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Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Finally...
Be A Number has increased 10x since I have last written on here. The Battle Creek Enquirer put an article on Be A Number on the front page of their paper and was soon after picked up by the Associated Press and from there went on to so many other newspapers:
Here are a few:
Mlive.com
Grand Valley Lanthorn
Hillsdale Collegian
Poverty News Blog
On spring break, I went to Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation in South Dakota to hand out the first 250 shirts. "Pine Ridge is the eighth largest reservation in the United States, it is also the poorest. Unemployment on the reservation hovers around 80%, and 49% live below the Federal poverty level.[2] Adolescent suicide is four times the national average. Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewer. Many families use wood stoves to heat their homes. The population on Pine Ridge has among the shortest life expectancies of any group in the Western Hemisphere: approximately 47 years for males and in the low 50s for females. The infant mortality rate is five times the United States national average. (wikipedia)"
In my opinion, the reservation seemed to be a third world country in the middle of the United States. I did not know what to expect, as this was our first shirt drop, I was a little nervous. When we drove onto the reservation, it was very isolated, and for the first few miles, there was nothing around. The scenery was amazing. With the mountains and open land, I couldn't help but think about how people used to live. But as we drove further, we began to see how we have forced these people to live.
With alcoholism being a huge problem on the reservation, signs where friends and family had passed away peppered the sides of the roads. There were dogs running wild and dogs dead on the side of the road. But the most disturbing experience that I had when I was there was when we first arrived on the reservation.
We had directions to the Red Cloud Indian School, but having never been there before, we had no real clue as to where it was on this huge reservation. Well, long story short, we got really turned around. I suggested that we turn down a side dirt road because in my mind, this was the right way. We turned down the road and I soon stopped the car because I realized it was the wrong way. But I didn't turn around right away. I saw something down the road. So I sat and waited. What I saw may not seem that insane, but to me, for some reason, I felt so sad. I saw a man with a drink in his hand just walking aimlessly. It was such a sad sight because he honestly looked as though he has nowhere to go and nothing to do but drown in his drink and in his loneliness.
We turned the car around and eventually found our way to the elementary school where we were met by the nicest people. It is amazing to know that these people have struggled more than we could ever know, and yet they were acting as though their lives had been filled with endless joy. What I would later learn is that the residents of the Pine Ridge simply take advantage of their joyful moments more than the rest of us do.
Anyway, back to the trip, I went to the different classrooms, kindergarten through the 4th grade and spoke to them about the shirts that they were receiving. I started out talking about the shirts, I told them that their shirt has an individual order number on the back of it, sort of like a team jersey, and this shirt has a matching one somewhere in the United States. They were intrigued and smiled when I told them that every time they wear that shirt to know that someone, somewhere around the world is thinking about them. I also spoke about
the message that is printed on the back of every shirt, "Change the World". I told them that one day soon, they will change the world. I said that by staying in school and writing goals they will not only change their own personal world, but they will change their family's world, and their community's world.
I remember when I was younger, this realization was something bigger than I could comprehend at the time, but would stick with me throughout my life. After I spoke with them, I would always ask if they had any questions, and the questions were great. They would always ask who had their shirt, they asked if I was on the Disney channel, they asked if I could sign their shirts, and a ton more flattering questions.
A few hours had passed after I had delivered the shirts and I was finishing up speaking with everyone that I needed to, when I realized that I had left my book bag in one of the classrooms. I walked back over to the school by myself in search of the bag. I went to the classroom and the kids were excited to tell me how they had found it and ran it to the office for me to find. I thanked them and walked to the office. After I got my backpack, I walked out through the playground only to see every kid playing with their new Be A Number shirts on. A few waved and a few were too into the game to notice I was even there, but one of the best moments of the trip happened as I was walking off of the playground. A girl was being picked up by her mom and I saw that this girl had a Be A Number shirt on. She saw me and her eyes lit up. She smiled and tugged on her mom's coat and pulled her ear closer. I saw the girl whisper something with a smile and point at me. The mom looked, smiled, and lipped the words "thank you" to me. Do you know that times in life that you take visual snapshots of? The ones that change your life in the small amount of time it took to happen? That was one of those moments.
We left Pine Ridge and I realized that Be A Number was not just an idea anymore. It not only felt real to just me anymore, but also to 500 other people; the 250 that bought into Be A Number from the very beginning and took a chance on something new and the 250 children on the Pine Ridge.
We are currently working on improving the Be A Number website. The website will soon include pictures from the trip, a video from the trip, and ways to donate to the Red Cloud Indian School, as well as buy some of the one-of-a-kind, handmade items that local Native American artists on the reservation created. This can be done at the Heritage Center. This gives them the opportunity to be self sufficient; I see this as a great addition to Be A Number.
Here are a few:
Mlive.com
Grand Valley Lanthorn
Hillsdale Collegian
Poverty News Blog
On spring break, I went to Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation in South Dakota to hand out the first 250 shirts. "Pine Ridge is the eighth largest reservation in the United States, it is also the poorest. Unemployment on the reservation hovers around 80%, and 49% live below the Federal poverty level.[2] Adolescent suicide is four times the national average. Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewer. Many families use wood stoves to heat their homes. The population on Pine Ridge has among the shortest life expectancies of any group in the Western Hemisphere: approximately 47 years for males and in the low 50s for females. The infant mortality rate is five times the United States national average. (wikipedia)"In my opinion, the reservation seemed to be a third world country in the middle of the United States. I did not know what to expect, as this was our first shirt drop, I was a little nervous. When we drove onto the reservation, it was very isolated, and for the first few miles, there was nothing around. The scenery was amazing. With the mountains and open land, I couldn't help but think about how people used to live. But as we drove further, we began to see how we have forced these people to live.
With alcoholism being a huge problem on the reservation, signs where friends and family had passed away peppered the sides of the roads. There were dogs running wild and dogs dead on the side of the road. But the most disturbing experience that I had when I was there was when we first arrived on the reservation.
We had directions to the Red Cloud Indian School, but having never been there before, we had no real clue as to where it was on this huge reservation. Well, long story short, we got really turned around. I suggested that we turn down a side dirt road because in my mind, this was the right way. We turned down the road and I soon stopped the car because I realized it was the wrong way. But I didn't turn around right away. I saw something down the road. So I sat and waited. What I saw may not seem that insane, but to me, for some reason, I felt so sad. I saw a man with a drink in his hand just walking aimlessly. It was such a sad sight because he honestly looked as though he has nowhere to go and nothing to do but drown in his drink and in his loneliness.
We turned the car around and eventually found our way to the elementary school where we were met by the nicest people. It is amazing to know that these people have struggled more than we could ever know, and yet they were acting as though their lives had been filled with endless joy. What I would later learn is that the residents of the Pine Ridge simply take advantage of their joyful moments more than the rest of us do.
Anyway, back to the trip, I went to the different classrooms, kindergarten through the 4th grade and spoke to them about the shirts that they were receiving. I started out talking about the shirts, I told them that their shirt has an individual order number on the back of it, sort of like a team jersey, and this shirt has a matching one somewhere in the United States. They were intrigued and smiled when I told them that every time they wear that shirt to know that someone, somewhere around the world is thinking about them. I also spoke about
the message that is printed on the back of every shirt, "Change the World". I told them that one day soon, they will change the world. I said that by staying in school and writing goals they will not only change their own personal world, but they will change their family's world, and their community's world.I remember when I was younger, this realization was something bigger than I could comprehend at the time, but would stick with me throughout my life. After I spoke with them, I would always ask if they had any questions, and the questions were great. They would always ask who had their shirt, they asked if I was on the Disney channel, they asked if I could sign their shirts, and a ton more flattering questions.
A few hours had passed after I had delivered the shirts and I was finishing up speaking with everyone that I needed to, when I realized that I had left my book bag in one of the classrooms. I walked back over to the school by myself in search of the bag. I went to the classroom and the kids were excited to tell me how they had found it and ran it to the office for me to find. I thanked them and walked to the office. After I got my backpack, I walked out through the playground only to see every kid playing with their new Be A Number shirts on. A few waved and a few were too into the game to notice I was even there, but one of the best moments of the trip happened as I was walking off of the playground. A girl was being picked up by her mom and I saw that this girl had a Be A Number shirt on. She saw me and her eyes lit up. She smiled and tugged on her mom's coat and pulled her ear closer. I saw the girl whisper something with a smile and point at me. The mom looked, smiled, and lipped the words "thank you" to me. Do you know that times in life that you take visual snapshots of? The ones that change your life in the small amount of time it took to happen? That was one of those moments.
We left Pine Ridge and I realized that Be A Number was not just an idea anymore. It not only felt real to just me anymore, but also to 500 other people; the 250 that bought into Be A Number from the very beginning and took a chance on something new and the 250 children on the Pine Ridge.
We are currently working on improving the Be A Number website. The website will soon include pictures from the trip, a video from the trip, and ways to donate to the Red Cloud Indian School, as well as buy some of the one-of-a-kind, handmade items that local Native American artists on the reservation created. This can be done at the Heritage Center. This gives them the opportunity to be self sufficient; I see this as a great addition to Be A Number.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
2010...Oh Yeah.
So the website is now up and running as well as the Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. It is really exciting. I have had a ton of orders on the website and the Facebook page has over 1,000 fans in less then a week. I have been getting so many emails from people praising Be A Number and they are absolutely flattering... keep them coming :) But honestly, every email and every single idea, big or small, help to complete this amazing puzzle. The Student Rep. programs are starting up this semester. These people at different colleges are so into it and it's awesome. As of right now, the school that has gotten the most done in the shortest amount of time is University of Michigan. They have been amazing. I am so damn excited to see where this month will take us.
The reason that I really wanted to make a blog today is because I have come up with a list of things to do this year. I guess you can call it "new year's resolutions" but to me they fall under another category. I can not take full credit for all of these, because a few of them were inspired from Tim Ferriss as well as Kevin Rose. Tim Ferriss wrote The Four Hour Workweek and keeps a blog @ www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog. And Kevin Rose is Tim Ferriss' friend who is the Founder of Digg. You can check out some of Kevin Rose's stuff @ kevinrose.com. Anyway... I am hoping that by posting this for all to see, I can accomplish all of these goals.
YEAR 2010 PLANS (in no order)
1. Learn to grow a bonsai Tree
2. See more live music
3. Drink more wine with friends
4. Learn to fly fish
5. Get my blood tested and check for vit. D
6. Read "Vagabonding"
7. Get into tea
8. Buy at least two pieces of art
9. Go wine tasting
10. Go Chocolate tasting
11. Cliff Jump
12. Camp on a mountain
So that is my list. I think they sound fun. If you have done any of these or know anything about any of them, let me know.
Also, I don't know if I had had this on the blog before, but add me on my Facebook and Twitter.
I'm so excited for this year.
LISTENING 2: SYMPHONIES by DAN BLACK
The reason that I really wanted to make a blog today is because I have come up with a list of things to do this year. I guess you can call it "new year's resolutions" but to me they fall under another category. I can not take full credit for all of these, because a few of them were inspired from Tim Ferriss as well as Kevin Rose. Tim Ferriss wrote The Four Hour Workweek and keeps a blog @ www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog. And Kevin Rose is Tim Ferriss' friend who is the Founder of Digg. You can check out some of Kevin Rose's stuff @ kevinrose.com. Anyway... I am hoping that by posting this for all to see, I can accomplish all of these goals.
YEAR 2010 PLANS (in no order)
1. Learn to grow a bonsai Tree
2. See more live music
3. Drink more wine with friends
4. Learn to fly fish
5. Get my blood tested and check for vit. D
6. Read "Vagabonding"
7. Get into tea
8. Buy at least two pieces of art
9. Go wine tasting
10. Go Chocolate tasting
11. Cliff Jump
12. Camp on a mountain
So that is my list. I think they sound fun. If you have done any of these or know anything about any of them, let me know.
Also, I don't know if I had had this on the blog before, but add me on my Facebook and Twitter.
I'm so excited for this year.
LISTENING 2: SYMPHONIES by DAN BLACK
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
So Busy. So Excited.
My Christmas break has just ended and it feels nice to get back to school. O.K. so I have rewritten the first sentence probably 5 times because I can not think. There are two people next to me that are talking soo much and soo fast and soo loud, it's amazing. I am writing this in a computer lab because my computer is officially broken. :( I do not know what happened. The Be A Number website is not up yet because there was some major web designer drama. But I swear, it is almost up!! The logo has also gotten a bit of a makeover. I think it looks sweet. I have had so many people come up to me and ask me about the shirts and about the website, it is so exciting. Oh, this is also really cool, Liz went to one of her local middle schools to talk about Be A Number and see how they would react to the idea of helping out their generation. It went over so well. These kids went crazy :) It is so inspiring knowing that deep down people do want to help others that are less fortunate. These kids are at the perfect age where they are finally becoming who they will be for the rest of their lives. I personally believe that it says a lot about a child and their parents when someone so young wants to help so bad.
The first few hundred shirts officially have a home. The first few hundred shirts will be going to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. I contacted their foster care agency and they were so excited about the shirts and what they will bring. I can not wait to go. Me and a few of my coworkers will be going during our spring break. :) I can not wait for this opportunity.
My classes start tomorrow and I am really excited for entrepreneurship class. I have no clue what it entails but I hope I get an A in it lol. Tomorrow night I have a small table set up at my schools "Winter-fest". I have never been to "Winter-fest" but this year it involves an ice skating rink, so that should be sweet. I love ice skating so I will definitely be on that when nobody is watching. I like to skate but I suck haha. OK, I'm going crazy so I have to get off of this computer because these girls are still talking. I wish I could record what they have been talking about, it's soo all over the place. haha
The first few hundred shirts officially have a home. The first few hundred shirts will be going to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. I contacted their foster care agency and they were so excited about the shirts and what they will bring. I can not wait to go. Me and a few of my coworkers will be going during our spring break. :) I can not wait for this opportunity.
My classes start tomorrow and I am really excited for entrepreneurship class. I have no clue what it entails but I hope I get an A in it lol. Tomorrow night I have a small table set up at my schools "Winter-fest". I have never been to "Winter-fest" but this year it involves an ice skating rink, so that should be sweet. I love ice skating so I will definitely be on that when nobody is watching. I like to skate but I suck haha. OK, I'm going crazy so I have to get off of this computer because these girls are still talking. I wish I could record what they have been talking about, it's soo all over the place. haha
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Tat Tat Tatted Up
So a few days ago I was in Detroit with my family having an early family Christmas because my cousin is going back to Germany and then to Afghanistan. This also happened to be the date that my grandpa died a year ago. My mom wanted to get my grandpas initials on her wrist in memory of him. Sooo I got to thinking, "how many people can say that they got a tattoo with their mom?" and I came to the conclusion... Not many. So I decided to get one. It's around 12:00 and we walk in to the tattoo parlor and I'm kinda freaking out... I would have chickened out but I had already put down a down payment so there was no going back. My mom sat down in the chair first after asking a TON of questions. The tattoo was done in about 5 min. and now it was my turn. I asked her how it felt and she said that it didn't hurt at all and that it actually kind of felt good. So I had it in my head that it wasn't going to hurt... well I was wrong... it hurt like hell. But I like it.
The first order of shirts should be here on Tuesday! I'm so excited. Also, the website will drop around then, as well as the manual for the student representatives. I am writing it by hand so I have been writing that for a while. I always seem to mess up the last sentence on a page, so I have to rewrite the page... sooo annoying.
We have finals this week for school. But I am a P.E. major... so I have one... and it should be really easy. It's funny because all of my friends are all studying REALLY hard and I am just sitting in my room chilling and listening to music. I keep asking them if they want to go out and find a party, but for some reason they just get kind of mad and leave. haha. PE major 4 LIFE!!
My dad just gave me a book called "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom. He said it was amazing so he gave it to me 2 read. I hope to start that soon, lord knows I will have time. Hmmm... anything else new in my life? Well I broke my record player which sucks. The needle broke. So know I just have a bunch of records that I can't listen to.
I think that is about all I have to say. It was a random post but I just needed to say that I got a tattoo.
Listening 2: THE WALLFLOWERS - ONE HEADLIGHT
The first order of shirts should be here on Tuesday! I'm so excited. Also, the website will drop around then, as well as the manual for the student representatives. I am writing it by hand so I have been writing that for a while. I always seem to mess up the last sentence on a page, so I have to rewrite the page... sooo annoying.
We have finals this week for school. But I am a P.E. major... so I have one... and it should be really easy. It's funny because all of my friends are all studying REALLY hard and I am just sitting in my room chilling and listening to music. I keep asking them if they want to go out and find a party, but for some reason they just get kind of mad and leave. haha. PE major 4 LIFE!!
My dad just gave me a book called "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom. He said it was amazing so he gave it to me 2 read. I hope to start that soon, lord knows I will have time. Hmmm... anything else new in my life? Well I broke my record player which sucks. The needle broke. So know I just have a bunch of records that I can't listen to.
I think that is about all I have to say. It was a random post but I just needed to say that I got a tattoo.
Listening 2: THE WALLFLOWERS - ONE HEADLIGHT
Monday, November 30, 2009
Long Time No See
So I am trying this out on my phone for the first time so forgive me if I spell every other word wrong. I haven't been on here for a while mainly because my computer blows. It doesn't work. Anyways, football season just came to an end last week. It was a great year. Since then, my cousin - who is in the air force - flew in from Germany and we basically have been partying non stop. It was fun though. Also we have been playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II - it is so sweet. I am bad at it right now but I will soon be the best haha. We just had thanksgiving a few days ago and I am still full. I think my favorite thanksgiving food is mashed potatoes. So damn good. Oh and I also went to the Lions game with my brother and 2 cousins. And tailgating was fun but the game kinda blew. Another thanksgiving tradition is our annual "turkey bowl" that we have at my house with my sister and all of the neighbor kids. It was raining this year so it got pretty intense. It's just a two hand touch football game with kids. It's really fun. Especially when my team wins. My brother and I are very competitive. I think last year there was an argument in the house after the game. hahaha. I'm so frickin excited for Christmas. I have no clue what I want but I am most excited about getting this first order of shirts out. I just received the samples and I took some pictures of myself with them on. I will add them to this blog. Oh, I also want to add to this one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. It is a picture of a receipt for $1.90. My card with all of my money was declined. It sucked haha. So my brother had to pay for me. Right after I finish this post I am going to place the first order. I am so excited! This has been a long time coming and I'm so glad that it is finally here. After that I need to sleep. Which is weird because I just was on thanksgiving break. To many parties?
Listening 2: FRANK SINATRA - IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR
p.s. We just got our Christmas tree and it is ballin.
Listening 2: FRANK SINATRA - IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR
p.s. We just got our Christmas tree and it is ballin.
Friday, November 6, 2009
This is Crazy!
So within the last day or so I have sold way over what I had expected for the first order! I don't even have samples to show people! I am so happy that people like the idea. I seriously think that we are going to change the world. I am working with Jack Pearl of Battle Creek Michigan and they have been nothing but amazing. I am expected to get samples in next week. I am so excited. I haven't written on here for a while - mainly because I didn't have much to write about - but within these last couple of days my lazy days have turned into crazy days and sleepless nights. :) I seriously can hardly sleep because I am so excited. I hope that one day soon a ton of people will share the same pr
oblem :).
So besides Be A Number I have not been up to much. We just recently had a dog. It was a Boxer. Wow. So we got this dog when it was 3 - so it wasn't a puppy or anything. His name was Lenny and he loved to eat, poop everywhere, sleep and tear the house up. Now, for the first week or so this was OK because me and my housemates were convinced that we could break his bad habits. He was getting better... and then he went crazy lol. He actually had separation anxiety so whenever we would leave to go to football he would freak out. So after a while we just couldn't handle him so we found him a good home where someone will always be with him. BUT before he left he left us a few parting gifts haha. My friend was actually home at the time - but he was upstairs. I leave for about 15 min. and I come back and find the biggest duce I have ever seen on the floor - and actually one of my other friends had come home and stepped in it! I have NO clue how he first could not smell it when he first walked in. I was actually hit with a wave of
poop smell when I walked in. OK so besides the poop he grabbed a remote from a table and chewed it in half haha. Then after that he decided to get on the counter and eat a box of boneless chicken wings. He still wasn't done - he grabbed my mullet wig from Halloween the night before and practically ate it haha - there was hair everywhere! So yeah that was sweet.
I am so excited for Christmas! Happy Holidays!
Listening 2: KID CUDI - UP UP AND AWAY
oblem :).So besides Be A Number I have not been up to much. We just recently had a dog. It was a Boxer. Wow. So we got this dog when it was 3 - so it wasn't a puppy or anything. His name was Lenny and he loved to eat, poop everywhere, sleep and tear the house up. Now, for the first week or so this was OK because me and my housemates were convinced that we could break his bad habits. He was getting better... and then he went crazy lol. He actually had separation anxiety so whenever we would leave to go to football he would freak out. So after a while we just couldn't handle him so we found him a good home where someone will always be with him. BUT before he left he left us a few parting gifts haha. My friend was actually home at the time - but he was upstairs. I leave for about 15 min. and I come back and find the biggest duce I have ever seen on the floor - and actually one of my other friends had come home and stepped in it! I have NO clue how he first could not smell it when he first walked in. I was actually hit with a wave of
poop smell when I walked in. OK so besides the poop he grabbed a remote from a table and chewed it in half haha. Then after that he decided to get on the counter and eat a box of boneless chicken wings. He still wasn't done - he grabbed my mullet wig from Halloween the night before and practically ate it haha - there was hair everywhere! So yeah that was sweet.I am so excited for Christmas! Happy Holidays!
Listening 2: KID CUDI - UP UP AND AWAY
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