L&G, may I have a drumroll, please?
Rllrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlllrlrlrlrrrlrlrllrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrl (text approximation of the sound of a drumroll)!
Starting in January, Mix 106 is going to launch a new initiative, parterning with all of our local non-profs, lots of businesses, and every single person who lives in Delta County. It's called:
100 Hours of Hope
Here's how it works. We are asking every single resident of Delta County to give 100 hours of their time over the next year to the community. "Holy shit!" you say, "That's a lot of effing time!" Well, not really...it's less than 2 hours per week (1.923 hours, to be precise, which is just 115 or so minutes). You can count the time you spend grocery shopping as long as you donate a can or two of what you buy. You can count the time you spend cleaning your house as long as you donate some old thing to Goodwill or the Army or St. Vincenzo's Department Store. You can drive an old person to the store, rake a bit of someone else's yard, snowblow the whole block instead of just your piece of sidewalk, sort food at the pantry, walk a dog at the shelter, answer phones for a telethon, usher at the Bonifas, docent at the lighthouse, play cards at the old folks home, take out someone else's garbage or bring something to the dump for them...it all counts.
We will list on our website a TON of volunteering activities from all sorts of organizations. You call them and sign up, and we will give you a 100 Hours of Hope t-shirt. You don't HAVE to wear it, but if you do, everyone will see that you're doing your part and maybe be encouraged to do theirs, as well. Our website will have a blog area, where you can chat about your experiences, and then pick a volunteer of the month and an organization of the month for prizes, recognition, and whatnot. We will push the whole, 'more time than money' thing, too, so that people don't just try to buy their time, although we figure you can use minimum wage to calculate it, so that if you donate, say, $71.50 worth of stuff to the Salvation Army foodbank, you can call that 10 hours. You can also write letters, research online for ideas, or clip coupons for organizations to use up your time.
I am SO excited about this project. Maybe it's asking too much of people, but even if they TRY to participate...totally worth my time. Yay for digging in! :)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Oi! So, today is Friday, and my mind is tossed on the upcoming Holiday season. Being a non-Christmas kind of girl, the gift-giving thing always perplexes me. Also, being a no-money-having girl also impacts my approach to this most delicate topic.
It's not that I don't WANT to give gifts...in fact, quite the contrary is true. However, the way I see it, most of my friends have everything that they NEED. There is nothing I can provide them that they can't provide for themselves. Then again, as CJ pointed out, if someone needs it, it's not really a gift. A gift should be a quiet statement between people that attests to their friendship and private moments.
I am a big, big fan of finding one amazingly unique item and buying it for everyone, kind of like a collector's item. Last year, it was a Yodelling Pickle. I think it's hilarious and would LOVE to get it for a gift. This year, I am considering this for my work friends, these (amonst many Nick and Nora designs that I just LOVE) and this book for my good friends, and maybe a few of these for assorted others. If I try to go out and buy something unique for everyone, I spend too much, make weird leaps in judgement when pressured, like, "Oh, well, Charity is going to school this semester, so let's see...school....school....school....fish travel in schools. What about tuna steaks?" and then, overjoyed at having thought of something so personal, I immediately order and pay for it, and then think, "Um...wait. Did I just buy tuna steaks for my vegetarian best friend? Well done." And the tuna steaks go to someone who a. doesn't deserve that expensive a gift from me and b. has no idea why I would have gotten them tuna steaks when everyone else got inflatable toast. AND I don't have anything for Charity yet. Then there's the issue of this awesome Obama poster from moveon.org, and I can have three of them for an $85 donation, but I have five people that would love it and I absolutely do NOT have that much money to spend on posters. Fathead.com does not make a giant Paul Newman wall stickie, I am not a fan in any way of gift cards (here's some money, essentially, I'm just dictating where you are allowed to spend it), and the exclusive vanilla beans I wanted for a few of my favorite people have been embargoed by the government of Myanmar or something.
Which brings me to the Polar Bears. Surely they need $20 more than any of my friends need more stuff? Surely it's a good and worthy cause...have you seen those horrifying tv ads with the mom and baby floating away on a chunk of icy doom? Good LORD! The polar bears need it. As do the people of Darfur, poor kids right here in Escanaba, the Animal Shelter...can I just give $200 to someone and get a stack of cards? And can everyone just appreciate that as much as they would this?
I propose a holiday season where we all make food for each other as gifts and have wonderful times together, throw all of our gift money into a bowl and then draw charities from another bowl to send it to. And maybe play charades with the nominees. I will entertain a motion to adopt this into policy. Any discussion?
It's not that I don't WANT to give gifts...in fact, quite the contrary is true. However, the way I see it, most of my friends have everything that they NEED. There is nothing I can provide them that they can't provide for themselves. Then again, as CJ pointed out, if someone needs it, it's not really a gift. A gift should be a quiet statement between people that attests to their friendship and private moments.
I am a big, big fan of finding one amazingly unique item and buying it for everyone, kind of like a collector's item. Last year, it was a Yodelling Pickle. I think it's hilarious and would LOVE to get it for a gift. This year, I am considering this for my work friends, these (amonst many Nick and Nora designs that I just LOVE) and this book for my good friends, and maybe a few of these for assorted others. If I try to go out and buy something unique for everyone, I spend too much, make weird leaps in judgement when pressured, like, "Oh, well, Charity is going to school this semester, so let's see...school....school....school....fish travel in schools. What about tuna steaks?" and then, overjoyed at having thought of something so personal, I immediately order and pay for it, and then think, "Um...wait. Did I just buy tuna steaks for my vegetarian best friend? Well done." And the tuna steaks go to someone who a. doesn't deserve that expensive a gift from me and b. has no idea why I would have gotten them tuna steaks when everyone else got inflatable toast. AND I don't have anything for Charity yet. Then there's the issue of this awesome Obama poster from moveon.org, and I can have three of them for an $85 donation, but I have five people that would love it and I absolutely do NOT have that much money to spend on posters. Fathead.com does not make a giant Paul Newman wall stickie, I am not a fan in any way of gift cards (here's some money, essentially, I'm just dictating where you are allowed to spend it), and the exclusive vanilla beans I wanted for a few of my favorite people have been embargoed by the government of Myanmar or something.
Which brings me to the Polar Bears. Surely they need $20 more than any of my friends need more stuff? Surely it's a good and worthy cause...have you seen those horrifying tv ads with the mom and baby floating away on a chunk of icy doom? Good LORD! The polar bears need it. As do the people of Darfur, poor kids right here in Escanaba, the Animal Shelter...can I just give $200 to someone and get a stack of cards? And can everyone just appreciate that as much as they would this?
I propose a holiday season where we all make food for each other as gifts and have wonderful times together, throw all of our gift money into a bowl and then draw charities from another bowl to send it to. And maybe play charades with the nominees. I will entertain a motion to adopt this into policy. Any discussion?
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