Archive for the ‘News & Links’ Category
Paying Tribute to Our Veterans
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Friends,
As we approach Veterans Day this year, with wars being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan, we pay tribute to and thank our armed forces, active and retired. We honor those we have lost, and remember again our obligation to care for the veterans who risked all and sacrificed much. Some have commented that the current wars are being waged largely out of sight of most Americans. Therefore, I’d like to highlight in particular Mission Serve and the activities around HandsOn Network that we developed with it to allow veterans, military, and civilians to volunteer together to benefit their communities.
Mission Serve
Mission Serve, a year-old initiative of the ServiceNation coalition, connects the civilian and military communities through a wide array of service partnerships. It aims to engage active and retired military with civilians to meet the needs of the military community, and also to integrate the nation’s military community into service alongside the civilian community. Its vision is that Veterans Day will become a national day of service linking the civilian and military worlds. This Veterans Day it is coordinating 25 joint projects with a diverse group of partners, including HandsOn Network. We are proud to be one of the convening partners of ServiceNation and a partner for Mission Serve.
HandsOn Network Partnerships Among Veterans, Military, and Civilians
On November 11, HandsOn Jacksonville will be partnering with Habijax (Habitat for Humanity in Jacksonville) and Beaches Habitat for Humanity in home rehabilitation and building projects. The Volunteer Center of Los Angeles will carry out a multi-scoped service project at the Veteran Affairs Greater Los Angeles Health Care Center in Westwood, known as the VA. The project will include painting, landscaping, and refurbishing a wheelchair access path to the gardens. Veterans, military, and civilian volunteers will work side by side on these service projects.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen will celebrate the partnership among the Volunteer Center of Los Angeles, Mission Serve, Bank of America, and Wal-Mart to “Honor Our Heroes” at this service project.
Stressing the importance of such programs, Admiral Mullen has said, “There is a sea of goodwill out there, made up of people, places, programs, all eagerly seeking and serving those in need. Our challenge, however, lies in connecting these programs, not only to those who need help, but to each other. ”
Other HandsOn Network Projects to Benefit Veterans
In other Veterans Day activities around our HandsOn Network, Boston Cares will be serving hot meals at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, the nation’s first and largest veteran-specific shelter. HandsOn Greater Portland in Oregon is honoring veterans by recruiting volunteer leaders to increase its capacity to serve the community. The Volunteer Center of Northwest Suburban Chicago is holding a blood drive, creating holiday cards and collecting donations for armed forces members, among other projects.
If you have not already, please think of a service project you can join or another way to honor our armed forces this Veterans Day. You can find HandsOn projects here and other Mission Serve projects here.
In Service,
Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network
Make A Difference. Vote.
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010At HandsOn Network, our vision is that one day every person will discover their power to make a difference, creating healthy communities and vibrant democracies around the world.
Today is election day in The United States, a day when each of us can make an important difference in our communities.
Over the past year, our collective volunteer experiences have connected us to our nation’s most pressing social issues.
Today, we can make choices that will effect meaningful change.
Let’s bring all that we have learned about our schools, our environment and our economy to the polls today.
Today, of all days, let’s find the time to support the communities we call home.
You have the power to power to make a difference.
You are the leader you’ve been waiting for.
Please vote.
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.
Using the Social Web to Drive Real-World Social Action
Friday, October 15th, 2010
by , Hand’s on Network
I’m in Las Vegas today with of VolunteerSpot, of KaBOOM and of Crowdrise. We’re presenters in the Cause Track at the Blogworld New Media Expo talking about how to use the social we to drive real world social action.
In other words, how can anyone mobilize friends, fans and followers to take real actions that make a difference?
As we planned the session, it occurred to the four of us that that people are still inspired and motivated in traditional ways – even if it’s happening through a new medium.
In our session today, we hope to gather the collective wisdom of those in the room to create a more complete list, but as we head in to our workshop, I’ve outlined a few of our ideas for applying the best practices of traditional volunteer management to distributed action in the social space.
We’d love to know what ideas you have and what you would add to this list.
Leave us a comment with your ideas, won’t you?
Here are some of our initial thoughts…
Make a personal appeal - the number one reason people volunteer is because they were asked. This doesn’t mean they were asked via a mass e-mail, a generic tweet or a mass Facebook event invitation. Someone they knew asked them personally. Keep this in mind when recruiting within social networks.
Tell a compelling story - never underestimate the power of story! Tell your story. Why is the cause important to you? How and why did you get involved? What kind of change do you believe is possible if others get involved? If you speak personally and from your heart, your friends will respond.
Make folks feel part of something larger than themselves – all of us want to find meaning in our lives. You’re not just asking for help, you’re offering people an opportunity to contribute, to participate in making a difference. Let this help you overcome your fear that you’re burdening folks with your request.
Make your ask relevant – think about the needs/concerns of your social media networks and how what you’re asking of them speaks to their needs and concerns. Let them know what they’ll get out of it. Don’t be shy about this one. The truth is that all of us end up getting more than we give when we volunteer. We’re transformed for the better by the experience!
Think creatively- How can you spread your ask beyond your immediate network? Brainstorm ways to create incentives for your network to pass it on. Can you make a game out of it? Might you offer a prize to the person who recruits the most people to join the effort or raises the most money for your cause?
Make it easy – remember volunteers have to be eased into a commitment. Make it quick and easy to take immediate action, ask for specific actions and small commitments first and work up to larger commitments.
Don’t waste volunteer’s time, be organized. (Enough said?)
Invite volunteers to get involved in planning and shaping the next project. (First you ask the mom to make cookies for the bake sale and the next thing she knows she’s President of the PTA!)
Report back – let people know the larger impact they’ve made possible. Share the results of your team’s collective action. How many students were tutored? How many houses renovated? How much money was raised?
Don’t skimp on the thanks & recognition. Always thank and recognize your volunteers and donors. You can send them an e-mail, call them, write on their Facebook wall, send a tweet out about them… just don’t forget to thank them.
What would you add?
Related Posts & Articles
- Using Social Media to Build Volunteer Communities
- Has “do-gooding” gone mainstream?
- 6 Ways to Help the Gulf Today -best practices of a blogger turned activist
- What nonprofits can learn from a bunch of nerds
- Rule of the 3rd person and why you need one
- Volunteerism on Foursquare
- 4 Tips for Using Social Media to Mobilize People
- Mobilizing Volunteers with Social Media
- Crafting a Volunteer Recruitment Message
- Volunteer Recruitment Ideas
- 9 Rules of Volunteer Recognition
- 10 Things to Consider Before Starting A Volunteer Recognition Program
- 8 Ways to Grow Volunteer Leaders
- The Power of Storytelling
How Will You Make A Difference This Year?
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
Every October, on Make a Difference Day, thousands of neighbors help each other in meaningful ways.
For almost 20 years Make A Difference Day has catalyzed and inspired millions of people to create self-directed change in their own communities and in their own lives. Make A Difference day has become the largest national day of service – with over three million people serving in one day.
Each year 10 outstanding Make A Difference Day volunteers from this initiative are honored for their contributions with a monetary award generously provided by Newman’s Own.
As Make A Difference Day 2010 approaches, we’d like to recognize some of the Make A Difference Day honorees from years past.
Seventeen year old Lucas Metropulos was a low-income kid in coastal Florida who had never caught a fish. Regardless, Lucas began teaching a weekly fishing class after school for eight to eleven year old kids. He taught knot-tying, casting, netting, cleaning, and sustainable fishing. The classes normally culminate with a trip to a fishing pier.
For Make a Difference Day last year, Lucas managed to secure a 70-foot charter fishing boat and crew, round up 10 chaperones, and collect donations for a post-trip supper. Twenty children, ages 8 to 11, caught kingfish, triggerfish (and two large ones that got away!)
Olga El Sa-hame-y of New York read about Make a Difference Day in USA Weekend magazine and decided then and there to act. She and her husband Muh-stafa El Sa-hame-y stayed up until 2 am cooking 50 servings of chicken with rice and packaged them with fruit, beverages, and dessert. They drove the meals into Manhattan and met their son Alex and four of his friends. For the next few hours, the seven of them distributed their food to the homeless, seeking them out in doorways, under trees and in subways.
Make A Difference Day, like all transformational service efforts, creates virtual circles of helping.
Often the helpers become the helped.
For instance, Anna Tris-vane, 79, of Providence has fostered nearly 40 children, and her 60-year-old home showed the wear and tear of a lifetime of hard use. The nonprofit “Rebuilding Together Providence” and Lowe’s partnered to rejuvenate her home on Make A Difference Day. A team, including plumbers, painters, and electricians, caulked, added kitchen cabinets, renovated the bathrooms, installed new locks, and much more for the Tris-vane home. .
These examples illustrate what ordinary people can do to create change in the daily lives of others and, in the process, weave the fabric of community that unites us all.
You can be part of it!
- Spread the Word
- Create a Project
- Find a Project
- Get Resources
- Share Your Story
Volunteerism at the New Media Expo? You Bet!
Saturday, October 9th, 2010
by , VP of Social Media, Hand’s on Network and , CEO, VolunteerSpot
On Friday, October 15th at 12:15 p.m. PST, we’re facilitating a session at the BlogWorld New Media Expo exploring what’s most effective in inspiring, equipping and mobilizing people to make a difference and take real world action.
We’ll be joined as facilitators by of KaBOOM and of Crowdrise.
This won’t be a ‘talking heads’ panel discussion. Instead we’ll be calling on the wisdom of the crowd and challenging participants to drive real-world action right there, in the moment, from the conference room. (And there will be some cool prizes too!)
Session participants will compete to earn points and prizes for creating real-world actions that range from simple, like re-tweeting of messages, to more complex commitments like persuading friends, fans or conference attendees not in the ro
om to pose for humorous photos or make commitments to charities or causes they care about.
Between the four of us, we have boatloads of experience mobilizing people to make a difference. If you’re coming to Blogworld and you attend our session, we’ll share simple best-practice strategies as well as demonstrate the way that social media can amplify your power to create change and involve friends, family, community volunteers and others in your local and networked communities.
There couldn’t be a better time to talk about mobilizing people to take real world action. October 23, 2010, just one week after Blogworld closes, marks the 20th anniversary of Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of community service. We hope you’ll Make A Difference in your community.
- Spread the Word
- Create a Project
- Find a Project
- Get Resources
- Share Your Story
Follow the conversation on Twitter at #BWERWA at 12:15 PST on October 15th!
BlogWorld Expo ‘10 here we come!
On Taking Initiative
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
by Melissa Garber, Gulf Response VISTA, HandsOn New Orleans
Walking into the Community Center of St. Bernard Parish it was immediately clear that it is an invaluable resource to the community. St. Bernard Parish was decimated after Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Every single house in the parish received water damage, and it is the only county in the United States to ever be completely inundated in water.
I was visiting the center as a representative of HandsOn New Orleans, to check out what they are doing for the community. I joined HandsOn at the beginning of September as their Gulf Response VISTA. St. Bernard was doubly hit by the oil spill, many of the parish’s residents were fishermen and shrimpers, and the need for resources has increased.
The Community Center officially opened in January 2007 as a direct response to the devastation that is still wholly visible five years after Katrina. Iray Nabatoff, the center’s volunteer Executive Director since its inception, manages a staff made up entirely of volunteers. They provide residents with badly needed services like a media center with Internet, printers and phones, the Mustard Seed Clothing Bank, the Mustard Seed Food Pantry, Red Cross Disaster Preparedness Training, legal aid and so much more. The center even serves as a temporary location for the Office of Family Support, because even five years later the parish still does not have a permanent OFS office.
With Make a Difference Day right around the corner, I knew HandsOn could do something, anything, to help the community center and the people of St. Bernard Parish. I decided on a food drive that could span across HandsOn New Orleans network of community partners, businesses, non-profits and schools. My food drive has hit the ground running, and, come October 23, we’ll have positively impacted a keystone institution that truly supports the residents of St. Bernard Parish.
So whether you’re in the Greater New Orleans area or not, take an opportunity to check out your local community center, donate to your local food bank, and look for a way to give back this Make a Difference Day.
Melissa Garber is the Gulf Response VISTA for HandsOn New Orleans. This is her second term with AmeriCorps and her second year in Louisiana. She couldn’t imagine living and serving anywhere but New Orleans.
For more information about the Community Center of St. Bernard Parish go to http://www.ccstb.org/. For more information about HandsOn New Orleans go to http://www.handsonneworleans.org/. And finally if you’d like to know more about the food drive I’m organizing for National Make a Difference Day please contact her at .
Come Jam With Us
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
Friends,
Please join us at the upcoming IBM Service Jam!
This global online event will bring together nonprofits, thought leaders, corporations, schools, and government agencies in a conversation about how social innovation can help solve the world’s most significant challenges.
The Jam aspires to generate breakthrough ideas that redefine volunteerism, corporate citizenship, and service models.
Some thoughts for the Jam:
- How do culture and geography affect the concept of service?
- How can communities (geographical, virtual, formal, informal) change systems and policies?
- How can we leverage social media and networks to create change? How much is hype and how much is game-changing?
- How do we enable individuals to use all of their assets and resources to make a difference — their time, skills, purchasing power, civic voice?
The Jam takes place October 10 -12, and you can dip in and out of the conversations as you wish.
I will be hosting a discussion forum on Empowering the Individual, and we want and value your thoughts, insights, and questions.
Other forums will address measuring social impact, effective partnerships, the digital revolution within the service sector, and much more.
Other discussion hosts include Patrick Corvington, Alan Khazei, Sonal Shah, and John Bridgeland.
Following the Jam, IBM and its partners will produce a white paper with key findings and highlights to share with participants.
The document will serve as a call to action on key issues and as a practical guide to help organizations innovate and improve service programs — all the more reason we want your energy and creativity at this unique event.
For more information and to request an invitation, please visit the Service Jam Website or email .
Yours in service,
Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute
Change Notes: HandsOn Network and Education Nation
Friday, October 1st, 2010
Friends,
With education at the forefront of NBC News programming this week and online at www.educationnation.com, and with the release of Waiting for Superman, a documentary that follows a handful of promising kids through the education system, millions of individuals are asking themselves, what is their role in supporting reform and change in our public schools?
During the education plenary at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in June, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, paraphrasing Horace Mann from a century ago,
“
Education is the great equalizer, no matter your race, creed, or zip code.” He added, “Education is not just a pathway to success; it is a prerequisite to success.”
Here at Points of Light Institute, our HandsOn Network affiliates are creating innovative in-school and after-school programming for volunteers. We are partnering with companies to help them mobilize their talent and assets to create educational change, and our newest enterprise, generationOn, is infusing service learning into the schools and inspiring young people to make their mark in the world.
I would like to highlight just a few examples that demonstrate the power of citizens making a difference in powerful ways to create stronger schools and successful students.
HandsOn Network
HandsOn Atlanta is partnering with the public school “Success for All” program, sending AmeriCorps members to 
tutor elementary students in reading and math, and to help high school students with college readiness, both during and after school. Since 1994, more than 1,600 AmeriCorps members and volunteers have directly served more than 115,000 students in school-focused programs in Atlanta.
An innovative program at our affiliate, New York Cares, pairs volunteers and students ages 5-12 to read and write together on weekday evenings. The goal is to encourage a love of reading outside of school. In another NY Cares program, volunteers work with tweens and teens who develop personal memoirs and other writing, which is published at the end of the semester.
The story of Tonya Ingram exemplifies the power of such programs. For the first 12 years of her life, Tonya rarely left her apartment in a violent neighborhood. When she was 12, a neighbor told her about the Read to Me program at NY Cares, where volunteers take kids to the library to read. She joined them. That program was Tonya’s gateway to the world, not just to reading, but also eventually to museums and parks, with volunteers by her side. Today, Tonya is a freshman at New York University, and a volunteer herself with NY Cares.
generationOn and Hasbro
generationOn, our newest division which officially launches on Make a Difference Day, October 23, will be a powerful resource for children and their families. It will provide service learning tools, curricula, and programs to enable young people to make their mark using their energy, creativity, and compassion. The Hasbro Children’s Fund has generously made a large financial commitment to allow generationOn to realize its potential, including creating an upcoming interactive and innovative website for kids, teachers, nonprofits and communities.
Key initiatives include:
- A national youth leadership program– Hasbro Community Action Heroes.
- An expanded Kids Care Club model that will allow kids to participate in service around the globe.
- Significant support for the nonprofit and education field to ensure that all youth have the opportunity to discover their potential through service.
Corporate Partners Making a Difference in Education
American Express
In conjunction with NBC Universal’s weeklong series “Education Nation,” American Express has announced
the week-long Action for Education Challenge, inviting the public to make a pledge to take action to help local schools. In addition, HandsOn Network will partner with American Express to engage 2,000 volunteers across five cities to help improve the quality of classroom education. Those cities are New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tampa, and Cleveland.
From now through October 1, Members Project® from American Express and TakePart are encouraging people to help improve education within their communities by making a pledge to take action — from volunteering at a local library to donating supplies to a local school and more. If 100,000 people make the pledge, American Express will donate $1 million to DonorsChoose.org, an organization that empowers people to help students in need. American Express will donate $10 per pledge if the challenge does not receive the full 100,000 pledges. Pledges can be made online at MembersProject.com/Pledge.
Fidelity
HandsOn Network and Fidelity Investments have partnered to revitalize the learning environments in 11 middle schools across the nation. In locations ranging from Nashua, NH, to Albuquerque, NM, Fidelity employees have worked with HandsOn affiliates and partners on local Transformation Days, executing projects chosen with each school’s teachers, students, parents, and community.
Projects have ranged from launching Career and College Resource Centers, to building outdoor science classrooms and labs. Beyond this one day, Fidelity employees will act as mentors throughout the school year and bring tangible resources into the school, such as new and gently used books.
This effort will be Fidelity’s largest employee volunteer project and will total more than 30,000 hours of community service donated by 3,000 of its employees.
Education as the Gateway to Civic Engagement
Education is key to a vibrant economy, personal and individual fulfillment, and our civic health. The recently released report on the civic health of America, from the National Conference on Citizenship and the Corporation for National & Community Service, found that the higher the level of people’s education, the more likely they are to participate in civic activities, such as voting, volunteering, and working with their neighbors to fix a community problem.
Just as it takes an entire village to raise a child, it will take corporations, individuals, and nonprofits partnering in innovative ways to create an education system where every child has access to a quality education, the ultimate goal of school reform. As part of that effort, HandsOn Network, generationOn, and our corporate partners are supporting meaningful projects to assure student success and, in the process, creating engaged citizens for the future.
In Service,
Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network
