Philanthropic School students start Random Acts of Kindness club.

Colorado Rocky Mountain School is an independent high school in the heart of the Rocky Mountains where student-initiated philanthropic clubs abound. From Operation Smile and Face Aids to Peace Jam and Souls4Souls, CRMS students continually expand their interest in, and fundraising efforts surrounding, global humanitarian causes. And while all these clubs enjoy strong membership, an amazing thing happened the other day when one student proposed starting a Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) chapter. Based on an international foundation that promotes kindness (established in 1995 as a 501c3 nonprofit organization) the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a resource for people committed to spreading kindness. 

So Grady, a CRMS senior, announces at a weekly all-school meeting that he would like to start a RAK chapter and to simply reply to his email if anyone is interested in being involved. Well, as a small school with only 145 students and 35 faculty/staff, over 55 people immediately responded and joined his effort. So one week into the new RAK club, over one-third of the school is involved in promoting kindness and unexpected gifts of gratitude. 

For anyone out there who worries about our next generation of youth and the legacy they will leave for the world, I am constantly inspired and comforted by the intelligence, sensitivity and initiative of our high school students. For more information contact Lisa Raleigh (a proud member of the new CRMS RAK club). 

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VolunteerMatch: Want to help our troops? Help them volunteer in the community.

The traditional approach to volunteering and our veterans has been to encourage Americans to get involved at local organizations as a way to support the troops. By partnering with organizations that deliver services and programs to vets, active military personnel, or military families, Americans can do their part to salute the men and women who protect and defend our nation.

But there’s another way volunteering can help troops: by providing our active and veteran forces with ways to find meaning and purpose in our local communities after they return home.

Target and VolunteerMatch Respond to Help Returning Servicemen and Women Find Service Opportunities
On Veterans Day, VolunteerMatch and Target Corporation announced a new partnership to make it easier for veterans to find service opportunities, for citizens to support the military through community service, and for service organizations to more effectively recruit volunteers in local communities.
 
The partnership is a response to a new report written by Civic Enterprises and underwritten by Target and the Case Foundation that found that veterans who had participated in service opportunities since arriving home from Iraq and Afghanistan had smoother transitions than those who had not.
 
To make it easy for visitors to find military-related volunteer offerings, VolunteerMatch has added a new Interest Area, “Military Families & Veterans,” to the VolunteerMatch system.

By choosing “Veterans & Military Families” for their listings, organizations make it possible for visitors to the VolunteerMatch Advanced Search page or any of our hundreds of network partner sites will be able to quickly find ways to get involved at thousands of local organizations.

Military service and community service are both strong in our nation, and volunteering at local organizations is a great way for these traditions to come together to strengthen local communities. We salute the men and women who defend our nation and we’re proud to do our part to help ease their transition home.

More in Engaging Volunteers, the VolunteerMatch for social change organizations.

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Be Green Packaging Launches its Very Own Compost Tool Kit and Training Program

Be Green Packaging has designed a stand alone Compost Tool Kit and training program for its end user customers such as nationwide grocery and restaurant chains. The Compost Tool Kit walks customers through three phases of establishing an in-house food scrap composting program. The Compost Tool Kit provides them with useful information such as how to talk with your local waste management company, equipment needed, and how to receive tax incentives by participating in city food scrap programs where applicable. The reader is also empowered with a step-by-step employee training process. 

Though Be Green Packaging is a design/manufacturing packaging firm, it is also a leader in environmental and CSR business practices.  Holding the coveted Cradle to Cradle certification is an honor for Be Green and makes closing the loop on their product’s life cycle a priority.  Proper disposal is key and by educating its customers, and affecting their customers (the consumer), Be Green increases the chances of their compostable products landing in a commercial or home compost bin. “We are committed to being a triple bottom line company and as such we are both students and educators, always pushing ourselves and the marketplace to do the right thing and balance the priorities of profit, nature, and people”, Vice President of Be Green Packaging, Megan Havrda.

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“What Does True Eternal Equity Look Like and How Much Is A Human Life Worth?”

One sixth of the world’s population lives on a dollar a day. Another sixth lives on two dollars a day. The global middle class lives on $3,000 to $5,000 per year. What would it feel like to be a person who lives on a dollar a day – or three thousand dollars a year?

What would it feel like to have your wallet or purse taken from you, then your cell phone, credit cards, passport and access to any outside help? Then imagine being kept locked up in domestic, labor or sexual servitude for years. Americans had the shame of slavery on our hands until it was abolished. However, human slavery exists as the largest cartel on the planet with an estimated 2,000,000 men, women and children trafficked each year.  
 
A human life – fragile dreams; precious, meaningful, and sacred. The question is “How much is a human life worth?” In fact, an appropriate exercise would be to imagine being kidnapped and held for ransom. How much is your own life worth? Is it worth your entire estate to save your life? And then, is another life worth that much as well?
 
What are the acts of bold courage we can take outside of our comfort zone to reach out to another person in potent ways? How can we push ourselves far past our limits of safety and comfort to really and truly help another?
 
PeaceKeeper’s Eternal Equity Gloss asks the question, “What does true eternal equity look like where no one thrives at the expense of someone else?” True equity for all; what Founder, Jody R. Weiss calls “Collaborative Interdependence.” True Eternal Equity, where our empowerment and fulfillment is deeply tied to all other people on the planet and where we won’t rest until we know that we all can thrive.
 
PeaceKeeping starts with the small things in life; the way we treat ourselves and our families and the way we use our buying power collectively on products that heal the world. These acts, large and small, enable us to make an evolutionary choice of sustaining ourselves while sustaining the world. That is why PeaceKeeper calls this Beauty For Humanity. We say “Empowering You, Empowers Me.” Now That’s Beautiful™.

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