Anne writes in…

The students of Oakhurst Elementary are presently holding a change drive entitled “Change for Haiti” in which the funds collected will go towards UNICEF’S “School-in-a-Box” Program providing temporary schools for children in disaster zones. Each “School-in-a-Box”, which costs $232, contains enough school supplies for 80 children.

This idea grew from 2 of Oakhurst’s very own students who were wanting to do something for the children of Haiti following the devastating earthquake. The third graders are collecting and counting/rolling the change and using their knowledge of estimation, multiplication and money as they make real life connections all while raising money for a good cause. It also draws close a real world example of Empathy and Caring, one of the design principles of Expeditionary Learning. By last Friday, the end of the first week, Oakhurst had collected well over $1000!

“Change for Haiti” will continue until this Friday, February 12th.

Creative Loafing’s Omnivore reported this story a couple days back, but props go to self-proclaimed Tortillas-junkie Suzanne for pointing it out to me.

Part-time Morehouse professor Matt Hinton missed Tortillas burritos so much when they closed in 2003, that he’s recreated them and many of their other items from scratch.  And now he’s selling his Tortillas “cover band” creations to the public under the name West End Burritos!

If you ever went to Tortillas on Ponce before they closed, you know that they had the best burritos in Atlanta. Well, I have finally, after much trial and error, come VERY close (95%) to an exact replica of some of their most popular items, including both the red and green sauces. I will begin offering Tortillas style burritos and other sundries (see attached menu) next week which I will deliver to you!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: Each Monday [Update: Tuesdays to be added soon], I will make a delivery run from Downtown Decatur to West End. If you live within 2 miles or so of this route, you are eligible for delivery. I will deliver to your door or leave it on your stoop. Deliveries will occur from approx. 4-6:30, so every Monday can be Burrito night.

Hinton’s delivery zone extends from West End to Decatur (a map is shown on his order page).  The full West End Burritos menu can be found HERE, while you can read more about the venture on the West End Burritos Facebook page.

Could an American city embrace and support a “community bookcase”?

Apparently there are cities across Europe where bookshelves sit on sidewalks, jam-packed with novels and non-fiction, just waiting to enlighten those passing by.  Each one operates on an honor system.  You’re welcome to pick up a book or two at your leisure, just as long as you’re willing to replace it with a book of your own in the coming days.

Here in Amurica (misspelling intentional), we’ve taken to a different type of book exchange.  We’re all about the online book exchange variety, such as BookMooch.

Without the strong community oversight of many European cities – like this one in Germany – the idea of putting free books out on an American street seems absolutely ludicrous.  Erect a bookcase, stuffed with books out on a sidewalk and it’s easy to imagine that within hours all the good books would be gone (and not replaced) and the not so great ones would be defiled and strewn across the ground.  The bookcase itself would then be hauled off quicker than most residential curbside items.

Too bad.  Because ultimately, it’s sort of a huge waste of energy to ship a book across the country for a trade you could have made with a neighbor down the street.

So, back to my original question.  Could a city like Decatur, or any of it’s surrounding Georgia city brethren and sistren, EVER support something such as this?  Maybe with a few tweaks? Or will we forever be regulated to online, long-distance sharing, supported by a heavily subsidized mail system?

h/t: DCPLive

Bailey writes in…

The Booster club is having their spring fund raiser [Saturday] March 27th at the Church of the Epiphany. If anyone has any items that they would like to donate to our auction it would be very helpful.  It can be anything from a special cake you bake to donating a week at your mountain house.  Or if you would like to donate time,that would help also.

The money goes to student athletes of Decatur High and Renfroe. Please contact Bailey Pendergrast -sbpender@gmail.com