Last week, we asked you to help us find our New Yorkers Who Care summer campaign posters throughout the city. One of our featured volunteers, Alvin Grubman, is even holding a contest at work to see who can find the most of his posters. So far, no one has been able to find him! The contest has been extended, and we need your help!

If you see any of our volunteers in the subway, at a bus stop, on a taxi top or anywhere else around the city, take a picture and share it with us on Twitter or Facebook. To check out all of our volunteers, visit our Facebook page. We also have a video running in Times Square, on the Path and on Taxi TV. If you see one, make sure you share it with us! Let’s see if we can find all three of our New Yorkers Who Care!

Here at New York Cares, we realize that it’s the work and dedication of everyday New Yorkers that makes our city great. That’s why our new campaign focuses on our volunteers who work tirelessly to make our city the best it can be. From now until September, keep an eye out for our “I’m a New Yorker Who Cares” campaign. We’ve already spotted a couple in Grand Central, Times Square and on 7th Avenue. You can find anyone of our three “New Yorkers who Care” on subway cars, bus stop stands, taxi tops and billboards, and you can watch our videos in Path Trains and on Taxi TVs.

Help us find all of our posters! If you spot an “I’m a New Yorker Who Cares” poster or video, please snap a picture and share it with us. Post it to our Facebook wall or at reply us on Twitter.

One of our featured New Yorkers who Cares volunteers, Alvin Grubman, is even holding a competition at his company to see who can find the most of his posters. So if you see a picture of Alvin organizing books for public school students, make sure you let us know. We can’t let Alvin down!

We’re so excited to start this citywide scavenger hunt with you, and we can’t wait to see your pictures. Ready, set, snap away!

Lots of people were talking about New York Cares this month – check out what they had to say:

• Composer Murray Gold sounds off on MSNBC Giving on his volunteer work with our SAT Prep program, which we’ll start training volunteers for in just a few weeks.
• NY1′s Asa Aarons recommends volunteering with New York Cares as a way of networking during your job search.
• Nonprofit marketing expert Nancy Schwartz guest blogs on VolunteerMatch about how New York Cares approaches volunteer engagement and leadership.
• The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund awarded $300,000 in grants to six New York City organizations, including New York Cares.

Thank you to New York Cares volunteer and Hands On Hero, Ricki Stern, for generously inviting some New York Cares staff to get a sneak preview of her hilarious new documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.  Congratulations to Ricki on the success of her film!

Attention all hardworking, dedicated volunteers: kick back this summer and experience the great game of golf!

New York Cares is a charity partner with The Barclays golf tournament this summer, which will be August 24 – 29 at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ. Tickets start at $50, and New York Cares will receive 75% of ticket sales when you use the code TBNNWQ!

Buy your tickets now to attend the golf tournament and support New York Cares. Who knows? You might find that golf is your new favorite sport. See you on the green!

New York Cares volunteers Laura Tucker and Tonya Ingram will be interviewed about their volunteer experiences on Monday’s CBS Early Show. Their interview is part of a segment on volunteering based on a new poll by Parade Magazine.

According to Parade, ‘compassion counts‘:

… Respondents were almost unanimous in the belief that it is “important to be personally involved in supporting a cause we believe in” in our communities (94%) and in the world at large (91%). More than three out of four (78%) think that the actions of one person can improve the world, and 78% also believe they’re more involved in making a difference than their parents were.

Don’t miss star volunteers Laura and Tonya – tune in to The CBS Early Show on Monday, March 8, at 8:30 a.m. on WCBS.

Alec Baldwin has supported New York Cares for the last four years by participating in our summer ad campaign. The spots run citywide and have helped raise awareness of our work in the community. We’re grateful to Alec for his continuing support.

If you passed us the envelope, you know what we’d say: Alec has our vote as A New Yorker Who Cares.

Alec co-hosts The 82nd Annual Academy Awards Oscars with Steve Martin this Sunday, March 7, at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.

We’re partnering with the NYC Department of Transportation to liven up jersey barriers on NYC streets this spring.

The NYCDOT Urban Art Program is looking for artists to submit colorful mural designs to turn these ordinary traffic dividers into creative street art installations, which will be painted by Hands On New York Day 2010 volunteers.

Submit your design by March 1, and you could have your work seen by millions of New Yorkers!

The NYC Department of Homeless Services needs your help conducting its annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate.

On January 25, from 10:30 p.m. – 4:00 a.m., 3,000 volunteers will survey the number of homeless individuals living on New York City streets, under bridges, in parks, and in other public places.  This information is critical to measuring ongoing efforts to overcome street homelessness at DHS and its partner agencies.

Sign up now to give one night of your time to battle street homelessness.

By Gary Bagley, Executive Director, New York Cares

This month marked the first observance of September 11 as a national day of service and remembrance.

New York Cares is committed to making volunteering part of every New Yorker’s life, and I was glad to see the day dedicated to rekindling the spirit of community service that helped rebuild New York City after 9/11.

This year, New York Cares ran special volunteer projects with MyGoodDeed at PS76M in Harlem. 150 volunteers spent the day working with 3rd and 4th graders on service-themed literacy projects, painting murals, and prepping the school for the new school year.

Three of our Team Leaders were honored to read names of 9/11 victims alongside family members at the memorial service at Ground Zero.  I was gratified to see so many of our volunteers making a difference.

We welcomed many new volunteers on 9/11; I hope they’ll come back and consider participating year round. Whatever time they have to give, New York Cares can help them use it productively and for the good of all New Yorkers. Read the rest of this entry »