Have you ever felt strongly about a particular issue?

Was it something widespread, like animal rights, environmental awareness, or equal treatment for women? Or was it something a bit more local, like a school board decision, demolition of a historic building, or plans to construct a walking trail? Have you ever thought about starting a recycling program, an awareness group, or church meeting?

According to Webster, an activist is someone who campaigns for change. Change can take many forms. Local concerns, global issues, and the desire to implement new programs are all ways to change the status quo.

You cannot be an activist without being an advocate. Effective advocacy means that you voice your concerns, beliefs, or desires to powerful people and institutions in order to create change. (borrowed from: www.readwriteact.org/node/25)

If you’ve ever wanted to change something and were unsure of how to start, you are not alone. With some planning, teamwork, and willingness to take action, you can become an effective advocate and activist.

How to Become an Activist

1. Identify what you want to do. Do you want to raise awareness for breast cancer? Start an afterschool program? Reduce gang violence? Clearly state and quantify your goal. Decide on a number – a percentage, proportionate decrease, aumber of people – and set milestones.

2. Research effective approaches. Talk to those who have experience with what you wish to accomplish. Look at other activist groups, talk to leaders in your community, and research similar initiatives.

3. Establish your game plan. Have a flexible plan of what small steps you are going to take and how they will achieve your end result. Would you need to organize a petition? Contact government officials? Distribute pamphlets? Raise money? Organize a race?

4. Recruit! Find others who are interested in your initiative. Invite them to collaborate in your efforts. Send emails, make flyers, and discuss your initiative with others. Again, make sure that you can clearly state what you hope to do, and what resources you require from others. Do you need volunteers to help organize a benefit run/walk? Signatures on a petition? People willing to serve on a committee managing an afterschool program?

5. Hold meetings. Establish regular intervals for review and evaluation. Use internet sources to document information, communicate with members, and give reminders.

6. Attain the support of community stakeholders. Look for the people who have knowledge, influence, and other resources who can help you. A school principal? A youth group leader? A philanthropic organization?

7. Media. Start a website, contact your local newspaper, call your local news station. Get the word out!

8. Measure and convey progress. By breaking your goal into smaller steps (e.g., number of volunteers, signatures, or dollars needed) you can keep track of your progress, and boost morale. If your goal is to raise $1,000 for a local animal shelter, then set smaller goals of $100 increments. Include these successes in your meetings. Make sure to give updates to people and organizations supporting your efforts.

9. Leave room for adjustment. Listen to your team and evaluate your efforts. Discuss ways to improve your methods and progress. Brainstorm!

10. Send Thank You cards! Remember, you couldn’t have done it yourself. Even if your efforts aren’t as successful as you’d hoped, thank those who gave their time and resources to help you.

Gandhi said it best: be the change you wish to see in the world. Don’t wait for the world to change – go out and make a difference!

For information on effective advocacy, visit http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/chapter_1030.aspx.

To learn more about taking action in your community, visit The Community Toolbox at http://ctb.ku.edu.

Hunger is a global epidemic that compromises the lives of 1.02 billion people worldwide. The number one objective of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals is to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2015. Since the onset of the destruction of Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 and the devastating earthquake in 2010, Haiti, already one of the most impoverished countries in the world prior to these natural disasters, found itself in need of international humanitarian support. Numana Inc., a nonprofit hunger relief organization founded in El Dorado, Kansas, has united over 120,000 volunteers across the nation to package over 20 million meals for Haiti Disaster Relief, doing their part to help relieve our global hunger epidemic.

Eight years ago, Numana founder, Rick McNary, had a late night conversation with his sister about wanting to make a change. “We had spent a lot of time feeding starving people in Central America and Africa and were brainstorming ideas to get more people involved in feeding starving people. We had just visited my good friend Lyle Mullin’s operation in West Virginia (www.hsminc.com) and were impressed with the food packaging program they did and wanted to replicate it in Kansas.” From their first event just six months ago at the Civic Center in El Dorado, to today, all of the event volunteers across America have provided thousands of children and families with much-needed nutritious meals.

 According to UN research, the most effective way to eradicate hunger is to implement school feeding programs in areas of needs. Partnered with the Salvation Army World Services, meals packaged at a Numana Packaging Event are primarily delivered to these school programs or to emergency relief situations. “Our original vision,” says McNary, “is establishing school feeding programs in the 49 schools that the Salvation Army has in Haiti with over 10,000 kids. That’s the only hope for Haiti long term is to educate those kids and the best way to get them to school is to offer food!” Each meal produced, packaged, and shipped by Numana costs 30 cents to create. Composed of four simple ingredients of rice, soy, freeze-dried beans, and chicken flavoring with 21 vitamins targeted to help sustain the immune system, volunteers at each packaging event measure and distribute these foods into small plastic bags.

Numana was created to give people an active role in ending hunger, McNary reflects, “You see, we want to do something about global hunger, but our only option has been to write a check to some organization hoping that they do the right thing with it. People needed a new option.” The mission of Numana is to empower others by facilitating organizations to sponsor and carry out their Packing Event; they are providing a new option for communities to bring about change. Numana has constructed their events so that the community sponsor attracts publicity and receives credit. From University of Arkansas college students to one Connecticut Eagle Scout, Numana has partnered with different organizations from Pennsylvania to Washington and everywhere in between, showing that people of all ages and backgrounds can make a difference.  

McNary understands the worldwide implication of hunger, “when you talk about hunger issues on a global scaled, the term “food insecurities” is a phrase that is often used to describe the ripple effect of people not having enough food to feed themselves or their family. So not having enough food leads to an insecure and unstable family environment, a community environment, and ultimately, a national environment.” Numana and other organizations like it are promoting interest and participation in humanitarian initiatives within their communities in order to achieve our common goals for global stability. To read more about upcoming Numana events, McNary’s blog, or to hold a Packaging Event in your city, visit www.numanainc.com.

The Community Tool Box has helpful resources and information if you or your group is interested in encouraging awareness of and solutions for community issues. The following chapters are recommended readings:

Chapter 7 Encouraging Involvement in Community Work

 http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/chapter_1006.aspx

Chapter 17 Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/chapter_1017.aspx

Resources

“Haiti Relief Fund.” Haiti Relief Fund Inc. – Working Together We Can Help the Earthquake Victims. Web. 30 June 2010. <http://www.haitirelieffund.org/mission.htm>.

“Numana Inc. » Our Mission.” Numana Inc. Web. 30 June 2010. <http://numanainc.com/?page_id=11>.

“The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010.” We Can End Poverty 2015 Millennium Development Goals. United Nations. Web. 30 June 2010. <http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG%20Report%202010%20En%20r15%20-low%20res%2020100615%20-.pdf>.

Who do you think is going hungry?

Imagine that you walk into a classroom. Children are sitting at their desks, moving about the room, sharpening pencils, and asking questions. Imagine now, that there are 20 students in the room. Count five children. Now, imagine that those children will go home not knowing if they’re having dinner tonight. That’s because one in four children come from families who struggle to put food on the table. It may surprise you to find that the USDA estimates that 49 million Americans live with food insecurity. What does that mean?

The USDA defines a food-insecure home as “uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources.” One in six adults lives with food insecurity. One in twenty American households are considered to be of “very low food security,” also known as “food insecure with hunger.” This means that at some point during the year, someone in the household had no choice but to significantly reduce the amount they ate, or skip meals altogether.

Households struggle with food insecurity for a number of reasons – and they aren’t always obvious.

Feeding America (FA) is the nation’s primary emergency food source network. FA is comprised of over 37,000 agencies, such as soup kitchens, food pantries, and food banks; they served an estimated 37 million people in 2009. Feeding America conducted over 62,000 interviews with their clients for Hunger in America 2010, the largest study of domestic hunger ever conducted. Feeding America seeks to help Americans struggling with hunger by raising awareness and serving meals, as well as exploring the root causes of hunger.

More information:

Going without a nutritious meal, or any meal at all, is often the consequence of making a decision between food and other essentials. Hunger in America 2010 reported that 46% of FA’s clients had to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities. Almost 40% of clients reported having to choose between paying for food and paying mortgage or rent, and 34% reported having to pay for medical expenses over paying for food.

The study’s demographics not only gained awareness of America’s hunger epidemic – it shattered prejudices. According to Hunger in America 2010, only 10% of clients were homeless. In fact, almost 25% owned the homes they lived in. Of the clients surveyed, 39% had completed high school, and 23% had at least some college education. Of the households interviewed, 37% had at least one employed adult.

Hunger in America is growing at an alarming rate. The number of Americans struggling with food insecurity has grown by 13 million from 2007. The climbing unemployment rate and shriveling economy are largely responsible for this 36% increase in food insecurity. Feeding America conducted a study in September 2009, surveying clients at their food banks. FA reported that unemployment was a major factor in the increased request for emergency food.

The number of Americans in need of emergency food sources is higher than ever. Though Feeding America receives funding from federal grants and a network of donors, their emergency food programs rely heavily on volunteers. In fact, 68% of FA’s food pantries rely entirely on volunteers.

Hunger in the United States is an ongoing battle. If we hope to help the millions of Americans living with hunger, we’re going to have to do it together.

To learn more about Hunger in America, Feeding America, and how you can help in your community, visit www.feedingamerica.org

For related tools to take action visit the Community Tool Box at http://ctb.ku.edu.

The American public is surviving the worst financial emergency since the Great Depression; 12.5 million Americans are without jobs, 14.1 million children are living in poverty, and 3.5 million people have no place to live. In response to these circumstances, people all across the nation have rallied together in extraordinary numbers, using service to overcome economic adversity. 

In the annual Corporation for National Community Service’s Volunteering in American report, the number of Americans volunteering has jumped by 1.6 million in 2009, marking the largest increase since 2003. This translates to 63.4 million volunteers donating 8.1 billion hours of service, all in effort to provide support and resources to neighbors and community members hit the hardest. In the face of crisis, “Americans have responded to tough economic times by volunteering in big numbers,” says Patrick Corvington, the Corporation’s CEO.  “What we’re seeing is the depth of the American spirit and generosity at its best. People are turning toward problems, working with their neighbors to find solutions to real problems, from homelessness to the dropout crisis.”

The Volunteering in American report is the most comprehensive research ever compiled on volunteerism. This report analyzes volunteer rates in states and cities, organizes rankings, investigates regional trends, and serves to provide community leaders with information to better mobilize the American people in the future.

Though Americans of all backgrounds volunteer, the study indicates that variables like homeownership, short commute times, strong nonprofit infrastructure, and higher education levels can all be associated with higher rates of volunteering.  It is also shown that women volunteer at higher rates than men. In addition to these demographic findings, state profiles show that Utah was the top volunteer rate for the fifth year in a row, with a volunteer rate of 44.2%. Provo, Utah, leads the nation with an astonishing 63.6 % volunteer rate, holding the title of highest volunteer rate in a mid-sized city for its third year. These profiles and the data found in the Corporation’s research study all suggest the great spirit of the American people, our uncanny ability to unite in the face of crisis, and our common generosity to lend a hand to a neighbor in need. For more information and access to the full report, please visit VolunteeringInAmerica.gov.

To learn about how you can recruit more volunteers for your community programs, visit the Community Tool Box, Chapter 11 Recruiting and Training Volunteers, at http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/section_1106.aspx.

Resources

Cramer, Kevin, LaMonica Shelton, Nathan Dietz, Lillian Dote, Carla Fletcher, Shelby Jennings, Brooke Nicholas, Shelly Ryan, and Joscelyn Silsby. Volunteering in America. Rep. Web. 24 June 2010. <http://volunteeringinamerica.gov/assets/resources/IssueBriefFINALJune15.pdf>.

“Press Release: New Federal Report Shows Greatest Spike in Volunteers Since 2003.” Corporation for National and Community Service. Web. 24 June 2010. <http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/newsroom/releases_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1777>.

“Recession Snapshot: Facts, Attitudes, Analysis – CNN.com.” CNN.com – Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Web. 24 June 2010. <http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/13/reality.check/>.

Neighbor Chalk, created by NeighborsForNeighbors.org, is a fun and creative public art project focused on making neighborhoods welcoming and colorful by encouraging residents to create beautiful sidewalk art. This great summertime activity can be done as friends and neighbors, or at your next block party.  With a bucket of chalk and a camera, you can get to know your neighbors and share pictures of your work with others on the Neighbor Chalk facebook page.

Visit http://www.neighborsforneighbors.org/neighborchalk/ for details & more ideas to get involved!

Here’s how to join in:

1. Create an event at www.meetup.com/neighborchalk
2. Invite your neighbors to join you or create their own event
3. Create sidewalk chalk art, have fun and meet your neighbors
4. Take pictures and upload them Facebook  or flickr and tag them with “NeighborChalk”
5. Tweet about your event using the hastag #NeighborChalk 
6. Follow @NeighborChalk
7. “Like” Neighborhood Chalk on Facebook

All across the world, adolescent girls are dreaming of change and growing into a new generation of strong, confident leaders. As an American girl, you’re overwhelmed with the excitement of learning how to drive, going to your first middle school dance, and playing varsity sports. Unfortunately, there is a much wider population of girls in developing nations who are overwhelmed with different concerns and who don’t have the luxury of taking a free education, a safe home, and family planning for granted. Girl Up, a United Nations Foundation campaign, recognizes the need to raise awareness and funds to impact some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. This program encourages American girls, who are compassionate towards volunteerism and community improvement, to mobilize and change the lives of other adolescent girls.

Girl Up is unique because it is a “for girls, by girl” campaign, an organization dedicated towards uniting girls to implement change. Supporters are encouraged on the www.girlup.org website to give a “High Five” by donating five dollars or more to programs that will provide girls in developing nations with access to basic needs like health services, school supplies, clean water, and more. Donating is easy and the website also offers other ideas to help American girls increase the awareness and fundraising of this campaign.

Every “High Five” donation helps girls in these developing countries achieve their dreams by providing them with much needed resources to grow up to become healthy, educated, strong leaders. Funding will support the Abriendo Oportunidades program in Guatemala where girl-led and girl-driven community clubs support activities centered on health issues and self-esteem, economic empowerment, and reproductive rights and education. In this society where the adolescent Mayan girl has the lowest school participation and almost half are married before age 18, such resources and access to positive female mentorship is unequaled. 

Another is the Berhane Hewan program in Ethiopia that is focused on providing health-care and mentorship to adolescent girls in the rural Amhara region. This region has among the highest rates of child marriage in the world, leading to increased risk of HIV and lack of maternal health and reproductive education. Since close to half of all the girls are married before they are fifteen, they are physically and emotionally ill-prepared for starting families. This program is not only centered on improving the individual reproductive health and education of its girls, but also engages in community-wide conversations with community leaders to create a more supportive living environment for these girls. Through the Girl Up website, you can help fund these programs and even read real stories from the girls that these programs are directly impacting.

If you are interested in starting a campaign like Girl Up or the programs supported by this campaign in your own community, in whatever scale, visit the Community Tool Box to access the resources and tools to encourage similar involvement and participation in your organization. Some sections that could be useful include:

Gaining Support for Addressing Community Health and Development Issues http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1027.htm

Promoting Participation Among Diverse Groups

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/section_1079.htm

Involving People Most Affected by the Problem

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/section_1084.htm

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently held its 22nd annual World No Tobacco Day. Every May 31st marks a 24-hour period of encouraged abstinence from all forms of tobacco. World No Tobacco Day encompasses a theme that will not only promote tobacco awareness, but that will set the tone for WHO’s tobacco-related efforts for the following year. This year’s theme was “gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women.”

Marketing to women should come as no surprise; advertisements everywhere target women as a primary consumer. Entire industries strive to appeal to the female consumer; makeup, fashion, home furnishings, childcare – the list goes on. And yes, while these markets are not exclusive to women, it takes no more than a few minutes of channel-surfing daytime television to verify that women are disproportionally represented in the world of advertising.

Tobacco ads are no exception.

WHO raises attention of the relentless marketing strategies used by tobacco companies to target a female audience. Ads aren’t simply images of thin, beautiful women smoking a brand name cigarette. Companies are going so far as to market pink cigarettes, and offer freebies like lip balm, phone charms, and purses. The most disturbing result of such advertisements isn’t the mere increase in tobacco purchases made by women.

It’s the impact such offers have on young girls.

A study published in the medicine journal, Pediatrics, examined the influence of gender- specific tobacco advertisements on teenage girls. By marketing freebies and making cigarettes appear “feminine,” companies create more memorable ads. These ads, such as the new release of Camel No.9 cigarettes, are the likely reason as to why girls “prefer Camel over other brands” when they were interviewed – a year later. Startlingly, the proportion of teenage girls who preferred Camel”, 22%, is double the number of that in previous studies.

Moreover, the girls who “preferred” Camel compared to other cigarette brands didn’t actually smoke. Neither did half of the girls who could name a favorite cigarette ad.

Not surprisingly, male participants offered no preference in cigarette brand when interviewed the following year.

So why is it so important to combat advertisements?

The answer is simple: non-smoking teens are 50% more likely to smoke than teens that have no preference.

It doesn’t matter where these images show up, or who the intended audience is – teens are noticing the advertisements.

WHO is raising awareness with its own response to female-geared tobacco advertisements. World No Tobacco Day’s campaign is putting an ironic twist on tobacco ads. The images are not obvious; at a glance, the posters seem like any other fashion image. Look closely, however, and you will see the not-so glamorous effects of tobacco use.

The truth is simple: tobacco companies are in the business to make money. Tobacco companies don’t care about how their ads affect women and young girls. They do not care if ads increase the likelihood that a non-smoking young woman will become a nicotine addict later in life.

Raising awareness is crucial in combating the influence of tobacco advertisements.  Communities can stand up to tobacco companies by implementing their own awareness campaigns.

This year’s World No Tobacco Day posters, as well as other information about tobacco awareness, can be accessed on the World Health organization website at http://www.who.int/tobacco/wntd/2010/en/index.html.

For strategies for an effective anti-tobacco campaign in your community, visit the Community Tool Box Toolkit regarding Implementing a Social Marketing Effort at http://ctb.ku.edu/en/dothework/tools_tk_13.htm.

Our vision at The Community Tool Box is of people – locally and globally – taking action together to change conditions that affect their lives.

We connect people with resources for learning the many skills required for this work and applying this knowledge in diverse cultures and contexts.  Our free online resources guide you to:

• Learn a Skill (A Table of Contents links you to nearly 300 Sections that provide training in specific skills of community work.)
• Plan the Work (Toolkits outline tasks, examples, supports for 16 core competencies.)
• Solve a Problem (“Trouble Shooting Guides” list common challenges in doing this work, questions for analysis, and links to supports.)
• Explore Best Processes and Practices (Evidence, examples, and links to tools help you make the case for using promising approaches.)
• Connect with Others (Learn from others by asking an advisor, using forums, and links to other online resources.)

We were inspired by the movement Four Years. Go.

Four Years. Go. is not just another organization. It is a growing coalition of organizations and individuals with deep commitments to producing a transformational shift for humanity—one that sets us firmly on a path to a sustainable, just and fulfilling future—within the next four years.

We joined the movement and are an ally in their campaign.  We’re committed to providing access to our tools and services, for free, to anyone and everyone inspired to make a change in their community.

Four years is enough time to make a difference. 

Four years is sooner than you think. 

Four years. Go.

Happy Mother’s Day from the Community Tool Box.

In honor of mothers around the world, we would like to share with you this report from Save the Children.

State of the World’s Mothers 2010

Available online PDF [52p.] at: http://bit.ly/cT2wBE

“…….The focus is on the critical shortage of health workers in the developing world and the urgent need for more female health workers to save the lives of mothers, newborn babies and young children. Every year, 50 million women in the developing world give birth with no professional help and 8.8 million children and newborns die from easily preventable or treatable causes.

This report identifies countries that have invested in training and deploying more female health workers and shows how these women are delivering lifesaving health care to some of the poorest and hardest-to-reach mothers and babies. It identifies strategies and approaches that are succeeding in the fight to save lives, and shows that effective solutions to this challenge are affordable – even in the world’s poorest countries…..”

Content:

Foreword by Bridget Lynch

Introduction by Jasmine Whitbread and Charles F. MacCormack

Executive Summary: Key Findings and Recommendations

Women Helping Women: A Powerful Force for Health and Survival

Saving Mothers and Children in Bangladesh

A Midwife in Every Village in Indonesia

Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Health Care in Pakistan

Ethiopia Puts Female Health Workers in Rural Areas

Where They Are Needed Most

Decentralizing Health Care in Tanzania

Fighting Maternal Mortality in Honduras

Take Action Now to Train More Health Workers and Save Mothers’ and Babies’ Lives

Appendix: 11th Annual Mothers’ Index and Country Rankings

Methodology and Research Notes