Family-style New Year’s Resolutions

The New Year means new opportunities to start a cycle of good in our community. We often set resolutions just for ourselves, but this year I challenge you to make a resolution for your entire family: Give back more and enjoy it.

You may be a veteran at volunteering, but how about your family?  Since beginning this column and my blog, two questions I frequently get asked are: “How do I get my kids involved?” or “I want to find a volunteer project in the community for my family?”

For a family, it could be as a scary as introducing a new vegetable at the dinner table. But like eating veggies, giving back is a great thing to learn young and ultimately leads to a healthier lifestyle. To help you and your family kick-off 2012 making a difference, here are three websites to have on your radar.

For Kids and Teens: GenerationOn
You are never too young to start making your mark on the world. This is the core philosophy of GenerationOn, the youth division of Points of Light Institute. This resource has brought the nation’s leading youth service organizations under one umbrella to give kids the opportunity to learn about the issues in their communities and access the tools they need to help.  Simply put, GenerationOn connects kids to causes and projects by engaging them online, in an exciting, kid-friendly way.  (Note: Remember, for our kids, the online community is an important part of their life and it is a great platform for them to find purpose in giving back to help others.) generationon.org

For Young Adults: One Percent Foundation
The One Percent Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to engaging young adults in philanthropy. The Foundation is one large giving circle, which means it creates a community where young people can pool together their funds in a collaborative effort to have a bigger impact on causes most important to them. This resource not only educates young adults on best practices of being philanthropic, it also raises awareness for the important issues affecting our world.  While mostly focused on twentysomethings, this is an organization that can get high school and college students started.  (Note: This is also something that you can do just with your own family. Have your kids pool a portion of their allowance, match that amount, and then decide together who it should help.) onepercentfoundation.org

For Families: Doing Good Together
Doing Good Together is a website that I recently came across and immediately was inspired. I stand behind their belief that by spending time with loved ones while also helping the larger world, leads children to become compassionate, aware of social issues, and ultimately develop a lifelong habit of giving. This grassroots organization provides tips, ideas and tools to engage your family in charitable activities that can make a difference in your community.  From the environment to the elderly, they have practical ideas that carry inspirational impact for your family to experience. doinggoodtogether.org

I am always excited to hear about creative ways people are giving back and helping those causes that matter most to them. Please send me an email, kate@kateatwood.com if you’d like me to share your story in 2012.

Operation Never Forgotten - A Holiday Pledge

I was recently walking through Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, strolling along the corridor to catch my flight, when a billboard ad stopped me in my tracks.  Maybe it was the warm apple cider I was sipping on or the timing of the holidays just around the corner, but the image of a soldier hugging a young girl, assumed to be his daughter, and the bold title Operation Never Forgotten caught my attention.

The holidays are a time for us to remember to be thankful for those who surround us throughout the year, but it is also a time to remember those who may be forgotten, to remember the many who feel alone on the holidays.  While Operation Never Forgotten is a non-profit organization with a mission focused on remembering our deployed military, veterans and fallen soldiers, I’m inspired to spread the operation to make sure everyone in our community is remembered this holiday season.

Here are a few suggestions:

A Soldier: Send a care package to a soldier through AnySoldier.com. This site helps you identify what to put in your care package and allows you to select a soldier or soldiers to receive your holiday treat.

A Homeless Mother and her Child: Gather your book club or just your neighbors and host a “PJ party.” This is not your usual PJ party. A good friend shared this idea with me after having contacted the local Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children, and asking about their biggest needs. Their answer: pajamas. So have all your guests bring in a pair of pajamas, either for an adult or a child. You can then deliver the batch to the shelter just in time for the holidays.

A Doctor or Nurse: While most of us get to spend the holidays at home with our loved ones, there are certain folks who don’t get that chance.  Spend a day baking goods or making flower arrangements and deliver them to the nearest hospital for the doctors and staff to be put in the break rooms. This is a wonderful way to thank those who are the ultimate caregivers in our community. Be sure to call ahead to make arrangements for your delivery.

A Senior: Take some of your extra time around the holidays and spend it with our seniors at an assisted living residence or local senior center. This is especially good for teens and young adults who have time off school. I suggest bringing some cards and games, and planning to spend an afternoon with a senior who may not get as many visitors over the holidays.

A Furry Friend: I never leave out our furry friends. Pack a holiday bag of treats, a leash, and some towels, and donate them to the Atlanta Humane Society or any area animal shelter. I like this one for kids because then they can participate in dropping off the gifts and visiting with the animals, who also like the extra TLC during this time of year.

We can all agree that the holidays are an important time for everyone to feel joy. Let’s make our own Operation Never Forgotten in Atlanta by lending our helping hands and caring hearts to those in our community who need us most during this time of year.

Happy Holidays!

Living by Giving: Giving Thanks by Giving Back

As published in Atlanta INtown Paper  

This month I am going to take a break from profiles and write instead about a pressing problem in our community and our nation. With Thanksgiving around the corner, it seems fitting to talk about childhood hunger in America.

I was recently introduced to this problem in my new role as the executive director of the Arby’s Foundation, the charitable arm of the Arby’s Restaurant Group. This fall we launched a new mission to help end childhood hunger in America because every child deserves to learn, play and grow. I’ve learned quickly just how much a child’s access to wholesome meals every day affects their ability to learn and grow.

Did you know that more than 16 million children in America struggle with hunger?  That equates to 1 in 5 children in the U.S. who do not get the proper meals they need. There are approximately 700,000 such children in Georgia. The latest USDA reports show that this number is at an all-time high in our nation’s history.

Here are three key things to know about childhood hunger in America:

• A hungry child in America doesn’t know where his or her next meal will come from, some going days without proper nutrition.
• Childhood hunger in America doesn’t exist because of a lack of food. The problem exists for such reasons as education, outreach and access to programs that are there to help.
• The impact of hunger is universal in a child’s life. It affects everything from their ability to concentrate to their ability to get proper sleep. A hungry child frequently gets sick and falls behind academically and socially.

The good news is that this problem is solvable and that you can be a big part of the solution. A leading organization in the fight to end childhood hunger in America is Share our Strength. This November marks the one-year anniversary of their No Kid Hungry Campaign. To honor this milestone, here are a few fun and easy ways you can support No Kid Hungry and join the fight to end this pressing problem in our nation:

1.)  Sign the No Kid Hungry Pledge: Visit strength.org and take the pledge to end childhood hunger.  This is a simple and free way to add your voice to support this movement in America.  You can help Share Our Strength reach their goal of 100,000 pledges by the end of 2011.

2.)  Hold a Great American Bake Sale at your office or holiday party: Who isn’t baking over the holidays? Plan a bake sale and help raise funds while building awareness about an issue that is often ignored: childhood hunger in our own backyard.  To learn more and register your bake sale, click on the Great American Bake Sale tab at strength.org.

3.)  Visit an Arby’s Restaurant near you: Shameless plug, but by visiting an Arby’s during the month of November, you and your family can make a $1 donation that all goes to support the No Kid Hungry Campaign. As part of Arby’s commitment to the Arby’s Foundation mission, and to the families we serve, we now offer healthier choices on our Kids Meal menu, so you can also talk about healthy choices with your kids while sharing about No Kid Hungry.

November is not only the one-year anniversary of the No Kid Hungry Campaign it is also the month that kicks-off the holiday season. Everyone deserves to experience joy around this time. Remember that some families need our help to do so. Be sure to give thanks this month by giving back to our community.

To learn more about the Arby’s Foundation, visit arbys.com/Foundation.

Q&A for Best Self Magazine

I, too like the opportunity to answer life's BIG questions. Here I chatted with Best Self magazine and offered up a few insights of my own. 

More from Kate…

What inspires you?
People. Life is so much about who you surround yourself with along the way. I often think by losing the most important person early in life, (my mom), I’ve realized early on just how important and impactful it is to have good loving people around you every step of the way.

What is your favorite part of your job with Kate’s Club?
I’m an entrepreneur, so my favorite part of my job is that I get to carry around big visions and see them realized through my work. Although I’m not an artist in the traditional sense, I like to think I create societal art in the form of communities. Nothing is more satisfying to me than bringing people together, people who may not otherwise ever cross paths, but because of the community that has been created for them, their lives are forever changed.

What challenges you?
Life. Life is challenging. People everywhere seek fulfillment out of life, and to achieve that, no matter who you are or where you live, that journey is a challenge. But a good challenge. And I think if people took on that challenge with others, rather than alone, it would be a better journey. 

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
This is hard for me to answer because I have received such great advice about life and about career. But I think in all facets of life the best piece of advice is “you are not alone” – whether starting a company, overcoming an illness, or facing adversity, we aren’t meant to do any of it alone. A great quote I heard once was, “The difference between being ordinary and extraordinary is that the extraordinary ask for help.”

How do you spend your down time and how do you juggle such a busy schedule?
This is all part of my journey. I can find myself so driven and passionate about my work that sometimes I don’t leave time for down-time. But I’m getting better about knowing my limits and making sure I build in time for me. I believe you can have it all, but you can’t necessarily have it all at once. So you just have to take life one day at a time, and do what wakes you up excited and lets you go to bed exhausted.

What do you consider some of your greatest achievements both professionally and personally?
Personally, my achievements are really found in my friends. I have always had great friends in my life. They have loved me and supported me and kept me striving to be my best, even during difficult times. 
Professionally, I think the ultimate achievement was just taking the risk to start Kate’s Club. Everything that happened from that was a result of that first step. I didn’t appreciate it as much at the time, but now I really appreciate it, especially as I am taking the first step in my next endeavor.

What do you see as the keys to being your “best self”?
I truly believe to be your best self, you have to take time to be a part of something bigger than yourself, and reach out to help others. When I was a motherless adolescent, I struggled in so many ways and my spirit suffered greatly from that loss. I never would have thought that by starting Kate’s Club and giving back to other kids who shared that similar loss would I connect with the happiness and healing that I have since. Now I truly believe my message to others is that your best self is found when you help others.

You can read the full article here: http://www.bestselfatlanta.com/Best-Self-Articles/Life-Enrichment/Kate’s-Club.html

 

Meet Blake Canterbury: CEO beremedy

I don’t claim to have psychic powers of any kind, but I certainly know a visionary when I meet one, and I can already foresee Blake Canterbury having a huge impact on our world.  Atlanta is lucky to have him launching his Living by Giving dream right in our own backyard.

I met Blake recently at the Apex Society’s “Power 30 Under 30” awards, where I had the honor of presenting him with an award.  He shares with Living by Giving about his organization beremedy, and his vision to connect individuals to those who need help the most.

Tell us a little about beremedy. I recently read it was named one of “3 best Twitter usages worldwide” by CNN.
beremedy is the simplest way to help other people.  It is an organization connecting people who need help with those who want to help, via social media.  We feel that most people would help others if they simply knew the needs in their local community. Through applications like Twitter and Facebook, beremedy alerts people when someone in their community needs help. It takes little time for our members to step-up and make a difference.

What was the moment that made you decide you wanted to do something to get connected and have impact in our community and around the world?
My whole life I have been drawn to help people in need. Then, I realized that we can communicate a message to potentially millions of people at one time through social media.  I thought to myself, “what if we leveraged that potential to communicate messages for good to millions of people?”  Then I set out to create a sustainable model to do it.

Sounds simple enough, but I know starting-up a business is tough stuff; what has been the most rewarding part?
No doubt it’s the people helped at the end of each day. Giving a little more hope to someone than they previously had. Each day I have a purpose to get out of bed.

What is your wildest, biggest dream for beremedy? In 10 years, describe what you’d like to see beremedy accomplishing?
It doesn’t matter if it’s a natural disaster or helping a middle school student who needs a pair of shoes, if someone wants to get involved and help, I want them to turn to beremedy.  And while I can’t give away the secret sauce, I am excited to say we’re creating new technology that’s going to change the way people help those in need.

That sounds very exciting! For someone out there looking to find a connection to a cause or purpose in their community, what advice would you give them to get started?
Decide what type of cause motivates you and begin to look around your city for ways people are supporting that cause. Most of the time, you can just walk in an organization and they’ll embrace you.  As you find great non-profit organizations, I would love for you to have them register on beremedy.  We want to connect more people to these organizations and aid them with their mission.

Very cool Blake. As I said to you many times, I'm honored to know you!  I know great things are going to come from beremedy for our communities and our world!

***

Here are 3 things you can do to be a part of beremedy.

1.  “Like” beremedy on Facebook, Twitter and/or get our email. You can immediately get started helping others.

2.  Send any non-profit organizations to our website (www.beremedy.org) and let them know we’d love to help them.

3.  Tell other people about us and make them act on Step 1.  The more people we have involved, the faster we can grow to help more people.