Awesome Foundation - Проекти

New Orleans, LA (Неактивен) – Giving transit riders the seat they deserve

2013-08-07T00:00:00Z

7,000 people transfer between 20 RTA, JeT and LA Swift bus and streetcar lines at Elks Place & Tulane Ave in the CBD every day, making this intersection the busiest transit transfer point in the region. New Orleans transit system is designed so that all lines meet in the CBD; so if you’re travelling beyond Canal Street on bus or streetcar, you’re going to have to transfer. We surveyed close to 300 riders at the transfer station in November 2012 and learned that more than 40% of riders wait at the transfer point for 45 minutes or longer to make their transfer. The number of riders transferring coupled with the long waits make even more surprising that there are no public restrooms, no route maps, no shelter and very few places for riders to sit at this critical transfer point. Most cities across the country invest in infrastructure to create robust, easy to navigate, pedestrian friendly, comfortable environments to serve riders at their bustling central transit hubs. Typical transfer stations contain climate controlled indoor or large covered outdoor waiting areas with plenty of seating, ticketing kiosks, water fountains, vending or retail, bike storage, public restrooms, and real-time arrival signs in addition to clear and easy to understand route maps and schedules. We want to make decision-makers in New Orleans realize the opportunity that exists to invest in a true CBD transfer station that provides basic comforts to current riders and encourages new ridership from tourists and residents who typically drive. Imagine the message that we could send to decision-makers if just for one day we gave riders a place to sit. Ride proposes to use Awesome Foundation funding to empower transit riders to host a day of action, placing hundreds of chairs out for riders to take a seat while they wait. The day of action will coincide with the release of a report detailing our rider survey findings, and recommendations for creating a true CBD transfer station.

Boston, MA (Неактивен) – Belly Traveling Feast Show

2013-08-06T00:00:00Z

A month ago myself and a couple friends opened a pop up restaurant and cinema in a trash alley next to my Cambridge apartment. It runs every Sunday (Sundays are trash days) and hosts around 15- 20 people a night, though we would like to grow that number. I've been thinking about this idea for the past year, immersed as I was in the delicious ingredients of area farmers markets, and and lacking the capital to take over a commercial kitchen, or professional kitchen experience, I decided that my alleyway would be good enough. We serve 3-4 courses and show a schlocky flick. It's BYOB and pay whatevs. English Major Nerd Time: "Belly" refers to the idea of Carnival and the grotesque. In Medieval Europe the Carnival was a subversion of the hierarchy of the crown and church. During Carnival periods, always tied to a religious holiday, the hierarchy was reversed, it was the layman's holiday, the church and nobility were spoofed. There was no ceremony, only an immersive and democratic celebration led by no one. Instead of Virtue, sins were celebrated, sins like gluttony and lust. This reversal was symbolized by the lower half of the body, the parts dedicated to bodily functions instead of the head, where the crown and miter held their place. The belly was the most revered during these Carnivals as the true soul of the people. Hence our name. Our philosophy is irreverence to an exclusionary restaurant culture. We have no shining kitchen, just an alleyway. We haven't been trained in a culinary school, we're only laymen. Our blasphemy isn't negative however, it's a celebration of food, a comedic nod to the mishmosh of traditions we grew up with in the city, the trends that make up the food scene today, and our culinary heroes. We have a commitment to using as many local ingredients as possible and bringing to you a unique and thrilling experience. It's more than just dinner and a movie, Belly is an interactive experience whose whole is greater than it's ingredients.

Baltimore, MD – Code in the Schools: Game Contest

2013-08-06T00:00:00Z

A video game development course using the Construct 2 engine. Students will learn the fundamentals of computer programming and game design while creating their own unique games. The completed games will be made available for downloading onto mobile devices. At the end of the course the video games will be judged by professional developers in the games industry. The students will showcase their entries at a Baltimore Innovation Week event (September 20-28) held at the Digital Harbor Foundation in Federal Hill. This is a great opportunity for students to learn how to code, create their own game, and meet people from the industry, Creating a downloadable game is a great way to build the students' excitement for learning computer programming, and the students will leave the course with a concrete accomplishment to show college admissions officers and future employers. Additionally, showcasing the talents of these students during Baltimore Innovation Week will help bring to public attention the disparity of access to computer programming courses between city school students' and their county and private school counterparts. By our estimates less than 4% of Baltimore City public school students have access to a programming class in school. We also want to highlight the growing need for computer programmers. Code.org estimates that by 2020 there will be 1,000,000 more jobs than computer science graduates. By teaching Baltimore's students to code we can help address this gap, grow the tech industry in this region, and improve the lives of the students themselves.

Boston, MA (Неактивен) – MAKE it: East Boston’s Bicycle Rack

2013-08-06T00:00:00Z

MAKE it: East Boston’s Bicycle Rack, Mural & Community Ideas Chalkboard Late August 2013 Central Square area in East Boston Incorporating both high- and low-tech tools, MAKE IT hopes to bring the Maker’s Movement to the streets of East Boston. Through tactile, hands-on activities, this ½ day event will bring artists and community members together to collectively prototype a new bicycle station to actively support walking and cycling in East Boston. Combining high-tech tools (3D printer, vinyl cutter) and “lo-fi” materials (cardboard, sidewalk chalk, duct tape, etc), this event is an opportunity to pilot participatory urban design with new mediums. We are working with community groups from East Boston on this event. Bicycle Rack Prototyping & Fabrication This one day prototyping “studio” would co-create East Boston’s bicycle rack. East Boston artists will have a designated amount of time to build their own bike rack. One selected bike rack will be professionally fabricated and installed in the designated parcel later in the fall. Mural on Roof of Bicycle Shed A second, younger group of East Bostonians will paint their own mural on the ceiling of the bicycle rack shelter. Community Ideas Chalkboard Painting the exterior wall of the adjacent building with blackboard paint, we'll create a community chalkboard. We'll ask "MAKE IT” participants to create, write, and draw whatever inspires them.

Awesome Without Borders (Неактивен) – Green Graffiti - Moss Murals for Montessori

2013-08-05T00:00:00Z

For the past 8 years, NEIM has provided educational programming for preschool and grade-school aged kids. After relocating almost yearly and experiencing a subsequent lack of stability in programming, we entered into a rental agreement with a purchase option at our current location 2 years ago. We are now situated in Decorah’s vibrant downtown, enabling our children to feel a part of the community and allowing them to visit local businesses. Our downtown location has one drawback, however, our outdoor playground is a former empty lot. We've improved the space with willow structures and garden beds, but nothing has been done about the sad retaining wall that forms the northwest side of the playground. That's where the moss comes in! With the help of Art Education students at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa we will invite the kids back to school for a mid-summer moss painting party. Kids will learn a bit about moss and how it grows. Then with supervision they'll make the "moss paint" (a blended concoction of moss, buttermilk, and sugar). Together they will paint the sad gray, cinder-block wall, turning it into a fantastic natural backdrop for the kids' boundless imagination. We can't wait.

Washington, DC – Radio CPR Transmitter Repair

2013-08-02T00:00:00Z

Radio CPR needs to repair its transmitter, the piece of equipment we need to broadcast throughout the neighborhood. Currently, we are running on a backup transmitter that has much less power, so Radio CPR can only be heard in a much smaller range. To fix the transmitter, we will need to send it back to the manufacturer for repair. The total cost is estimated at about $700, including the repair expenses and shipment expenses. The project is awesome because it will bring revitalization to Radio CPR and the surrounding community. With the cost of our transmitter taken care of, we can focus on allocating funds for recurring expenses, such as a high speed internet connection. This will free up our resources to work on other projects. It will also lift our spirits, as more of our friends, family and neighbors will be able to hear our shows. Radio CPR is an entirely volunteer-led effort. Community members have been donating their time for 14 years. That's something like 100,00 hours of people power that have been put into the station. With such a compelling legacy, it remains imperative that people in Mt. Pleasant have an outlet that reflects their wants, needs, and desires. Having a transmitter that works properly is one of the pre-conditions for amplifying the voices in our community. We hope you have heard of Radio CPR and want to see it continue to thrive in Mt. Pleasant. Please visit our website at radiocpr.tumblr.com. We appreciate any support you can provide!

Sarnia (Неактивен) – Space Scapes

2013-08-01T00:00:00Z

As an artist I have come up with an awesome idea to bring our community together and celebrate a local hero's creative interpretation of our complex universe. During his time as Commander of the International Space Station. local hero Chris Hadfield took the opportunity to capture the beauty of Earth from the depths of space. The result was breath taking landscapes of vibrant colours and vivid textures. These stunning photographs have inspired me to create a series of body paintings representing the beautiful images that Commander Hadfield captured. My plan is to body paint models to camouflage into the photos that were taken from space and then have them printed and displayed at an art show which will feature a live body painting so that everyone can witness the creative process. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of both the originals and prints will go to a charity in need within our community. The main piece will be the photograph that Chris Hadfield took of Sarnia from space.

Liverpool – Ukuloopeaz Summer Club

2013-08-01T00:00:00Z

I would like to start up a children's version of Ukulele Club aptly named Ukuloopeaz, and incorporate a number of other creative media activities such as song writing, audio recording and performance skills. With the summer holidays fast approaching and parents scratching their heads thinking of things to keep their little treasures occupied, I would like to run a pilot club during the summer over a 4 week period at 5 hours per day, 3 days per week starting the last week in July or the first week in August. I have access to a fully equipped childcare facility and 4 ukuleles and a range of mini percussive instruments and 6 kazoos. I would be able to enrol 12 Ukuloopeaz aged between 8 - 14. I am currently in the midst of setting up a website which will be incorporated into a non for profit organisation if the the pilot project is successful. For now we have a tumblr account which will be used to blog the process of activities, therefore creating a fully accessible evaluation process.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Неактивен) – תערוכת צילומים של עובדי ועובדות קבלן

2013-08-01T00:00:00Z

This exhibition will fature photographs of a variety of contract workers in Israel and with our help, will travel the country in order to bring more attention and raise awareness to the issues surrounding contract work in Israel. We love this project because we support direct employment and because, have you seen the brilliant photographs?!

San Antonio, TX – wabiStory

2013-07-31T00:00:00Z

wabiStory is an experiment in a new kind of placemaking. The app allows selected authors, artists, and musicians to leave small (90 second) recordings in physical locations for other people to find. This platform empowers artists to engage in a vital, uniquely concrete dialog about the significance of place. Fiction writers can record stories that add layers of narrative to a vacant building; poets can leave verse in a forgotten corner of an old park; songwriters can lay ballads down on a street corner. Andrew Porter (fiction), Mark Menjivar (social practice artist), and myself (poetry) have completed projects already. New projects by Jenny Browne (poetry), Nicolette Good (music), and Pak Sheung Chuen (conceptual artist) will begin soon. I plan to organize public bike tours of sites in and around downtown, with the contributors when possible. Contributors record their work through the app while standing in a place that they find meaningful (wabiStory sets no limitations on site locations). Once the recording is uploaded, it can only be accessed by other people standing in the same location. When users listen to these pieces, they are connected to the author not just through the work, but through the physical presence of place. Each site created by a contributor can hold numerous recordings, by one or more authors. The app shows users a list of nearby sites, and provides a map for each one with a suggested route. Users can also follow authors or sites to easily see when new recordings of interest have been added. Contributors join wabiStory by invitation, so that a collection of high-quality work across multiple disciplines will draw curious listeners into the city's unique places. It's part geocaching, part literary magazine, part site-specific installation. Currently, wabiStory is available for free in Apple's App Store, and as a cross-platform web app. A version for Android is being tested and should be released later this year.

Detroit, MI (Неактивен) – Detroit Mom and Pop Shop

2013-07-30T00:00:00Z

Detroit's Mom and Pop Shop will serve an online showcase for community business our website. I plan to structure the website with news video blogs that shares the good news about small businesses. The website will have specialized directory that allows viewers to find and rate business. Example: http://www.youtube.com/user/detroitmomandpopshop

Austin, TX – A Dance to Remember

2013-07-30T00:00:00Z

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” —George Bernard Shaw CASACA, the Capital Area Social & Activity Coordinators Association, supports life enrichment activities for over 60 long-term care facilities in Austin. "'Play' may not be most people’s first thought about nursing homes," says Maggie Gallant, CASACA's vice president, "but our residents refuse to be limited by their age or their physical impairments." Gallant says the annual dances put on by CASACA give adult residents in long term care a chance to socialize, reminisce and show off on the dance floor. And, adds Gallant, "They tell these residents that they have not been forgotten about — that they are still part of our community and are still respected." Ms. Gallant knows the difficulties in justifying the allocation of funds to the extended care community. "Often we're told 'they’ve already lived their lives and we need to focus on the future'. These residents never planned to end their days living in a nursing home. But they don't want our pity. They want to stay connected to the community that they helped to create. They want to remain active, have fun and prove that getting old doesn't mean giving up." CASACA's events give the elderly the chance to do just that. To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of dances, CASACA is planning "A Dance to Remember" in October 2013. Held at a venue that’s worth dressing up for, there will be dance cards, attentive volunteer dance partners, a live band, and — by popular request, the first-ever dance-off. Gallant expects at least 100 residents to attend, and the $1000 grant from the Austin Awesome Foundation will allow CASACA to put on a truly special and memorable event. Gallant says that one of the most profound moments she's witnessed at the dances was with Cathie, a resident with dementia, who had barely spoken in months, singing all the words to the song "Tennessee Waltz." So is it possible to still do the Jitterbug, the Cha Cha or the Stroll when you’re in a wheelchair? In the words of a ninety-year-old at last year’s dance, “Honey, step out of my way and watch this."

Miami, FL – BuskerFest!

2013-07-30T00:00:00Z

BuskerFest! is to be a special night of music, food and discovery in downtown Miami. From 5 - 11pm on a future Friday evening, local bands from all over South Florida will be performing sets at each of the eight downtown Metromover stations. Attendees will hop from station to station and revel in the diversity of both the local music scene and historic downtown Miami! To help navigate the various music and food offerings at each location we will supply a mobile app, as well as a physical passport for those without smartphones. The mobile app and passport will contain detailed map information and also allow for checking-in (or stamps for the passport). At the end of the night, attendees with the most check-ins will be entered into a drawing for prizes offered from local restaurants and businesses - further encouraging locals to return and enjoy the downtown area. To source musicians for the project we plan on working with local music outreach programs such as Guitars Over Guns, the Overtown Music Project and the University of Miami. We have also begun discussions with the MPA and DDA to garner support and define logistics for making it happen. BuskerFest! will be a true collaboration between the city, the government and the people who live and work here!

Miami, FL – PhotoMetro

2013-07-30T00:00:00Z

PHOTOMETRO. Public transit should be a welcoming experience that helps people learn about and explore Miami. PhotoMetro is a public art competition and exhibition designed to help make that possible. It will highlight the awesome places, beautiful spaces and experiences located around the stops on Miami-Dade’s MetroRail. HOW IT WILL WORK. We’ll start the project by launching a public art contest focused on capturing beauty in the areas around MetroRail—nearby places, interesting views, the stations and system itself. Any artist using any publicly displayable medium can enter. Through an outreach campaign and website, we’ll ask the public to vote on their favorite entries. The winning entries will be shown in a public exhibition at the end of the contest, and (pending the relevant authorities’ participation) around the MetroRail system. WHY WE LIKE THIS IDEA. It’s frighteningly easy for riding public transit to become a monotonous experience—particularly when it’s part of your routine—and the lackluster design of most transit systems doens’t help. But MetroRail takes tens of thousands of Miamians past an array of truly awesome places on a daily basis. We should be reminded of that, always; we should appreciate and make use of the diversity of experiences available on a single local train. A public art project allows us to reach at that goal through an open creative process anyone can join. RISKS & CHALLENGES. For this project to be its most awesome self, we need the goodwill of the relevant authorities managing the MetroRail (or MetroMover) system. We’re already working on that, and are optimistic, but we can still produce a fantastic project even if we can’t display the winning entries on the system itself. WHY WE CAN GET IT DONE. Our team has a diverse background in the skills we’ll need to complete this project, from event logistics to art to managing contests. We’ll also have the support of the larger WhereBy.Us membership.

Cincinnati, OH (Неактивен) – Dining With Dots

2013-07-30T00:00:00Z

People who are blind or visually impaired have a difficult time getting around, not to mention finding buildings, businesses or street crossings that meet their accessibility specifications. They also may have a difficult time accessing books, newspapers, magazines, maps, signage, restaurant menus, and other materials that cater to their vision needs. My project will address the combination of both of those necessities while utilizing the resources that are made available to me as an intern at Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Clovernook Center has been a braille printing powerhouse for over 100 years and distributes braille materials all over the world. From printing books and magazines commissioned by the National Library Service to producing menus of local restaurants such as La Rosa’s and Montgomery Inn, Clovernook Center and its employees work hard to circulate braille and large print materials both locally and across the globe. Dining with Dots will collect menus from ten of the most popular restaurants throughout the Greater Cincinnati area and print them in braille to be shared and used when blind and visually impaired patrons dine at their establishments. There are over 30,000 people in the Greater Cincinnati area who are blind or who have a visual impairment, and by providing menus to these great local restaurants, we will open up doors to those who have previously been unable to frequent these eateries. The purpose of this project is twofold: first, to spread awareness across Greater Cincinnati of the various accessibility needs that must be met for our blind or visually impaired neighbors. Second, to foster a partnership between local restaurants and Clovernook Center, as well as with Awesome Foundation, to share knowledge and mindfulness of disability awareness across the Greater Cincinnati region.

Ottawa – Firefly

2013-07-29T00:00:00Z

July's Awesome Ottawa award goes to Mark Stephenson, Michael Grant, and Darcy White, to support the development of a social game they are calling "Firefly." Participants will wear an interactive pendant the three are designing, and navigate through various locations at this year's Nuit Blanche, as well as other local events. "Collectively, the participants become the visual expression of the work of art," explains Mark. "Their patterns of movement and social interaction create a spectacle of light and data." Participants will need to keep the fireflies healthy, while "unlocking" patterns and colours, Mark continues. "Fireflies are social. Don’t let them get lonely and sick. And pendants remember the other fireflies they meet, so participants can find out afterward how social a firefly they were." Mark, Michael, and Darcy together have backgrounds in art, design, technology, the web, and engineering, as well as a shared interest in making and hacking with technology and a fascination in social interactions. The pendants will be built on the Arduino platform, so that after the event they can be repurposed and hacked, and the technology and software will be released to the open source community. Mark, Michael, and Darcy also intend to organize community events to help build the pendants and share skills.

Awesome Without Borders (Неактивен) – Ethiopia’s AIDS Education Circus

2013-07-29T00:00:00Z

Action for Youth and Community Change (AYCC) isn’t just a project, it’s a community! In 1998 children in Awassa, Ethiopia began to practice circus, drawing audiences into spectacular worlds. The reality of their daily lives was sobering: many were hungry and unable to afford an education. Some had lost family members to AIDS or Ethiopia’s turbulent history. Years pass, our reputation grows. Muscles strengthen with daredevil stunts, circus toys fade with use. In 2002 we created our first performance promoting HIV/AIDS awareness. It was a topic close to many hearts and performed with uncommon insight, creativity and skill. AIDS Education Circus was born. Touring as One Love, we spread awareness across Ethiopia bringing a unique perspective to life-saving messages with works on topics as diverse and challenging as FGM, land mines and addiction. Our skills are recognized by impressive numbers of NGOs and IGOs.

London, ON (Неактивен) – Rolling Up Fun

2013-07-23T00:00:00Z

Katamari Damacy is a cult-favourite videogame from 2004. The game challenges players to roll around a magical ball called a Katamari. Everything the ball rolls over sticks to it, and as you play it grows bigger and bigger like a snowball. With crazy music, a unique art style, and quirky humour, the game is my all-time favourite. I want to share it with people in a fun and accessible way. The craziest, most awesome way I could think of to get people involved in the game was to let them actually roll around a big ball. With some research, ingenuity and lots of help from smart people, I designed the world’s first life-size Katamari controller. The controller would use a yoga ball mounted on industrial casters. With some electronic wizardry, optical mice would replace the game’s control sticks. In June, we debuted a rough prototype of the Katamari at Nuit Blanche and people’s reaction was amazing. Giant grins came over their faces as they discovered the joy of rolling around a big ball of fun. The project was picked up by dozens of websites around the world, and our YouTube video has over 100,000 views. It was touch and go to get this test version working in time, but even so it proved to incredibly intuitive and a ton of fun. I want to make the Katamari fully functional and share this fun with more people at events around London. Although our test proved the controller can work, it needs some serious help to be awesome enough to take to future events. The prototype controller is clunky, buggy and difficult to set up and tear down. We have collected feedback from people who tried it at Nuit Blanche, and from the hundreds of comments posted online. We have solid plans to make the device more responsive, reliable and portable. My goal is to have a complete Katamari to debut in September at Project Play (a charity gaming festival), and to take it to other London events like DIGG, Grickle Grass, etc. Everyone should have a chance to roll a Katamari!

Boulder, CO (Неактивен) – LaunchUR Ignite

2013-07-23T00:00:00Z

Emily Friedberg, whom I worked with at GIVEO, encouraged me to apply. LaunchUR Ignite™ is a new, unique online community dedicated to teens where they can find: 1. new youth venture resources, links, videos and job readiness tips 2. share their business profile with their friends and family (Fb, Tw, etc), 3. connect and learn from other like minded, teen-preneurs throughout the US 4. apply for micro-grants up to $250 to start their business ventures But every grantee must pay their award "forward" not back - by volunteering their time or donating their business product/service in their community! LaunchUR Ignite™ celebrates teen-preneurs - their dreams, their potential, their experience, whether they succeed or fail ... and try again! No one else in the US is currently offering this community to aspiring teen-preneurs! Too many of our teens today are not getting a real-world entrepreneur experience that is essential to build 21st century and job-readiness skills! At best, they have had to sit through a boring Junior Achievement course taught by an adult. Some might be lucky enough to be involved in a business after school club like Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) or summer camp like Biz Girls Camp or YWCA that help teens build business plans ... but very few among them get funded to launch their business idea. High school teachers, camp counselors and after school program managers are also looking for experiential learning opportunities like LaunchUR Ignite™ that are peer-driven and social media oriented for teens they support. Our platform also gives these educators a valuable learning resource that is NOT burdensome, overwhelming and time consuming to use.

Calgary, AB (Неактивен) – Bikes for Needy Kids

2013-07-23T00:00:00Z

The Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance will be holding our 4th Annual Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day at the newly announced Fish Creek Mountain Bike Skills Park in late August. This will be the grand opening of the park and will prove to be the biggest event to date. Through a partnership with Spawn Cycles, a local Calgary company that builds quality children's bikes, we will have test bikes on site for kids that do not have one and will be able to purchase up to four bikes for very deserving kids. The $1,000 will go towards the purchase of four or more children's bikes, at wholesale cost, from Spawn Cycles. The winners of the bikes will be chosen from kids who come to the event who are clearly in need of a new bike because of size, quality or finances. We really want to the winners to be surprised, not enter a draw to win one whether they need it or not.

Awesome Without Borders (Неактивен) – Permaculture Learning Garden Food Identification

2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

We have developed a permaculture learning garden in Las Vegas, the first of its kind. Using permaculture design, we shaped a 5300 sq ft space to accept and retain any rainfall we get in our arid region, forming sunken growing beds and swales. We've used organic matter and nitrogen-fixing plants to improve the soil on site instead of importing more. We redirect chipped christmas trees to our site for mulch and collect coffee grounds and food scraps from the community to make compost. The plants we selected for our site are all food producing and/or serve mutliple purpose within the ecosystem we are creating. For example, we planted mesquite trees because they add nitrogen to the soil, give dappled shade and produce many pods that can be ground into a protein-rich flour. The fruit and nut trees we planted take very little water and love the heat (very important in our desert climate), like most of our plants. Many plants serve multiple purposes and are either perennial or easily self-seeded. This design has allowed us to spend most of our time harvesting instead of continually planting annual seeds. We've reused or recycled materials to build potting benches and seats from pallets, a shade structure from wooden trellising and palm fronds, as well as cob benches made from sand, clay and straw. We educate our dryland community about sustainable living by holding weekly workshops at the garden and leading tours. Our Mesquite Pancake Breakfast in October highlights food grown at our garden. We will be hosting Brad Lancaster in a few weeks for a discussion on water harvesting as well as many guests in the fall for alternative building workshops. We share our food, seeds and knowledge to build a stronger, healthier community.

Connecticut – Engineering Students Making a Difference

2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

Central Connecticut State University students have partnered with a nonprofit agency to benefit the disadvantaged and disabled. Working with Chariots of Hope, a nonprofit located in Bloomfield, students from Michele Dischino’s Introduction to Engineering course have refurbished wheelchairs that are being donated to individuals who have no means of obtaining them. Students used their problem-solving skills to repair the wheelchairs, which were no longer being used and were in disrepair. “Each wheelchair was different,” said Dischino. “The students had to figure out what needed to be done to make each chair functional. Some chairs had missing parts, and all of them needed cleaning and general refurbishment. It was a problem-solving project in a socially meaningful and hands-on way.” Using their engineering skills, along with some parts from other unused wheelchairs, the students successfully completed the challenge and presented their projects to Paul Bobbitt, a Chariots of Hope board member, who then transported the refurbished chairs back to the Bloomfield facility for distribution. “I've always been one to help out people in need, and this is such a good cause,” said CCSU student Michaela Melillo, who participated in the project. “Life is so hard for people without mobility, and it’s satisfying knowing how much of a difference these wheelchairs will make for them.” Chariots of Hope estimates that there are 18 million bedridden people worldwide. Wheelchairs are a luxury in some poor countries, yet countless sit idle in the U.S. “Our mission is to provide mobility to disadvantaged persons, so they can have a better quality of life and participate in community activities and services,” Bobbitt said. “Our thanks to these CCSU students for their support. “We have been in this recycling activity for 12 years,” he added, “knowing that each chair has two lives - the person it served and the one it goes to help.”

LA South Bay, CA (Неактивен) – The Donuts

2013-07-20T00:00:00Z

What started off as an endeavor to keep our UC Irvine community connected, The Donuts has slowly grown into a grassroots movement of mobilizing our generation to raise awareness, spark meaningful dialogue, and participate in impactful work. We first began building the community through monthly art & music events, in which local members and friends of friends would showcase their creativity. From photographers to DJs, dancers to comedians, The Donuts hosted Jelly-Filled Fridays to provide a platform for the community to support one another's passions and aspirations. Through these events we were able to raise about $4,000; funds we've been using towards executing various social & community initiatives like our Thanksgiving Homeless Drive in Long Beach, picnic at the park, booth at the Brewery Artwalk in LA, and most recent Skid Row Homeless Water Drive. Through these types of "get-togethers", we've been hoping to inspire our community and network to serve the needs of those less-fortunate, believe in a greater purpose, and live empowered lives.

LA South Bay, CA (Неактивен) – Operation Orphanage Paradigm Shift

2013-07-20T00:00:00Z

I have a crazy talented muralist and a budding documentary filmmaker and we want to make a beautiful mural on a big wall in the neighborhood of one of the ten orphanages in Tijuana that Corazon de Vida supports. We want to get the community involved, we want the kids at the orphanage to get involved, we want to transform the image of the orphanage into something to be proud of, we want the community to see it and be proud of it. Because now, orphanages are stigmatized, many people look down on the kids or look away. We want the kids to be represented as angels, forged through adversity, testaments to the resiliency and beauty of the human condition, these kids are transforming suffering into joy daily, their battle lies within. We want to alleviate some of the battle outside. We want to introduce the children into the neighborhood as a lasting and vital piece of the community, country, and world. We will be documenting it and then promoting it as a story to garner fundraising attention for the orphanage!

Vancouver, BC (Неактивен) – MakerMobile does Arduinos!

2013-07-19T00:00:00Z

MakerMobile is a literally a 'Workshop on Wheels' which means it is not limited to a specific neighbourhood or population. With the high cost of commercial space in Vancouver, a mobile classroom allows information to reach a larger audience. The MakerMobile challenges what a classroom or learning environment can look like & seeks to demonstrate to young people the idea that if you imagine it, you can make it! MakerMobile is a partner with Vancouver Hackspace & Vancouver Maker Foundation. Part of our partnerships with Vancouver Maker Foundation, involves hosting bi-monthly "Maker Education Initiative" meetups@ Mozilla. These meetups connect parents, PAC leaders, curriculum developers, Artists, Librarians and Teachers with one another and provide a space to brainstorm new ideas and future projects in order to grow our local Maker community and put Vancouver on the map as a ‘maker mecca’. The Maker Mobile team has been invited to present at the BCLA Librarians conference, has hosted two workshops at the Vancouver Hackspace (VHS), is currently running an activity tent using Squishy Circuits to teach kids about electricity at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival & are hosting a fundraiser at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire this June. Additionally, we have received expressions of interest in our teaching model & curriculum from local libraries (Surrey and Central branch), PACs and homeschooling networks. So far, the MakerMobile truck itself has been donated & the entire conversion of the truck to date has been accomplished without loans, grants or seed money. All materials have been supplied by participants & generous donations from friends & local businesses. Although the space is modest, we are currently able to begin teaching basic courses in specific areas.

Kingston – Food Cents Cook books

2013-07-18T00:00:00Z

Our team discovered through a survey at one of our local food banks that patrons often ended up giving away components of their food hampers or not using the items because they did not know how to cook or use the food given to them. Our solution was simple; we would design a cookbook to better help them with this discouraging issue. We recruited the help of a local Journeyman Chef with over 35 years experience to assist with the compilation of this very important book. The design idea behind this cookbook is to incorporate the typical contents of the food hampers and form them into nutritious and tasty meals that anyone would love, including children. According to Food banks Canada, there has been a 30.6% increase in usage of community food banks Canada-wide from 2008-2012. Last year alone, 851,014 people accessed their local food banks for assistance, with an alarming 38% of those being children (Hunger Count, 2012). Our mission is to help make the hamper recipient’s and their families lives a little easier through the design of this version of the cookbook.

Kitchener-Waterloo – Little Libraries of KW

2013-07-17T00:00:00Z

Our awesome project is awesome! Wouldn't it be cool to have little libraries all over town? I'm talking about box about the size of a large birdhouse, on a post, on your front lawn, filled with books that people walking by can browse and take. The idea comes from the folks at littlefreelibrary.org in the US, and I've taken it on to champion the idea locally. Our website and Facebook page have been brimming with excitement. Brimming! We also got a great writeup in the Community Cord, just today: http://www.community.thecord.ca/10ideas/ Our goal, as an organization, is to make Little Libraries accessible to anyone who wants one: that means having inexpensive, easy-to-assemble kits; a community of people who can act as information and motivational resources, and a website to pull together all of this. To that end, a local craftsman has created two box designs with plans, and a local renovation firm has offered to sponsor some of the cost of materials. They've even agreed to cut/drill the wood, so that all you'll need is a screwdriver... how cool is that? Other info that we're pulling together includes stuff like "how do I dig a post hole?" and "whom do I need to call before digging"... all the nitty-gritty that gets overlooked in a project like this. We are looking at scheduling a build date in mid-June... exciting times! Even if everything were subsidized financially, there is still a large sweat-equity component, but the financial hurdles are real for many folks. As well, many people don't have the time or skill to build a Little Library: if we can offer pre-assembled Libraries to people, even at some cost, it will put local builders to work, and spur adoption of the project. A lot more background info including our motivations is available at our website, especially at this page: http://llkw.ca/about/ (If you would prefer me to copy/paste it, I'm happy to do so.) The building plans are also on the site: http://llkw.ca/building

Kitchener-Waterloo – From The Kitchen - A People's Publication

2013-07-17T00:00:00Z

My friend and I worked at The Working Centre downtown for a while. Over the last few years while living and working downtown, we were both meeting people from all across the board that either were writing or drawing in some capacity, and did not feel that they could or should share their creations; or wanted to be creative and felt inadequate; or simply were not able to logistically. Eric (my friend) and I feel that these expressions are not only important for individuals to process creatively for their own sake, but are vital to a democratic society where voices and life-journeys sound and look different. Many of the voices we were hearing came from backgrounds often overlooked in the dominant political arena - whether youth living on the street, single mothers, or dumpster-diving doctors. These people are a part of society - we all have voices, and the spaces where these voices can be shared in everyday life are key to bridging the gaps between different people's stories. Eric and I set forth this year to create a print publication that would simply be a collection of random submissions about anything - anything that people have drawn or written in whatever forms and styles, about anything they feel they want to share - whether about their experience on welfare, or what frying an egg means to them. The colour and brilliance that has come through the 40-some submissions is incredible. Though most are not "professionals", we believe that publication should not always be an intimidating, inaccessible process, and that individuals should feel they are worthy of sharing their art and expression even if it is not as perfect as they feel is expected. We are excited to compile and flow together such unique submissions from all different types of folks - 12 year old girls, professors, hard-working stay-at-home moms, youth with whole other perspectives of our streets, etc. We hope to print and distribute by the end of this summer, 2013. It will be hard, but awesome ;).

Seattle, WA – KNIT3 (cubed)

2013-07-16T00:00:00Z

Offering interactive art and engaging community in art making is a passion of mine. KNIT3 (KNITcubed) is a project designed to celebrate community building. A series of (12”x12”x12”) knit cubes in bright colors will be available for people to build, stack, organize or arrange into whatever configuration they want. Building with blocks is a milestone that every child remembers and the fascination and compulsion to stack doesn’t go away just because you’re an adult. Visitors of all ages will be welcome to join in these “Block Parties”. Piles of knit cubes will be offered during community block parties in Occidental Park over several dates summer 2013. Pioneer Square is finally experiencing a regeneration of community this year. Hopes are high that the days of vacant store fronts, dirty alleyways, and high crime are in the past. Now that I have a studio in the neighborhood, I want to offer my talents to brighten this historic neighborhood. By partnering with the Alliance For Pioneer Square at their community gatherings this summer, I want to offer literal opportunities for building community through open ended art making of stacking sweater cubes. I was recently selected by Seattle Parks and Recreation to create a project called KNIT2 (KNITsquared) as part of their summer ARTSparts program. KNIT2 is a series of blazing sweater wrapped “rain chains” that will ornament and brighten the canopy of the London Plane trees. This project is set to be installed sometime in June, which is notoriously Seattle’s most depressingly dreary month. 125 squares in total will be arranged into individual chains to represent the opening of the Grand Central Hotel adjacent to Occidental Square 125 years ago. These two projects were designed to complement each other. KNIT2 represents the history mingled with the lofty ambitions of Pioneer Square future. KNIT3 addresses the tactile nature of community. Unfortunately, KNIT3 was not selected to receive funding via ARTSParks.

Awesome Without Borders (Неактивен) – Think Before You Type

2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

Think Before You Type is an anti-cyberbullying and positive self-esteem campaign that God put on our hearts last June. We didn't like all of the cyberbullying that we saw occurring on Twitter, or the way that it made people feel so we decided to take a stand. Our goal is to change our generation for the better by inspiring young people to stand up against cyberbullying (and bullying of any kind), use the internet for good, and to dream big. For now our campaign is social media, YouTube, and blog based. We interview bands, and others, and get them talking about cyberbullying, the internet, and self-esteem. We don't think that enough people are talking about this issue, and we want to change that! We also write blog posts that are reflections on important thoughts and issues that we think need to be written about. One major thing that we're known for is that every Sunday we post a video"dare" that challenges people to go out and have a positive impact on the people in their lives in simple ways. For example: "We dare you to go this week and make someone smile". We want people to realize that it isn't that hard to have a positive impact on others. We hope that in the coming months and years we'll continue to build our online presence and create a presence in our community. We hope to be able to speak with other young from all over about these important topics, and the help them see that they too can be passionate about doing good.

Windsor, ON (Неактивен) – Downtown Windsor Local Treasures Hunt

2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

The Downtown Windsor Local Treasures Hunt is a way to get people more familiar with the great business and organizations we have downtown and a safe, green and healthy way to visit them - on a bicycle! Registrants, or hunters, will be given a bicycle (or they can use their own) and a map and their task will be to visit a list of businesses (or their representatives) and collect their booty. Booty will be a business card or a flyer, something that most businesses already have on hand and will hopefully not cost them extra money. Business outside the downtown area can also participate by either supplying coupons to hunters, or by sending a representative to a downtown landmark (such as a sculpture by the river) to distribute the booty. The aim of the event is to get people out and moving for the day, and most importantly, showing them all of the local treasures that they might not know were even there! Since the hunters will be physically entering the business they will have a chance to look around, and even shop, at their leisure. The booty will provide them with the information they need to find the place again. The first hunter to collect all the booty will collect a prize, but the real prize is all of the local treasures every hunter will have found that day. For the weeks leading up to the event, there will be special social media involvement including location hints, giveaways, and special offers at the participating businesses. You can find us on facebook at http://facebook.com/localtreasureshunt and twitter at @DWLocalTreasure

Vancouver, BC (Неактивен) – Vancouver Community Building Kazoo Flash Mob

2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

Vancouver needs to be a little more awesome. We need to do more things that make people smile. We want to put on an event that brings together people from across the city to participate in a flash mob on the Sea Wall. We will provide each participant with their own Awesome Kazoo. As they arrive to the gathering point (probably the large bird statues in the Olympic Village), we will send off groups with their kazoos, under the supervision of a section leader, to designated stations around the Sea Wall. Each group will practice their kazoo skills as they walk. After all of the sections are launched, we will serenade the city with a series of musical pieces, mostly likely to include Oh Canada, the Good Ol’ Hockey Song, and other popular pieces. The group will parade along the Sea Wall en mass, most likely to Granville Island, where we will complete the performance (and most likely contribute to the financial well being of local coffee shops). This is not a trivial undertaking. Getting the kazoos is easy, but we will have to coordinate our team of around 15 section leaders with practices and detailed planning over the Summer. To attract the attendees, we would take advantage of social media, our involvement in groups (e.g. the UBC Summer Music Institute), and connections (e.g. CBC Radio).

New York City, NY – Subway Sets

2013-07-14T00:00:00Z

Subway Sets brings music from the NYC underground to rooftops around the city. I am bringing people together around a great experience, while also getting exposure for these amazing artists. They're used to playing in dingy subways and empty, unfriendly bars, so I think it would be really cool to bring them into a supportive, AWESOME environment. My first week in NYC, I met an incredibly talented young musician named Robert Leslie (http://robertleslie.bandcamp.com/). I brought him onto a rooftop and watched him enthrall the crowd while having what he referred to as "the best night he'd had in forever". I plan on making it a monthly event series for incredible people to enjoy a really fun experience. And eventually, the content will be crowdsourced; if you see something awesome in the subway, tweet @subwaysets and we'll get in touch with them to see if they're interested in performing! I am very excited to approach this as a passion project, rather than needing to make money from it.

New Orleans, LA (Неактивен) – Campaign to End Employment Discrimination

2013-07-12T00:00:00Z

In order to further our Campaign to End Employment Discrimination we are working on outreach through media. Namely billboards, bus shelter ads, flyers and video advertisements. In the past we have had success getting member led legislation passed in the state legislature that removed barriers to licensure that FIPs faced. We have also engaged the community in forums and by canvassing neighborhoods. Economic empowerment is vital in reintegration and a deterrent for recidivism, so we are organizing a job fair for formerly incarcerated people and the community at large. We are planning advertisements geared toward employers to share the incentives of hiring FIPs and encourage them to hire FIPs and another toward FIPs to let them know about the work of our organization and the job fair. We plan to go around the city and get testimonials from people who have been discriminated against and find it hard to find a job. So part of our project will amplify the voices of the expendable. While being amongst communities we can alert them to our pending job fair and educate them on the rights of FIPs and offer to register them to vote. This will help to build our capacity to get the word out about employment discrimination against those vulnerable populations trying to get their lives back on track, this will also help us to gain organizational membership in the fight against mass incarceration in the World capital of incarceration.

Sydney – Clovelly Road Better Block

2013-07-10T00:00:00Z

WHAT We're holding a demonstration event where the community change their street for the day to make it greener, safer and more liveable. We're adding trees, plants, tables, chairs, art, music, bike & pedestrian infrastructure, and slowing traffic - creating our own little urban innovation zone. (Known also as 'urban acupuncture'.) Some visuals here - http://pinterest.com/clovellyrd/better-blocks This video explains more - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC5EFcD5aCM WHERE We'll be blitzing the Clovelly Road block between Arden & Beach Streets. (Though one of the goals is to inspire changes more widely in Sydney.) WHEN It's 27 October 2013. People are starting to sign up to the event at https://www.facebook.com/events/475788085832193 WHY The Better Block idea started in the US a few years back. There's now been 40 Better Blocks in the US. This is the first in Sydney. The aims of the Better Block are to: - bring the community together - encourage people to re-imagine their street - invite them to add their ideas - turn those ideas into something that people can see, touch and feel - show Council and politicians people are keen for change - create momenum for improvements to be made permanently - inspire others to push for change where they live (their street.) Better Blocks have worked because they're quick, light and cheap. The Better Block US site has more of the thinking behind it - http://betterblock.org There's big changes happening to streets worldwide. You can see the innovations that Sydney is missing out in these videos and pics: - http://www.youtube.com/user/ClovellyRoadTV/videos - http://vimeo.com/clovellyroad/albums - http://pinterest.com/clovellyrd WHO I'm co-ordinating the project, but we're rallying people living around here and the local businesses to get involved. We have UNSW Planning, Landscape and Media students on board to help. And the support of a range of other local groups.

Maldon (Неактивен) – Maldon children's Storytime

2013-07-09T00:00:00Z

My monthly Storytime has been a huge success filling the Junior library with little people eager to listen to stories, sing some songs and create some crafty activity. It would be awesome to have some funds to buy craft supplies, puppets and big books..

Awesome Without Borders (Неактивен) – Endangered Lakota Youth: Pine Ridge Reservation

2013-07-08T00:00:00Z

My Awesome Foundation Project is to increase the $1,000 grant fourfold within six months by utilizing an established Native American credit union savings program for Pine Ridge Reservation and then distribute the proceeds to seven Lakota teens to fund housing, college tuition, or a business start-up. Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota lacks a sustainable economic infrastructure for employment and growth. The possibility of Lakota youth finding employment on the reservation to support themselves, build a future, start a business, or pay for college is extremely limited. These bleak prospects are additional factors for the destruction of the Lakota family unit by increasing the number of school drop-outs, gang memberships, alcohol and substance abuse cases, and teenage suicides, the latter being 150% higher than the national average. I want to change this by providing seven (7) Oglala Sioux teens (14-17 year olds) with six (6) months of minimum deposits ($25 per month) for a Youth Individual Development Account (IDA) at Lakota Funds in Kyle, South Dakota. Lakota Funds will match these deposits $3 for every $1 with certain requirements and restrictions. Youth IDA Program participants can deposit up to $720, and Lakota Funds will deposit up to $2,160, for a grand total of $2,880 to be used for asset-specific purchases, i.e. paying for college, starting a business, or buying a home. After the deposit of the first $150, the chosen Youth IDA participants will be responsible for obtaining the rest of the proceeds needed to maximize the fund. The successful implementation of this Awesome Project may be the impetus for collaboration between individuals (separately or through “crowd funding”), corporations, and/ or foundations for additional teen sponsorships via Lakota Funds. The draw would be in the fact that every $1 invested in the Pine Ridge Reservation community would actually mean $4 going out to individual Lakota teens with a message of hope and support. Photos courtesy of Jonathan Hamner and ONE Spirit

Washington, DC – More Sound Bike

2013-07-08T00:00:00Z

Right now, one of the Bike Party leaders rides with a "Sound Bike." This is a bike with a trailer attached that carries some pretty awesome speakers. The speakers are so cool and such a big part of the party that in the past 5 months, we've gone from 70 participants to over 600! The problem right now is that with that many people, everyone can't hear the music. That's not awesome. I want to build another trailer and set of speakers to make sure that everyone can enjoy the ride. The massive jumps in participants show how successful the ride has been. We'd like to keep this great community event going strong. The plans for the project can be found at the link below. I will not be covering my bike in leopard print... http://www.cathodecorner.com/loudbike/ (The Washington Area Bicycle Association supports DCBP and we also have good standing with the Metropolitan Police Department. It is a friendly, community oriented event).

San Francisco, CA – StreetStage and Kids POP!

2013-07-07T00:00:00Z

The most awesome way to celebrate our community is through music and dance. Spirits lift and faces smile with dancing in the street. On Bartlett Street in the SF's Mission District, music fuels the transformation of a trash-strewn, graffiti riddled street into a celebration of local artists, food and family. There hasn't been a greater moment of joy or youth empowerment at the Market than public youth performance. StreetStage and the kids Play or Perform (POP!) project can bring that joy every week. Break dancing. Dia de los Muertos performances. Street theater. Middle school bands. Kids open mic night. They all bring families out and give youth a moment to shine. They provide a singular experience of public space for each of us. But it’s more special for the youth - it’s an experience they created themselves. The Street Stage brings this experience together - it highlights the youth performers, celebrating their performance while creating a focal point and gathering space. StreetStage would be a modular, rollable stage built especially for the Mission Community Market. It is can be used for a variety of bands and performance formats. It provides signage, lights and an attractive design to give the gathering space a focal point and platform for performers. Matching funds can be found to build it, but Awesome funds would help it realize its potential through young musicians and performers. The kids POP! project - will create an open mic and opportunity for youth to be booked, perform and connect with community on a regular basis. For many youth, it will be their first public performance. It will be a low-barrier way to explore and excel in the music, dance or performance they love most. Uni & her Ukelele, who works with youth all over SF, will book, host and promote the event. She or a local artist will play with and encourage any youth feeling shy. The project will be modeled & offered through local schools, youth centers, non-profits, and the arts commission.

San Francisco, CA – EOYDC summer Science class

2013-07-07T00:00:00Z

I am very excited to have the opportunity to serve as the Science Instructor for the third summer in a row at the East Oakland Youth Development Canter’s (EOYDC) Summer Cultural Enrichment Program (SCEP). The SCEP program is a six-week summer program for children in urban Oakland and for many of them, it is their safe haven from the dangerous streets of Oakland. My neighborhood is filled with crime, drugs and poverty; many broken children fill the streets. Some of the children in my community have experienced violence. The summer program gives them hope. Three summers ago was the first time I had an opportunity to impart some of my Science knowledge to the children in my community. I fell in love with the children. Before the first class instruction, I asked the question to each class, “What do you like about Science?” Over 85 percent of all the participants said “nothing” and it broke my heart inside but I was not surprised. I remember my elementary Science classes being boring and irrelevant because all we did was read from textbooks. We could not afford to do any experiments because our school was underfunded. Our first class was on Chemistry and chemical and physical reactions, and we were able to do the diet coke and Mentos experiment while learning about endothermic and exothermic reactions and the children had a blast! By the end of the first class, over 90 percent of the students told me they loved Science and that made my heart ecstatic! Every day they kids ask me "Ashaki, what are we doing for Science today?" I must have answered that question at least 40 times a day during the program. Many kids told me they never did experiments in their school. They never knew that you could test your hypothesis through the scientific method. Since the first experiment, the children have had a chance to be exposed to a real science class and have found out that science can be fun and educational at the same time.

San Francisco, CA – Sleep for Moms

2013-07-07T00:00:00Z

Sleep for moms is a social art practice project that provides an invaluable resource to local mothers - an opportunity to sleep while receiving free childcare. Lack of sleep is a serious issue among parents, particularly mothers, affecting their psychological well being and often leading to depression. This project is meant to call attention to the issue and the need for greater networks of support for mothers and parents in general. Throughout August, Interface Gallery will be transformed into a sleeping clinic with a bed, privacy curtain, soothing art, and white noise. Mothers, who sign up for "daily sleeping slots" will be left alone in the gallery to rest while a childcare provider takes her child or children on a walk to a nearby park.* Participating mothers will be interviewed about their sleeping habits, their feelings about sleep and their physical and mental state in general. At times when the gallery is not being used for scheduled naps, it will be open to viewers as an installation, with data collected from interviews on display. Visitors will also be invited to add their experiences to the collected information. *Licensed childcare is being arranged through a local family resource center, Bananas.

Whangarei (Неактивен) – GGR! (guerilla gardening revolution)

2013-07-07T00:00:00Z

I would like to revamp the neglected land and heavily concreted land of the CBD (and outlying areas) by guerilla gardening projects. Guerilla gardening can be done in many different forms, the form I would like to use is to prepare in advance all that is going into the target area and with a team of people go to the area at night and transform it by planting an assortment of high producing vegetable plants and bright and vibrant flower plants (especially those beneficial to bees). Along with the plants I would like to put in colourful and informative signage, labelling plants and garden areas explaining why the gardens have been put in and that the produce is for all to enjoy. By doing this at night, locals see a transformation from one day to the next, an instant garden! I would also like to create gardens in heavily concreted areas by bringing in raised garden beds and using productive pots and hanging basket type arrangements, these can be attached to poles around town (road signs, pedestrian crossing signposts etc). I have seen different creative ideas such as hanging pots made of colourful old teapots with plants growing in them hanging from the hand rail leading up stairways and simple ideas brighten up even the most indutrialised areas. This type of Guerilla gardening is exciting and fun for both those involved in the building of the garden and those who get the surprise when the see it for the first time the next day! I would ensure the gardens were maintained and watered on a regular basis and hope this would be a good way of encouraging others to reclaim unused land as common garden space. Dates of the proposed project (and when it will be implemented/completed): This is an ongoing project, but it would start in spring (September) 2013.

Whangarei (Неактивен) – Seats for Streets - Love it Chere

2013-07-07T00:00:00Z

Second hand bus seats recovered in some funky haberdashery were put in place around central Whangarei. The seats where fixed to public spaces (sign posts/traffic poles/street lamp, etc). The idea being, get locals to 'have a seat', ponder a moment while waiting to cross at the lights, view the road from a relaxed position, have a bit of fun and interact with some unusual street art which can be moved around town to different places.

Sarnia (Неактивен) – One Tomato Souper Lunch

2013-07-04T00:00:00Z

The One Tomato Souper Lunch will (likely) take place on Thursday, September 12 in celebration of the local tomato harvest. It will be a free event, where people of all appetites and economic backgrounds can enjoy delicious bowls of fresh soup in an outdoor, friendly, communal atmosphere. The event will be held in a large, accessible area, such as the front lawn of the Clearwater Arena, where there’s space for many tables and chairs. Volunteers will serve soup with a slice of locally baked bread to each person, who will use their own bowls and cutlery. We also aim to have a local band provide entertainment. It’s going to be awesome!

Oahu, HI – Legacy Projects

2013-07-03T00:00:00Z

This year the Hawaii Heart Foundation taught the entire 6th grade CPR, and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator, or AED. My Legacy Project is to purchase an AED for the school cafeteria. An AED is a device that shocks a person's heart back into the correct rhythm after they have had a heart attack or cardiac arrest. Our cafeteria is used for many events, by both the school and community. Besides breakfast and lunch, the cafeteria is used for school events such as assemblies, A+ after school care, PTA functions, and special events such as Grandparents Day, Curriculum Fair, Winter Games Night, Science Fair, Talent Show, and the 6th Grade Graduation. The school cafeteria is also used in the evenings and weekends by community groups such as Zumba, Jazzercize, Line Dancing, the Enchanted Lake Baptist Church, and the Olomana Community Association. In my research I learned that heart attacks occur most often in people that are active, and in the elderly. The American Heart Association says, "Nearly 400,000 Americans experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital each year and almost 90% of them die." That means that 360,00 people die each year from cardiac arrest. In most cases heart compressions and calling 911 isn't enough. People that have had their heart shocked by an AED after they have had a heart attack or cardiac arrest have almost a 100% chance of survival. The second part of my Legacy Project is to teach the 5th graders how to do CPR, and how to use an AED. This way, they will be able to perform CPR and operate the AED when needed. I hope they will continue with the legacy by training the next set of 5th graders.

Oahu, HI – Ka Papa Kai: Ocean Science for Kids

2013-07-03T00:00:00Z

Through our personal experiences and outreach efforts, we found that many of our North Shore keiki weren't familiar with the MLCD--a spectacular, natural outdoor classroom right in their front yard! We developed a youth program called Ka Papa Kai (seaside class), a series of fun, hands-on, educational workshops for children that focus on marine science, environmental stewardship, and Hawaiian culture. We offer a school-year cohort, which currently brings together 20 children from Sunset Beach Elementary School to the MLCD once per month during the school year to learn about the watershed, marine species in different ocean zones, the coastal environment, human impacts to the environment, and how they can help to take care of it. We also offer a one-week summer day camp for about 35 children. Our Director of Educational Programs has developed the curriculum, which meets Hawaii State Standards, and has developed pre-tests and post-tests for each session to assess the program. Students learn in multiple ways through the program--presentations, in-water exploration, hands-on games, reading, writing, and art--using all of their senses in a setting where the daily weather and wave conditions become part of the lesson. Based on the success of our first 1.5 years of Ka Papa Kai, we would like to expand the program to reach kids who may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the ocean on the North Shore. MPW will offer four- to six-hour ocean science workshops to groups from around O‘ahu. Our goal this year is to host at least six groups, reaching 72 additional children and youth. MPW will reach out to groups through its existing networks in addition to other potential interested groups such as the Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA programs, and more. MPW will offer a choice of themes based on the Ka Papa Kai curriculum and will offer a choice of dates on a first-come, first-served basis. We expect participants’ ocean science knowledge to increase by 90% per test scores.

Liverpool – Green Clean Team

2013-07-02T00:00:00Z

We want to rid our shopping area of the ugly grey metal shutters on the various shops on our Lane and paint them with art graphics or something even more eye catching,maybe even discover our own BANKSY who knows. We have one of the few unique area,s in Liverpool to shop and don,t want to lose it to the Supermarket giant,s JMU students plus school children from the Liverpool area along with their Lecturers have agreed for them to be creative with paint,all supervised, but we need the material,s for this to happen. The shops approached are all in favour to revitalise the Lane in order to bring more foot traffic to them.The Lane itself is a very busy though fare with passing motorists and may help to persuade them to stop and shop in the future,particualy if the shutters have incorporated in the painted design,s what they are trading as. If we are successful this venture could catch on and maybe rid all City,s/Town,s of these horrible looking shutters with just that little bit of TLC.

Montreal, QC (Неактивен) – Dites quelque chose de gentil

2013-07-01T00:00:00Z

Inspiré d’une réalisation similaire initiée par le musée Guggenheim de New York(« Say something nice. », référence web en fin de document), notre projet consiste à « prendre possession » d'un espace urbain pendant quelques heures et d'inviter les passants à adresser à tous quelque chose de gentil . L’espace sera aménagé d’un lutrin sur lequel reposera un mégaphone à disposition de tous les passants. Chacun est libre de se l’approprier et de prononcer tout haut un mot gentil aux gens qui l'entourent : souhaits, compliments, etc. Afin que l’effet positif de cette intervention perdure au-delà de la journée où il a lieu, l’événement sera filmé et diffusé sur divers sites de partage vidéo et via les médias sociaux.

Awesome Without Borders (Неактивен) – Hallstatt, China

2013-07-01T00:00:00Z

Hallstatt, China ‘Hallstatt, China’ is a multi-media project investigating contemporary notions of copies through a comparison of Chinese replica towns and their original European counterparts. These so called ‘copy towns’ are a recent phenomenon in which western buildings and even entire towns are reconstructed for the high-end property market in China. Making use of virtual models and 3d printing the artists employ the current tools of architectural reproduction to process their photo and video documentation of the twin sites and create sculptural works, prints, a film and a book. The film will be a non-narrative take on the rise of these towns. It will feature footage from lots of different locations in China associated with copying (Thames Town: a town featuring many replicated English buildings, the Dafen Oil Painting Village: where 80% of the worlds fake oil paintings are produced, two versions of the Eiffel Tower, several abandoned copy projects, and several 'miniature worlds), but will predominantly be focused on the reproduction of Hallstatt, a UNESCO protected Austrian town. The film will include interviews with the marketing teams, residents, as well as with architect Ai Weiwei. The artists have also arranged interviews for when they visit the original town in Austria; this includes the town mayor, Alexander Scheutz, as well as marketing staff and residents. The aim is to have the film finished by the end of 2013.

Austin, TX – Powering a Robot with a Control Moment Gyroscope

2013-06-30T00:00:00Z

The Austin Awesome Foundation's June $1000 grant goes to a talented team of Austin high school students, Joshua Stricker and Marek Travnikar. Both Josh and Marek are members of their school's robotics team, which is how they got the idea for their project: a Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG). We'll let Josh and Marek explain what that means: A CMG uses the angular momentum of a high speed flywheel to effect the movement of the object that the gyroscope is mounted to. The most common application of CMGs is in satellites, such as the international space station, where they are used for navigation and maneuvering. Our design is obviously on a much smaller scale. our goal is to be able to perform wheelies, somersaults, rolls and other maneuvers on a 120-pound robot solely using the CMG. The way we would accomplish this is relatively simple. A 30-pound flywheel is spun up to and kept spinning at 6000rpm by two powerful Cim motors. This assembly is mounted on two gimbals which can each be rotated 360 degrees, applying a torque to the flywheel. This rotation is accomplished with two more Cims, one per gimbal, each with a three stage planetary gearbox to allow for more powerful movement at a much lower speed. All of the components that we plan on using are also used in the robotics competitions that we use, so they are very familiar to us and are all very reliable. Importantly, nobody has ever done this before. From our research, the only other CMGs are made for large scale aerospace purposes. This would be the first powerful, small scale CMG for amateur use. We will document our process extensively, so that others can follow us into this new frontier of amateur robotics. We have the capability and wish for the opportunity to do something truly groundbreaking. We could make a very large robot drive forward and then suddenly pivot up onto one wheel and drive. We could put it into a hollow sphere and just roll around with an unparalleled degree of control. A bicycle could stand up on its own, and then flip end over end and afterwards, remain standing. This idea is awesome, in the true sense of the word.

Pittsburgh, PA – Cinch Sacks for Foster Children

2013-06-30T00:00:00Z

When children are removed from foster care, their belongings are placed in a trash bag. As I write this I cry because trash is meant to be placed in a trash bag, not belongings. Imagine being taken from everything you have ever known, having your belongings placed into a trash bag and then showing up on a doorstep to a family you do not know. In Allegheny County we have over 1500 children in the foster care system. Our goal is to create a "comfort bag" for each child that is removed from their home. Our goal is to purchase as many cinch sacks as possible and to fill them with things they will need and that will bring comfort to them in this difficult time. At a later time, we also plan to have a suitcase, duffle bag and backpack drive for the children as well. Our goal is to keep the integrity of the child intact and to show them that they matter in this world. Imagine the impact we can have by bringing a small amount of comfort to these children. They did not ask for this to happen in their lives, but we want to be there to comfort them and show them that they are loved, even if in a small way!

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Неактивен) – Birthday Angels Birthday Party Project

2013-06-28T00:00:00Z

Birthday Angels provides birthday parties for children whose families cannot afford to do so themselves. This special grant will support the development a party kit that will service special needs children who don't have the dexterity or communication skills that our three other kits require. These children need to be loved and celebrated like all children and this kit can give them the kind of experience that will deeply strengthen their sense of self worth, belonging and feeling loved. We loved this project because it is bringing special birthday love to those who need it most!