(This is an excerpt from a blog written by Chris Jarvis)
Many argue that volunteer rates are falling. They complain that people today (usually young people) won’t make commitments to a cause. The problem, people tell me, is that volunteers want to know what’s in it for them. Yep, it’s true. But self-interest isn’t the problem. It’s the solution.
Why we do what we do
People volunteer for every imaginable reason.
“I have so much, I just want to give back.” or, “We wanted to be part of the solution.” or, “There are people out there who need our help.” Or so on. And so forth.
Some are prompted by an advertisement on the subway. Others are invited to volunteer by friends or family. It may be that they were urged to get more active in the community by our religious leaders. Or possibly, someone took President Obama’s message of activism to heart.
All good reasons. Just not good enough.
The best reason for volunteering is always self-interest.
I know, I know. You think I am drunk-blogging. Hold on, I’ll explain.
“Self-interested volunteering” seems generally at odds with everything we’ve come to believe about volunteering. Right? “Self-interested volunteers.” Isn’t that an oxy-moron? What about altruism and the greater good?
In Realized Worth training sessions we raise this controversial point and discuss two reasons why self-interest is an essential aspect of an outstanding volunteer experience. Both reasons have to do with motivation.
First, as my partner Angela Parker will tell you with great conviction, “We all do what we want.” Meaning, there is always some kind of motivation and pay-off for the choices we make. When it comes to motivation, the discussion can get pretty complicated. Very rarely (if at all) will someone make a choice with singular motivation. Usually there are multiple motivators, each compelling the other. (Test this by evaluating why you chose the particulars of your lunch yesterday.)
The Ins and Outs of Motivation
For simplicity’s sake, I would suggest that we experience two kinds of motivation: one; extrinsic and two; intrinsic. When people volunteer for the first time, they are usually motivated extrinsically. (Such as a desire to “give back.”) Extrinsic motivators exist outside of an individual. They are not intimate. And while extrinsic motivations are important, they are not deeply rooted in our personality. More precisely, they are not essential factors in our journey to become who we are.
Proving that microloans can help to change the world one little bit at a time, Kiva.org hit a major milestone today. Since it’s founding four years ago, it has now made possible $100 million in microloans between individual lenders and entrepreneurs all around the world. The company has brought together 573,000 lenders (people like you and me putting in $25 or more towards a specific project), and 239,000 entrepreneurs.
Make a difference this Thanksgiving and Buy Your Thanksgiving Pies from Project Angel Food.
Your $25 pie purchase pays for the preparation and delivery of five nutritious meals to those affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
Project Angel Food's mission is to nourish the body and spirit of men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses. Volunteers and staff cook and deliver free and nutritious meals prepared with love throughout Los Angeles County, acting out of a sense of urgency because hunger and illness do not wait.
With a corps of 1,500 + dedicated volunteers, the agency provides more than 11,000 meals a week to 1,600 clients of all ages and backgrounds for whom a healthy meal, delivered with a warm smile, is truly lifesaving. Project Angel Food celebrates 20 years of service to the Greater Los Angeles community in 2009.
Project Angel Food - 922 Vine Street - Los Angeles, CA 90038-2702 - tel 323.845.1800 - fax 323.845.1818
www.angelfood.orgMake a difference this Thanksgiving and Buy Your Thanksgiving Pies from Project Angel... more
Ladies and Germs,
October is breast cancer awareness month.I know that every single one of you has or has had at least one woman in your family or friends that suffers from breast cancer....if not now, then someday you will be affected by it.
I have watched both my mother and grandmother suffer from breast cancer. Both of them had to get a mastectomy, though they both survived, it's never an easy battle.
However, my father suffered from an extremely aggressive case of pancreatic cancer. He had only six months to say goodbye to his family. I guess you could say I have become more and more supportive of cancer awareness, but as a woman I am compelled to put much of my efforts towards breast cancer awareness.
For a very long time there were no awareness groups that were specifically focused on educating young women. Until fairly recently there weren't very many publicly known cases of women younger than 40 that died from cancer. The reality is, there is no longer an age group. Cancer doesn't care who you are or how old you are. More and more young women are suffering.
The nature of my job exposes me to new non-profit organizations every day.
I never stop learning and it's very enriching. Recently our company www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com teamed up for a partnership with Boarding for Breast Cancer or B4BC. I did some research on this organization and was incredibly impressed. B4BC is a group of woman who are just like me and so many other young ladies that I know. They have a passion for skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, music, and just about anything a righteous babe could love. What brought them together was the death of a mutual friend who died of breast cancer at just 26 years old!! Her name was Monica Steward and during her battle with cancer she became increasingly frustrated with the lack of awareness about breast cancer among young women. This was the inspiration for Boarding for Breast Cancer. The women of B4BC put together a fund raising event called The Boarding For Breast Cancer Snowboard + Music Festival, and they have only grown stronger and more successful ever since. They still need help though, and will continue to need help until the battle is won. There are many different ways that you can support B4BC. One of the easiest ways to help them right now would be to click on this link : shop.b4bc.org
This will directly link you to B4BC's personal page on www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com
This is a place where you can download the B4BC shopping widget, and everything you buy online through our retailers will automatically give a percentage back to B4BC. I know there is a lot of online shopping going around right now due to Halloween. Non Profit Shopping Mall hosts dozens of major retailers to purchase Halloween goods from, including online costume super stores, and Hot Topic.
Here is a list of some of the best retailers we have for us young folks:
ADIDAS
AMAZON
APPLE iTUNES
BECKER SURFBOARDS
BUYCOSTUMES.COM
CCS.COM
CONVERSE
COSTUME SUPERCENTER
DOGFUNK.COM
EXTREME HALLOWEEN
GAMEFLY.COM
GAMESTOP
GUITAR CENTER
HOT TOPIC
KARMALOOP
NETFLIX
PACIFIC SUNWEAR
SEPHORA
SKYPE
T-MOBILE
TARGET
TICKETMASTER
TIVO
TOM'S SHOES
URBAN OUTFITTERS
VERIZON WIRELESS
WORLD SOCCER SHOP
** I know there has got to be at least ONE retailer on that list that you shop from on a regular basis. So, now you can turn everyday shopping into everyday giving, everyday. ** Of course, you do not have to choose B4BC as your non profit to support through your online shopping. There are SOOOO many different non profits to choose from on our website. You decide which one means the most to you and you can always change it up from time to time.
Thanks for reading my ridiculously long bulletin!!
Don't forget -- www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com & http://shop.b4bc.org/shop
Much love,
Jasmine A. GalloLadies and Germs,
October is breast cancer awareness month.I know that every single... more
The search for meaning is one of life’s continuing journeys. The suspicion that meaning is lacking can bring on a deep dread that can haunt us all. The dreary landscape of the suspicion of no meaning can lead us to make up meaning. Buddhists call this ornamentation – the creation of bright and pretty things to enliven the world as think we find it. But the world we think we find is often a world we dream while asleep.The search for meaning is one of life’s continuing journeys. The suspicion that... more
I serve as a strategic adviser and on boards of directors and advisory boards. I advise investors and CEOs and executive teams, sales teams and build advisory boards as business development engines. My expertise includes innovation, governance, succession planning, mergers & acquisitions, team building, strategic planning, turnarounds and reorganization.
I specialize in turnaround situations. My experience in building six for-profit companies and helping to launch two non-profit organizations allows me to help management overcome challenges that may seem daunting to them. My wide range of contacts allows me to tap into substantial pools of resources – including senior executives, highly effective professionals and sources of financial support.I serve as a strategic adviser and on boards of directors and advisory boards. I... more
I sometimes work with companies that are on the verge of leaving the ‘cottage stage’ and pushing into the great uncertainty of corporate adolescence. This push, and the stress which often accompanies it, is one of the seminal periods in the development of any company. By the time I arrive on the scene, battle lines often have been well formed and the organization has divided into two camps. The coming battle will present severe challenges for the founders, team and the company. The prevailing camp will get to decide what the future will hold for all involved
Let me start by defining what I mean by ‘cottage stage’. First off, defining a company in terms of its gross revenue is not useful. I’ve seen organizations generating close to twenty million dollars in gross revenue while still operating within this paradigm. Secondly, the size of the organization in terms of its client base or human resources is also not a good indicator. I have encountered companies with twenty to thirty major clients and over a hundred employees that are still operating as a cottage business. Finally, the age of a company is an unreliable indicator as well. Once a company slips into what I call ‘life-style mode’ it enters a period of repressed adolescence that can last through its entire life span.I sometimes work with companies that are on the verge of leaving the ‘cottage... more
The most the important difference is that early stage investors have to deal with a class of uncertainties that are much the better quantified in the later stages of a company’s growth. Their attitude towards risk aversion and the focus of their diligence can be quite different. Additionally, because there are no significant ‘corporate tracks in the snow’, these investors very often have to make ‘leaps of faith’ based on their gut feel.The most the important difference is that early stage investors have to deal with a... more
Roughly 250 people gathered outside City Hall in downtown Chicago this evening to protest the city's bid for the 2016 Olympic games. Protesters criticized Obama for traveling to Copenhagen to back the Chicago bid, and cited Mayor Daley's recent follies - like selling the city's parking meters to a privately-owned company - as evidence of the city's inability to host the games. Partially coordinated by the non-profit organization www.nogameschicago.org , the demonstration comes just days before the IOC announces its decision as to which candidate city wins the bid.
Although the Olympics will increase tourism, revenue, and job offerings in Chicago, protestors believe the games will not benefit the average Chicago citizen - stating they will uproot low-income families from their homes to make room for stadiums, pave over public parks, and ultimately add to the city's $300 million deficit.Roughly 250 people gathered outside City Hall in downtown Chicago this evening to... more
During my six tours as CEO I have encountered the same challenges over and over. My frustration grew until there was no way out but to find an alternative approach that really worked. Finding a way to make business development work became a crusade. I got very lucky. My fourth company showed me the way. Within six months I had the beginnings of a solution. Those first insights formed the core of an innovative, potent and cost-effective approach to business development. I describe how and why that occurred in Amazing Pace.During my six tours as CEO I have encountered the same challenges over and over. My... more
Nancy Lublin, CEO of Do Something, wrote an interesting piece recently for Fast Company magazine about what she learned years ago in poker rooms, and how it’s helped her run a not-for-profit:Nancy Lublin, CEO of Do Something, wrote an interesting piece recently for Fast... more
Gum For My Boat is a story of Hope focusing on the Bangladesh Surf Club and its members. The club consists of more than 30 boys and girls and is helping to introduce surfing into a culture in a very unconventional method. Many of the children are street kids or come from very poor families. Some don't even know how to swim, but their love for surfing brings them together and into a way of life they never even knew existed. An ocean that was once deemed off limits due to fear and a very conservative Islamic culture is now becoming source of fun, escape and even a chance for a way to make a living. Follow professional surfer, Kahana Kalama (a past guest star of Fuel TV’s series On Surfari) as he works with Hawaiian-based non-profit, Surfing The Nations, and learns from these kids that sometimes, surfing involves much more than catching waves.
Music: Atlantic Line www.atlanticlinemusic.comwww.gumformyboat.com
www.thewussproductions.com
Gum For My Boat is a story of Hope... more
The Gandhi Tour combines the power of music, art and media to call for Peace with featured local artists and well known International stars around the globe.
Beta version is lunched for International Day of Peace 2009.
www.gandhitour.comThe Gandhi Tour combines the power of music, art and media to call for Peace with... more
Great blog to check out,featuring Bed Head Pajamas. Super cute styles for women,men and children. Plus,really great bedding. Get yourself some jammy's while giving back to your favorite non-profit group.Great blog to check out,featuring Bed Head Pajamas. Super cute styles for women,men... more
Its not just about Politics, though Politics is also important here.
Its not just about numbers, though Numbers are important too..
It’s about Faces, So many of them…..
Faces who have seen too much in too little a time. …
Here you see many slums , but no millionaires.
You will find travellers but no destination….
These are internally displaced People of SWAT.
Many of them settled in IDP camps established..
at Mardan, Nowshehra and other areas,
while the majority chose to stay independent.
A large portion of these displaced people arrived at Karachi
where they are living with their relatives, or rented houses
with high rents. This is there story.
Bonier is situated around 60 miles from Islamabad.
An idyllic place with a history full of traditions, simplicity and peace.
All this changed one fine morning….
The terror had finally arrived Taliban’s.
They came with colourful Promises.
The promise of quick justice,
Divine Law, Sharia.
Soon the terror removed its masks and unveiled its true face.
The recent Operation by Pakistan against Taliban forces
For them this was a ray of light, a glimmer of hope.
But everything comes with a price.
The army needed space,
the collateral damage too much a political baggage;
they had to be removed from the war zone.
With in few days more than 1.5 million people left their houses…
and settled for different parts of Pakistan.
Even here, their miseries are far from over.
The new place offers them nothing but a reminiscence
of what they have left behind.
What could have been theirs?
These children are a product of fear;
these faces the faces under terror.
These faces need to be seen,
these voices be heard,
for they tell a story not covered in any of the debate rooms.
They tell why a combination of poverty, ignorance, deception and ultimate terror alters the course of human lives in such a short span of time.
These faces need to be helped.
Because in the end, they are all human faces.
Kazim Raza, Karachi. PakistanIts not just about Politics, though Politics is also important here.
Its not just... more
Every morning while on the way to office or coming back in evening it’s not possible for the karachiets to ignore baggers, children with car screen wipers and drug addicts. But unfortunately hardly seen some one talking to them to share there grievan...ces, to know what turns them into a LIFE without SOUL.....
Directed and Produced by Kazim RazaEvery morning while on the way to office or coming back in evening it’s not possible... more
The youth of our age, surrounded by a swarm of difficulties and problems is in search of a solution, but what he eventually finds is more and more of difficulties and disappointments. When unemployed and poverty numbs all his senses, paralyzes all his muscles, he feels life is nothing but a futile effort, a bottomless pit of poverty and indigence. According to one estimate, in past 10 years, around 10 thousand Pakistanis have been killed by security forces, crossing Greece-Turkey border illegally. In pursuit of an ever evading happiness, who are these ill-informed people and who are the traffickers involved in this heinous trade of human trafficking. The real issue is how come the educated ones of our country fall prey to these human traffickers. Poverty and related problems are the main reasons behind human trafficking and illegal immigration. Your pursuit of happiness can bring this much misery and suffering, one can only know by meeting the people under Custody of FIA, who have recently been deported from the Turkey Border. It seems an obvious enough advice to have a safe albeit simple life at home, than to a have risky prosperous life abroad. But mired deeply in the troubled waters, it’s only dreams of a happy living that make these people go through all sorts of troubles.
I just pray that my country Pakistan finds a leader, a person who can improve the situation in our country, so that no one thinks about leaving this country and going through this humiliation This heinous crime of Illegal immigration, despite efforts by the State, is flourishing. One obvious contributors of this crime are the people who become a victim of agents’ treacherous promises, lost their lives’ savings and became a victim of dark alleys.
The question that haunts us all is till what time these traffickers would dupe the gullible of their livelihoods and till what time the carcasses of the youth of our country would be feasted by the beasts in unknown wildernesses.
Directed and Produced By
Kazim Raza
Masmedia Productions
Pakistan
923333705114Sans Papiers
The youth of our age, surrounded by a swarm of difficulties and... more
Amongst the most beautiful regions of the world, the picturesque valleys of Swat and Buneir used to be huge tourist attraction. The people of this land were remembered for their ethereal beauty and generous hospitality.
But all this changed in a short span of time. These valleys soon became a symbol of terror and insecurity for the tourists. Even the locals started feeling insecure in their homeland.
With a population of around 5 millions, these valleys became a burning inferno right in front of the eyes of the world, fuelled by religious bigotry and fanaticism.
To eliminate the menace of terrorism, Pakistan Army started its operation in the troubled region, the subsequent resistance by Taliban forces turned this halcyon patches into a war zone.
Lush green fields turned into deadly bunkers, happy faces suddenly plagued by death stricken silence. The ensuing uncertainty culminated into the biggest exodus of human history. Around 3 million people left their homes to taste the bitter tastes of homelessness, settling in the Tent Villages at Mardan, Naushehra and Swabi.
Leaving the war zone was an unavoidable decision, the migration inescapable, but in these testing times, the true essence of people came out. Armed with the sense of compassion, sacrifice and devotion came out the helping hands. And pretty soon many a new shelters started appearing. The sense of homelessness started giving way to a glimmer of hope, peace and security.
A huge contingent of IDPs in Swabi was welcomed b y Mr Liaquat Taraki, the chairman of Tarakai group and Head of Liaquat Khan welfare trust. The aim and mission of Trakai trust is to make Swabi a prosperous district, and to help elevate the living standard of Swabi people by eradicating poverty and backwardness.
Directed and Produced By " Kazim Raza"Amongst the most beautiful regions of the world, the picturesque valleys of Swat and... more
A stable home and a good education are keys to success that many children take for granted. Two Johns Hopkins faculty members have teamed up with a local nonprofit to make sure two academically capable but life-challenged teens from Baltimore can have these same opportunities. Initiated by Doug Robinson, associate professor of cell biology in the School of Medicine and faculty affiliate of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT), two young men from Boys Hope Girls Hope of Baltimore participated in summer internships in Johns Hopkins laboratories. INBT financially supported the Boys Hope scholars with stipends.A stable home and a good education are keys to success that many children take for... more
![Gum for My Boat: Surfing Bangladesh Trailer [Premiers 9/26/09!] - video](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/asset/899/755/72/JL7552_60x45.jpg)
