Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category

Join Create The Good on October 22 for a virtual #AllUCanTweat

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

by Jen Martin, Senior Specialist, Office of Volunteer and Civic Engagement, AARP

“…the first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all mankind.” -Norman Borlaug

Nearly six million older Americans face hunger and the number will only increase as the aging population grows.

Between 2006-2008, the percentage and number of poor and near-poor elderly struggling with hunger or lacking sufficient nutrition and food resources more than doubled – from 4.7% to 10.1%

Nationwide, AARP and AARP Foundation are launching anti-hunger initiatives including volunteer-led food drives Create The Good and Comparti es Vivir, a major fundraising campaign, new online hunger resources and information at www.aarp.org/hunger and — and local SNAP outreach and assistance.

And as part of the broader AARP hunger initiative, Create The Good is hosting a social media tweetup this Friday we’re calling, “#AllUCanTweat.”

For three hours (11 a.m. – 2 p.m. EST) on October 22, Create The Good is inviting you to a virtual discussion on the growing issue of hunger, specifically for older Americans. Did you know that Older Americans most at risk for hunger are:

  • Age 60-64
  • Living with a grandchild
  • Living at or below the poverty line
  • Undereducated (less than HS)
  • African-American or Hispanic
  • Divorced, separated or have never been married
  • Renters

Are you or someone you know in any of these categories?

Do you have a Facebook or Twitter account?

How about a personal blog?

If so, join us to learn how to help your loved ones get the benefits and information they deserve.

10 Ways to Fight Hunger in America

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

America is the world’s wealthiest nation and yet hunger plagues millions of Americans.

In the United States, there are more than 49 million people living in “food insecure households” (meaning they do not always know where they will find their next meal) in the United States. (Source: 2008 USDA Data)

According to 2008 statistics, almost 1 in 4 American children suffered from hunger; at the same time, more than 8% of households with seniors were food insecure.  (Source: 2010 .)

September is Hunger Action Month.

Here are 10 ways you can take action and make a difference…

Find Your Local Food Bank, and volunteer! Search for your local foodbank by zip code.

Talk About Hunger with Your Family. For resources, go to .

Host a Dinner Party, and ask your guests to bring donations for your local food bank in lieu of a host or hostess gift.

Learn More about hunger in Your State.

Prepare For The Unexpected. Build two emergency food boxes – one for your family and one for a family in need, in case of a disaster.

Increase your understanding. Spend one day on a food stamp budget.  Try to spend only $7 on food for a day (the average SNAP, or food stamp allotment). Discuss what the experience was like with your family.

Call Your Member of Congress. Urge them to support legislation helping people struggling with hunger.

Teach your children that healthy food matters for all of us, including those in need. Cook a meal with your child and educate them about hunger.

Write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper about hunger in your community.

Organize a Food Drive. Be sure to check with your local food bank to find out what items they are in need of right now.

For more information, see HungerActionMonth or Feeding America.

Bill Bolling On Staying Faithful to the Cause

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Thirty five years ago, Bill Bolling was the Director of Community Ministries at St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Atlanta.

At the time, Atlanta suffered from “white flight” as the affluent abandoned the city’s center.

Responding to the need he saw around him, Bill Bolling started a community kitchen in the basement of the church where he worked in order to feed the city’s homeless men and women.

As a Vietnam veteran, he was particularly moved to serve homeless vets.

The needs Bill faced were so great that he asked other churches to get involved.

He approached twenty churches in downtown Atlanta and promised to provide all the food if they would open their doors to those in need and offer assistance.

To his amazement, three churches agreed so Bill got busy seeking donated food.

His efforts grew to establish one of the first foodbanks in the United States, The Atlanta Community Foodbank.

Awhile back, Bill came to our staff meeting and shared his story with us.

I appreciated hearing his thoughts on sustaining a commitment to a life of service.

“Naivete is a good thing to start with,” he said. “It’s God’s grace that he doesn’t tell us how big the things we start are going to be.  We get up every day and try to do our best without seeing the larger arc of the struggle.”

As a small community of foodbank organizers from around the nation found each other, they decided to form an association in order to share ideas.

They formed an organization called Second Harvest that is known today as .

It was interesting to hear Bill talk about the tensions that can arise between a local and a national organization.  (Like , HandsOn Network is also a loose federation of local organizations.)

He reminded us of the strength in grassroots ideas, ideas generated from local organizations lifted up and taken to scale by the  national organization.

He cautioned us about the difficulties national programs can cause by not always being flexible enough to include or engage individual communities.

“Not every community will be interested or able to implement a program exactly the same way,” he reminded us.  “National programs should be flexible enough for local organizations to opt in and deliver services as appropriate.”

Bill went on to talk about the difficulties the foodbank is facing in today’s economy.

He’s seen a 35% increase in the demand for food and a 20% decrease in donations.

“Twenty five percent of the clients coming to the foodbank have never had to seek public assistance before,” he told us.

He said it was more important than ever for nonprofits to increasingly work in a networked way, connecting resources and making referrals for services beyond their usual scope.

While he was worried about meeting his community’s needs, he was also optimistic.

“Times like these are full of opportunity,” he said. “Young people today will see need in their communities, just like I did, and they will want to lead — and what a time to lead!  We don’t know what they’ll do, but we can help by re framing our challenges in a hopeful way.  We can help people see that the action they take will make a difference.”

Near the end of his talk, Bill discussed finding spiritual renewal in his work.

“You can’t do transformational work alone,” he said.  “You’ll burn out.  You’ll become cynical.”

Bill told us that he feels called to fight hunger and surrounds himself with people that keep him honest.

“You should always set the highest goals possible for yourself and your organization,”  he said. “But as an individual, you don’t have to measure up necessarily, you just have to stay faithful to the cause.”

Understand your work as part of your personal journey, part of your purpose in life, and it will provide the sustaining force, your true North.

Working in a community of others, ever faithful to the cause, you’ll get farther than you ever could alone.

Support your local community foodbank by contributing your time and resources.  .

In The Park

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Originally published by Jen on her blog, One Plus Two. Jen has worked with un-housed citizens for the past 13 years and this post is republished here with the author’s permission.

Every morning I get up very early and work out with a group of people in a nearby park.

It’s one of those organized things, where the guy in charge very nicely yells at you to

“do more run more jump more”

and you do it because you need to and also because it’s fun.

I’ve been doing it for awhile now and the group is friendly enough, companionable in the sense that we are all doing this together.

Two days ago we were on a little run and in a line we passed by a parked car.

I see the people in front of me turn their heads as they go and when I pass I see a cat, a pile of blankets, and a kid and I immediately know it means some folks are sleeping in their car.

So I drop out of the line and run over to the car and I see a woman and a few kids and a couple of cats all piled inside.

She’s nervous when I approach so I talk to her through the window a bit, I tell her what I used to do and that I mean no offense but if they are without a place to stay maybe I can help.

So she rolls down her window and we talk a good long while and I promise I’ll connect her as soon as I’m done with this jumping around stuff.

As it always has, my heart breaks for the kids, especially the one not much older than mine who jumps out of the car to get dressed in the street before school.Her little face is dirty but her smile is bright. They’ve been living like this since February.

They’ve been living like this since February.

So I fall back in with the class and there are some whispers,

“what was that what’s going on are those people in their car”

and I briefly share and I also share that this is what I used to do and do in different ways today.

Folks react in a way I am surprised by, they start telling me I am so good for doing this and I get embarrassed and a bit weird because I haven’t done anything yet and this family is still in their car and it’s awful.

Later at work I recount it for my in the business friends and they understand my awkwardness because to them these sorts of interactions are normal and certainly not worth making a big deal over, it’s simply what they do.

So today I go back a bit happier, because in the meantime I’ve connected the family with some housing options but am frustrated because it’s going to take a few days.

So I bring some food to give to them after class was over but during class others said they’ve brought food too.

So after class is over I walk over with some food and several others are coming too.

So different from yesterday, today we are all gathered around the car, one woman is giving the kids all kinds of food.

One of the guys is looking under the engine of the car, another helping load things in the back.

There is talk of other ways to help, bringing dinner, clothes, a mechanic.

They are inspired to do more.

All of a sudden the littlest girl starts jumping up and down

Look mama, water! Look mama, bread!

And in that space my heart cracks in half, little girls excited over bread and water is wrong on so many levels it nearly makes me cry.

Our new friend looks at all of us, she does start to cry and thanks everyone over and over.

She hugs us and we hug her and I promise to get in touch with her tomorrow.

I know we’ll figure this thing out.

I look at my peers and I see their faces, the generosity and kindness and everything else.

I see they are moved by this moment and I am too.

What created discomfort yesterday turned into love and action today.

Strangers are now friends.

It’s so easy to do the right thing.

Cooking Up New Opportunities by Volunteering

Monday, June 14th, 2010

by Katrina Kibben & Veronica Parages

This post originally appeared on Monster.com’s blog and it is republished here with their permission.

Volunteering can be a great way to network and gain career skills while helping give back to the community.  Monster recently teamed up with Points of Light Institute- HandsOn Network as part of our 2010 Keep America Working Tour to deliver volunteer opportunities to job seekers.

We spoke with Veronica Parages, Director, Skills-Based Volunteering at Points of Light Institute – HandsOn Network to get more information about how volunteering can benefit your job search. A French native and cooking enthusiast, Veronica is going to take a crack at using cooking as a reference point to answer some questions about her other passion: volunteerism!

Are volunteer organizations looking for a specific age range? Is it better to be older, younger, or can anyone with a passion to help others volunteer?

Any age is perfect! Volunteering on a project is like helping in the kitchen. Even if you don’t know how to cook, everyone has unique skills and talents that can be put to use. The same is true for volunteering- you have skills that can help others, professional or personal, and as long as you’re willing to give it a try, volunteer organizations will help you find a project that meets your competencies.

How can volunteering help a job search?  Does it help with networking?

Let’s use another cooking reference.  Suppose you know a good Chef, an expert who was recently laid off during these tough economic times. Without a full time job, a chef could choose to stay in bed all day. But, because they’re helping the food bank to find new resources, they’re meeting vendors to get some fresh ingredients for free.  They feel helpful and productive, and stay engaged in the community. In the process, they meet new people, expanding their network of contacts. A growing network is one way to increase your chances of finding employment and it all started with volunteering.

How do you see volunteerism playing into a larger career development strategy?

Chefs aren’t born cooking- they must learn. Volunteering your expertise, sometimes working completely outside your normal realm, could help you develop leadership skills. Suddenly you’ve got a whole new set of skills to offer an employer and again, more opportunities to find a new job. Plus, volunteering is a great way to try something new in a low risk environment. Who knows- you may find your true passion in the process.

What tips do you have for people who might be volunteering for the first time?

  1. Be open-minded: Skills-based volunteering is a new world that can give you a lot but is quite different from a business environment!
  2. Nonprofit organizations need help to be helped: Here is an example: I was talking to a young volunteer when I discovered he specialized in logistics. He was currently volunteering every Saturday for a food bank delivering meals. He liked what he was doing but was disappointed that the distribution system wasn’t efficient and that he was not delivering to the same families every week. I suggested he offer up his logistics knowledge to the food bank to help reorganizing the food distribution. His skills and help would be appreciated and he, and the other volunteers, would be able to have more impact as they continued their food deliveries.  Be proactive in proposing your talents, skills, and knowledge.
  3. Be creative! This is your opportunity! Constraints and lack of resources in the nonprofit sector shouldn’t stop you! Think outside the box, put your “noodles” to find solutions… it is worth it

What’s the most unique or offbeat volunteer organization you know of?

HandsOn Network of course!!  We are always trying to find new recipes and skills-based volunteering is just one. We want to connect the right volunteer with the right skills to the right project for a major impact- how great is that!  Contact HandsOn Network at one of its 242 Action Centers across the United States to discover skills-based volunteering initiatives or to find the right project for you check out the Hands On Network website. If you are interested by the subject, the National Conference of Volunteering and Service is offering plenty of opportunities to learn more about skills-based volunteering, just click here!

Now – get out there and start cooking, I mean, volunteering your skills!

Want to learn more about volunteering to develop your professional skills while you’re unemployed? Check out this video with a volunteer answering a frequently asked question about volunteering.

Also, if you’re interested in a culinary career, check out our community- Chef’s Blade.

Mountains of Sandwiches

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

by Michele Reiner

Recently, my son’s kindergarten class learned about hunger.

They discussed what it might be like without enough food (bad) and how they could help (share lunches).

Tying the lesson to both academics and ‘doing good’ the teachers asked that students earn money at home doing special chores and join together to make a contribution to an organization focused on ending hunger.

The kids also made graphs and charts showing who did what to raise money and contrasted their results.

I was glad they did this.

In addition to fundraising though, I wanted my son to do some hands-on service.

I wasn’t sure what, so I began at Pebble Tossers for some inspiration and links to projects kids can do.

After exploring I found the Open Door Community; literally a place we drive by almost every day.

What I learned was they are a residential community dismantling racism, sexism and heterosexism through loving relationships with some of the most neglected – the homeless and those in prisons.

While they do so much, what clicked was that every day they serve 400 sandwiches.

I told my son about this place and asked him “What can we do?”

He decided we could make 200 sandwiches ourselves.

After further discussion though, we thought that if we got friends to join we could do the whole 400!

I must say we were really pumped up.

I sent a note out to nine other kids in his class inviting them to join us.

Given the pace of most people’s lives, I assumed we’d get a few participants.

Amazingly every single family said yes.

With siblings, parents, bread and meat in tow, we joined together one Saturday to make sandwiches.

It was a great morning.

The kids truly did the bulk of the service and were excited to track their progress.

The final tally – over 430 sandwiches!

The next day we dropped off the sandwiches.

There we met James, who greeted the children with joy and gave them more kudos than we could imagine.

He invited us to make sandwiches in their kitchen next time.

As we drove away I reflected aloud on how James referred to the people who’d eat the sandwiches as ‘friends’.

He made a point of it many times over and told us that this is what we should do as well.

His point, well taken, was that we served these people as we would our friends; inviting them into the Open Door Community and giving them what we would anyone who was hungry in our presence.

I talked about how important words can be and left it at that.

A week later my son, the consummate builder, found a really cool spot under a tree in the park.

He excitedly rushed to tell me about the clubhouse he wanted to build there.

He ran through the plans with a vision shining in his head of what he could do.

Then he stopped and said, “You know what it could be, mommy?

It could be a house for our friends”. He looked pointedly at me again and said, “You know mom, our friends”.

I think he gets it.

Michele Reiner is a consultant who provides strategy, action and results to her clients and is currently developing HandsOn Network’s role in the Cities of Service movement.

Is it time to switch to nonprofit sector?

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

by Laura Raines
Originally published on May 6, 2010 for the
Atlanta Journal Constitution and cross posted here with permission from the author.

For many years, Steve Perry was a top sales performer in corporate America. As Southeast area manager for Gartner, the leading information technology research and advisory company, he was also a leader for charitable causes. Perry led the United Way campaign for his division and later joined the board of TechBridge, a nonprofit organization that provides IT advice to other nonprofits.

He found himself more drawn to philanthropy and fund-raising. “I loved the intangible feeling that you get when you help another person. It was time for me to evolve my career,” he said.

Perry left the profit sector, but before beginning his nonprofit search, he enlisted the help of Ellen McCarty, president of Ellen McCarty & Co. and a consultant who helps nonprofit organizations be sustainable and individuals considering a switch to the nonprofit sector.

“I knew I had a passion for philanthropy and a lot of useful business experience, but I needed to learn the landscape of the nonprofit world,” Perry said. “She showed me that the pursuit of my dream job was not only possible, but probable.

“At the heart of me, I want to make a difference, and my business side says that working with donors to raise more money is a way to do that. I know that I can put my skills to work for a great cause.”

There are 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the country, and the number is growing, according to McCarty, “so the nonprofit sector is a very viable career path. In the short run, nonprofit employment has been hurt by the economy, but in the long run, there’s great opportunity.”

“There’s real need because most nonprofit senior executives are older and nearing retirement. The conservative estimate is that 330,000 senior-level positions will need to be filled by 2016,” she said. “For sheer employability, now is an excellent time to consider nonprofits.”

Before starting her consulting business, McCarty served as executive director of the Center for Children and Young Adults Inc. in Cobb County and of Jerusalem House in Atlanta, and as CEO of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Georgia and Alabama.

Nonprofits often turn to the private sector to find people with the strategic thinking, planning, financial, project management and human resource management skills they need to be effective. McCarty hired a Wharton graduate with Wall Street experience as the chief financial officer at Jerusalem House, needing her knowledge of financial systems, cash flow and forecasting. Nonprofits also need people with strong sales skills. “The only difference is what you’re selling: Instead of a product, you’re selling the mission of the organization,” she said.

Since the recession, McCarty is seeing more workers wanting to end their careers doing something that makes a difference. “The No. 1 reason people say they want to switch is because they want to work for purpose,” she said.

That doesn’t mean that everyone is a good fit for the nonprofit culture. Some people are too competitive to mesh with a more collaborative environment where decisions take longer. McCarty helps clients decide using the CROP method, which stands for Clarify (one’s motivation), Reflect (on the types of organizations where your skills would fit best), Organize (your interests with the types of nonprofits that would best fit) and Plan (your search).

“The National Center for Charitable Statistics organizes nonprofits into nine sectors. People have to figure out if their passion lies in health, the arts, human services or the environment, for instance, and whether they’d fit better with a large organization or a grass-roots effort,” she said.

They also have to get past some of the myths associated with nonprofits, such as the environment is nicer, slower and less stressful. “The truth is that you don’t always have the resources you need and you wear many hats. It can be fast-paced and political, but at the end of the day, you know there’s a human face affected by what you do. That’s stressful,” said McCarty. “You won’t be poor working for a nonprofit, another myth, but in all likelihood, you’ll earn less.” She said that, on average, entry-level positions paid 5 percent to 10 percent less; midlevel positions 25 percent less; and executive level, 50 percent less.

“It’s best to educate yourself about the sector and all its choices, so you can make an informed decision,” said McCarty.

Everything Happens For a Reason

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

In celebration of AmeriCorps Week, today’s guest post comes from Tedd Cherry who is in his 2nd year  as a full-time AmeriCorps Volunteer. We are grateful to him for sharing his story with us.

You have to hit rock bottom before you realize where you are and can make the decision to pick your head up again and move on.

In the spring of 2008, I found myself barely alive.

Lost in a world of a bad economy as well as a lost job at a local newspaper, I did not want to live, the depression set in.

Spinning out of control, I had to find a way to slow down.

Without job opportunities in sight, the depression grew deeper.

“What looks like a loss may be the very event which is subsequently responsible for helping to produce the major achievement of your life” -Srully Blotnick

While losing hope, I saw the light in the distance.

That light was a summer camp in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Respite camp is a place for children and adults with physical and developmental challenges.

Never in my live has my soul been touched with the hearts of gold of the campers and staff who came to work there from all over the world.

They are partially responsible for my commitment to service.

Working along side AmeriCorps volunteers all summer, I decided to apply for positions with AmeriCorps.

The next week after applying, I was on an airplane to New Hampshire.

What is in New Hampshire, you may ask?

Besides the ocean, the mountains and the wonderful people, there is City Year where I lived and served with 50 amazing young adults being tutor’s, mentor’s and role model’s to middle school age youth.

My year at City Year was not an easy one, the long hours, the tears, and the physical exhaustion…

Above all I remember my time at City Year, with the love, joy, and feeling of accomplishment.

Even after my term of service with City Year, I couldn’t leave.

This place, my home, will be in my heart forever.

When I reflect back on my continuing roller coaster of service, I see the good times and the bad, though the good far outweigh the bad.

People can tend to be afraid of service, like I was.

You have to look at it as if it was a cliff over a river. You are terrified to jump the fifty feet into the air with only the Wisconsin River below you, but like I did, you need to close your eyes, run and leap.

You will never find out what is down there if you don’t try.

Take chances, loose yourself often to new possibilities.

Live for what it is worth.

No matter what happens, its not going to be the worst thing that happens to you.

“Just keep Swimming.”

Throw away inhibition and take the initiative to love yourself.

Now that my last year of AmeriCorps service is coming to an end, the time has come to look for employment and begin my life after AmeriCorps.

As a strong AmeriCorps alumnus I will continue to serve, because everything happens for a reason.

How to Climb the Tallest Mountain

Monday, April 19th, 2010

My mountain is your perceptions. My other mountain is me.” – Mark Horvath

According to NPR, Mark Horvath is “a former Hollywood insider, who has been a drug addict, con artist and, for a brief period, homeless.”

Fifteen years ago, after being fired from a high paying job at a television company, Mark dealt drugs and tried his hand at credit card fraud, neither very successfully.

For a period, he found himself living on the streets.

Ultimately, he sought help and found faith at a local shelter.

After getting clean, he relocated to the Midwest and worked for a televangelist.

Two years ago, he lost another job, all his money and his home.

He found himself back in Hollywood applying for food stamps and thinking he would soon find himself homeless again.

Having been homeless, Mark notices the people on the streets.

So many of us look away, feeling awkward, helpless and conflicted.

Mark decided to make a difference and he started with socks.

Everyone feeds the homeless,” Mark said, “but clean socks are like gold.”

He started washing discarded socks from a local bowling alley and handing them out to homeless people.

Eventually, he started interviewing the homeless and posting their interviews on  his website, InvisiblePeople.TV.

The website features video after video of homeless people telling their own stories in their own words.

Powerful stuff.

I met Mark at the SXSW Conference in Austin last month and again in Atlanta at theNTEN nonprofit technology conference ten days ago.

Because of Mark’s current work on homelessness, he was asked serve as a panelist in a session about moving mountains, his task was to inspire nonprofit innovation in tackling our largest social issues.

In Mark’s case, his success has largely been driven by the power of social media.

His raw and real interviews with homeless people are widely shared on blogs, Facebook and twitter and the resulting website traffic generates donations for his work.

The viral and grassroots nature of his success has attracted corporate attention as well.  Hanes provides his clean socks now and last year, Ford Motor Company gave him a car for a cross country story gathering trip.

Even with corporate sponsorship, Mark said that sometimes still eats in homeless shelters because he doesn’t always have enough money to buy his own meals.

I drove 11,263 miles in a borrowed car last year without an income,” Mark told us.

Regardless, Mark remains committed to making the homeless visible.

He believes that by hearing their stories, we will find compassion, that we will begin to understand that their humanity and ours aren’t really so far apart.

During his talk, Mark told us that when he started InvisiblePeople.TV, he had a laptop, a video camera, a microphone and forty five dollars to his name.

Throughout his journey,  people who heard about him online offered their help and support.

To me, Mark’s work represents the very best kind of social activism — the kind where an individual takes action that changes the world.

When he asked himself who was going to do something about homelessness, he found that the answer was, “you are.”

National Volunteer Week is this week and the 2010 theme is “Celebrating People in Action.”

I’m celebrating Mark.

How would the world be different if each one of us, like Mark, applied our skills and talents, whatever they may be, to actions that improve the world?

What if each of us decided to begin climbing the tallest mountain?

To solve the hardest problems, we must be the leaders we’ve been waiting for.

To learn more about Mark Horvath, visit InvisiblePeople.TV, and read his blog.

Could Service be Your Resume’s Leading Edge?

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

What if the culture of the American employer evolved to the point that evaluating potential employees  based on both their qualifications for the job and their contributions to the greater good became the norm?

In the last ten years,  liability concerns have made the process of obtaining recommendations about job candidates increasingly difficult.

When asked about former employees, employers are cagey and reluctant to provide any direct, uncensored information.

This makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish one job candidate from another.

What if a candidate’s community service and civic leadership experience was  the leading edge in the job interview process?

How can we encourage employers to expect applicant resumes to include a Civic Leadership section in the same way they feature a candidate’s educational background?

And while I’m dreaming of a world where civic participation is both highly valued and rewarded in our work life, what would it look life if employers measured existing employees’ performance against the achievement of both work related and community involvement goals?

A girl can dream…