A few years ago, a new chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) started in San Diego. EWB was orginally made up of university students, much like the student chapters of ASCE. Then the students graduated and found they wanted to stay involved with EWB projects. So, professional chapters started forming. That’s what we did here; we formed the San Diego Professional chapter of EWB (EWB-SD). I have a total soft spot for this group because I was on the Executive Committee to get things rolling. We had a tough first year and still managed to send a team to India in response to the tsunami damage. Then I became more involved with ASCE and found myself spreading too thin. Luckily, EWB-SD has an awesome current President who has kept the chapter organized and motivated. This year they are starting a project in Tijuana that will essentially divert raw wastewater away from residential homes so the kids aren’t playing in sewage, literally. But that’s not my point.
You know when you open the Sunday paper and there’s the little magazine insert, Parade? Well, they are holding a contest for charities and EWB is one of them. People all over the country have nominated their charities and the top 8 (4 US and 4 Global) will receive a $50,000 grant from Parade. Not only that, if EWB wins a grant, they will give the top 10 chapters with donations $1,000. I know not many people read this, but if you do and you have just $10 to donate, I can tell you that you are helping support a really great organization and the money that trickles down to the San Diego chapter is going to a bunch of awesome people who volunteer so much of their time and expertise. Right now, EWB is #6 for US charities, but the donations don’t close until Thursday, January 31, 2008 so there’s still time for them to bump up to #4. You can click on their link from the main page or by using their donation badge here. If you do donate, in the “Designation” line, please add “San Diego Professional Chapter” so the local chapter gets credit.
In non-charitable news, it’s San Diego Restaurant Week! I haven’t gotten as excited about it this year, but we are going to check out 1500 Ocean in Hotel del Coronado. You can see menus and prices (it’s either $30 or $40 for a 3-course meal) on the main page. You can also look up reservations on OpenTable.com. I was just there today and there are still a few openings. Otherwise, you can catch the second round June 22 – June 27, 2008. There’s some chatter on Chowhound, as Alice Q. has pointed out, if you’d like to see what people are saying.
Three Dog Kitchen 
I hope I did it right….donated $50 to SD chapter.