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SERVICE WITH A SMILE

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Service with a Smile

Sue Camlin- Team Philadelphia, T2, Q1

The Cherry Hill Food and Outreach (CHFO) is committed to Service with a Smile. Year-round, CHFO answers the call to help those in need within the Cherry Hill, NJ (tri-county) area. They provide a steady food supply that includes high-demand items like bread, milk, and eggs.

For one lead volunteer, Sue Camlin, food and outreach is her personal mission. This year alone, as part of her participation in Landmark Education’s Team Management and Leadership program, new food-pantry partnerships and contributions are keeping the cupboards full and the Tuesday night/Thursday afternoon distribution timeframes now offer expanded services including medical check-ups by nurses. Sue believes magical things are happening – including the miraculous $8,000 check that showed up in July of 2009.

“I’m really excited about being with the clients,” Sue states. “I feel connected to the community, the volunteers, and the families. We now even have the Mayor’s office and the Cherry Hill Library involved. New leaders keep emerging to help!”

When it comes to the CHFO growth over time, the numbers are staggering. At the beginning May of 2006, only non-perishable items were collected, and the CHFO’s physical space was a church cellar, with NO refrigerator or freezer, and limited access to get into the cellar! Now, the ‘super market’ sized space includes three refrigerators, three freezers, and convenient access. Operating inside of a commitment to “be of service” and “love thy neighbor,” the number of participating families went from 30 to 550. And the program is only three years young.

Here’s another look at the numbers: In June. 2009, CHFO’s volunteers got to see firsthand the fruits of their labor as more than seven hundred children were provided with food and personal items. With school lunches absent during the summer, the nutritional needs of children are of great concern. Food pantries often view summer as the worst time of year, but CHFO is in full stock, specifically with peanut butter, jelly and ‘meals in a can.’

At this time when one in eight Americans is struggling with the reality of hunger and food insecurity, a new type of client has emerged—middleclass people who have been hit with foreclosures and layoffs. According to Sue, CHFO does what it can to care for its clients—delivering food to people having medical problems, giving out Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gift bags, families within a 5-mile radius of the pantry are eligible for bags full of groceries twice a week.

“People who come to us from outside the area still get food and we also give them a list of food pantries in their areas,” Sue said. “We have never turned anybody away, because our commitment to the community is so great and strong. CHFO is a wonderful group.” To participate, visit www.cherryhillfoodpantry.org or contact Sue Camlin at scamlin1@comcast.net.

Written by Wendy Zalles

RED PANTS FOR THE WORLD

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Red Pants for the World

An army of young women out to alter the planet

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Judi Romaine- Team Cincinnati, T1, Q4

“After surgery I was still in a lot of pain,” said Judi Romaine.

“I had bankrupted the identity I had. I used up everything that looked like possibility. I could decide to die.”

For a woman who has been active in Landmark Education for more than 30 years, this is a startling statement. Landmark Education produces courses to give people the tools to live powerful lives and lives that they love. It is all about possibility.

“Team was the last stand for transforming that [bankrupt identity],” said the Bloomington, Indiana author. So she joined Landmark’s Team Management and Leadership Program. (TMLP).

Among other things, TMLP equips participants with the skills to create teams and teamwork in any situation. Judi decided to use the skills to inspire “an army of young women living created lives out to transform the planet.”

Judi formed a team and they named themselves Red Pants for the World. According to Judi, “Red Pants became a metaphor for young girls and women who are out to make a difference and living lives where they are unconstrained.”

The idea came one night in September 2007, a year before she joined TMLP. Judi was sitting on her couch with a few friends and they were brainstorming ideas for a party. One of the lady’s jumps up and yells, “Let’s have everybody come to the party wearing red pants!”

The image of an army of women all wearing red pants at the same time hit Judi like a lightning bolt. She thought, “Yes, a cadre of women with the courage to wear red pants tells the world that they are bold, powerful and free.”

Where did Judi decide she could make the biggest difference? Half a world away. In the past few years there have been many stories in the news about Afghanistan. Judi was struck by all the images of women there who have not been allowed to express themselves.

The team’s goal is to raise $100,000 by 2012 for a school in Afghanistan. Red Pants for the World has formed a partnership with Nafissa, a woman who escaped from Afghanistan in the 1980s during the war with the Soviet Union.

Nafissa now lives in Paris and created Solidaire Provence Afghanistan, a non-profit whose objective is to help the most unprivileged Afghans and raise awareness on the Afghan culture in France. Red Pants has already raised $650 in online donations for the Solidaire Proveance to support the distribution of books in an Afghan village. (To protect the girls and women the name of the village cannot be disclosed.)

Red Pants hasn’t confined its work to just Afghanistan. The team provided a $500 microloan to a Cambodian woman who wanted to build a new house for her nieces and nephews after their parents died.

To raise money, Judi created an online store www.cafepress.com/redpants to sell and promote Red Pants for the World products like journals, note cards, bumper stickers, mugs and bags.

This August, Red Pants partnered with the Silk Road Institute – an Indiana-based non-profit led by an Iranian born professor. Silk Road Institute promotes self-expression and freedom through music.

Closer to home, Red Pants is working in Bloomington with abused women who have children. They are in the process of starting a writing group to enable the women to write their stories and share them with the world. Judi wants to “have these women lit up and seeing that they are fully expressed in the world and share it in a way that makes a difference for others.”

Red Pants is committed to publishing these stories on its blog, www.redpantslegacy.blogspot.com. As an author, Judi will assist the Red Pants girls in publishing their expressions in book form.

There’s another team in Elkhart, Indiana, a town that has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. In September 2009, Red Pants is starting an afterschool writing program for 6th grade girls in low-income neighborhoods. The objective is for these girls to build a Red Pants team that fulfills their individual visions.

Judi’s passion for giving women the ability to create bold, powerful lives stems from an incident 50 years ago, when she wasn’t much older than the 6th graders she is inspiring today. When she was 15 years old, Judi’s sister Gay was killed in a car accident. She was just 17. “Gay never got to fulfill on her life,” Judi said.

In that moment, Judi felt alone and decided she would live a life where she would be independent and not depend on anyone.

It was through her participation in TMLP, that Judi realized how her entire life was based on that incident. “I sentenced myself to the idea that I’m on my own.”

She created an isolated world designed to do things alone. As an author she works from home, by herself. And she has been successful living in the world she created, publishing three novels.

Since joining TMLP, Judi’s life has transformed. “Before TMLP, my notion of team was that everything funnels through the leader. Applying what I learned through TMLP, my neighbors have been coming to me. People are willing to be a team together to support each other.”

“Now, I have an expanded sense of knowing myself as someone who makes a difference in the world,” Judi said. “By myself I never would have tried to do any of this.”

She noted that the more she looks for examples of what she is standing for, the more it shows up. Recently, CNN ran a story about a 14 year-old girl in Pakistan starting a blog based upon her commitment to ending terror attacks in her country. She shares poetry, stories and news. “She’s being is a perfect expression of Red Pants showing up in the world,” said Judi.

Through Red Pants for the World, Judi has gone from a hospital bed, believing she had done all she could in life to a woman creating a legacy. She has given women globally the opportunity Gay never had – a world full of women expressing themselves, wearing red pants, and creating a life they love.

Written by Steve Schapiro & Don Murphy

PASSIONATE LEADERSHIP

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PASSIONATE LEADERSHIP

Angela Wilson-Team Detroit, T2,Q4

ANGELA WILSON has a vision for Detroit. She has a vision of a city where children are nurtured and cared for, a place where families have access to everything they need. She believes that it is city leaders who will transform her city.

With this in mind, she made the decision to run for Detroit City Council. She used her participation in the Team Management and Leadership Program to create a Game in the World where, with the help of four teams, she would be elected to the city council. She and her teams created the acronym PEOPLE – standing for People Empowerment, Openness, Principled Leadership and Excellence in Detroit government.

The four teams, with two leaders on each team, are:

1) Resource development team – to raise money and secure other resources including businesses, people and time;

2) Community team – to engage the community, recruit volunteers, community events, creating events around a platform and align with others platforms;

3) Partnership team – to focus on creating partnerships with other candidates and share resources; and

4) Leadership team – to manage all teams, making broad policy decisions, approaching and supporting other teams.

When Angela lost the primary on Tuesday August 4th, she and her team leaned some invaluable lessons, the most important of which was to not give up on the game. They are still passionate leaders committed to transforming their city, but have aligned behind two winning primary candidates and will bring the power of their game to those leaders.

The transformation Angela is committed to for Detroit has already begun. People are seeing the possibility of a city that isn’t doing business as usual – they are not settling for ‘the way it’s been.’ A big shift occurred in the last election: of the six incumbent members running, only two made it into the top five. Since the top nine candidates will become the city council members, at least four will be new. This has never happened in Detroit politics before. Detroit is playing a different game now – a game of transformation.

Angela has learned two critical things from her game: First, that team–a real team, not just names, requires people who are committed and clear about their role. Second, she learned that it is crucial to listen ‘for’ what people are committed to, not just the words but for the intentions behind the words.

As she completes her second year in TMLP, Angela found out what was important was not just winning a council seat, but the training and development in playing the game and learning what works in the practice of playing.

Written by Judi Romaine, Edited by Jeff Bonar

WINDOWS OF THE WORLD

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Windows Of the World! – An International Event

Katherine Barling-Team Melbourne, Australia T2, Completed

I’m in the middle of Melbourne’s grand civic square with a huge screen – it’s a world wide event focusing on the amazing creative projects that are happening now, creating a world that is environmentally sustainable, socially just and community focused. There’s a container painted all over with animals, bound for India, as an education centre. Another container stands nearby to be out-fitted as India’s 1st mobile medical centre of it’s kind, with equipment already donated. It is covered in artwork representing the schools that have also contributed. 1000’s of people are gathered to celebrate the world we live in, the communities we live in and the projects and activities we participate in to make this world a better place for all, for now and for future generations.

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Their attention is on the big screen, viewing cutting edge, short films representing many projects around the world that are making a difference. Guest presenters speak passionately of the project, answer questions and engage the audience for contribution of ideas, debate and collaboration. At café’s and restaurants around the square, excited discussions continue when the films are over.

That’s what I envisage for a few weeks away, 6 nights starting September 12, 2009. It’s taken a village of people to put this together – teams of collaborators, film-makers and editors, designers and artists, event coordinators to undertake calls and meetings, letters and follow up and invitations to indigenous elders, city dignitaries, heads of state, community leaders and members.

What the team has accomplished in less than 6 months is extraordinary! This is a world class event, focused on what is making a difference in the world now, beamed to 40 countries, with over 50 communities in Melbourne taking part, with leaders of different faith, meeting and working together to bring their communities to participate, supporting communities affected by the bush fires earlier this year, supporting indigenous communities and their art from across the country, witnessing the ancient art from war-torn lands, refugees re-create in an Australian context and more. Much more. And now these have been filmed and are screening centre stage.

In these challenging times of financial and environmental crisis, social upheaval and uncertainty, an event that gives people hope that the future that we want is indeed possible and achievable now.

The project has also created www.windowsoftheworld.com.au, which will be launched by 21 Aug 2009 where others projects around the world can link in, provide their films or let us know of their projects and teams can link up together.

Project initiated 3rd Quarter Team 2, 7 months ago, as the result of training in being an extraordinary communicator through teamwork. Project sparked by the indigenous people of Ecuador (Changing the Dream Symposium).

EXPRESS YOURSELF

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‘EXPRESS YOURSELF’

Georgia Bruton-Team Sydney, AustraliaT1, Q 2

Imagine not having access to the tools that allow us to create and the tools that allow us to be self-expressed. The tools that let us explore our talents and live lives we love. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of homeless Australian kids who do not have this opportunity and are just struggling to survive.

This was our inspiration in creating ‘EXPRESS YOURSELF,’ an exhibition to raise money for ‘Youth Off The Streets’ (YOTS).

Youth Off The Streets is a community organization whose mission is to “help disconnected young people discover greatness within by engaging, supporting and providing opportunities to encourage & facilitate positive life choices.”

For More information go to http://www.youthoffthestreets.com.au

The mission of this project is to educate and inspire people to be fully self-expressed in all areas of life.The goal of the project was to generate funds to supply an art program to underprivileged children in Australia so they can also have the opportunity to express themselves.

The vision for the project is to create a world where “every child has the tools to be self expressed.”

‘EXPRESS YOURSELF’ was a successful, exciting, fully self-expressed event by our team in the form of an art auction featuring a range of fantastic art pieces created for the event by both homeless kids and famous local Australians. It was held at Bondi Beach and included break-dancing and musical performances by incredibly talented homeless kids along with well known DJ’s and singers. The head auctioneer from a leading real-estate agency brought an extra flair to the auction. The header logo on this article is one of the images created for the event.

Over 150 people attended the high-energy event. Express Yourself generated a lot of good PR and over AUS$12,500 was raised to start an art program at the local YOTS schools, now in the process of being launched. Many of the homeless kids involved in Express Yourself are now inspired to include some form of creative expression in their future career choices. This event is now ready to be rolled out in Melbourne, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand and is in the Sydney calendar as an annual event.

The vision of homeless kids, with the tools they need to be fully self-expressed, inspired, moved, and consistently motivated everyone on the Youth Off the Streets team to be in action creating an event that no one would forget.

This project was created and completed by Georgia Bruton as part of the Team Management Leadership Program. The project not only provided funding for YOTS and homeless kids. It allowed Georgia to get back in touch with her own artistic self-expression. This project allowed her to both work with what she loves and to make a difference in ways that mattered to her and others on her team. With this training in managing teams, Georgia now has the freedom and ease to expand her own work and foster more projects that contribute to her community and the world.

MICHELANGELO'S GROUP

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Terry Mottinger- Team Cincinnati, Team 1, Quarter 1 

Terry Mottinger is an art teacher who has a special charge. She teaches kids to love art. She works in an inner city school in Columbus, Ohio. She always loved kids but recently discovered a special passion for them. She dreams of creating artists for the future; giving them real training in the arts world so children can become whatever they want in life–kids following their dreams. 

A professional artist herself, Michelangelo was always Terry’s favorite artist. He did the kind of art that inspires Terry, spontaneous and inspired. Since she pictured the children in her classes learning art the same way, she decided that Michelangelo’s Group would be a great name. 

The kids of Michelangelo’s Group create all kinds of art, from decorating the school dance to making jewelry to throwing pots to painting to dancing. Her group is waiting to hear if they’ve been invited to show their work at the Student Art Show of the Columbus Museum of Art, a prestigious invitation. 

So far the response to Michelangelo’s Group has been an overflow of enthusiasm; parents so excited they turn up at school to find out what’s happening, kids dropping by at any moment, other teachers asking what’s going on. The school principal loves Michelangelo’s Group and the kids feel honored to be part of a special group. Everyone wants to be part of Michelangelo’s Group. 

Terry says so far she hasn’t been stopped by problems and now her Game in the World is getting bigger and bigger. She’s excited by the possibility of expansion and adding team members. Terry says the only thing she’d have done differently in starting Michelangelo’s Group would have been to be more confident and playing a bigger game from the very beginning.  

The next steps for Michelangelo’s Group are to push it out into the community further–to executives in the arts organizations such as the Greater Columbus Arts Council and to professionals who can share their gifts at low or no cost with the kids. 

What if the world started playing the game of Michelangelo’s Group with Terry and her kids? She believes we would all live in a world with every person in touch with creativity, in touch with humanity and in touch with the art spirit. 

A NEW LEASE ON LIFE

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Don Murphy- Team Cincinnati, Team 1, Quarter 3

Have you ever wanted to have a second chance at something?  For many ex-felons, they want just that, but they rarely get a second chance. This is where Don Murphy and his Game in the World, A New Lease on Life, stepped in.

 

Don began formulating A New Lease on Life in October 2008, when he got excited an idea that the re-entry process for ex-felons could be transformed.  As a public defender, he had firsthand experience of the criminal justice system and didn’t like what he saw –a constant stream of low-income felons entering and re-entering the prisons, people stuck in a cycle without a support structure to change anything. Don dreamed about creating a safety net for ex-felons, a program that would provide inspiration, completion, and an opportunity for service. A New Lease on Life would give them a second chance where they could discover ways to not only survive outside of prison but make a contribution to their communities.

 

Typically, when felons are released from prison, they are given a little money and sent out into the real world.   In many cases they have no job, no shelter, and no food—and little chance to succeed.  Companies don’t want to hire ex-felons and apartment owners don’t want to rent to them. Some ex-felons are even ineligible for any Federal assistance programs. To get by, some resort to old habits and commit crimes, while others violate parole simply due to lack of transportation to attend required meetings. With the cards stacked against them, a high percentage of ex-felons end up back in prison.

 

A New Lease on Life is out to break that cycle.  The program’s mission is to provide ex-felons with opportunities for employment and self-sufficiency; in fact they get a new lease on life. Participating in the program, they have an opportunity to, not only reverse the high recidivism rates for prisons, but to go out and make a difference for themselves and their communities.

 

To accomplish his mission, Don partnered with Jesus House, a halfway house, with a goal of providing food, shelter, and transportation to parolees. The ex-felons are able to stop worrying about basic necessities and start speculating on what they can accomplish in their lives. Jesus House already has a successful model, with an 87% success rate in keeping ex-felons from re-entering the prison system.  Now, Don and his team are in the process of improving upon that success rate by creating a series of classes teaching ex-felons life skills, things like how to write a resume and how to interview for a job.  A New Lease on Life is also creating a safe space for the ex-felons to discuss what stops them from being able to reach their goals. 

 

With new hope, the ex-felons are also participating in creating the career fair by recruiting potential employers.  Others in the community are getting involved, creating “suit drives” to provide these ex-felons with suits for their job interview.   A New Lease on Life also wants to raise $10,000 for Jesus House by the end of 2009. 

 

People in the community are starting to take notice. An Indiana University criminal justice professor has begun an independent evaluation of the program that will allow Don and Jesus House to apply for grants to fund programs and expand Jesus House to other cities. 

 

While it’s predictable for released felons to be trapped by the circumstances of criminal activity they find themselves in, Don and his team are committed altering their circumstances and giving each of them a chance to have their dreams fulfilled. 

 

If you would like to join Don in his mission or contribute to A New Lease on Life, you can email him at DSMurphy@iquest.net.

THE RICHMOND STREET SCHOOL ART PROJECT

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richmondLast year the Richmond Street School lost their art program, but artist and photographer Jon Barber was having none of that. With only $1,000 in funding for the arts remaining in the school’s budget, (less than $2 per student for a year of art supplies and classes) and with his 4th grade son no longer having regular classroom art lessons nor an art teacher, Jon saw a need.

Jon began writing letters sharing his feelings and opinions about the loss of the art program. Then, he had a realization; he could make a difference here with his Game in the World. And so The Richmond Street School Art Project was born.

Also known as Studio 109 after the room number where the art classes are held, The Richmond Street School Art Project is a volunteer-based art program for the students of Richmond Street School.

Jon is excited about what’s been happening with the kids at his son’s school. On a weekly basis with the assistance of parent volunteers, the students are experiencing and creating art in their classrooms. The school has in place a visiting artist program, where professional artists volunteer their time and talent to share art at the schools lunch break with students. The kindergarten class recently created an amazing pastel animal project. The 4th grade class recently created masks in accordance with learning about Day of the Dead.

There was an art fair on February 12th where all the students of Richmond Street School displayed their framed artwork in an exhibition. The kids got to be honored, loud and proud. The parents and his team got to contribute to their kids and to know they were making something unpredictable happen.

Jon also saw that by starting the project, other schools might discover they didn’t have to worry about not having enough money and manpower to provide art education to their kids. Jon recognized that the Richard Street School Art Program provided an opportunity for people not only on his local team, but in his community as well. Where before, something was missing in his town, by sharing The Richard Street School Art Project, Jon now sees it as a place where people come together and create something beautiful.
Jon Barber, Team Los Angeles

A WALK IN THE PARK

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walkinparkRob Hubbard loves the park. Rob is inspired by contribution. Put those two together and you have Rob’s Game in the World—A Walk in the Park.

Rob is establishing a group of volunteers who will walk the various parks and trails around Cincinnati and report back to park administrators on a regular basis any problems or concerns. The outcome of A Walk in the Park will be an ongoing team of volunteers who recruit, train and coordinate efforts to keep the parks in great shape. The added benefit, or maybe incentive, is they actually get to take walks in the parks.

Rob designed this game because walking in the park means a lot to him. He sees how it would benefit people to be in the park with a specific purpose of contributing to their community.

But it wasn’t always a ‘walk in the park’ for Rob to get his game going. Some of the park administrators were excited about it, but at first, some were discouraging. Rob didn’t let that stop him. He says that his advice for people creating a game for the world is to not rush into making up something just to get it done, but instead to keep having conversations with others until you discover a game that inspires you. He is surprised and excited to discover he can make something happen in his community. In fact, he says “I don’t have to convince people, but instead I see it’s an opportunity.”

His long-term vision for A Walk in the Park is that it spreads out to other communities. He asserts walking in the park is something that feeds the human spirit, makes people aware of the beauty in nature, promotes well being, serenity and peacefulness and has the added benefit of contributing to the community.

He plans to expand A Walk in the Park in the future to include volunteer organizations who put on cross country sporting meets, along with businesses, social groups, churches and individuals who live within the vicinity of the parks.

Ultimately, for Rob, through A Walk in the Park he’s discovered he’s someone who can inspire and move people, someone who can be a contribution to individuals and to communities.
Rob Hubbard, Team 1, Quarter 2, Team Cincinnati

Bailey Takes on Global Clean Water

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Donavan Bailey’s game in the world in Landmark’s TMLP program was ambitious – He has taken on providing clean water to the world anywhere that it is wanted and needed. To that end, he has created a Global Clean Water organization, and has begun to undertake projects in the developing world.

According to the site, pilot projects will focus on scouting for rural villages in need of a long term clean water supply. These villages will be selected when a meeting has taken place with the local head of the village and he agrees that the new water supply will benefit the village. Then a well will be drilled using the local labor supply. GCW will then place a hand pump at the well drill site. Training on hand pump maintenance will be ongoing as well as sanitation education. Assistance will be given in order to build a latrine and hand-washing station. Maintenance on the pumps will be conducted by the local village women and the bathrooms will be maintained by the children.

Bailey is just now heading to India to start setting up those projects – Look for an update from Team Leadership down the road!

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