Stephanie Serowitz

FEBRUARY MEETING
We will be going out to lunch Sunday, February 27th at 1:00-2:30 at Dunwoody Tavern.
We have a private room and they have an affordable and delicious menu. The restaurant is near Perimeter Mall so you can go shopping after the meeting.
The address is: 5488 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd Atlanta, GA 30338. PLEASE DO NOT EAT BEFORE THE MEETING. COME HUNGRY TO PURCHASE FOOD!

JANUARY MEETING
Our meeting will be on Sunday, January 23rd at The Cooler in Alpharetta to go ice skating from 1:00-4:00 PM. Our meeting will be at 1:00 which everyone needs to be on time for and skating will be at 2-4. We will be in a private room for our meeting and we will have coke and popcorn. Following the meeting, you can actually skate until 5:00 if you want to stay the extra hour. The price is $13 per person which includes the ice skate rental, admission to skating for 3 hours and the coke and popcorn in the meeting. You do not pay at the entrance. Please tell them you are with the Au Pair group and look for me in the front. I will collect the $13.00.
Please come dressed warm and with appropriate clothes to skate. You will need to have socks, gloves for your hands, and a sweater or jacket. Of course, cameras are fun too! Please call me if you are unable to attend the meeting. Remember this is a cultural experience, so everyone is expected to participate. Also, I wanted to let you know that if you want to invite a friend from another agency, please do so! I know some of you have never tried skating before, but fun and not easy to learn. Please map quest the Cooler for directions

DECEMBER MEETING
Our meeting will be on Sunday, December 12th at my home from at in the afternoon. Please come with a wrapped Christmas gift with a $10 value. Please come with it wrapped or in a gift bag so you can not tell what it is! We will be having a gift exchange. If you have a special dessert you enjoy at Christmas from your country, you are welcome to bring it for everyone to try. Any special Christmas music is also welcome!

The July Au Pair meeting is Sunday, Just 24th. It will be for lunch at Jeffrey’s Bar and Grille in Alpharetta from 1:00-2:30 for lunch. This means come hungry! Please do not eat a big breakfast.  We will be eating a buffet lunch at the restaurant. The cost per person is $10 which includes the buffet, drink, and tax! We will have the covered patio to ourselves. The buffet will have all kinds of food on it, so again come hungry! 
Jeffrey’s is in the Publix Shopping Center on the corner of Abbotts Bridge (Rt. 120) and Jones Bridge Rd. The exact address is: 11585 Jones Bridge Road and the phone number is: 770-346-0807 if you need more directions.  Please mapquest in advance so you can find the restaurant.

AND THE RESULTS ARE IN! To read the great results of the survey, click on this linK!

Our June meeting will be at my home on June 27 at 1:00-3:00 for our annual INTERNATIONAL FEAST. I need everyone to pair up with one au pair from your country and make a large dish to share with everyone. Please cook by yourself if you do not have a partner or if you choose to cook by yourself.  You will all be so surprised when you see all the wonderful home made food from so many countries!

Dear families and Au Pairs,

Cultural Care Au Pair is excited to invite families and au pairs to participate in our first-ever Cultural Care Au Pair Video Contest! Do you have something interesting, funny or inspiring to say about the au pair program? If so, we want to see it on film-and we’ll give you the chance to win an entire year of free childcare (for host families) and $1000 (for au pairs) for sharing it with us and the rest of the world!

I know some very creative families and au pairs in our group. So please, give it a shot, it is worth it. I look forward to seeing all the great videos soon.

Good luck!

When you are done with your video: Go to our video contest page and submit your family’s video through our easy registration process. http://contest.culturalcare.com/

ATLANTA AU PAIR SCAVENGER HUNT- PIEDMONT PARK

Cultural Care Au Pair

May 2, 2010

                                                                               Atlanta, GA

Over 200 Au Pairs in the Atlanta Area will participate in the first ever Atlanta City-Wide Scavenger Hunt, benefiting ‘Kid’s First’, a program that donates time and dollars to at-risk- youth in Africa, Brazil, and Russia.  The Au Pair’s registration fee of $5 will be matched by the au pair agency, all funds going directly to Kid’s First. The Event is open to all Au Pairs! Cultural Care Local Coordinators will be on hand to answer questions about their program, along with collecting donations from guests who would like to contribute. 

See the Video!  http://www.culturalcare.com:80/aboutus/KidsFirst/Video.aspx

As part of Cultural Care Au Pair’s mission to break down barriers of culture and language through educational exchange, a group of local childcare coordinators and staff recently visited South Africa to see firsthand the difference the donations from the Cultural Care community have made through our charitable organization Kids First.

Since it’s inception in 2004, Kids First has supported many worldwide organizations that work with at-risk youth. From the daycare center in Brazil to the school library in New Orleans to an orphanage in Russia, Kids First has supported a wide range of global organizations. Our most recent work at an orphanage and daycare center in a poverty-stricken township outside Capetown, South Africa is another great example of the work we are doing worldwide.

Cultural Care staff and LCCs had an opportunity to visit several projects funded through CHOSA, an organization that Kids First supports. CHOSA provides support to programs that work with at-risk children and their families to provide nutrition, medication, clothing, food, shelter and an education.

During the service visit, those who participated had a chance to visit the Ubuhle Babantwana Care Center, which helps 150 children, some of whom are HIV positive. Donations received from au pairs, host families and Cultural Care LCCs and staff have provided funds for the building of a new structure for the infants and toddlers in the center. The group from Cultural Care Au Pair had an opportunity to see the new structure, meet the inspirational director and dedicated teachers and had some time to play with the children.

In addition, the group visited the Ilitha-Labantwana Place of Safety, the Philani Child Health and Nutrition Project, the Emasithandane Children’s Project and the Baphumulele Children’s Home. The Cultural Care team is now bringing their experience back to the U.S. to raise awareness, and additional funds for even more projects that Kids First supports.

“Our Kids First trip to Cape Town was truly amazing and inspiring,” says Local Childcare Coordinator Trudy Mar. “The work, effort, love and sacrifice the women heading up these projects give to all of the kids goes well beyond what most of us could imagine. If one little body sleeps better, eats better and smiles more, we’ve helped to change their future and make the world a better place. Every dollar we raise for Kids First definitely does make a difference.”