So you want to give back to Seattle — and you want some super fun ways to do it? We’ve got you.

🙌 Getting hands-on with Seattle’s needs

We’ve led three incredible volunteer field trips since September with the Low Income Housing Institute and FareStart to help our neighbors experiencing poverty and homelessness. And we couldn’t have done it without all of you.

Want to wrangle your friends to help a cause you care about? Two key things to do:

• Gather your givers. We like to email our peeps to square up all the details. If you’re planning for a larger group, say 15 or more, you may want to make a form to keep everything more organized.
• Make some intros. Volunteering is about the people you’re serving. As your team gets settled, make sure they say hey to the folks who work with the org you’re helping, and have a conversation about the cause you’re all here to boost.

» Get our step-by-step guide to setting up a volunteer field trip — including an email template to send to your friends — here.

🎨 The not-too-artsy approach

In September, Team Evergrey and readers Tara Clark and Xanna Vegsundvaag hid thoughtful compliment cards around Seattle. Our goal: brighten up at least one of our neighbor’s days with an encouraging message.

Here’s two tips to get started:

• Carry a compliment kit. Stash some cards, postcards or stationery in your bag along with some pens or markers and maybe a little tape to compliment on the fly.
• Compliment concisely. Keep it short and sweet. One or two sentences is plenty to let people know that you care and that you appreciate them.

» Want our full guide to guerrilla complimenting with flair? Check out this handy how-to.

💰 Doesn’t matter if you have a little or a lot

One awesome thing about giving back in Seattle: Our local orgs make it easy to support causes we care about. Two great ones we spotlighted this month:

• Conscious Eatery: A sandwich shop in Georgetown that gives a meal to locals in need for every meal their customers buy.
• Samaritan: A local app that connects us directly to our neighbors living outside by helping us stop to chat and support their needs directly.

» See how you can make a big impact while giving small in this roundup.

💕 Because a little thanks goes a long way

Your heartfelt kudos — a.k.a. thank-you’s to neighbors who made your day — are lighting up The Evergrey through the end of the year. Want to keep sharing the love?

Write up a thoughtful card, email, or Facebook message to a friend, barista, or business and make sure they know you appreciate ‘em. And be sure to let us know about them too so we can shout them out in The Evergrey.

» Get some inspo for writing your own kudos from your fellow readers.

💡 P.S. Trying to keep track of all the giving conversations we’ve had?

They’ve been incredible so far — and we can’t wait to have more of them in the coming month.

» Look back at what we’ve learned and done together with the Giving Guide project here.

Want to toast your city while meeting the folks behind awesome orgs that help make it better? RSVP ASAP to our second birthday party and Giving Guide launch this Thursday at Optimism Brewing. Shout out to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for making our Giving Guide possible, and to all the community partners joining in.🎉

‘Yes, I threw a temper tantrum with lawn signs.’ Reagan Jackson bought her house in Rainier Beach seven years ago. It’s doubled in value since, and in the last two years, her monthly payments have gone up $284, she says, “because of my new neighbors.” Many of them are white, wealthier, and the kind of liberals who put Black Lives Matter signs on their lawn. Frustrated by living in what she calls “Gentrification ground 0,” Reagan put up her own, custom lawn signs — a series of messages ending with this one: “This house is not for sale.” The signs have gotten her neighbors’ attention, and her reasons for placing them make for quite the thought-provoking read. (South Seattle Emerald)

Onward and upward. There aren’t a lot of places outside downtown where developers can build tall apartment buildings. That’s one reason we’re low on affordable housing, say some city leaders, so they drew up a plan last year to change zoning rules in 27 neighborhoods and require developers to build or pay for more low-income housing. That plan hit a snag when local community groups appealed it, saying they weren’t fans of how bigger development might burden neighborhood parking and infrastructure. But a city judge just ruled that the plan is mostly a-OK, and our mayor’s hoping to get a move on. Are the zoning changes coming to a neighborhood near you? Probably. Check out the map at the bottom of this story to see. (The Seattle Times)

Vote for the yummiest. Eater Seattle is now taking your votes for our city’s Restaurant of the Year. JuneBaby, a southern hot spot in Ravenna, took Eater’s in 2017 (plus a ton of other awards). Should it be Reckless Noodles in the Central District? Homer in Beacon Hill? Wa’z in Belltown? We’d give First Hill’s Little Neon Taco a prize for best name, at least. 🍴 (Eater Seattle)

Ever heard of ‘gaming disorder’? It’s an official disease, according to the World Health Organization, and a local org called reSTART’s treated 275 video game addicts for it. We’re talking 8+ weeks of no digital media for people who might spend upwards of 13 hours a day hooked on their screens. VICE News checked in with some of the patients in the $30,000 rehab program earlier this year, and this seven-minute clip sums up how bad having too much fun can get. 🎮 (VICE News)

GO COUGARS 🏈

We’d normally never dream of sending a high-five to our rivals over at Washington State University in Pullman, but what they did before last weekend’s annual Apple Cup showdown was something else.

Our University of Washington Huskies band couldn’t play at the game after one of its buses flipped on the way (no one was seriously hurt, thank goodness). So the Cougars band played our fight song for us. Did that make our weekend? Definitely. Did it help us clinch our sixth straight Apple Cup win? Possibly. 😉

Be kind today, all. — The Evergrey.