Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "river city food bank"

Filling Empty Bowls - photos

2011-03-08T17:58:48Z

The River City Food Bank held its 8th Annual Empty Bowls fundraising dinner Monday at the Masonic Lodge in downtown Sacramento. Two luncheons are scheduled for today.

The events raise awareness about hunger in the Sacramento area and serve as the River City Food Bank's most important fundraiser. The Food Bank building was destroyed in a fire last fall and their fundraising efforts are more urgent than before.

More information about the Empty Bowls events is available in a previous Sacramento Press article.

Event Photography by Ron Nabity

River City Food Bank hosts Empty Bowls fundraiser events

2011-03-04T04:55:05Z

The River City Food Bank is hosting its eighth annual Empty Bowls fundraiser and Potters’ Market events on March 7 and 8 at the Sacramento Masonic Temple to raise awareness about hunger in Sacramento County.

Eileen Thomas, the executive director of River City Food Bank, said she finds the communities coming together most rewarding. “It’s a wonderful melding of community effort to help the hungry,” she said.

“Preparation is huge – we have over 100 volunteers, seven restaurants providing soups, and 1,500 bowls,” Thomas said.

On Monday from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., there will be wine and hors d’oeuvres along with gourmet soups.

The restaurants participating in Monday’s event include Scott’s Seafood, Vizcaya, R15 and Michaelangelo’s.

Tickets are sold out for this event.

On Tuesday, there will be two lunches that people can attend, from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. with more soups and desserts.

The restaurants participating in Tuesday’s lunches include The Broiler Steakhouse, L Wine Lounge and Restaurant, Greek Village Inn, Scott’s Seafood, Lucca, Michaelangelo’s and Café Bernardo.

Tickets are $30 per person.

At both events, a ticket allows you to choose a hand-crafted bowl and fill it with soup.

According to Empty Bowls co-chair Kelli Whitcomb-Weston, there are around 50 different donors who provided the handcrafted bowls, ranging from groups of professional and amateur artists to school groups. The Nor-Cal Woodturners, Christian Brothers High School, Vista Del Lago High School, American River College, Sierra College, Natomas Charter School, and Sacramento Country Day are several of the many groups that have donated the bowls.

“It’s amazing to see the variety and quality of bowls from both professional and student artists,” Whitcomb-Weston said.

Shannan Berg, chef at Café Bernardo in Midtown, will be serving a soup with potato, roasted red bell pepper and créme fraiche chives. “We’re going to make 20 gallons of soup,” Berg said.

This will be her third year at the event.

The empty bowl symbolizes the bowls that are empty when there isn’t enough food for people.

“I think it’s really cool, the (symbol) of the empty bowl,” Berg said.

When Berg was younger, she relied on the food bank because her family was homeless for two years.

“I just love it, it’s a great event,” Berg said. “It’s different, it’s much more personal.”

According to Thomas, River City Food Bank is expecting to have 1,300 guests, 400 at each event, and at least 50 percent of last year’s event attendees will be returning this year.

Empty Bowls events are nationwide.

“It benefits food banks and various hunger organizations,” Whitcomb-Weston said.

Empty Bowls events originated in Michigan and have been in Sacramento for eight years, Thomas said.

The River City Food Bank building was destroyed by fire last October, but the nonprofit organization is not giving up. “This year we are trying to rebuild,” Thomas said.

River City Food Bank hopes to raise $100,000. According to Thomas, the money from the event will help with the operations budget and expand the existing programs, such as the Nutrition Cooking Class.

The Nutrition Cooking Class teaches low-income families how to make nutritious meals, revolving around the food River City Food Bank gives.

The Food Bank promotes nutritional, good healthy meals for anyone in the community.

Today’s recession has made it hard for families to get access to food. “Food money goes into the gas tank,” Thomas said.

River City Food Bank serves 40,000 people a year and more than 3,000 a month, according to Thomas. “Hunger is still very much a part of the community,” Thomas said. “We become a very important resource for people.”

The Sacramento Masonic Temple is located at 1123 J St.

To purchase tickets for the events or make a donation to River City Food Bank, click here.

Both the Trinity Cathedral Bookshop at 2620 Capitol Avenue, and Avid Reader at the Tower, 1600 Broadway are also selling tickets to the events.

Click a Button & Your Favorite Charity Could Earn $10,000

2011-02-16T20:16:08Z

Want to help end violence against women in our community? Maybe you want to help feed the hungry? Right now, it’s as easy as clicking a button.

Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento created an innovative campaign in honor of their 10th anniversary to help raise $10,000 for a deserving charity. 17 nonprofits are vying for the prize. Among them are WEAVE, River City Food Bank, Society for the Blind, and a host of others. By clicking a single button to cast your vote online, you can help your favorite charity earn this critical grant.

You can make a difference in three easy ways: 1) cast your vote online; 2) tell all your friends to vote; and 3) share the voting link on your Facebook and Twitter pages.

Hurry! Voting ends tonight (February 16) at midnight!

In full disclosure, this article was written by a WEAVE employee in the hopes that you’ll pick YOUR favorite charity. I very much appreciate having a public forum to spread the word. If you’ve got some extra time on your hands, you can click the link to the voting page over and over and over and (you get the point) again! Go vote and help change our community!

River City Food Bank opens door to new location

2010-12-02T04:53:01Z

Community leaders and supporters congregated at the corner of N and 27th streets to see the beginning stages of the new River City Food Bank. After a four-alarm fire destroyed the RCFB’s original location Oct. 21, the community immediately responded, and the Sutter Medical Center donated this space for the Food Bank to rebuild.

The blaze, determined as arson by the fire department, heavily damaged the building and destroyed about 10,000 pounds of food.

Though still a large empty room, save for a few hanging lights and fold-up tables, the new location promises to give clients a more comfortable space and volunteers a better ability to help the community, RCFB Executive Director Eileen Thomas said. Compared to the previous food bank location, the new spacious area will allow for additional privacy for clients and more room for donation storage.

The event “celebrate(s) moving out of a truck and into a real space,” Thomas said, pointing to the Goodwill truck parked across the street from which the RCFB has been operating for the past few weeks.

She told the crowd that building projects rarely go according to plan. “Whatever you do,” she said, “you double the cost and triple the time.” She apologized for the building not being ready, but said they expect to have the space filled and operable by the middle of next week.

A burnt and warped laptop was on display as a remnant of the October fire, which Thomas considered a powerful symbol of the RCFB’s rebuilding process, since every program and document on the hard-drive was able to be restored.

The crowd huddled around a podium while Thomas introduced key supporters of the Food Bank’s recovery, including Councilman Steve Cohn, RCFB Board President Susan Timmer and Sutter Health Sierra Region Director of Community and Government Relations Keri Thomas.

“It’s a day to recognize those who responded on the day of the fire and to thank the community,” 3fold Communications Director of Media Lesley Miller said. 3fold has helped the RCFB with marketing and outreach, and helped organize the morning’s debut of the new space.

Timmer began the presentation by thanking everyone for their support and saying she never expected to be board president of a food bank rebuilding from a fire. “It was hard to imagine how we’d ever get started again, but here we are,” she said.

Cohn thanked the Trinity Episcopal Church for its continued support of the RCFB.

“We have a commitment to make sure this fire is turned into something that really rises like a phoenix,” Cohn said, “and the city will do all it can to help.”

Helping the homeless and those in need has always been one of the main priorities of the mayor and the council, right up there with job creation, he said.

Keri Thomas spoke on behalf of Sutter Health.

“I’m really proud to be part of a business community that steps up in a time of crisis and need,” she said. “We understand that if people don’t have access to basic needs – food, shelter – they can’t live a healthy life.”

Other supporters included Ruland’s Used Office Furnishings, which was at the event bringing tables and furniture into the empty building; Borges Architectural Group helped coordinate permits; Western Health Advantage donated computers; CalTronics donated a fax machine and Downey Brand offered IT technical assistance.

Grant donations were given by Wells Fargo, Kaiser Permanente, Golden One Credit Union, Delta Dental and The Sacramento Bee.

The event was also a memorial for Mac, a well-loved cat who was lost in the fire. The food bank’s other cat, Cheese, was found safe and later given up for adoption.

The rebuilt River City Food Bank is located at the corner of N and 27th streets.

Local Organizations Step-In to Help River City Food Bank Recover From Massive Fire

2010-10-22T00:37:56Z

Local organizations are coming forward to help River City Food Bank after a massive fire destroyed their building early on Thursday morning.

Sutter Health is donating $30,000 and holding an employee food drive to help raise the 8,000 lbs of food lost in the fire. The food bank has also received a $5,000 donation from the Golden 1 Credit Union, seven PC computers from Western Health Advantage, and office furniture from Ruland’s Used Office Furnishings. The community has also responded with generous monetary donations.

“This morning’s fire is a devastating loss for thousands of people in Sacramento who rely on River City Food Bank for nutritionally based emergency food,” said Eileen Thomas, Executive Director at River City Food Bank. “We are very thankful for the community’s generous support, as its imperative we are up and running again before the busy holiday season hits.”

Ways the public can help:
• River City Food Bank is accepting donations of all kinds. Online monetary donations are preferred at www.rivercityfoodbank.org
• A list of immediate needs can also be found on at www.rivercityfoodbank.org
• Goodwill Industries is accepting donations of canned and non-perishable food items. Donations can be made at any of 47 Goodwill Donation Xpress locations, all of which are listed at www.goodwillsacto.org.

Information for people who are hungry and need food:
• The food bank has temporarily suspended services but hopes to be operating from a temporary location by sometime next week.
• People in need of food should go to Central Downtown Food Basket or Sacramento Food Bank. Both food banks are prepared to receive an influx of people.

Facts about the fire:
• A cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
• The building has been heavily damaged by flames, smoke and water and will need to be re-built.
• Many people have asked about the food bank’s resident cats. One of cats, Mac, did not survive the fire. The other cat, Cheese, is still missing.
• Approximately 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of food were lost.

Facts about River City Food Bank:
• The food bank has been operating for 40 years, and provides three-day packages of nutritionally based emergency food.
• Clients represent every age and income group living in urban and suburban neighborhoods throughout Sacramento.
• The food bank serves around 3,000 individuals every month, or approximately 100-150 people every day.

As soon as any new information becomes available it will be posted on www.rivercityfoodbank.org or www.facebook.com/RiverCityFoodBank.

4-Alarm Midtown Fire Destroys Food Bank and Extends to Diocese

2010-10-21T21:08:04Z

This morning at 1:46 am Sacramento firefighters responded to multiple reports of fire located at 1325 27th Street in midtown Sacramento. Initial fire crews arrived under five minutes and encountered heavy fire and smoke from the rear and attic of the second floor of the building. This building was identified as the River City Food Bank. Its contents consisted of mainly administrative office furniture and supplies. At 1:55am, a second alarm fire dispatch was requested, as the fire had quickly spread to the attic of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California located at 1327 27th Street.

Impinging flames from the roof of the food bank nearly ignited a third apartment; however swift application of direct large water streams by firefighters prevented the building from igniting. The thick wooden ceiling inside the food bank made it nearly impossible for firefighters to breach the ceiling from the inside in order to extinguish the fire. After thirty minutes of interior operations, all firefighters were evacuated from the building and large streams of water from ladders extending over the roof were used to extinguish the fire.

It took firefighters over one hour to gain control of the fire and four alarms; bringing over one hundred firefighters from Sacramento City and Metro Fire Departments to extinguish the fire. Both buildings remain standing and the Diocese damages were confined to the attic and several upstairs rooms. The Food Bank damages consist of the entire attic, roof collapse, and all upstairs rooms.

Fortunately no firefighters or civilians were injured; however one cat died and several residents from adjacent and surrounding apartments were temporary displaced due to the large amount of smoke and fire in the area. The cause of this fire is currently under investigation and Sacramento Fire crews will remain on scene until the investigation is complete.

Sacramento Fire Department on Facebook

Sacramento Fire Department on Twitter

September Neighbohood Advisory Group Agenda...Timely Issues as Usual

2010-09-15T23:56:07Z

The agenda for September's meeting of the Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) follows.

Lt. Mike Bray hopes to have some updates from the police department on the Second Saturday shootings.

Food banks have become a survival resource in todays economic climate.

Many city park swiming pools have closed or are slated for closing. Some Area 1 neighborhoods have managed to keep their pools open. We will hear what their stragities were to achieve this.

Measure B is a controversial ballot measure that could have longterm consequences on how the city utilities department operates and the delivery of services to city residents.

Each month's NAG agenda is put together by residents of the City of Sacramento Area1. If you wish to contribute to this process see the information at the bottom of the agenda announcement.

Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG)
September 2010 Agenda

In Partnership with the City of Sacramento Neighborhood Services Division

Monday, September 20, 2010, 6:15 to 8:30 p.m., Hart Senior Center, 915 27th Street

Tonight’s facilitator: Gerald Celestine, Capitol Area R Street Association (caRsa) and Friends of Fremont Park

6:15 Complimentary pizza and soft drinks courtesy of Sacramento Deal Ticket

6:30 Welcome and Introductions

6:35 Area 1 Police Department Activity Report
Lt. Mike Bray, Police Department

6:45 Announcements

6:55 Issue Updates: Mercy Hospital; Midtown Nightlife Issues/Responsible Hospitality Institute;
R Street; Sutter Hospital/Trinity Cathedral; High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes; Preservation Roundtable; Department of Utilities Funds; The Docks Project; K Street; NAG Action Request Form

7:05 Area 1 Updates
Neighborhood Services Department

7:20 River City Food Bank
Eileen Thomas, Executive Director, River City Food Bank
River City Food Bank (RCFB) is a Sacramento-area food bank open every weekday to anyone experiencing hunger from anywhere in Sacramento County is located right here in Midtown.
Learn how RCFB is helping the Sacramento community and have your questions answered.

7:25 City Pool Discussion
City of Sacramento Parks and Recreation Department; Friends of Bertha Henschel Park; Friends of Glenn Hall Park
Due to budget cuts within the City of Sacramento, many pools have closed for the summer of 2010 and many more, including the pool at Southside Park, are scheduled to close in 2011.
Learn how neighbors have raised private funds to keep neighborhood pools open.

7:55 Measure B
Patti Bisharat, Interim Assistant City Manager
Measure B is a proposal that has been placed on the November 2010 ballot regarding amending the Sacramento City Code to repeal rate increases and roll back rates levels for water, sewer, and garbage collection services.
Learn the impacts of Measure B.

Adjourn

***Next Meeting: Monday, October 18, 2010, 6:15 to 8:30 p.m., Hart Senior Center, 915 27th Street***

For more information, contact Janine Martindale at (916) 808-8193 or at jmartindale@cityofsacramento.org. Items are placed on the agenda based on their time sensitivity and relevance to Area 1. Join the NAG agenda committee in setting the agenda at 12 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month at the Clunie Community Center. See City Council agendas and reports at: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/clerk/

Vista del Lago students "bowl" against hunger

2010-02-24T22:53:35Z

As part of a “Bowl-a-Thon” event, art students at Vista Del Lago High School in Folsom today finished off the last of 200 bowls they donated to River City Food Bank for its upcoming Empty Bowls event. The fundraiser, slated for Monday, March 8, and Tuesday, March 9 at the Masonic Temple, 1123 J Street in Sacramento, aims to raise at least $80,000 to feed growing numbers of hungry adults and children in the greater Sacramento area.

“We are deeply grateful for the energy and dedication of Marianne Dana’s art students, especially during this time of difficult budget cuts for public schools,” said Eileen Thomas, Executive Director of River City Food Bank (RCFB). “Many more people are turning to food banks for the first time, especially seniors, so funds from the Empty Bowls event come at a critical time.”

More pictures of this morning's activities are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rivercitycommunityservices/.

RCFB served nearly 40,000 people in 2000, primarily working poor adults, adults securing food for children, seniors and pregnant women.

Vista Del Lago students were among 19 schools and 32 groups and individuals that created bowls for the event. Vista Del Lago students donated the second largest number of bowls. The school had originally expected to donate 150 bowls but ended up creating 200. Although this is only the second year that Vista Del Lago has participated, the school has shot nearly to the top of the list of schools donating bowls.

For the first time, organizers have expanded Empty Bowls to include a preview evening event from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 8. At the evening event, attendees will select a handmade bowl and enjoy gourmet soups in addition to hors d'oeuvres and wine provided by Bogle Winery. The popular luncheon on Tuesday, March 9, with its 11:30 and 12:30 seatings, will continue as before with a delicious array of soups made by area chefs and restaurants. Attendees at both events choose from hundreds of handmade bowls made by students and artists from throughout the region, as a powerful reminder of the many empty bowls in our community.

The event is an important source of funds for River City Food Bank, a 501(c)(3) charity that provides food and emergency housing aid to anyone in need in Sacramento County. It also raises awareness about the often-invisible problem of hunger in Sacramento. Seniors are being hit particularly hard by the current economic problems because their fixed incomes are not keeping pace with rising food and other costs. Many seniors live at or below the federal poverty line, an income level that covers only half of their most basic living expenses. RCFB also helps meet the nutritional needs of many children in the area.

Tickets may be purchased for $25 each for the luncheon event, and $50 each for the evening event. Tickets are through the agency’s website at http://www.rivercityfoodbank.org.

Delicious soups are being donated by Scott’s Seafood Bar and Grill, Lucca Restaurant, Café Bernardo, R 15, Michelangelo’s Italian Art Restaurant, The Broiler, 33rd Street Bistro, Vizcaya, L Wine Bar and Greek Village Inn.

RCFB is the only Sacramento food outreach program that serves all of Sacramento County and that provides nutritional counseling in addition to food supplies. It is also unusual for its provision of frozen meat or protein. Most of the small organization’s manpower comes from volunteers, who donate more than 11,000 hours of service each year.

Cash donations are welcomed and may be made online at www.rivercityfoodbank.org, or sent by mail to P. O. Box 160204, Sacramento, CA 95816.

For further information, contact Eileen Thomas via telephone at 916-446-2627, or via email at ethomas@rivercityfoodbank.org.

Social Media for the Social Good—Non-profits Explore New Methods of Outreach

2009-11-20T04:17:59Z

Three local non-profit organizations were featured in a Sacramento Social Media Club panel on Tuesday evening hosted by the Sacramento State College of Continuing Education. The panel included Celia Cortez, Projects and Event Manager for the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Jordan Blair, Board Member for River City Food Bank; and Jon Benorden, Program Coordinator for the Center for AIDS Research, Education and Service (CARES). Lesley Miller, Media Director for 3Fold Communication, also sat on the panel. Moderator Josh Morgan, principal at Morgan/Dorado and program director for the Sacramento Social Media Club, focused the discussion on how non-profits are using social media to educate, engage, and build lasting relationships with their communities.

Facebook was the unanimous point of entry into social media for all three organizations. Cortez said the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber selected Facebook because it was the most popular platform among their member organizations; Blair choose Facebook for River City Food Bank because it is the platform upon which he spends the most time. “Facebook provides an easy way for people to connect with causes and non-profits thanks to its one-click ‘become a fan’ feature, “commented Morgan. River City Food Bank, where many of their long-term contributors are past retirement age, is finding that Facebook helps them to engage with the next generation of donors. However some of their loyal supporters are stepping out into social media as well; an 85 year old volunteer joined Facebook just so he could “friend” the River city Food Bank. Benorden said that their “old school” supporters are beginning to mesh with the new people they’ve engaged through their group & page on Facebook but that CARES still has a long way to go.

Both the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and CARES are also using Twitter to promote their organizations and causes. Miller said 3Fold encourages their clients to cross post on multiple social media platforms to increase the traffic among all the sites. For example, use Twitter to remind people the organization is on Facebook or create an event on Yelp and ask people to write a review. I frequently use Twitter to drive traffic to SARTA.org’s website or LinkedIn group where more detailed membership and event information is available.

CARES created both a group page and a fan page for its campaign “Are You the Difference” which strives to eliminate new cases of HIV in the Sacramento region by 2015. Benorden plans to expand the campaign to include other platforms like Flickr and YouTube. On YouTube, CARES wants to personalize and promote their campaign by featuring user generated videos about how individuals can be or are the difference in eliminating new cases of HIV.

The biggest challenge for all of the organizations is finding the time to manage and maintain their social media accounts. Cortez shared that she uses cross posting tools to lessen the amount of time she spends managing each platform the Hispanic Chamber employs. Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and Seesmic were mentioned as free services for managing multiple accounts and platforms and Radian6 was recommended as a new professional service for this purpose. Benorden prefers to uniquely post to Facebook and Twitter to keep variety in the CARES messages, but he sticks to a common theme. Blair, who in addition to his responsibilities as a board member of the River City Food Bank works a full time job, schedules time on his weekly calendar to tend to his social media chores. When asked if a volunteer could handle the job, the general consensus among the panelists was that most volunteers and interns do not have enough depth or experience with the organization or its causes to determine social media platform content or to respond to questions and remarks received by followers and friends on the sites. For CARES, sensitivity to and experience with HIV/AIDS is a must for anyone representing the organization on its social media platforms.

The panel wrapped up with a discussion on event promotion using Facebook ads and other tools. All of the organizations are considering using Facebook ads and River City Food Bank has budgeted money for this purpose next year. Benorden pointed out that even if no one clicks through an “Are You the Difference” ad, if enough information is included about the campaign, there is value in people seeing the ad multiple times. Miller said 3Fold advises their clients to put nearly as much energy into post event promotion as they do pre event. Blair followed this advice after a recent River City Food Bank fundraiser, uploading event photos long into the night. The post event promotion is a valuable investment in the success of future events and helps those who attend feel more part of the organization—especially if they are featured in a photo!

After the panel ended, participants informally exchanged ideas on how they are using social media and also had a chance to meet the panelists and ask more questions. The event was live tweeted by volunteer Ira Cohen on behalf of @SMCSac using the hashtag #smcsac. The venue provided by Sacramento State College of Continuing Education is well equipped for meetings and seminars and the Senior Program Coordinator, Toni Ramirez shared that the college is considering offering courses on social media in the future.

Social Media Club, an international non-profit organization, brings together journalists, publishers, communications professionals, artists, amateur media creators, citizen journalists, teachers, students, tool makers, and other interested collaborators. The Sacramento chapter was founded in March of 2009 by local users of social media. Free events are normally held on the third Tuesday of each month, but in December, the group is planning a Holiday Party or “holitweetup” in partnership with SacTweetUp on December 10 at Hot Italian in midtown. In January, the normal schedule of monthly panels will resume. For information about the Sacramento Social Media Club and its events, join their groups on Facebook and LinkedIn and follow them on Twitter.

Photgraphs by Marie Young Photography. For more photos of this event visit her Facebook Page

Sacramento Social Media Club Leadership Team:

Julie Berge, Angela D'Arcy, Laura Good, Suzanne Hopkins, Ronnie Ledesma, Jeff Marmins, Josh Morgan

Finding God on Facebook

2009-11-16T19:42:28Z

Some say God is everywhere but last month, we discovered that social media is everywhere too—even in our churches! On October 20, 2009, the Sacramento Social Media Club held a panel discussion on the use of social media by local churches. The event, “Pray for Social Media”, was hosted by The Sacramento Press, and was moderated by Jeff Marmins of Social Media Path and partnership director for the Sacramento Social Media Club. Panelists included Josh Trevino from the Parish Council of St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church in Roseville; Robert Mees, Director of Evangelism at Sierra Baptist Church in Pioneer in Amador County and CJ Alvarado, Director of Communications and Technology at Bayside Church in Granite Bay.

I was posting live tweets during the event, and was joined by several other tweeting guests in reaching over 50,000 followers on Twitter (Sacramento Social Media club uses the hashtag #smcsac to live tweet all of our events).

In what could have been subtitled “Finding God on Facebook,” panelists agreed that the most active use of social media in their churches is individual members connecting with each other on Facebook which allows them to share more about lives than they could from the pew. Members, they said, are using Facebook to build a stronger internal community.

While none of the churches represented reported having an official social media strategy yet, Bayside Church developed and implemented a campaign to introduce their staff of about 75 people to Web 2.0. Alvarado, their communications and technology director, is charged with the church’s presence online, which primarily centers on their website and “listening” to online dialogue to “improve the church experience.” Mees, from Sierra Baptist Church, said that “internal relationships are growing organically on Facebook”, and Trevino said that at St. Anna, "the church blog is the most effective social media tool being used."

Where the speakers differed most was on the issue of how to use social media for outreach and evangelism. Both Alvarado and Trevino said that face-to-face dialogue is essential. “The single best way to evangelize is through the example of a life lived,” said Trevino. Alvarado commented that there is not a big difference in how he approaches evangelism in person versus online--“It’s always permission based.” Mees articulated a vision for using social media to be present in more lives. “In a world where church members either have no significant relationships outside the church, or segregate their Christian and non-Christian friends,” he said, “all of their friends, churched and unchurched, wind up as their friends on Facebook, followers on Twitter, and contacts on LinkedIn.” All three panelists agreed that spiritual dialogue was important, but Mees was a strong proponent of using of social media to initiate that discussion. Mees said "social media is an effective tool in building relationships that enable spiritual discussions to take place both online and off."

Following the moderated panel discussion, the audience was invited to ask questions. Several wondered if any of the congregations have people tweeting in church. Alvarado answered that Bayside has experimented with tweeting and texting during conferences but not during church service. A question about how the churches monitor their congregation’s online activity led to a discussion about how church youth have embraced Web 2.0. Mees shared that the teens in his church bring their computers and use Google to check facts during youth bible study. The teens are also using Facebook groups to communicate events and to “go deeper” using the discussion features.

After the official program ended, many of the attendees stayed to engage the panelists in additional questions and discussions. There was a tremendous amount of passion around the topic of using social media to share the message of the churches. At my small church, Grace Fellowship Church of San Andreas, we recently created a Facebook Page. We are hoping this outreach tool helps us to better connect with our community. How is your church using social media?

Social Media Club brings together journalists, publishers, communications professionals, artists, amateur media creators, citizen journalists, teachers, students, tool makers, and other interested collaborators. The Sacramento chapter was founded in March of 2009 by local users of social media. Free events are held on the third Tuesday of each month. "Social Media for the Social Good" is the topic of the November 17 event hosted by Sacramento State College of Continuing Education from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Local non profits River City Food Bank, CARES and the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will share how they are using social media to educate, engage, and build lasting relationships with their communities. For information about the Sacramento Social Media Club, join their groups on Facebook and LinkedIn and follow them on Twitter.

About the author: Laura Good is a member of the all volunteer leadership team for Sacramento Social Media Club. Follow her on Twitter at @goodlaura. She is also director of programs and operations for SARTA.