Friends,
I have started a new blog called BE MORE. The purpose of the new blog is to share insights and inspiration to empower people, companies, communities and organizations to do and BE MORE.
Thank you for visiting A Responsible Way. I hope you will visit the new blog soon!
Be well,
Tracey--
This week marks the beginning of the second year of Limeades for Learning, a cause grant-making initiative from SONIC Drive-In in conjunction with DonorsChoose.org.
From now until September 30, 2010, you have an opportunity to make a difference in your community by voting for your favorite teacher's project online once a day at www.LimeadesForLearning.com. Teachers with the most votes will receive a grant from SONIC through DonorsChoose.org for materials and experiences that inspire learning. Anyone with a valid e-mail address can participate every day!
Once again, SONIC will donate $500,000 to this campaign. If there are more than one million votes cast by September 30, SONIC will unlock an additional $100,000, bringing their total contribution to DonorsChoose.org to more than $1 million.
This year, my favorite teacher's project is from Gulf Gate Elementary School in Sarasota, FL entitled "Literacy Tubs for Little Learners." This project is from my sister's school and I'm hopeful people will vote online to support Mrs. H. and her students.
Please join me in supporting public school teachers - they are a selfless bunch who give so much of themselves so students can thrive. All it takes is one vote once a day. You'll be glad you did!
Has it really been three months since I've blogged? Bad me.
To make up for it, I've done some good this week. I helped a few local non-profit organizations through Pepsi's acclaimed cause branding campaign, Pepsi Refresh Project.
It's a simple campaign really and anyone can get involved. Non-profits register grant requests on the Web site and consumers vote for their favorite projects. Projects with the most votes are awarded grants. It's a lot like SONIC's Limeades for Learning program, but I'll comment on that initiative in another post.
Categories of grant requests include Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods and Education. I voted for two projects: The Empty Box Collaboration, who aims to reduce landfill use by making recycling easier for consumers and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Schenectady, N.Y. who is looking to build an outdoor recreation facility.
There are thousands of excellent community organization who need funding to continue their good works. Pepsi has done an outstanding job of making it easy for consumers to be more involved and help make a difference. Vote today!
A new grassroots movement is about to begin and it all starts with you! One Million Acts of Kindness Week starts Monday, February 8th. During the week, students across the country are asked to fulfill one million acts of kindness over their lifetime. That's a commitment of nearly 55 years!
The goal of this movement is for young people to find the passion in their hearts for something or someone in need. Pretty simple. Bringing kindness into the mindset of today's young generation is not so simple however this campaign is setting out to make a difference, one person at a time.
One Million Acts of Kindness is starting out with schools and hopes to have at least 100 registered to take part next week. If you are an educator, teacher, professor or administrator involved in an academic setting, you are encouraged to register for the first annual week-long event. Anyone can participate, however. All it takes is a conversation with your friends, family and community to find ways to help those in need. People who participate are encouraged to share their stories online and build momentum to bring kindness back into our daily lives.
You can find One Million Acts of Kindness online and on Facebook or twitter. I hope this becomes an annual event that transforms young people to make a difference in their communities. Join the conversation!
Tonight, MTV will air its Hope for Haiti telethon at 8:00 p.m. EST. I hope you will tune in and donate to relief efforts for this devastated nation.
Don't have time on a Friday night to watch? There are many ways in which you can support relief efforts. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have a list of reputable organizations you can donate to including the American Red Cross. I selected UNICEF through SONIC, America's Drive-In. There's also the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Glad to see two former Presidents using their voice together to promote good.
Whatever you can afford - your time, your donations, your voice, please do. Millions are counting on us.
"O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea." - Katharine Lee Bates, 1895
When I think of environmental responsibility, this song comes to mind. I try not to focus on the doom and gloom of global warming, or taxes on driving. Instead, I focus on the wonders of this planet and organic beauty of nature. My hope is that future generations will enjoy as many breath-taking parks, vistas, water falls, sea creatures, monuments, mountains and trees that I have experienced.
For me, I learned of the importance of preserving our environment from camping each summer with my family. We would pack up the VW van and take our 6-person tent across the country to destinations unknown. Of course, I'm sure the emissions of the VW van wouldn't pass muster today but it was always an adventure!
Teaching tomorrow's future about nature is important. Preserving our national parks and saving our lands should be both an honor and an obligation. There are terrific resources to teach kids about the environment and dangers that exist from misuse. From the National Park Service to the Discovery Channel to Kids for Saving Earth, resources abound for inspiring new generations to protect our natural wonders. The Boy and Girl Scouts of America are fantastic organizations to instill the basics as well.
Feel like doing more to help the environment? How about participating in a local Adopt-a-Highway or Beach volunteer program. If you are really inspired, you can participate in a Campaign Earth challenge! Likewise, you can join the millions of people who are members of Care2, an online education and advocacy site for people wanting to make a difference.
"O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years. Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed his grace on thee. Till nobler men keep once again thy whiter jubilee!"
There are thousands of ways to make a difference. As we approach the holiday season, people tend to become more charitable - of their time, resources and financial commitments. For the next ten weeks, I'll call attention to some of the fundamentals that you and your family can do to make a positive impact on society. From protecting our natural environment to volunteering to performing acts of citizenry, it's amazing how much can be accomplished by doing a little good every day!
Let's start with volunteering. People from all walks of life volunteer for many reasons. At the end of the day, people simply want to help others and fulfill a societal need. There's a terrific sense of accomplishment when you volunteer and it makes you feel good.
One of the reasons people don't volunteer is because they don't know where to start. There are several terrific Web sites to help you select volunteer opportunities that are important to you. The first is Volunteer Match. This is an easy-to-use site to help you find opportunities in your local community. From greeting others to improving parks to disaster relief assistance, Volunteer Match is a great way to help you discover opportunities to serve.
Another terrific Web resource is Serve.gov. This federal site is a great online resource to not only find volunteer opportunities, but create one of your own. Have you ever wanted to start a community garden but needed help from others? You can post community projects online and find volunteers to take action.
DoSomething is another great Web site, especially for teens and young adults. From volunteering to taking action and advocacy, this site will give you plenty of ideas for engagement offline.
In addition to volunteer Web sites, you can visit non-profit organizations in need of volunteers. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Kaboom! and the American Red Cross are some of my favorites.
It's terrific to be a volunteer. Helping just a little goes a long way. I hope you will check back each week to discover how you can make a difference in your life and in the lives of others.
SONIC Drive-In has launched a new cause grant-making campaign called Limeades for Learning which provides grants to public school teachers. This September, SONIC will donate more than half a million dollars to fund classroom materials and experiences needed to inspire learning.
Each year, teachers spend an average $1,200 of their own money to effectively teach their students. SONIC wants to help. They've partnered with DonorsChoose.org, a leading national non-profit Web site to fulfill teacher projects requested by teachers. Projects range from soccer balls needed for gym class to ESL materials to help children read to computers needed for science lab. Imagine if you had to pay for your own materials at work such as pens, paper clips, print paper, etc. That's a huge expense!
One of the unique benefits of DonorsChoose.org is that every day people become citizen philanthropists by donating to their favorite teacher's project. Limeades for Learning is similar in that it empowers SONIC customers to take part and direct which teacher projects receive funding. Thus far, SONIC has generously donated over $200,000 to more than 500 teacher projects. The program has two weeks to go and there's still time to participate!
Order any drink at SONIC. Peel the sticker from your cup to discover your unique vote code. Go to www.LimeadesForLearning.com to search and vote for your favorite teacher project and feel good knowing you've made a difference. Wanna do more? Tell others about the program or your favorite teacher project and encourage them to take part. Wanna do even more? Donate $5 to your favorite teacher project and help kids learn.
Lee Jeans in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation has officially launched the 2009 Lee National Denim Day cause program whereby consumers are encouraged to donate $5 and wear jeans for the day.
Since 1996, more than $75 million has been donated for research and advocacy in the fight against breast cancer. This year's ambassador is actress and breast cancer survivor, Christina Applegate. She's beautiful and her story is courageous and inspiring!
Lee National Denim Day is now accepting pledges for individuals and teams participate in the cause program on October 2, 2009. All you have to do is donate $5 to the campaign and proudly wear your jeans to commemorate this endeavor.
I love the simplicity of this campaign as well as the idea I can wear my jeans to support a cause that's meaningful on a personal level. It's estimated that 190,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and 40,000 deaths will occur because of it.* I hope everyone will join in to continue the fight against breast cancer so future generations can live prosperous, cancer-free lives.
*Source: American Cancer Society
Marketing and communications strategist with experience in brand marketing, public relations, strategic philanthropy, cause marketing, consumer products and licensing.
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