Awesome Foundation - Projects

London (Inactive) – Made In Hackney - Local Food Kitchen

2013-02-21T00:00:00Z

The Made In Hackney Local Food Kitchen is a local food grounded vegetarian community kitchen. We deliver six week courses to in-need community groups including young carers, low income families and people suffering from health problems. All our courses begin 'outside' either on a growing site or orchard so learners get to understand what healthy, organic, sustainable food is from soil to saucepan. The remaining 5 lessons take place at the Made In Hackney kitchen, an eco-kitchen with recycled units, a counter top made of melted down coffee cups, shelves made of scaffold boards and home-made non-toxic cleaning products. We teach learners how to make affordable seasonal meals; to process local fruit into jams, preserves, cordials; how to forage for and cook wild food and how to get started as a local food based entrepreneur. All our courses include teaching learners about home composting, best environmental practice in the kitchen and introduce them to food labeling and issues such as food miles, carbon foot printing and the impact of the mainstream global food system on the environment and global population. In addition to the courses we host bi-weekly pay-by-donation workshops on a Sunday which anyone from the community can attend, they just have to book a place in advance. Our program since opening has included: The Chutney Jam; Vegan Baking Made Simple; Kitchen Pharmacy; Edible Christmas Presents and Lactic Fermentation! We also have an apprenticeship program to train people in running community projects and being a community cookery teacher. Our project employs 4 part-time members of staff who all work at least double their paid-for hours! Most of all our project is fun and celebrates Hackney food culture in a way that's interactive, practical and always a good laugh! We also have a photo exhibition of local food growing projects and culture all around the kitchen - which is inspiring and beautiful!

Kingston – FIRST Robotics - W.A.F.F.L.E.S. Community Robotics

2013-02-21T00:00:00Z

Students from Kingston and the surrounding area that don't have a FRC team at their high school now have the option of participating in FIRST Robotics through rookie FRC team #4476, The W.A.F.F.L.E.S. (Wild About Family & Friends Learning Engineering and Science). This community based (versus school based) team will give more students access to the opportunities available through FIRST. We have just six weeks (Jan 5 - Feb 19, 2013) to design, build and program our robot to compete in the regional competition we are attending in Oshawa (March 7-9, 2013) . Students work alongside mentors (local professionals from Bombardier, Dupont, Invista, Queen's, etc.) to learn a variety of skills including; mechanical and electrical fabrication, programming, business skills, public speaking, computer aided design, project management, website development, computer animation, teamwork, time management, etc. The W.A.F.F.L.E.S. are about much more than just "building robots". We have a team culture that is community focused. In December we took the lead in the organization of the Kingston FIRST LEGO League (FLL) regional for 9-14 year-olds and hosted a Jr. FLL Expo for ages 6-9. We can regularly be found filling volunteer roles around the province as our way of giving back to the community and inspiring others. FIRST is a not-for-profit organization devoted to helping young people discover and develop a passion for science, engineering, technology, and math. Founded over 20 years ago by inventor Dean Kamen, the 2011-2012 FIRST season attracted close to 300,000 youth and more than 100,000 Mentors, Coaches, and Volunteers from 60+ countries. The annual programs culminate in an international robotics competition and celebration where teams win recognition, gain self-confidence, develop people and life skills, make new friends, and perhaps discover an unforeseen career path.

Seattle, WA – Extraordinary Science with Amazing Students

2013-02-21T00:00:00Z

I am applying to this grant for science supplies. With the recent focus on standardized test scores, our school has slowly phased out most science instruction. We are evaluated on how 4th graders score on math, reading and writing tests. So, the incentive to teach integrated, rigorous and engaging science has significantly decreased. This school year, my elementary school received a grant for increasing academic performance. With a significant amount of wrangling and discussion, I was able to get some money to fund an after school science program in conjunction with the YMCA, which is focusing on math and reading. Unfortunately, we were unable to dedicate any funds for the materials for the program. So far, I have been buying supplies for the kids from my own money and the program has been really quite successful! The children, about fifty 3rd, 4th and 5th graders, are students who were identified as “at-risk” academically and socially. They love our science days and frequently ask to visit me during the school day at recess and lunch so they can experiment or ask more questions. So far, I have taught a unit on chemistry (basic kitchen science) and movement (physics introduction). The kids are reading articles that I write prior to our experiment days and getting hands on experience with the materials. They inspire me with their enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge but, sadly, I am struggling to keep up financially with the demands of the program. The hourly pay I receive for teaching them almost covers the expense of the materials and it can be difficult to get everything in time for the lessons. Our program is funded for 7 years and I would love to build a set of amazing science materials and lessons that I could use every year and share with the other teachers in our school. This year has been amazing so far and with your help, I would be able to further my program and continue to teach my crew of passionate young scientists.

Boulder, CO (Inactive) – Smart solar greenhouse for small spaces

2013-02-20T00:00:00Z

My Terrace Farmer (MTF) is a small footprint modular smart solar greenhouse for people with limited gardening skills. In the right location it is self watering (rain water collection) and completely solar powered. In many imperfect urban locations it uses a standard 110-volt outlet to provide supplemental plant lighting and winter heating. MTF will also allow remote monitoring of growing conditions, limited emergency mobile phone charging, limited emergency drinking water, and worm compost tea fertilization. See www.myterracefarmer.com to see some of the components used in building a My Terrace Farmer (launching Earth Day 2013 Green Festival). With mass production, the goal is to make technology affordable - for a price of a large screen television your family will have additional food security, emergency preparedness, and an education tool.

New York City, NY – Wayfinding: 100 NYC Public Sculptures

2013-02-20T00:00:00Z

New York City is a haven for art lovers, with hundreds of public sculpture installations scattered around the five boroughs. But much of this art goes undiscovered by wandering tourists and locals. Fortunately, local artist Bundith Phunsombatlert is ready to help us get our bearings with his upcoming project "Wayfinding: 100 NYC Public Sculptures." The New York chapter of the Awesome Foundation is proud to announce that our February $1000 micro-grant will fund Bundith's plan to place beautifully crafted public art signposts in parks across our city. Bundith has compiled a map of 106 notable public sculptures which can be viewed at www.wayfindingNYC.com. At each of eight sites in high-traffic parks throughout New York (one in each outer borough and four in Manhattan), Bundith will mount a cluster of "2000 miles to Timbuktu"-style directional signposts that will show the precisely calculated distances and directions of all 106 sculptures. Each cluster will include six sturdy signposts, and each signpost will hold about eighteen aluminum signs printed with distances and Bundith's black and white pictograms of the indicated sculptures. A similar installation is already in place at the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, also shown at www.wayfindingNYC.com. As Bundith puts it, the audience's journey through New York from his signposts to the sculptures they represent can be a work of art in itself. Mixing old and new technology including printmaking, trigonometry, GPS, and mobile-friendly online maps, the Wayfinding project will invite the public to embark on guided journeys to reveal New York's priceless public art. Awesome NYC is proud to put our weight behind this project, and we look forward to seeing the Wayfinding signposts in action in the fall of 2013!

Ottawa – YouthCanSlam Ottawa 2013

2013-02-19T00:00:00Z

February's Awesome Ottawa award goes to Ikenna Onyegbula to support the inaugural YouthCanSlam spoken word festival, to be held this August in Ottawa. "The YouthCanSlam Festival," he explains, "is an attempt to seize upon the growing hunger for a Canada-wide youth poetry competition and foster a national community of youth poets. Here, youth may further explore the art form, benefit from a wider exposure of their work, and grow through the opportunity to workshop with more experienced and established poet mentors. A thriving national youth program," he says, "is paramount to the sustenance of Canadian spoken word and has proven successful in other countries, like the United States, where marquee youth competitions like Brave New Voices have helped further develop the country’s spoken word scene." The festival will be held August 20-25, and feature a daytime schedule dominated by workshops, showcases, and open mic sessions. Slam competitions, including an 8-12 team tournament, will be the focus of the evening schedule. The award from Awesome Ottawa will specifically support having established spoken word adult mentors from across the country create and facilitate youth workshops and put on showcases during the week's events. Ikenna, in his late 20s, is a Nigerian-born spoken word performance poet who came to Canada in his teens. He has been performing professionally for the past four years throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe, and has won several poetry slam competitions, including two Canadian National Poetry Team Titles with team Ottawa and the 2011 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Title. To learn more, visit http://ycs2013.com. Ikenna is also raising funds at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-inaugural-youthcanslam-spoken-word-festival.

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – Rabbit Rabbit Radio

2013-02-19T00:00:00Z

The answers we used to have about how to make a creative life in music have are far more complicated than they once were, partly because of our new parental priorities, but largely because digital communication has blown the music industry right over. After moping about it for a while, we realized that this shift has also opened up whole new ways of thinking as an independant artist. Hence, Rabbit Rabbit Radio. We created Rabbit Rabbit Radio as a way to release our Rabbit Rabbit songs and to communicate with our listeners in a much more nuanced and ongoing way. In keeping with the New England trandition of having "rabbit rabbit' be the first thing to cross your lips on the first day of each month, we release a new song on the first day of each month to our subscribers. Each issue of RRR contains the song itself, but also lyrics, thoughts, insights, photos, videos and a list of things we think are inspring that relate to the content of the song. We keep all of the previous months' issues in an archive that people can browse. All around, it feels like a much more generous and less navel-gazing way to share our music and interact with people than we've ever found before, except perhaps living room concerts, which we also love. Our RRR partners are George Hurd (production manager) and Anna Singer (graphic designer.) We're 13 months into this project now with almost 1000 members and are beginning to explore more ways of using the site in more engaging and interactive ways. For example, February's song is full of imagery in reaction to our quickly brewing climate change crisis. We've asked 10 of our favorite artists to send us post cards inspired by an image in the song. We're posting them to the site as we get them with links to the artists, and are exploring the idea of printing them as a set to sell from the site. We would donate any profits to carbonfund.org.

Sydney – Truth or Dare Sydney

2013-02-13T00:00:00Z

Inspired by Chelsea Davison's giant of Truth or Dare in New York - this exciting game comes to Sydney. The game brings people (who would normally ignore each other) together to have fun. After a successful launch game at Jurassic Lounge in 2012 - we want to bring more people together in 2013. How to play: 1. Come along to one our TRUTH or DARE locations. 2. Find a TRUTH or DARE card 3. Decide if you are game enough to reveal a TRUTH or perform a challenging DARE -- then go for it! *Truths are tweeted to @truthordaresyd

Sandy Rebuild (Inactive) – Sandy Storyline

2013-02-13T00:00:00Z

Awesome Sandy Rebuild chose Sandy Storyline as the recipient of our inaugural grant. Our dean, Taylor Swope, even had the pleasure of working with them in the field one day when they brought a group of talented young high school students to Staten Island to record the stories of residents in the neighborhoods where she's been volunteering since the storm. She can attest, this is an awesome project! Sandy Storyline is a participatory documentary about Hurricane Sandy and efforts to recover and rebuild. Using audio, video, photography and text, Sandy Storyline is building a community-generated narrative of the storm and its aftermath. Story is a critical part of building power, encouraging civic discourse and driving change. So far we have collected 300 stories. The project has 4 core components: Web development, Live exhibitions, Education, and Story Gathering. To tell your story or view those of others, please visit http://www.sandystoryline.com.

San Francisco, CA – Growing Together: Neighborhood Orchard Project

2013-02-12T00:00:00Z

Growing Together was created to facilitate the growing of food and community through neighbors joining together to plant community owned trees in the front and back yards of homes in the SF East Bay. This is a project to grow a more resilient, regenerative culture in our cities. It greens and beautifies city space, and has many ecological benefits for the local environment. It creates opportunities for neighbors to meet, connect and bond, and for communities to begin thinking about where our food comes from. It enables city residents to witness food growing and builds local long term food security and nature connection. In places where health, economic and environmental crises are part of the everyday reality, fruit trees are a beacon of light, an instrument of great peace. To us, basic environmental health includes having clean air to breathe and fresh food to eat, and fruit trees will provide these and other services for decades to come. We provide the fruit trees and basic tree care education at no cost and help in planting and long term maintenance and the residents care for the tree and share the fruit. We will be planting in underserved neighborhoods in the San Francisco East Bay, with a focus on the tree-sparse and food insecure areas of East Oakland and West Oakland. Therefore, the populations served are urban people, predominantly people of color, communities experiencing food insecurity, dealing with violence and pollution and lacking significant nature connection. Our goal is to plant 1,000 fruit trees in people's yards and in community spaces in our first year. Accordingly we will teach between 40-50 tree care workshops and hold 40-50 community planting days with 15-25 households participating in each. After our first year of planting, we also aim to further develop our website and create materials to share our innovative model for tree planting to help others to implement similar projects in their own communities.

LA South Bay, CA (Inactive) – SKY VISION

2013-02-10T00:00:00Z

Sky Vision is a charity that was started years ago by optometry students at Southern California College of Optometry who noticed there were many low income children who needed glasses but were't able to afford them. Seeing this happen day after day in clinic brought the students to action. From there came about the "Students Karing for Youth Vision" charity. Monies for this charity is raised by the students through various projects and fundraisers like "Penny Wars," "SKY Vision concerts," selling baseball, hockey, and basketball tickets. The frames our currently donated by pour own fraternity, Omega Delta. In the future, we plan to solicit donations from frame companies. Our goal is to provide polycarbonate lenses to our youths. Polycarbonate lenses are lighter and are higher impact resistant than standard plastic lenses and is required by law for all minors who need glasses. Imagine going to school everyday trying to learn but the board or reading material is always blurry. It would turn anyone away from wanting to learn. Vision is a vital part of the learning process. If kids cannot see clearly, they cannot learn the basics of being AWESOME. As future optometrists, it's our job to start spreading the word of basic vision care and providing that quality care to our patients. It starts now, even before we are officially licensed doctors. We're grateful for any contributions made to our charity because every dollar counts and every dollar helps a kid in need see clearer!

Sukhbaatar (Inactive) – Youth Crime Prevention

2013-02-08T00:00:00Z

The goal of this project is to increase the prevention of youth crimes and crimes towards youth in our community of Baruun-Urt. The Baruun-Urt police department will use the money to host seminars for at-risk youth with the local schools, as well as sponsor 5 at-risk teens and provide them with resources and support. The police department will also hold as essay contest in our high schools to increase awareness about safety and crime.

Rio de Janeiro (Inactive) – Residência artística - artista carioca + ateliê SP

2013-02-05T00:00:00Z

Com o objetivo de fomentar o intercâmbio entre artistas de Rio e SP o Ateliê Coletivo 2E1 promove residência artística entre março e abril/2013 onde um(a) artista carioca desenvolverá e exibirá seu trabalho em solo paulistano. A residência é composta por: desenvolvimento de trabalho artístico durante o período de vivência no ateliê; dois encontros abertos ao público gratuitamente, com críticos e curadores, para discussão do trabalho artístico desenvolvido durante a residência; coquetel de abertura com divulgação eletrônica; exposição, aberta a visitação por duas semanas, no ateliê. O prêmio proporcionará a residência do(a) artista e a criação de uma obra que será exposta. É importante ressaltar que o valor final da obra produzida é muito maior que seu custo. E esse valor é um diferencial quando falamos em produção de significado.

Melbourne (Inactive) – The Grantmaker Jukebox: Music that makes new grant

2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

What if one grant could kick start an ongoing cycle of music projects and music grants? What if $1000 was all that was needed to create 10 new grants... or even more! Introducing “The Grantmaker Jukebox,” an innovative concept in fundraising for musicians. I’m seeking a grant of $1000 to kick start a cycle of new grants for original music projects in Melbourne. The cycle begins with the recording of my debut album “72 Cents”.(1) This recording project needs $1000 to be completed. Once this recording has been done I plan to launch the album and raise another $1000 for a BRAND NEW GRANT, for another emerging artist. The new grant will be called “The Grantmaker Jukebox Baby Grant (Second Generation).” I’m confident I can raise at least $1000 after making over $6000 in profit from my EP. When I launch my album musicians will be invited to apply for the new grant on the provision that, if they are successful in being awarded the grant, they too follow the Grantmaker model. In other words, they must pledge to use the grant for a music project, then launch it as part of a fundraising campaign for a brand new $1000 grant; “The Grantmaker Jukebox Baby Grant (Third Generation).” The idea is that this will create an ongoing chain of music projects and grants. Each new recipient must make the same pledge to raise money for a new grant as part of their project launch. (1) In 2010/11 I was awarded a music project residency by the Dunmoochin Foundation to create new original music. There I recorded a debut 6 track EP as well as writing new music for a full length album. Often described as "folka-dot-pop" or "Joni Mitchell-esque", my new material has been well received by my live audiences, band bookers and the Dunmoochin Foundation community. “72 Cents” will be an album of vintage pop inspired songs with lyrics relevant today. You can read more about the album on the Grantmaker Jukebox project website www.thegrantmakerjukebox.weebly.com/the-album.html

Ann Arbor, MI – Ceramic Arts at Sunny Days Summer Camp

2013-02-03T00:00:00Z

Note: I previously applied for an awesome grant that was not awarded. Please would you disregard that application and consider this one as a revised idea? Thank you! SOS Community Services is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness in Washtenaw County. In addition to providing shelter and operating a food pantry, SOS provides children’s services which includes the Sunny Days Summer Camp. Approximately 35 children ages 6 to 12 enrolled in local shelter or transitional housing programs in Washtenaw County attend the camp daily for eight weeks during the summer. After speaking with both the volunteer recruitment specialist and the camp director at SOS I feel confident that I could make a significant, positive contribution to the children’s experience this summer by adding a ceramic art component, focused on learning and self-expression, to the camp. An Awesome Grant would provide the children at Sunny Days Camp the following: 1. A certified art teacher and trained art therapist (me) providing direct instruction in ceramic arts for 2 hours per week for 6-8 weeks (dependent upon camp scheduling). 2. Instruction will include a lesson on the culture, language and artwork of Nicaragua (based upon a trip I am about to take there). Children will learn art vocabulary and about the process involved in creating with clay. They will learn about planning by sketching their ideas and perseverance by seeing their projects through to completion. They will practice patience and fine motor skills as they form their clay and glaze their pieces. 3. The children will create 2-4 ceramic pieces, integrating what they have learned and receiving encouragement toward creative self expression. 4. By the end of the camp the pieces created by the children will be fired and returned to them. For every child it is a valuable experience to hold an object that he or she has created - for a homeless child this can take on extra significance.

Toronto – Teen Legal Helpline

2013-02-01T00:00:00Z

Access to justice in Canada is in a state of crisis. The Chief Justice has spoken publicly about the inability of most Canadians to afford counsel. The Canadian Bar Association finds high proportions of people navigate legal proceedings on their own because of the failure of legal aid. Yet, in 2010 more than 150,000 youth dealt with the criminal legal system -- many alone, as teens and social workers rarely receive reliable advice. Without change, these teens will be lost in the legal system. We help teens by offering free and confidential legal advice through our website at www.teenlegalhelpline.org. According to experts, the largest unmet access to justice need is diagnosing and explaining legal situations, and that is what Teen Legal Helpline does. Teen Legal Helpline is the first service of its kind to use technology to improve access to justice. Attempts to alleviate the problem in Canada have so far depended on legal clinics that provide free or low cost legal services only to indigent clients. These almost always have physical locations, depend on public funding (which is on the verge of collapse), and cannot scale. Instead of relying on the service models of physical clinics, we leverage a network of volunteer lawyers across the country to provide teens with specific answers to their legal questions. We can do this because our platform is designed to solve the largest barrier to lawyer volunteerism: the inability to predict availability or capacity. Our service lets lawyers answer discrete questions at their convenience and directly from their inbox, without disrupting how they currently work. Our technology is built to handle very large volumes of questions, so we can scale to match the size of the problem we are tackling.

Baltimore, MD – Gather Baltimore

2013-02-01T00:00:00Z

Gather Baltimore is a volunteer-based program, created by OSI fellow Arthur Gray Morgan, that collects unsold vegetables, fruit and bread from the Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar in downtown Baltimore and other sources for redistribution to local meal programs, faith communities, and others in need. The baked goods, fruit and seasonal produce collected would otherwise be thrown away as it will not stay fresh until the next market. Gather Baltimore insures that this food does not become waste but instead is made available to financially challenged families in communities where fresh healthy food is not readily accessible.

Los Angeles, CA – Free To Be Me Drum Circle

2013-01-31T00:00:00Z

Free To Be Me Drum Circle is a non-profit, all volunteer, charity group helping at risk kids, kids in grades K - 12, elders, people with special needs, and prison inmates by providing loving, educational drumming events. We go into convalescent hospitals where the residents can enjoy, and participate in, the music. We stimulate them by lifting their spirits and improving their motor skills. We've been to a few prisons where the inmates create unity, through the drum. In music, there is no conflict. Our goal has been to go into a women's prison, and that is now on our calendar. We will be drumming for, and with, 70 female prison inmates. Free To Be Me Kool Kid Drummers after school enrichment program has been invited to drum at many events, including: Fiara de Libre (Festival of Books) where they met and played for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; "A Better LA/Live Peace, where they met USC Coach Pete Carroll, and the Biltmore Hotel where they performed for Grantmakers for Education. They've been featured on CNN news and 60 Minutes. Some donations are used for our "Give a Kid a Drum" program. We've been able to present drums to over 150 students who express a desire and passion to carry on drumming after they pass from my class. Once a month, we host a community drum circle in Hermosa Beach, providing drums and percussion, and inviting the community and onlookers to "play along with us" celebrating life through the rhythm of the drum. We are consistently looking for more volunteers to be of service by hosting, greeting, and participating with the people. Free To Be Me goes out of the box to create unity, healing, and celebration of life through the drum. Laurie Angress and Dawn Nakagawa are very aware of our non-profit organization and are big supporters.

Miami, FL – Meditation Session for Miami Beach Senior High

2013-01-31T00:00:00Z

After graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in neuroscience, my intention was to immediately attend medical school. However, life took its course and I decided to spend two years traveling through India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. During my trip, I spent ten days in northern Thailand at a Buddhist monastery. I was taking a course, or “vipassana”, at the International School of Buddhism in Chiang Mai. This was not a typical class with pencils and paper, but ten days of silence and meditation. I listened to lectures from a monk on the importance of balancing the internal and external natures, as well as the significance of using one’s heart to live fully in every moment. My meditations brought me newfound clarity and peace of mind. After returning to Miami Beach this past August I decided to bring the practice of meditation to my alma mater, Miami Beach Senior High School. I have previously volunteered with students there and saw (as well as remembered) the stresses of that age. I discovered later that 20,000 schools in New York, California and Michigan are already practicing meditation daily as part of school wide curriculum, but Florida has nothing of the sort (we are not particularly known for our education standards). Further, students do not have any exposure to the importance of mental health or education on balancing their hectic and stressful lives. As of October of this year,I continue to visit Miami Beach High students Monday through Friday after school for 30 minutes. We meet in the same class everyday, and talk about meditation, its importance, and the techniques involved in its practice. I have a teacher sponsor who is present at all times, as well as 10 very excited and involved students. My goal is to eventually have this practice institutionalized as part of the daily curriculum, either for ten minutes before the start of each class, or during an assigned block. *See our recent publicity under website

Detroit, MI (Inactive) – Odditorium Detroit, the Blog

2013-01-31T00:00:00Z

Odditorium Detroit, The Blog Odditorium Detroit started as an art exhibit this Fall. After the show, we wanted to take time to showcase our artists, and to also build hype for future shows. It started as a mere Tumblr page, but as I researched more, and began to create a voice"in my writing, it became apparent that there was a lot more to say. So the decision was made to expand the theme of the blog beyond the art and collectibles showcased at the first exhibit. Additionally, it was clear that a better platform would be needed and Wordpress definitely stood out as a CMS. While researching for the blog, amazing anecdotes and interesting factoids were regularly surfacing. Detroit has a very interesting and vivid history! After four years at District VII, I finally was able to figure out what the building had been in history. My friend Dan Austin, writer of the Buildings of Detroit series, taught me how to use the Sanborn Maps at the Burton Historical Library, and how to use the historic city directories to cross reference business names. Armed with this new skill, I was now able to research business names and addresses and discovered that our warehouse had once been home to Edgar A Murray's "Doom Pesticides." Furthermore, these methods for research could now be applied to names of companies on antique pharmacy bottles, Victorian trading cards, old newspaper advertisements, etc. Though not every trail leads to something fully qualifying as an "Oddity," trails always lead to something quite unique and interesting. The blog will explore and showcase local art considered odd and strange, as well as incoming work from around the world for past and future exhibits. Blog entries will track art installations around Detroit, interesting events hosted by the Detroit Historical Society, various antiques/ephemera from Detroit, interviews with locals, historical photos and also the history of businesses and buildings that have been long forgotten or still exist today.

Austin, TX – Housewarming Gifts for the Previously Homeless

2013-01-31T00:00:00Z

We're so excited to be awarding our January grant to Bryce Yeazell, a 12-year old middle school student at Kealing Middle School in East Austin. Bryce is working with ARCH, the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, to make housewarming baskets to give to formerly homeless adults transitioning into permanent housing. Bryce began working with social worker, Jennifer Denton, after he visited ARCH over the summer. "After seeing how much they need I wanted to help out more," Bryce says. Denton told him that 17 people from ARCH move into new homes every month, and suggested helping homeless people when they get a chance to first move into a home. "I hope the welcome baskets will help them get a good start," Bryce says. "It’s hard when you have very little. There’s so much you need to make a home work." Bryce says, "This project is important to me because when I worked at ARCH over the summer I thought, how it would feel if you had to sleep on the street every other night?" Bryce has been collecting money from friends, his parents, his grandparents, and other family members. He's been using spreadsheets to record the amount of money he has, how much the projects will cost, and who gave him the money to make this project possible. The money from the Awesome Foundation grant will be used for gift baskets to give to homeless adults who are moving into new homes. They'll include a little treat and a homemade card to make them feel good. The baskets will also include new and gently used books, a sponge, a few sets of silverware, a pot, a pan and a spatula, soap, some baked goods, blankets, shampoo, plates, and bowls. He plans on using grocery bags, laundry baskets and large plates for the basket. "I think it’s awesome to help people make that first step from living on the streets. It’s fantastic to win, but a little scary. I never really expected to win! "

Pittsburgh, PA – 60 Seconds of Pure Freedom

2013-01-31T00:00:00Z

Experiencing the thrill and excitement of flying through the air is something that is relatively difficult to explain. It is the epitome of freedom; it is just you, your instructor or your friends in the air, you don't need to worry about any of life's problems or distresses. Imagine seeing beautiful sunrises, sunsets and views from 13,500 FT - it really is something amazing and time seems to slow down during those 60 seconds of freefall, so you enjoy every last second. After 60 seconds, you pull your chute and then fly around the sky looking at how beautiful the sky is from up above, and see things from an angle you would never get a chance to see. My project is to give others who wouldn't normally have a chance to experience something this wonderful, the opportunity to do a tandem skydive. Skydiving is an expensive sport - we are often asked how expensive is it? Well, it will cost you all the money you have, and then some :-) But seriously, some people are not able to afford the cost of a tandem skydive, or they may have been hurt in accidents, be sick, or lost the use of limbs, but that really doesn't hinder them from jumping. There are some jumpers who jump in wheel chairs, and there are even some who have been able to jump without any limbs. See the story of Nick Vujicic http://www.beacononlinenews.com/news/daily/4844. My idea is to give some of those less fortunate the chance to experience their dream to go skydiving.

Boston, MA (Inactive) – Middle School DNA Sequencing

2013-01-30T00:00:00Z

For a science fair project, I developed a collection of chemicals, devices, and the documentation necessary to easily sequence DNA from bacteria or even people necessary in the void left by the disappearance of CoFactor Bio, the company that developed GeneLaser, the kit that made it possible for college and high school students to easily sequence DNA. I've contacted people at pharmaceutical companies, researched, and talked to teachers, and I'd like to put together the tools necessary to make DNA sequencing easy and available, as well as get it in middle school classrooms throughout the country. Genomics will soon be one of the most important branches of medicine, and it's important we familiarize students with it. At my school and many others in my area, genetics is taught in 7th grade. Having students actually work with DNA boosts their understanding tenfold. What's more, the cost is actually well within the reach of most schools. All of the equipment necessary takes up less than 10 square feet and costs less than 1 laptop.

London, ON (Inactive) – "When was the last time you had your photo taken?"

2013-01-30T00:00:00Z

My idea has been bubbling inside of me since I was in high school. My Nan (who we lived with to care for because of her Alzheimer's) came home one day very happy from her day out a the local seniors centre. I asked her what she had done there and she said she had the best day in a long time as the carers had just sat and painted her nails and chatted with her. The paint on her nails jogged her memory for a little while after that of having a nice time. I come from an area of Australia similar to London in that there are quite a few seniors homes and centres. My project would be to go to different seniors homes (once gaining permission of course) and collaborate with a hair/makeup artist to primp the seniors. This might be something as simple as painting nails, to having hair styled. I would then use my photography skills to capture a nice portrait of them. Special thanks to: Sean Meyer/London Community News and Erin Woodgate for granting us permission to repost their photos.

San Antonio, TX – Adoption Vehicle Transformation

2013-01-30T00:00:00Z

Hundreds of abused, abandoned, and neglected animals have already been saved by Paws Ranch. As many as 75% of all pets picked up by animal control services (ACS) are euthanized. The numbers are staggering. On average 2,500 pets die every month! We at PRRAS along with the Alamo Area partnership for animal welfare (AAPAW) and other local rescues are striving to make San Antonio a NO KILL City. You can help by getting involved. Adopt a less adoptable pet, foster a pet, sponsor a special needs animal, become a volunteer, donate funds, pet supplies, or food, educate friends and neighbors about the stray pet problem, spay and neutering, and encourage them to adopt instead of breeding or buying. Together we can reach our goal of No Kill! About or Current Project: Six months ago a supporter donated a Chevy step Van. We have been trying desperately to save money to transform this Van into an Adoption Vehicle. An adoption vehicle would allow us to host more adoption events in more locations and provide us with greater visibility during adoption events. Most importantly this vehicle could raise adoption numbers by as much as %50. Saving twice as many lives this year 264 up from 132 lives saved last year.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactive) – Project Gal

2013-01-30T00:00:00Z

‘Gal’ Project is a grassroots and volunteer-based student project working in five different law faculties throughout Israel – Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Haifa University and the Rishon LeZion College of Management. The project was established in 2005 by Gabi Chartock, J.D. (then a law student from Tel Aviv University) with the assistance of his friends Keren Halperin-Musseri, J.D. and Neta Reef, J.D. The vision behind the project is to promote socially-oriented actions by individuals intent on exercising their entrepreneurship skills and creativity towards social justice. The project is conceived as a platform whereby participants are able to take on urgent social issues preeminent in Israeli society, all while gaining invaluable legal tools. Activities are run in direct cooperation with academic experts and legal professionals who provide support and consultation in different disciplines; participants are given the chance to collaborate with researchers and law professors, past and present parliament members, lawyers and strategic advisors. As such, members are able to accumulate experience with legal suits, legislative orders and come in contact with various media and public outlets. In addition, members partake in enriching workshops and seminars allowing them to meet and engage with the top personalities from the legal, media, politics and business fields. Participants work in groups of 2-4 members whereby each team works together to fulfill a unique social initiative. All teams are supervised by a team coordinator, who is responsible for the constant advancement of each team initiative. Coordinators are in turn also given the task of progressing the broad-based aspects of the project (such as selecting new initiative ideas, maintaining contacts with academic staff members etc) as well as other infrastructural facets (ensuring information exchange, managing web-based activities, running a media campaign etc

Boston, MA (Inactive) – Open Source Lasercut Quilting

2013-01-30T00:00:00Z

While laser cut quilting isn't a very new thing, I've not seen many open source quilting patterns around. Laser cutters are becoming more and more common for hackerspaces, so being able to have just the patterns would make more awesome quilts happen. Basically I want to build a low powered laser cutter that can be used to cut large sections of cloth or paper all at once. The laser cutter will reside at Artisan's Asylum. I've built CNC equipment before, so this won't really be too much of a challenge. I just need the parts. Since I just need a low powered cutter for cloth and paper, I can get away with a very cheap laser and any existing CNC bed. Once the lasercutter is done, I start cutting out my Mario quilt. I'm not going to lie, this whole project started because I want some video game inspired quilts. One side of the Mario quilt will be the topworld, and the other side will be the underworld. Basically, with pre-backed cloth and a laser cutter, I can reduce the time to make a quilt by many orders of magnitude. Artisan's Asylum already has the heat presses I can use to then fuse the pieces together, and sewing equipment to finish up the quilt. That doesn't mean it won't still be a ton of work, but it would mean that I could make a very complicated quilt with hundreds of colors in a matter of weeks instead of years. I'll then be able to display the quilts, and inspire other geeks to make similar creations around the world. Obviously, I'll open source any patterns I make, so copies and derivatives can be made more easily. The lasercutter will also be available for the local community, and will possibly facilitate workshops to be run with quickly cut resources.

Boston, MA (Inactive) – Meat-filled Zebra Piñatas

2013-01-30T00:00:00Z

GOOD zoos provide environments that are more like natural habitats. GREAT zoos introduce Environmental Enrichment Devices (toys and puzzles) that provide animals with new experiences to learn and grow. AWESOME zoos should let their lions stalk and eviscerate meat-filled zebra piñatas. Zoo New England, who runs The Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and the Stone Zoo in Stoneham are interested in pursuing an adventurous animal enrichment experiment. After several conversations, I’ve managed to convince Dave Caron, ZNE’s Development Officer to join forces and seek funding for an awesome animal enrichment idea. They have agreed to pull together key members of their animal care staff to see what we can collectively conceive in the spirit of awesome. I have a follow-up meeting with their Animal Care Director and Animal Resource staff on Friday afternoon to discuss meat-filled piñatas and other awesome enrichment ideas. Fund this and perhaps we will get to see what pent-up wild animals are truly capable of. And yes, I plan to film the animals using the EEDs. More on animal enrichment: http://www.aza.org/education/kidsandfamilies/detail.aspx?id=277 http://www.zoonewengland.org/page.aspx?pid=310

Winnipeg, MB (Inactive) – Model of Downtown Winnipeg

2013-01-28T00:00:00Z

In the past every student would create their own model of their project. Models are expensive and use a lot of paper and foam. Then they get thrown out at the end of the year. Rather than waste so much money and trees a wood model was started last year. Each year students add more buildings to the model. This year we are using a CNC router to make more intricate buildings for the model. Not only are we helping the environment with the project we are helping Winnipeg's future. We are creating a learning tool for Winnipeg's future urban planners. When they graduate they will help make Winnipeg a better place to live in.

London (Inactive) – Slow Life Scanning

2013-01-26T00:00:00Z

ScanLAB is a research unit at the Bartlett School of Architecture run by Matthew Shaw and William Trossell. We use 3D scanners to capture buildings and streetscapes which are then used to create models, movies and drawings. The project we are working on at the moment is based around scanning life models in motion and their surroundings. Just like a photocopier the scanner takes time to record its surroundings and any movements during this process are recorded as 3D distortions. We have created some stunning results choreographing these movements with the life models. Our next step is to reproduce these distorted figures at full human scale using 5 axis machining techniques with which we are familiar. (See attached image document). The resultant pieces will form an exhibition but will also be the first prototypes for a larger scale collaboration we hope to complete with hotly tipped theatre company BeltUp later in the year. BeltUp are putting on a production on Macbeth in the House of Detention, a deserted underground prison in Farringdon, London and we are in discussions about using this process to both record parts of the performance and to create sculptural props/scenery for the performance. Whilst not in use as a performance venue the space will double up as an exhibition of these works. At present ScanLAB is supported by the leading producer of terrestrial 3D scanners, FARO, who have loaned over £80k of equipment and software to UCL but this specific project and all time put into the venture is our own & unfunded. We have very close links with London’s top rapid prototyping facility, DMC, full use of the CadCam facilities at UCL and full access to state of the art fabrication machinery in Hackney Wick. The house of Detention is a privately owned site but in collaboration with BeltUp we have been granted limited access in return for 3D scanning services. Over the last few years we have both been involved with exhibitions and group shows of this nature in the past but this is the first time ScanLAB have exhibited solo. Will works for AB3 workshops and has exhibited and built many times with the functionality http://www.thefunctionality.com/ Matt teaches architecture at the Bartlett and Canterbury. He has recently worked with Block Architecture and his solo research formed part of Constructing Realities and Digital Hinterlands at Arups Phase2 Gallery

London (Inactive) – new (L)eaf Path of natural knowledge. West Dulwich

2013-01-26T00:00:00Z

My name is Vinnie O’Connell and I am a gardener, plant historian and youth worker, I founded new Leaf in 2006. Using wasteland either side of the platforms at West Dulwich station, new Leaf is creating a garden as a resource for the local community to enjoy. We hope it will become a place where local people of all ages can come and learn about the plant and insect life on our doorstep in Dulwich and Southwark. If we can find some funding, We would like to run gardening workshops for locals and children. Based on the simple fact that the more you know about the environment,,,the more you will care for it. new Leaf is a voluntary community group that depends on the generosity of local people and businesses to survive. new Leaf won the South London Press’s Community Project of the Year 2010. We work with young offenders and teach them new skills and hopefully help them to realise that they are part of the environment and not apart from it. Some of them have gone on from new (L)eaf to find careers in the environmental sector. We also work with and encourage vulnerable adults to volunteer at our project. We have helped ex streetdrinkers and volunteers who have suffered head injuries to gain the confidence to rejoin the job market.

Oahu, HI – Vegetable-Assisted Therapy

2013-01-26T00:00:00Z

My project will entail designing and building a large home garden at two shelters for youth (one for boys, one for girls) run by our nonprofit youth services agency. All of the youth we serve have suffered trauma in one form or another, mostly through abuse, neglect or both. These traumatized youth suffer in school, in social circles and have been involved in the juvenile justice system. Many of these youth have dropped out of school or are far behind their peers, have had little positive adult influences in their lives and their health and health behaviors are poor. Hale Kipa has just launched an educational program to help these youth catch up with their classwork -- or reengage -- while they are in our shelters. Our shelters are not schools, but we are considered eligible for the School Lunch Program federal funding. As such, we must now adhere to more restrictive food preparation guidelines that hope to improve the lunches served to school-aged youth nationwide. I see a very logical nexus between our educational program, the need for fresh produce to satisfy School Lunch Program guidelines and the need to help youth learn about ways to eat better and improve their overall health. All we need at each of our two shelters is a home garden to serve as "classroom" and "lab"! With a garden in their backyard, shelter youth will learn gardening basics (the UH College of Trop Ag will provide 6 free lessons on gardening!), how to provide proper plant nutrition, garden maintainance, how and when to pick the produce, food preparation and, of course, the appreciation of fresh produce and home grown goodness from the garden. Nutrition and cooking basics will round out the garden-based curriculum. Our hope is that the care and feeding of fruits, vegetables, and herbs will not only provide a fun way to learn about good health but, importantly, will provide a place and activity for youth to heal. Think of this as the vegetable version of animal-assisted therapy!

Portland, OR – LoveBomb Go-Go Marching Band

2013-01-25T00:00:00Z

LoveBomb Go-Go differs from the average marching band not just because we come from outer space, but we play all original music drawing from many influences, including New Orleans and Balkan brass bands, contemporary rock music, and the Sun Ra Arkestra. We adapt from street to stage with a full instrumental set for acoustic performance, and another full set of original music for the stage featuring vocals, electric bass, and an invasion-sized force of horns and percussion. In little over a year, we've progressed from playing Burgerville to the Crystal Ballroom. We've been a crowd favorite at parades, clubs, theaters, and events like the NW Folklife Festival and Bumbershoot, and have shared the stage with artists ranging from Rebirth Brass Band to Naughty By Nature. Through our performances we have supported a number of charitable causes and civic efforts. In the past year we've helped get out the vote during the 2012 elections, helped raise over $7K for the Childrens Cancer Association at our Halloween show, and kicked off the PDX Streetcar Central Loop Grand Opening with Mayor Sam Adams. Speaking of PDX, supporting Portland (and fun in Portland!) is dear to our hearts as well. We've played many freebie gigs for local artist/gallery appreciation events, fundraisers, and community events like the Alberta Street Fair and Saturday Market. We were the kickoff band for the World Naked Bike Ride (playing for 13,000 naked people!). We've also marched in unannounced to play surprise gigs at Pioneer Square, Voodoo Doughnut, Cartopia, the Eastbank Esplanade, and other local spots to blow people's minds in that weird, awesome, Portland way. We aspire to make LoveBomb Go-Go a Portland institution and would very much appreciate your support. Thank you for your consideration! (p.s. be sure to check out our FB page for lots of photos and videos of the band in action: facebook.com/LoveBombGoGo )

Newmarket – Youth Engagement for Newmarket Food Pantry

2013-01-24T00:00:00Z

The Newmarket Food Pantry has seen a significant increase in the number of clients who use emergency food supplies, but also decrease in the overall donations - both in food as well as financial. The average age of Food Pantry volunteers is more than 68 years old. Two primary challenges are (1) get more youth engaged with volunteering with the Food Bank and to increase their awareness of the needs within the community, and (2) developing an online presence through a web site and social media channels, allowing more members of the community to be aware of the Food Pantry, become involved as volunteers, and to send out alerts with specific priority needs. (This past year, the Food Pantry had no stock of peanut butter, a major staple, and had to use scarce financial resources to purchase additional supplies). The Food Pantry will partner with One Million Acts of Innovation, an organization that brings qualified post-secondary students from Seneca and UoIT to the community, to run a series of social media strategy development and how-to workshops for local youth; participants would work on developing a creative and sustainable online presence for the Food Pantry, and be directly involved in the ongoing maintenance of the sites. The sessions would include the development of a crowdfunding strategy. Calls for youth volunteers would be made through community stakeholders, including the Youth Centre, Neighbourhood Network, schools and library. Community Youth - get an education & hands-on experience with social medial and current technologies; skills they can apply Post-secondary students - get experience and references for their resume Food Bank - gets online presence they could not do on their own, or afford to contract for; increased pool of volunteers; higher community awareness, more revenues A community Launch Event would be held in March 2013, profiling youth volunteers, highlighting youth talent (drumming, flash mob dancing, song), tours of Food Pantry

Calgary, AB (Inactive) – Kensington Interaction

2013-01-24T00:00:00Z

Kensington Interaction is a public Display of Local Ideas and Art in the Calgary community of Kensington. It shares local knowledge and art with Kensington/Sunnyside Community. Transforms the high visibility Kensington Interaction into an ongoing knowledge sharing space. I had the space built a few years ago. The money will go towards the materials for creating stylish and engaging displays of the presentations below: - Presentation of key ideas on effectively choosing food, using food and the effects of food through knowledge from a local professional & highly regarded chef and a local health & fitness professional. - Presentation of the results of Governor General award-winning research on conflict resolution in african refugee camps by local scholar Jane Lawson. - Display of art and stories by local artist Helena Avila.

Kitchener-Waterloo – Lineage Machine

2013-01-23T00:00:00Z

The Lineage Machine will be composed of two parts: a device for “recording” or digitizing the movement of the drawing performer, based on the work I have already done with the Euphonopen; and a haptic device for “playing back” or reproducing the drawing performance. The haptic device will take the form of a robotic arm suspended over the drawing surface: the viewer / user will insert his /her hand into a structure that stabilizes the movements of the fingers and the wrist, while allowing the hand to grasp a drawing instrument. The mechanical arm will gently, but firmly, guide the arm and hand through the movements that created a particular drawing. Drawing is the technique of making marks with a stylus or brush on a surface. A finished drawing may exhibit some of the characteristics of the movements made by the person making the marks, such as the location of the mark on the surface, the pressure on the brush/stylus while the mark was being made, the repetition and rhythm of a kind of mark. Other characteristics of a drawing performance, such as the order the marks were made in, the speed of entry and exit of the instrument making the mark, the speed with which the mark was made, pauses in and between marks, are lost. Therefore the performance of a drawing contains information and expression that a finished drawing does not. The Lineage Machine will allow the viewer / user to experience a drawing in real time, in a very intimate, tactile way – and paradoxically the robotic arm will allow the viewer / user to get absorbed in a drawing, and to experience the artist’s touch, looking at and seeing a drawing in a new way. The Lineage Machine has archival and conservation applications: would we not like to "feel" the movement of Leonardo drawing? The Lineage Machine will also allow people with disabilities, such as impaired vision or motion control, to experience a drawing as it happens.

Washington, DC – myDeanwood Polaroid Project

2013-01-23T00:00:00Z

Deanwood is one of Washington DC's oldest neighborhoods. We want to use this project to promote the people that are doing great things in the Deanwood neighborhood that may otherwise go unrecognized. By using a DIY giant polaroid frame my creative partner Kimberly Gaines and I will scour our neighborhood documenting those twenty-five special individuals who serve our community. Because of the DeanwoodxDesign project we have secured of list of individuals to chose from. However to be fair we will open the project up to the Deanwood community on a first come first served basis to ensure the project's diversity. Kimberly is also a professional photographer. Each photograph will also highlight and feature a specific location in Deanwood. As our neighborhood grows we want to continue this project. Each picture will feature interesting facts about the person pictured. Large reproductions of the photos will be featured in an art exhibit at Ward 7's only art gallery The Center for Green Urbanism. We will also develop this project into calendars. Free copies will be provided to local libraries and schools. We can also sell the calendars to generate funding to continue art programs in Deanwood. Ultimately we would like to pitch the project to the Deanwood Heights Main Streets Assocation as a campaign to help cultivate community pride and showcase and create great art. We hope this project continues the community building we started with the DeanwoodxDesign project. As residents we want to promote the creative spirit and showcase the positive aspects of this historical, yet underserved community.

Boulder, CO (Inactive) – The Ding Dongs or What is the Penalty in Portugal?

2013-01-23T00:00:00Z

The Ding Dongs or What is the Penalty in Portugal?, is a new comedy by New York based playwright and actor Brenda Withers. Withers is most well known for the play Matt & Ben, which she co-wrote and co-starred in with her writing partner Mindy Kaling (The Office, The Mindy Project). About the play: When sweet-faced Joe and Natalie show up on a suburban doorstep, the tight-lipped homeowner, Redelmo, finds their story suspicious: the house, they claim, was Joe’s childhood home and they’ve come in hopes of getting a quick peek around. Bewildered by their oddly sunny dispositions, Redelmo tries to keep the visitors at bay, but their clever wordplay preys upon his sense of civility, and they cheerily muscle their way across the threshold. Once inside, the couple makes themselves comfortable - touring the premises, recounting old memories, casually accepting a series of mysterious brown boxes that arrive addressed to them. It becomes clear the couple has no intention of leaving, and Redelmo finds himself the victim of a surreal home invasion. As Joe and Natalie launch a battle for indigenous rights from the living room, they reveal the vicious circumstances that drove them from their previous home, and we are asked to consider the cycle of violence that fuels our system of private property. Why we need funding: We believe that access to the arts is a right, not a privilege. Thus far, we have consistently kept our ticket prices lower than the overwhelming majority of theatrical offerings in Boulder, due in large part to funding from organizations like The Awesome Foundation. The costs of production - in particular venue rental - make this an increasingly difficult goal to realize. We believe that art is for everybody, regardless of income. For this reason, we keep our ticket prices as low as possible to provide our community with high quality, professional live performance at a reasonable cost.

New York City, NY – Uplift Yourself, Uplift the World

2013-01-22T00:00:00Z

Empowering students as their own first line of defense against stress, anxiety, and depression is the primary goal of Uplift Yourself, Uplift the World (UPLIFT), a project that will stage touring mindfulness carnivals on several college campuses this spring. UPLIFT mindfulness carnivals will be held in student centers, dining halls and other high-traffic areas to highlight existing mindfulness resources available to students on their campuses - with the added draw of incorporating new tech innovations. Interactive biofeedback technology will act as the centerpiece of the mindfulness carnivals. UPLIFT is partnering with engineering students at the University of Pennsylvania, and other schools, to build a large tower which connects to a NeuroSky MindWave headset. Students will be able to "lift" a globe themed beach ball with their mind by donning the headset and achieving a state of peaceful relaxation. The Awesome Foundation NYC grant will go toward the development of this centerpiece. Everything from the tower build to the carnivals themselves will be documented and posted on the project's YouTube Channel. The organizers of UPLIFT hope to create an event which can be easily replicated again and again, and which will continue to encourage interaction between mindfulness and technology. The inaugural UPLIFT carnival will take place at Wesleyan University in April 2013.

Chicago, IL – Garfield Park Positive Improvements

2013-01-20T00:00:00Z

I would like to do murals for houses and local businesses for free in West Garfield Park. Would like to do murals about african history, heritage, and teach the community about how important, colorful, and intellegent it is to be proud to be black, as well as other educational and inspiring images of the world. Each mural would be dedicated to a positive image that people can relate to as well be curious about knowing more about. I think one of the main problem in the area is the fact that there is nothing inspiring about lifes future. There is depressiona and violence at each turn, and seeing positive images can change things for the better. Have talked to several business property owners about doing murals, and engaging artwork for the community, and what themes they would like to represent on the outside of their businesses. I would also follow up with community leaders and do a mural or two with kids from the neighborhood. The project would consist of 8 to 10 murals placed around the area.

Kingston – Chalkboard Forum

2013-01-17T00:00:00Z

Based on the TedTalk presentation (http://www.ted.com/talks/candy_chang_before_i_die_i_want_to.html) and project seen across the world, Community Forum aims to give a face to the public in a creative and entertaining fashion. The Kingston project is headed by five individuals of various stripes and will be found in three locations - one will be situated in Market Square; another will be at Queens University; the third will be decided later through votes and public input. The money issued by Awesome will go towards the blackboard's construction, placement, and maintenance - as well any the tertiary costs. The ideal structure will be conservative in width to prevent disruption of walking traffic, have an awning to prevent it from the elements, and have places to hold and protect the associated chalk. Efforts have been made to make the project as cost-efficient as plausible in order to see it stretched across numerous events and seasons. With Kingston's substantial student and artist population contributing to its demographic, the project team is confident that Chalkboard Forum will be a welcome addition to the common sights at prolific events. The writing itself will be moderated to prevent unnecessary, derogatory material by moderators and the community. It is safe to say that this project is not an absolute carbon copy of what has been seen before; efforts have been and will continue to be made to give Community Forum as much creative power as the city that it seeks to reflect.

Seattle, WA – Micro Electronics Library

2013-01-15T00:00:00Z

The Micro Electronics Library is a project to make micro-controllers accessible to everyone. Micro-controllers, like Arduino and Rasperry Pi are a relatively simple, inexpensive way of interfacing computers and physical objects and are a great way to learn electronics. Kids and adults need to be allowed to tinker with cutting edge technologies to learn how they work and imagine new possibilities for how they can be used. The Micro Electronics Library would make electronics more accessible by creating a free, open library of micro-controllers and electronics. The library would function as a small scale tool library, with electronics and micro-controllers listed online using the Local Tools inventory system. Library patrons could check out kits containing electronics for their personal projects and experiments. The maker space Jigsaw Renaissance has agreed to partner with the library as the physical space where the electronics kits will be stored. The space is in use 24/7 and receives visits from children, artists and tinkerers who would make use of the kits. Volunteers from the Arduino Meetup and Jigsaw Renaissance would be available to help patrons check out electronics kits. I personally will commit to checking the kits biweekly. A new online training course, robocademy.com, will be available as a learning resource for patrons. Library patrons could either check the kits out to take home or become Jigsaw members in order to use them in the space. Additionally, the entire library could be easily packed up and taken to special events. Members of The Seattle Arduino Meetup have come up with several projects that this could be used for, including taking them to the Children’s Hospital or offering free electronics classes at the library. Having a free library of electronics is just the gateway to a world of even more awesome.

Ottawa – Speed-Gaming!

2013-01-14T00:00:00Z

January's Awesome Ottawa award goes to Ashley Cabecinha and Ka Lei Ku to support the hosting of speed-board-gaming events in Ottawa. Ashley and Ka explain that speed-gaming is "like speed dating, but less awkward and way more fun." The premise is straightforward: "Show up, sign in, grab a drink and snack, and mingle while you wait for peeps to show. Once everyone's arrived, you'll randomly be assigned to a table. One of our 'Game Genies' will teach you a game that's short and sweet, and you'll have about 30 minutes to play it with your new friends. Once the hourglass runs out, you get a few minutes to grab another drink and snack, and the cycle continues -- you move to a new table with a new game and new people!" "Board gaming is so hot right now," say Ashley and Ka. "We know -- we’ve been to ALL the board gaming nights in town. They’re fun, but something is missing: facilitated interaction. We're also throwing in some crazy delicious snacks, and a little liquid courage to help everyone play nice. We both love food, so we hate it when people offer food at an event, and it's mediocre, or offer drinks that consist of watered down bar rail. How great would it be to go to a cool event, eat amazing food, get a good beer, AND not have it cost you two arms and a leg? Pretty darn great." About themselves, Ashley and Ka told us: "We like board games. We like other things (food! kittens!), but like Ottawa's awesomeness the most. Together we’ve been enjoying the heck out of this city. We’ve eaten our way through Cobra, Dueling Chefs, and all of Pascale’s treats; volunteered at all the fests; and even won Timeraiser art together! When we’re apart, Ashley writes for Apt613, and Ka pole dances. Ashley = fiesty. Ka = silly. You’ll like us. We’re awesome. Now we’re ready to put our awesome to good use for the OTT." To join in on the speed-gaming, visit http://www.themeeplesrepublic.com.

San Francisco, CA – Valentine's Day Love Letter Scavenger Hunt!

2013-01-12T00:00:00Z

I'm constantly excited by story/art installations in the world that spark people's imagination. The idea of turning a corner and seeing something impossible there, that changes the way you see things. ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ Along those lines, I am creating a love letter scavenger hunt in the San Francisco Mission for Valentine's Day 2013. With the help of a group of friends, I'll be hiding 100 love letters for strangers to find, each in a bottle tied to a bright, giant red balloon. The idea is to have red balloons peeking out from all corners of the Mission, encouraging passersby to read the letters inside. The floating messages-in-a-bottle will be secured down and hidden in shops, alleyways, and in plain sight. ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ I hope the scavenger hunt encourages wonder, whimsy, and hopeless romantics all over the Bay area. ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ Several businesses in the Mission (including Ourshelves, Viracocha and more) have already agreed to host stops on the scavenger hunt, and I'm creating a clue map to lead hunters on their way. Myself and several friends will also be heavily documenting with video to share online at thisletterislost.com. This will be a free event in an effort to add more awesome to the world.

Sydney – Craft Bike

2013-01-08T00:00:00Z

Craft Bike is a new concept I have developed and is the product of combining my two great loves - craft and cycling. It is the ultimate creative workshop on wheels! Here's how it works: clients can book me and my little pink bike for their special event and I'll come rolling up with everything they could ever need to get their craft on, all stored on and taught from the colourful box on the back of my bike. I have hosted two craft workshops so far, one for the bicycle street fair during Sydney Rides Festival last month, and the other at Object Gallery for their Make. Play. Workshops this month. Clients can choose from a "menu" of craft projects, or we can work together to customise one for their event. All the projects are created with a sustainable vision in mind - that is - I try to source all my materials from op shops, second hand stores etc, or they are made from eco-friendly products. It is important to me that the projects have a lifespan outside of the Craft Bike workshop and are not going to be a waste of materials or tossed into a handbag somewhere and forgotten. My first workshop challenged people to make hand-sewn decorative rosettes with practical reflector strips for bike handlebars and helmets. My second workshop focussed on making macrame plant hangers from recycled twine, that could then be used for decoration or given as gifts this festive season. I am passionate about fostering a strong local creative community. Teaching workshops and skill-sharing is my way of contributing to that community. With Craft Bike I am aiming to connect with museums, educational institutions, local markets, Council initiatives, community festivals, and art galleries. It is my hope that through my workshops I can help people to engage in educational activities that will spark their creativity and help to grow our already amazing creative community. While doing so they'll also be supporting local cycling initiatives and having heaps of fun too!!!

Ann Arbor, MI – Rutherford Pool Rebuild

2013-01-06T00:00:00Z

Located in the heart of the Ypsilanti, Rutherford Pool was a well-utilized facility serving a diverse range of community members from across the city, township, and county. Rutherford Pool was built in 1971 and was expected to last just 25 years. In the mid- 1990s, a vinyl liner was installed over the aluminum framework to help sustain its life and the community was able to stretch its life nearly 40 years. At peak season, daily attendance at Rutherford Pool averaged nearly 350 people daily, with some days over 500. Pool visits in 2010 totaled approximately 15,000. This past summer (2012), one of the hottest on record, the pool was completely shut down because it was in such disrepair. Hundreds of children, seniors and families missed the opportunity to recreate, exercise, learn how to swim and cool off in Ypsilanti. The YMCA and Boys and Girls Club, which have grown significantly in Ypsilanti over the past three summers, were not able to bring their campers to swim. This left a huge gap in their services to our area youth. The benefits of maintaining a public facility for swimming in Ypsilanti include: • Providing affordable recreation for youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds. • Connecting people of all ages, incomes, backgrounds, and abilities. • Promoting physical fitness and self-improvement. • Attracting and keeping businesses and residents in the city. Since April 2011, Friends of Rutherford Pool has raised $840,000 for the pool rebuild. More than 200 families, individuals, foundations, and businesses have donated to the project including Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation, Ypsilanti Township and the City of Ypsilanti. We are working tirelessly to raise another $90,000 so that we can rebuild the pool and have it open in time for summer 2013.

Pittsburgh, PA – Juice Up 412 Community Engagement Project

2012-12-31T00:00:00Z

Our weekly pop up juice bars Spring-Fall 2012 in the Strip District and at various events across the city have created an "awesome" buzz about our budding company, product and developed a promising, diverse customer base and following. As a means to interface with and educate current and future customers, we are endeavoring to launch the Juice Up 412 Community Engagement Project, a two-pronged media approach to engage the community in a broader discussion about health, wellness and nutrition, highlighting the benefits of juicing, food justice and showcasing local businesses, people, and resources in the industry. This project consists of 2 elements: 1) The “I Juice” Campaign is a 1-3minute grassroots video we would like to produce highlighting local thought leaders & changemakers who can testify to the importance of juicing as a larger component of health & wellness. This video will feature our customers who are seasoned in living the “Juice Life,” as well as those who have been recently introduced to juicing via our pop up juice bars and want to further explore and embrace the benefits. It will be promoted through various social media channels as a means to raise awareness about Juice Up 412, the advantages and great taste of fresh juice, and introduce general health, wellness, and nutritional concepts. 2) The Juice Up 412 Movie Nights are a 3 part monthly film series tackling the issues of Health &Wellness, Food Justice & Food Access in underserved communities. We would like to host them monthly in an accessible community space, featuring one film, per event (Soul Food Junkies by Byron Hurt, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead by Joe Cross, and Food Inc by Robert Kenner). These events will also feature juicing demonstrations and tasting, brief presentations from local food and health industry business owners and resources, lots of conversation, and of course our juices will be available for purchase.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactive) – Meetings that Create Connections

2012-12-25T00:00:00Z

Meetings that Create Connections is an innovative dating service for those suffering mental illness. Through the use of "old-school" match-makers, participants receive the attention and coaching required to find their special match. There have already been some weddings! Keren Baktana is supporting the establishment of a website and database so matching can be even more effective. We love this project because everyone deserves love!

Knowledge (Inactive) – Tech in the World

2012-12-23T00:00:00Z

www.techintheworld.org Tech in the World is a national global health fellowship for top computer science students. We select the best and brightest fellows, in both technical talent and leadership capacity, put them in teams of 4, partners with overseas organizations in global health, and send them to develop software with them in the field for 4 weeks. We provide an unparalleled experience in professional development, personal growth, and global immersion. We are developing tomorrow's leaders in technology. It is generally recognized that technology is growing in important in the developing world, and that numerous technology solutions have enormous opportunity to impact lives. However, we as computer science students ourselves have found many barriers to entering the field of global health: There are no overseas opportunities; the peers in the field are not of high caliber; working at an overseas non-profit can be a career risk; it is difficult to evaluate opportunities; funding is difficult to obtain; and so on. Our fellowship program addresses all of these barriers and more. We have a fellowship model similar to that of Teach for America. We find the best students and take care of much of the process for them (e.g., around evaluating partners or logistics). We also provide them with world-class mentorship and guidance, and introduce them to a select group of fellows of the same caliber. Tech in the World was founded only two months ago, but it has made spectacular progress since. We have formed a board of advisers, put together a stellar founding team, won our first grant, developed partnerships, and make progress toward our first pilot program (details below). We also won a social venture challenge hosted by the Resolution Project. Progress has been strong, but we need to continue to work hard to create a phenomenal pilot program and to build institutional partnerships for long-term sustainability.

Austin, TX – Cooking Up English

2012-12-22T00:00:00Z

Cooking Up English uses cooking as a tool to teach English. The program is intended for those learning English as a second language. Weekly classes, conversation partners, and simple challenges encourage our students to practice what they learn in class. Once per week for five consecutive weeks, we explore a new recipe focused on a particular food genre. Because there is so much culture wrapped up in our food, we are able to teach more than just vocabulary. So far, we have created a number of different series including Comfort Foods, American Breakfasts, Healthy Local Foods, and Southern Foods. Cooking Up English provides the kitchen, the tools, the food, the recipes and the instructors. This is no ordinary language class! So far, we have provided services to students from over 15 countries so far and a variety of languages!. The language proficiency varies in each class, but it works because the common language is food. An Awesome Foundation grant will help Cooking Up English expand services services and create an inclusive, welcoming community for new immigrants, refugees, foreign students and spouses, and other non-native speakers in Austin.

Melbourne (Inactive) – PetHomeStay Videos - Sharing the Care of Pets!

2012-12-21T00:00:00Z

PetHomeStay makes it easier and cheaper for people to own pets. People can search our website for local people willing to help them, a bit like a local Airbnb for pets. We believe that PetHomeStay has the potential to arrest the decline in pet ownership in Australia, increase interaction between neighbours, and perhaps make a more empathic society for our children and older people. PetHomeStay only launched in Melbourne in September and now has 250+ registered users, with 100+ HomeStays around the city. People can find friendly local people near to them that would like to look after their pets, or exchange pet care for free.

Connecticut – Chalk Drawing for Civic Pride in West Haven

2012-12-20T00:00:00Z

What kid doesn't want to break a world record? I want the children of West Haven, Connecticut – a Long Island Sound community located 5-10 minutes from downtown New Haven - to feel a new sense of civic pride and to truly stand out in a positive way, not only in the region but in the world. While Business Week Magazine has touted the city as a family-friendly place, its social and cultural assets have yet to be widely recognized by the public at-large. The World's Largest Street Drawing is a breakable record: one city block in Houston, TX, was covered with chalk in 2012 (12,500 sq ft). I will donate time to organizing local artists and coordinating with the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Board of Education and the local Arts Council to make West Haven's boardwalk and its neighborhood schools rallying points for a city-wide weekend of chalk creation, resulting in a walkable network of connected, temporary drawings that will attempt to break existing records to become the largest in the world. The art created by West Haven's citizens united in this activity will be highly visible; we will invite local news channels to document it via aerial photography. Going for this record together as a community will be a powerful bonding experience for West Haven's families, laying groundwork for an upswell of grassroots support for other creative, cooperative projects for many years to come. I see it also translating into a greater appropriate concern for aesthetics, as individuals experience with their own hands how they can transform the look and feel of their place and make it more attractive and vibrant. This project is "creative placemaking" at its most democratic and inclusive. It will have visible, city-wide impact - bringing cheer and pride to West Haven's 65,000 citizens and beyond.