Grace Anne Remey shows her book at a Tucson book fair.
I’ve had an amazing year since becoming a Hasbro Community Action Hero. A couple of weeks after the awards ceremony in New York City – which was so awesome and pretty – my family moved from Arizona to Germany. My dad is in the military, so we’ve moved around a lot.
I didn’t want to move to Germany, but it turned out to be a positive experience. I saw more than 10 castles. My favorite was Frankenstein Castle at Halloween. I also went to Christmas markets and have visited three countries. When I got to my new school, I had trouble making new friends. It was really hard moving, but I got used to it and now I have met new friends and am happy again.
I quickly found places to volunteer. I am still planning on volunteering at our local animal shelter. I have been busy working with Torch Club, which does different volunteer projects. I spent a lot of time doing Project Rudolph Germany, which provides gift bags to military members transitioning through the airport on days leading up to Christmas. I helped Mothers of Preschoolers make bags, received 140 cards from schools near Boston and finally helped hand out bags to troops at an airport in Germany.
This illustration by Grace Anne Remey depicts her
volunteering at an animal shelter, one of her passions.
I felt happy that I was volunteering and making so many other people happy. The best part was seeing the excited faces of the troops when I gave them the bags. I was also able to give toys from Hasbro to other kids through generationOn’s Be a Joy Maker campaign!
I also got some great attention for my book, “Lion’s Pride: A Tail of Deployment,” which came out in 2012. When I wrote it, I knew that I wanted the book to be able to help other children who faced deployment like me. I never imagined that so many people would like it so much. Winning a Bronze Medal for Children’s Book of the Year from the Military Writers Society of America was another highlight of the year. I recently found out that I am a semifinalist for Operation Homefront’s Military Child of the Year. I am really excited about it and hope to win a laptop computer so I can write my next book.
Finally, I was very excited to get a letter from Michelle Obama. She sent pictures of her family and even signed the letter with real ink!
Although it wasn’t always easy and I didn’t want to move, I had a great year. I’ve been able to do a lot more than I thought I would because of the Hasbro Community Action Hero Award. I wish this year’s winners luck and hope they have an amazing year like I had.
Do you know a young person who is doing great work? Nominate him or her to be a 2014 Hasbro Community Action Hero. The deadline is 5 p.m., Eastern, Feb. 25, 2014. Don’t wait – submit a nomination today!
Since Age 7, This Teen Has Been Clearing Pathways for Kids With Disabilities
Stephanie Jennis mentors a boy at a soccer program.
I started Pathways for Exceptional Children when I was 7 as a series of after-school programs where kids with disabilities worked with peer mentors and established friendships. I had no idea that it would get to be so much bigger.
Pathways now has a home base at our own space in Boonton, N.J., called the Creative Studio, where kids with disabilities as young as 8 explore career tracks through classes that spark their interest, like photography, retail, disc jockeying, customer service and our newest tracks: computer programming and filmmaking!
Through an initiative called Project Win-Win, we are now securing jobs for students with disabilities in places like Staples and sending our disc jockeys out with peer job coaches to do gigs for parties in schools and other venues. I have seen what many deem impossible become a reality and I have seen the potential of people of all abilities reach heights never thought imaginable.
After receiving a Hasbro Community Action Hero Award last year, I was even more inspired to move further in my cause of tackling the 70 percent unemployment rate that faces people with disabilities. I knew that Pathways for Exceptional Children had come far, and I was sure that with the support of generationOn, Hasbro and other like-minded organizations we could do even more.
And we did! The Pathways’ Rock Band was invited by Kevin Jonas to play on the PNC stage with them during the Jonas Brothers’ sound check party. Later in the year, the Youth Advisory Board of State Farm awarded the youth leaders from Pathways almost $70,000 from Best Buy Children’s Foundation to transform our Project Win-Win program into a true social entrepreneurship venture.
Being one of the 2013 Hasbro Community Action Heroes, I’ve realized that there are so many great kids who are just as interested in service as I am. The award gave me the opportunity to see the potential in children and how much they can offer as far as service to their community, country and even the world.
Do you know a young person who is doing great work? Nominate him or her to be a 2014 Hasbro Community Action Hero. The deadline is 5 p.m., Eastern, Feb. 25, 2014. Don’t wait – submit a nomination today!
The Most Important Number of All
This post is by Tracy Hoover, president of Points of Light.
From a food bank in Los Angeles to a homeless shelter in New Jersey, from a community ravaged by tornadoes in Illinois to a village devastated by flooding in the Philippines, Points of Light brings the power of volunteers where it matters most.
Thanks to the generosity of friends and supporters like you, this year Points of Light and its 250 affiliates engaged more than 4 million volunteers, who supported 75,000 nonprofits in 29 countries around the globe. That’s more than 250,000 service projects – nearly 21,000 every month. Together, these volunteers contributed 30 million hours of service to addressing critical community problems.
At a time when community needs are so great, and government can’t do it all, volunteers are more vital than ever. We see this every day, and I’m sure you do, too. In fact, as you consider the cause that is most important to you, just think about the role that volunteers play in addressing that issue.
As the new year approaches, we hope your New Year’s resolutions include using your time, talent and influence to make a difference for the issues you care about. Your service matters – now, more than ever. And, as you consider your year-end giving, we hope you will
. Your gift will help us inspire, equip and mobilize millions of people just like you across the globe.
One.
Give Some Real Joy to the World
This post is by Calla Gilson, 17, who inspires other young people to get involved in service as a National Youth Advisory Council member for generationOn, the youth enterprise of Points of Light.
Calla Gilson
The great anticipation for Dec. 25 is upon us and with all of the rushing about to prepare for the perfect Christmas Day celebration, somewhere along the way, something has been lost. Somewhere between the Christmas cookie chaos, and the search for stocking stuffers, the joy that is supposed to come so easily to the world during these weeks has been misplaced.
For me, the search for this joy started early. Even before Thanksgiving, national news coverage seemed to be devoted to the craze of an even earlier Black Friday rollout. But where was the Christmas joy in those long lines, cramped aisles and sometimes downright violent encounters? Where was the giving in all of this grabbing?
It wasn’t until the night of the annual Christmas pageant at my church that I realized that the power to bring joy was within my own hands. As the audience joined our young cast in singing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” members of the congregation began to bring canned goods to the manger for those in need. One by one, smiles filled their faces, as they recognized the true joy that giving creates, not only for those who are served but also those who do the serving.
In that instant, the atmosphere of the performance shifted. It was no longer about the preteen angels outfitted with bed sheets and glow-stick halos, or the sweet sound of “Away in a Manger” from the preschoolers. The story had been liberated from the stage and was now being brought to life in the community.
The joy found in the spirit of Christmas calls us not only to celebrate, but to share with those who need it most. This Christmas season,
.
Let’s return the “giving” to the Season of Giving, and allow the incredible power of service to bring “Joy to the World.”
Three Easy Ways Your Family Can Give Joy This Season
Help us get more than 100,000 toys to kids in need this season. Here are just three ways you can make your acts of giving count even more givejoy.generationOn.org:
Download a card to send to a child battling illness.
Pledge to do a family volunteer project – or tell us about one you’re already doing!
Tell others by sharing our celebrity Joy Makers video on facebook and twitter.
This post is by Tracy Hoover, Points of Light’s president.
Tracy Hoover
Though his feet splashed in about an inch of water, Principal Brian Walsh could see a water line two feet high marking the walls of Memorial School in Union Beach, N.J. Mud, mulch and who knows what else was scattered throughout the building. Everything was wet.
“We got used to the smell of that floodwater everywhere we went. You couldn’t escape it.”
Given the overwhelming damage to the building, the students were divided among four schools in three nearby districts. To Walsh it felt as if the Memorial School family was being split up.
It was a feeling shared in communities across the eastern seaboard as residents began the long process of putting their homes, businesses and neighborhoods back together in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. One year later, the rebuilding continues.
But thanks to the thousands of volunteers who showed up to help – and keep showing up, month after month – communities from New Jersey to Massachusetts are rebuilding, recovering and coming back together.
In the words of Principal Walsh, “It helped us become stronger than we were before the storm.”
Take a look at the Points of Light blog today to see how volunteers from Jersey Cares and Fidelity Investments helped bring Memorial School – and the Union Beach community – back together.
To find out how you can help your community be more disaster-resilient, visit www.goodandready.org. You’ll find resources that will help you and your neighbors create an emergency plan, build a preparedness kit and find a project or training near you.
How Did You Spend Make A Difference Day? You Could Win $10,000 for Your Favorite Charity
Volunteers with HandsOn Broward in Florida make
dog treats for an animal shelter.
From Asheville, N.C., to Zanesville, Ohio, Saturday – Make A Difference Day – Americans committed to serving their communities. Each year on the fourth Saturday of October, millions of Americans take part in Make A Difference Day, the nation’s largest annual day of volunteering.
Did you participate in Make A Difference Day (#MDDAY13) this year? Post your photos and your story to www.makeadifferenceday.com by Nov. 18. Your favorite charity will get a chance to receive a $10,000 donation from Newman’s Own. If you’d rather enter by mail, download this brochure, which has participation details and a printable entry form.
And if you weren’t able to participate this year, mark your calendar for next year – Oct. 25!
Find Out How You Can Change the News, Not the Channel
This post is by Tracy Hoover, Points of Light’s president.
Tracy Hoover
It’s been five years of what President Obama calls “the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes” – and it’s taken a toll.
According to an NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, only 29 percent of those who identified as poor and working-class Americans say it’s likely they will move toward the middle class in the next five to seven years. With 15 percent of Americans living at or below the poverty line, it’s grim news – and a call to action.
In times like these, citizens coming together have always made the difference. When we volunteer, we provide more than help. We provide an antidote to cynicism and despair.
I’m proud to announce that Points of Light, Bank of America and the Corporation for National and Community Service have joined forces and launched a Financial Opportunity Corps.
This fall, 20 AmeriCorps VISTA members have started serving in 10 communities around the country – Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Bridgeport (Conn.), Detroit, Lauderhill (Fla.), New York, Philadelphia, Portland (Ore.) and San Jose – recruiting and training volunteer financial coaches to help residents develop skills and access the resources to become financially stable.
For some good news – and information about how you can help – read 22-year-old Financial Opportunity Corps member Nathalie Carril-King’s story here.
And join us in changing the news, not just the channel.
In These Divisive Times, What Can Bring Us Together?
This post is by Tracy Hoover, Points of Light’s president.
Uniting in volunteer service can be about setting aside ideological differences and finding common ground to solve community problems. It can be about stuffing a tote bag with desperately needed supplies and saying, “We’re here to help.” And sometimes it’s both.
Tracy Hoover
Earlier this week, I was proud to join volunteers, community leaders and education activists from the Chicago area for a compelling discussion and day of service in support of public education and Points of Light’s One America campaign. One America, sponsored by our partners at JPMorgan Chase, is about creating meaningful and lasting change in our communities.
Retired Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood and his wife, Sarah, whose
. And Kerry reminded us all that one of the most powerful ways to make a difference is through a sustained commitment in the life of a young person – as a mentor, tutor, coach or adviser. Then dozens of volunteers pitched in to stuff resource kits for public school teachers. A professional athlete, nonprofit and corporate leaders, community volunteers and students worked shoulder to shoulder, united by a belief that we all have a role in building strong schools.
That unity is central to the message of One America. And this week we’re seeing that message resonate even in the halls of Congress.
From the Senate floor, Sen. John McCain saluted the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps and the service initiatives founded by presidents on both sides of the political aisle – including Points of Light – that unite Americans through volunteerism. “With so much division and discord throughout the country today, national service can help bring our country closer together,” he said.
We’re looking forward to bringing the idea – and the actions – of One America to more cities throughout the year, and I encourage you to find your own way to get involved.
, check out our custom app, and see what you can do to unite members of your community through service. One America is more than an idea
– it’s a
movement. And it needs you!
Today’s Education Crisis and the Table of Brotherhood
This post is by Tracy Hoover, president of Points of Light.
Tracy Hoover
If you’ve ever imagined a fantasy collection of dinner companions, then you might understand the excitement I felt last Sunday when America’s Sunday Supper came to Atlanta
As the sun set on the Martin Luther King, Jr. historic district, I arrived at an event that would kick off our national commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. Hosted by Bernice King, daughter of Dr. King, and President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter, Atlanta’s Sunday Supper brought together a spectacular assembly.
Guests included the Rev. C.T. Vivian, a hero of the civil rights movement and a recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom; members of Dr. King’s family, including his sister, Mrs. Christine King Farris; Atlanta Public School Interim Superintendent Erroll Davis and an exceptional group of principals, teachers and students; Doug Shipman, who leads the Civil Rights Museum; Laysha Ward, president of Community Relations for Target; NBA superstar Dikembe Mutumbo; dozens of Atlanta media, business and community leaders … and me.
It seemed entirely fitting that we came together to share a meal – an enduring ritual of community. By breaking bread together and reflecting on Dr. King’s messages, it was easy to celebrate how far we’ve come. “I have a dream,” he said, “that one day, on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”
Last Sunday, it seemed our supper tables had become those tables of brotherhood, and I found myself rejoicing in the dream fulfilled.
Zaqary and President Carter
But it wasn’t long before our dinner conversation turned to the crisis in American education and the shocking statistics that reveal a profound disparity in access and achievement. Provocative discussions erupted at every table, and guests began to challenge misconceptions, grapple with entrenched issues and suggest creative solutions.
Through diverse voices of young people and seniors, educators and business leaders, parents and neighbors, one common affirmation rang out: Effective education for all must be part of our shared dream for America’s future. It is still a promise unfulfilled for too many of our children.
The evening ended with two profound reflections. First, eight-year-old Zaqary Asuamah (pictured left with President Carter) recited the entire “I Have a Dream” speech flawlessly and by heart, a feat that Dr. King’s daughter laughingly confessed she might find daunting. And in closing, Bernice King left us with a powerful charge and a promise. “We will do better,” she said to America’s youth. “We must do better.”
Atlanta’s Sunday Supper was a touchstone for a renewed commitment to addressing the crisis in education in America. You can watch the program here.
America’s Sunday Supper is a national movement that promotes the concept of people coming together across divides to share a meal and talk about how to engage volunteers to help solve critical community problems. Discussions like the one in Atlanta are happening each week, in communities all across America, engaging more than 100,000 people.
America’s Sunday Suppers are made possible by Target, which gives 5 percent of its profit and thousands of volunteer hours to communities every day, and Points of Light, the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service.
