New Adventures

As summer comes to a close, we bet you are all wondering what new adventures are in store.  No doubt you've picked out your "first-day-of-school-outfit" and purchased new notebooks and writing utensils for the year ahead.  You've said "goodbye" to camp friends, traded your flip-flops for sturdier shoes and soaked up the last bit of sun before summer vacation ends.  A new chapter in your life begins.

The same goes for me (Catherine) and Lea.  When we started working with YAC last August, we didn't know what to expect.  We've had a lot of ups and downs, but we could not be happier about the great things the Arkansas YAC chapters have accomplished.  Now we are wrapping up our year as VISTA workers and heading out to find our places in the world.  We would like to say "thank you" to each one of you (YAC members AND advisors) for making this year special for us.  We hope that the YAC program will soar to even greater heights this coming year!  We have no doubt in our minds that great things will come from all of you and we can't wait to hear about what a difference YAC has made in Arkansas.

Keep up the YAC spirit,

Catherine and Lea

Getting Creative with Awareness

Sometimes in philanthropy or awareness campaigns you have to think outside of the box (or in this case, outside of the t-shirt).  Teens spent a whole day hanging t-shirts on a clothesline in front of a local business in their town to bring awareness to deaths caused by smoking.  Talk about visual impact!  

Check it out: http://www.lenconnect.com/photos/x872947881/Anti-smoking-project

Wouldn't it be cool to do something like this in your community?

• Pick an issue you're passionate about in order to harness your creative energy.
• Simple is the way to go.  Make sure you can explain your cause in two sentences or less.
• Don't do anything alone! Get your friends/family AND your community involved.
• Work within your financial limits (if you can't afford something, as for donations OR think of another way to spread your message.
• Get creative with everyday objects.  Place old toys in front of community buildings to bring awareness to child abuse; tape empty water bottles to a store window (with the store's permission, of course) to encourage people to recycle.  
• Create a tagline to explain your cause. For example: Beside a store window taped with many water bottles, post a sign that says “Imagine if you had to carry all the bottles you threw away with you while you were shopping.  Recycle!” 

30 days of Creative Philanthropy

Are you stuck in a summertime haze with nothing to do?  Look for creative ways to philanthrop-ize your life!  Try a 30 day philanthropy challenge and find new ways to give back.  Look online or in the news for local volunteer information and get to it!

A 30 day challenge seems pretty self explanatory, but here are a few guidelines:

- Try to do something every day for more than 20 minutes (We know that task seems a little daunting, but that’s why it’s called a “challenge!”)

- What you do should be something philanthropic (a.k.a. something that helps your community, like picking up trash or stocking shelves at your local food bank)
- Bring a friend!  Time goes by faster when you’re with someone.

Tips to get you started:
- Identify goals (what do you hope to accomplish for your community in the next 30 days?)
- Schedule activities the week before so you never have to scramble for ideas
- Pick an area to focus on throughout the 30 day challenge (do you want to help animals, the environment or children?  Or do you want to focus on multiple areas of giving?)
- Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day!  You’re giving back to your community and that’s all that matters.

Resources and examples:
Creative Microphilanthropy 30 day challenge
http://www.good.is/post/the-good-30-day-challenge-creative-microphilanthropy

Good Citizenship 30 Day challenge
http://www.good.is/post/the-good-30-day-challenge-become-a-good-citizen

Connect the YACs

You’ve played the timeless drawing game, Connect the Dots, right?  The goal is to get every dot on the page connected to the others without breaking the line drawn between them.  The goal of your YAC should be the same: to connect each Youth Advisory Council throughout the state of Arkansas and keep them connected.  

You know what your YAC is capable of so think about what all of the YACs across the state could do together.  Each group could pull the spendable money in their endowments to award a grant to a philanthropy based in Arkansas.  Here’s another idea: get YAC groups within your region to come together and plan an event benefitting youth from various counties, towns and cities.  Think of the impact each one of you can make if you use your talents to work together.   

Share ideas.  Build relationships.  Connect the YACs to see the "big picture" of youth philanthropy in Arkansas.  Your YAC (and you) will grow from these connections.