Image Description: A purple glitter background with gold balloons spelling out 2023
Survivor Cards welcomes you into 2023!
In this new year, we hope to accomplish even more with you and yours!
Ongoing:
Image Description: Teal bold font says "Survivor Cards 2022 End of Year Survey" On the right is one of our logos, a brown-skinned hand holding an envelope on one end and a white-skinned hand holding the envelope on the other end. In the middle the envelope says "Survivor Cards" The stamp in the right, upper hand corner is teal with a dark-skinned power fist
End of The Year Survey
We invite you to please take our end of the year survey and help us identify needs and set goals for the upcoming year!
Whether you have volunteered for us, received cards for yourself or your organization, or just enjoy following us on social media to see what we're up to, your feedback is valuable.
All responses are anonymous and you can choose to only answer the questions you feel comfortable with. The survey should only take about 5-10 minutes to complete and will be open until January 31st!
We will share some of the gathered feedback with you on our Instagram, Facebook and TikTok!
Card Drive for YWCA Dayton
We will be sending out cards collected for the Dayton YWCA in the next week. We're happy to announce we surpassed our goal of 100 cards by nearly another 100!
We couldn't have done it with our local and national volunteers, Anderson High School students and Girl Scouts of Southern Ohio.
Recent:
"Spread The Love" Event for GSWO
Image Description: Our Founder, Alyson Wick stands to the left of two white boards. She is wearing a white sweatshirt with an illustrated brain, the right half of the brain is flowers. It says "be kind to your mind" in black cursive. She is wearing pink cargo pants and teal and white converse. She has straight, dirty blonde hair, white skin and is wearing glasses and smiling at the camera. The white boards say "Trauma", "Healing", "Coping Skills" and "What If?..." and are ready for lists to be written on them
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The "Spread the Love" event we held at Girl Scouts of Western Ohio's Blue Ash office was a huge success!
Over 25 girls attended ranging from 5-12 years old, along with some of their adults!
Girls learned about trauma, coping skills, support systems and how to be a good neighbor for mental health in their communities.
We had great discussions and collaboration!
We made over 30 cards towards our shipment for YWCA Dayton and the creativity flowed!
Through program evaluations, we learned that both the girls and their adults are interested in Survivor Cards returning next year for more volunteer and learning opportunities.
We will share more information on how to sign a Girl Scout up for these events soon!
Peaceful Giving Auction
Image Description: A holiday red background has white bold font that says "Peaceful Giving" Below is a mint green banner with white font reading "All proceeds benefit Survivor Cards" In the middle of the image is Survivor Cards main logo, a white open envelope with a piece of paper popping out that says "Survivor Cards" in black handwritten font. There is a teal heart in the middle outside of the envelope, like a seal or sticker. At the bottom of the image are various green and white colored plants.
Thank you to everyone who spread the word or attended our online auction fundraiser in November!
With your help, we raised over $500 for this upcoming year's cards and programming.
We were so happy to be a part of your charity and gift-giving this year!
Missed the auction and want to contribute?
Consider donating to our Venmo @survivorcards or purchasing items off our wish list!
Checks can be made out to Alyson Wick
Email us at survivorcards@gmail.com for more information!
Upcoming:
2023 and Beyond!
Image Description: 4 illustrated people celebrate with balloons, confetti and sparklers! The clothes are various colors including yellow, green, pink, red, blue and purple. The balloons and confetti are also these colors. They are jumping around!
We are looking forward to opportunities to host both in-person, local programming and online options!
Taking our end of the year survey is one way you can help us identify our next goals.
We'd like to provide more volunteer opportunities and programming for families with kids 6-11 and 12+, as well as options for adults and seniors.
As of now, we are grateful to have a surplus of cards, but are finding it difficult to connect them to survivors!
We especially have a surplus of cards appropriate for kids.
Do you know an organization that could benefit from being a recipient of a card drive?
An individual that may find healing and connection from receiving a card?
Have you considered volunteering, but just need help getting started?
Please email us at survivorcards@gmail.com to connect and consider providing your feedback in our end of the year survey!
We can't wait to share what's coming next!
Decompressing From the Holidays
Image Description: A illustration of a person with long black hair sits cross legged, wearing blue leggings and a red long sleeve shirt. Their have red flat shoes on. They have their arms bent inward with their hands on their belly, their eyes are closed and they are taking a nice, deep breath.
The holiday get togethers are almost over and the lull and disorientation between the old and new year is well on its way.
Many people find themselves worn out and exhausted this time of year, as well as under pressure to set unrealistic and unattainable goals, or change their habits overnight!
We'd like to remind you of some small ways you can decompress and honor yourself with some grace over the next few months, taken from this article on Decompression After the Holidays.
Deep breathing. Taking a moment to breathe deeply can help calm the body and the mind down. One way you can practice deep breathing is to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. A few benefits of deep breathing is it lowers your heart rate, lowers your blood pressure, and reduces stress hormones in your body.
Talk it out. Talking through your day or a stressful event can help you relax. When you talk with someone you trust it helps you sort through the problem, see the situation more clearly, and releases built up tension and stress.
Exercise.
Get outdoors. Being outside, even if just for a few minutes a day, can greatly impact your mood and help your body relax. Some of the benefits of getting outside include lowering your blood pressure, reducing inflammation, and improving sleep.
Meditate. Meditation is the practice of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts. You don’t have to be spiritual to meditate and you can meditate on any number of things. When you meditate you can reduce stress, lower anxiety, enhance self-awareness, and improve sleep.
Take a day off. Being able to take a day off from work is a privilege that not everyone has. If you are able, it can help you mentally reset before getting back into the swing of things.
Read. Reading doesn’t only offer an escape into a book, but it can provide health benefits, too. It can help you decompress. When you read a book it can reduce stress, lower blood pressure and heart rate, and helps get your body ready for sleep.
Disconnect. It can be hard to disconnect from technology, but screen breaks can help you decompress. When you turn off your phone you can reduce your stress and improve your mental health. Additionally, it can help you feel more present in life and relax.
Take a nap. Not too many people need to be convinced to take a nap, but did you know it can help you decompress after a long day? Napping can improve your memory, lift your mood, and ease stress.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals for the New Year
Image Description: The illustration shows a tall person with long eyelashes and closed eyes, parted lips and dark hair to their shoulders, with their head up in the sky. A white road goes up their hair to their scalp where flowers are blooming and a large house sits upon their head.
Goals can be great, but ones that only add extra stress due to being difficult to attain help no one.
Consider S.M.A.R.T. Goals when thinking about your new years resolutions.
S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound.
"Each element of this goal-setting framework plays a part in making a clearly planned path to achieving your objectives and tracking your progress along the way. This will give your goals a strong foundation that will increase your chances of realizing your vision."
Many people view goals as ones that get you physically moving or are traditionally "productive" in a capitalistic society.
Consider the opposite when thinking about your goals for the coming year.
Could you rest more?
How can you slow down?
Does your cup need replenishing?
We hope the coming year brings you peace, calm and brighter days.
Thanks for being here!
- Alyson Wick, Founder of Survivor Cards