Long time, No Blog

Hello to all! It has been a very long time since I have blogged! Things here in Tennessee are going fine, although busy! I spent the entire month of December and most of February making fudge to raise money for the STAR Center. The fudge seems to be a very popular item, as well as a great gift to give or to receive. We raised about $15,000 with 2 fudge sales (one for Christmas and one for Valentine's Day). With each fundraiser, we included the option to have the fudge delivered to a person's home or place of business, and I recruited volunteers to help with delivery. For anyone who is interested, here is the recipe:

Heat 2/3 cup evaporated milk, 1 1/2 sticks butter or margarine, and 3 cups sugar over medium high heat, stirring constantly.

As the mixture begins to boil, set a timer for 4 minutes. After your 4 minutes is up, remove the mixture from heat. Stir in 2 cups chocolate chips until well mixed. Add 1 jar marshmallow cream and 1 tsp. vanilla, and stir until well blended (You have to work pretty fast because the fudge sets up quickly).

After all ingredients are mixed together well, pour the fudge into mold of your choice. If using small molds, the silicone ones work best. We made star-shaped for Christmas and heart-shaped for Valentine's Day. Instead of using small molds, you can also pour the fudge into a 13 x 9 inch pan and cut it into smaller pieces. After the fudge is completely set, remove from the molds and enjoy!

For another flavor variation, we made peanut butter fudge the same way but with peanut butter chips instead of chocolate. We also made white chocolate raspberry with white chocolate chips and raspberry flavoring in place of the vanilla.

 

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Wow, what an awesome sounding recipe...I'll have to try it, for sure.  Thanks for sharing!  That's awesome that you were able to use fudge as a successful fundraiser for your org.  How creative!

Denise Meise's Recent Field Reports

Long time, No Blog

Hello to all! It has been a very long time since I have blogged! Things here in Tennessee are going fine, although busy! I spent the entire month of December and most of February making fudge to raise money for the STAR Center. The fudge seems to be a very popular item, as well as a great gift to give or to receive. We raised about $15,000 with 2 fudge sales (one for Christmas and one for Valentine's Day). With each fundraiser, we included the option to have the fudge delivered to a person's home or place of business, and I recruited volunteers to help with delivery. For anyone who is interested, here is the recipe: …read more

My first week as a VISTA

Hello to all! I hope that you are all having fun as a VISTA and that your first week of work has been okay. All is well here in Tennessee. I have been busy working and learning how to do my "job". So far, I have rewritten the "Volunteer Handbook" and "Volunteer Application" for the STAR Center. I have also been able to talk to several people who are interested in volunteering and have scheduled for them to come in for training. In the next week, I will be busy doing trainings, orientation, and tours of the STAR Center. I have also been doing some research for a new adult literacy lab that will be opening (officially) at the end of October. I will need to find several volunteers to run this lab as well. …read more

HI!

I am in Boston for the first time for the CTC VISTA PSO. It's beautiful here! I am from Jackson, Tennessee (a small city between Nashville and Memphis) which is also where I will be serving.  On Monday, September 11,  I will start my service as a CTC VISTA at the STAR Center. The STAR Center serves people with disabilties and has a large scope of services.  They do everything from teaching people with disabilities how to use computers to personal assistance in private households.  My job title as a CTC VISTA is "Volunteer Coordinator".  I will be responsible for recruiting in-house volunteers for an adult literacy lab and other various things.  I will also be recruiting volunteers for fund-raising and other large, once-yearly events.  During my "spare time" (ha! ha!) I will be helping to establish a loan program for all different types of assistive technology. …read more