maryland and Maine are adding an additional site within the month. The number of volunteers who are or have been involved with the overall program in some way is near 75! I am looking forward to a great semester for Project Team. Here are the goals currently set for the program: 1. Improve the kid's ability to work as a team; 2. Introduce new people to service and help them develop as service leaders; 3. Serve the community in numerous ways; 4. PASS IT ON! I know that these goals seem very general, but within each goal there are complex tasks and they will become apparent as we all grow through the program and help it succeed.

11.13.03- We will no longer be competing in the 8k team race in November due to conflicts with schedules. Sorry if you were looking forward to that.

The food drive has brought in an estimated 350 items. So that is going well, but we are looking towards at least 1,000!

11.02.03- Events page updated. Check it out!

If you are not on the Project Team listproc (email list) and want to be, email jason@projectteam.us and write "subscribe project team" in the subject.

10.28.03- I was told that Project Team Maine's first day was a success with about 30 kids. All the kids apparently enjoyed the activity and will continue to come to the program.

Special thanks to the Honors Society at UMBC for donating so many canned goods to the Project Team food drive!

10.22.03- Great news- Project Team Maine is scheduled to start up next Monday, October 27th! Congrats and many thanks to Kate Nevius for making this happen. This is the second Project Team site and so it is the first part of the expansion process.

The canned food drive at UMBC (Baltimore, MD) is going very well. If you are a UMBC student, look for the yellow box in your hall to donate now. Thanks!

10.12.03- This page just added to the site. Look for lots of news in the near future!