Volunteering at the 2014 HLAAKC Picnic!

Posted on May 28, 2014 by HLAA-KC

You’ve RSVPed for our 6th Annual Picnic. You know about the vendors. You’re up to speed on the raffle. There’s only one thing left to do — sign up to volunteer for a 30-minute shift while you’re there!

We always have a blast at the annual picnic — but as it grows every year, we simply don’t have enough hands to make light work of this huge effort. That’s why we need you — our friends, neighbors and members of our community — to lend a hand! We’re expecting about 150 people this year. That’s 150 forks. 150 napkins. A ton of drinks. Not to mention 30 tables that need to be arranged to accommodate the 150 people!

Would you consider spending just 30 minutes during the picnic to help us: set up, prepare the food table, work with committee members and other volunteers to sell raffle tickets and welcome visitors to the picnic? And if you have a volleyball net you’d be willing to lend us for the evening, well, you’d have a special place in our hearts for that.

Please click here to visit our Sign Up Genius. Simply select an area of service (Welcome Table, Raffle, Food, Crafts) and time slot and click “sign up”! Please note that you will need to create a Sign Up Genius account.

We know you’ll have vendors to visit, old friends to catch up with and raffle items to win — we certainly don’t want to take you away from that! The good news is that the picnic lasts about four hours — we just need you for just 30 minutes!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us out! We couldn’t do it without you!

Raffle at the 2014 HLAAKC Picnic

Posted on May 20, 2014 by HLAA-KC

Yesterday, we talked about the vendors who will be at the picnic.

Today is all about the raffle!

Every year, we host a raffle to help raise money for HLAAKC. Your generous donations go toward helping us host events like these, pay for printing costs, support others with hearing loss and so much more!

If you’ve attended one of our picnics in the past, then you know that the raffle is a lot of fun! Here’s how it works:

1) We will be selling raffle tickets for the suggested donation of $1 per ticket. You may purchase as many as you want! Raffle tickets will only be sold at the picnic.

2) The raffle items will be set up on a table with a container by each item. You can purchase as many or as few tickets as you like, and place your tickets in as many or as few containers as you like. The more tickets you buy, the better chance you have of winning!

3) We’ve listened to your feedback and this year we are changing things up a bit. In order to make it fair for everyone, we are implementing a “Two-Win” limit — you may win up to two drawings, but after that, if one of your tickets is drawn again, we will discard it and draw again until a new winner comes forward. We appreciate your help in making this fun and fair for everyone!

Here are a few of the things up for grabs:

Free membership to the Deaf Cultural Center
Free one-year membership to HLAA (new members only)
Sonic-Connect 2
Movie passes to Screenland Crown Center
Gift certificates to Grace Design and Esthetics
A movie basket with treats and DVDs
Gift cards to various retail establishments

(Some of these are multiple items, so there may be two different winners drawn for those.)

So be sure to join us on Saturday, June 7 from 4:30pm to 8:30 pm at Shawnee Mission Park, (7900 Renner Rd., Shawnee, KS) Shelter 8 (click link for a map of the park — Shelter 8 is toward the southwest side of the lake) for your chance to win some of these amazing prizes!

See you there!

Vendors at the 2014 HLAAKC Picnic

Posted on May 19, 2014 by HLAA-KC

The picnic is just under three weeks away! If you haven’t already, please RSVP by May 22 — send us an email to hlaakc@gmail.com, or click here to RSVP on the Facebook event.

We’re excited to have so many great vendors joining us! Interpreters will be provided and booth hosts are familiar with the deaf and hard of hearing community, so communication will be a breeze! Here are some of the booths you’ll be able to visit:

Advanced Bionics
Associated Audiologists
CaptionCall
Coalition For Independence
Deaf Cultural Center
Deaf Expression
Deaf International
Edward Jones
Hometown Hearing
KansaSEED
MO Vocational Rehabilitation
Origami Owl and Scentsy
Sign Language Specialists
TMC Mental Health
The Whole Person

So join us on Saturday, June 7 from 4:30pm to 8:30 pm at Shawnee Mission Park, (7900 Renner Rd., Shawnee, KS) Shelter 8 (click link for a map of the park — Shelter 8 is toward the southwest side of the lake).

See you there!

Emergency preparedness tips for people with hearing loss

Posted on May 15, 2014 by HLAA-KC

Historically, May has been a busy month for tornadoes in our area. Just a year ago, an F5 tornado hit the community of Moore, OK, killing 24 people and injuring 377. Closer to home, Joplin, MO, was devastated in 2011 by an F5 tornado that killed over 150 people and injured over 1,100. And before that, an F5 destroyed most of the city of Greensburg, KS.

Tornadoes and other severe weather threats can be scary, so it is wise to be alert and prepared in an emergency. In the video below, Lisa Bothwell from FEMA provides some tips on how to be prepared — not just during tornado season, but for any serious weather threat. The video is presented in ASL and with closed captions (you may need to select the “CC” button for the captions to appear).

Thank you for sharing, Lisa!

For more information, please visit: http://www.ready.gov

HLAAKC 6th Annual Picnic — June 7, 2014

Posted on May 7, 2014 by HLAA-KC

Quick, what are you doing on Saturday, June 7 from 4:30pm to 8:30pm? We have the answer: Coming to our sixth annual picnic at Shawnee Mission Park, Shelter #8! (Click here for a handy map of the park — Shelter 8 is on the southeast side of Shawnee Mission Lake.)

This event is FREE to the public and draws in people with hearing loss from all over Kansas City and is a great way to network and get to know others in your community!

On top of that, there’s fun for the whole family! The shelter is close to a playground and there’s room to play volleyball!

Who will be there? YOU, of course! And your kids. And your neighbors. And anyone else you want to invite! Meet your HLAAKC steering committee, meet new friends and visit vendors!

Booths open at 4:30, so be sure to stop by to visit:

Caption Call
Coalition For Independence
Deaf Expression
Deaf International
Edward Jones
Hometown Hearing
KansaSEED
MED-EL
Origami Owl and Scentsy
Sign Language Specialists
TMC Mental Health
… and more!

We’re also hosting a raffle to raise money for our chapter — your generous donations go toward printing costs, room reservations and enable us to host fun events like this! Some of the items up for grabs include movie tickets to open-captioned movies at Screenland Crown Center, a sonic alert alarm, gift cards and more!

We start eating at 5pm! Sandwiches, drinks and chips will be provided. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. Please RSVP by Thursday, May 22 so we know how much food to prepare! Either indicate on the Facebook event that you plan to attend, or email us at hlaakc@gmail.com.

We plan to have so much fun that we can’t handle it all ourselves! We’re looking for several volunteers to take short 30-minute shifts throughout the picnic to help us with crafts, food, raffle, setup and cleanup. Click here to visit our volunteer signup page, view shift options and to learn more about picnic volunteer opportunities.

Vendors: We have a few booth spaces left! If you’re interested in hosting a booth, please download a booth registration form here: https://hlaakc.com/sponsorship

Please note that one booth space is about half a picnic table; you may purchase more than one space if you prefer to have the whole table. First come, first served!

MANY thanks to our wonderful sponsors:

Associated Audiologists
MED-EL
Sign Language Specialists
Hamilton Relay
Nexus Interpreting