Awesome Foundation - Projects

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – SenseU

2016-02-09T00:00:00Z

SenseU is a sex education game that aims to help young Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 to become more confident in their bodies by teaching them how sex works. Despite the fact that sexual activity has many benefits, many people in America think of sex as a negative activity. This game aims to reverse that perception by enabling users to communicate with digital characters who have questions about sex. In SenseU, players assume the role of a college resident advisor. By guiding and advising in-game classmates via a text messaging interface, players will learn about sex in a consequence-free space. SenseU will be available on Google Play and the App Store for free.

Oahu, HI – Castle HS Winterguard

2016-02-08T00:00:00Z

Castle WInterguard was created in 2014 by the colorguard program director, Jimmy Esquibel. After a very successful marching band season, Mr. Esquibel proposed the idea of creating Castle High School’s very first winterguard. Mr. Alconcel approved the proposal and in January 2014, the Castle Winterguard was created. The goals for Castle Winterguard is to provide education on the pageantry arts; further the growth of students by providing a sound, structured environment that fosters personal growth, self acceptance, self-discipline, and team work; and to promote the values of dedication, hard work and pride in ones accomplishments. Through positive reinforcement, dedication to our young performers, and with the promise to teach not only the pageantry arts but also foster creativity and acceptance of all, the staff of Castle Winterguard will accomplish the goals mentioned above. Winterguard is the sport of indoor colorguard. Modern colorguard is a combination of the use of flags, sabers, mock rifles, and other equipment, as well as dance and other interpretive movement. All of these elements are combined together to tell a story or to portray a concept to the audience. Winterguard teaches one to believe in their ability to accomplish great feats of difficulty not only for their own sense of accomplishment but also for the benefit of the guard as a whole. In 2014, Castle Winterguard performed at the Mililani SpinFest Festival. In the spring of 2015, the winterguard was unable to floor (start-up) due to funding issues. 2016 has started off positive for the colorguard program. Mr. Esquibel and our new staff member, Mrs. Chelsea Prendergast, coupled with some funding support from the Castle Band Aid Association (CBAA). The winterguard has the initial funding needed to start off but unfortunately not enough to meet the demands of the season. We hope to floor a competitive unit this spring competing at shows all over Oahu.

New York City, NY – SLIME - Students of Long Island Maker Expo

2016-02-08T00:00:00Z

SLIME ([Students of Long Island Maker Expo](http://www.slimemakerexpo.com/)) is an interactive Day of Making for students, parents and educators from across Long Island, taking place on **May 7, 2016**. Students, parents, educators, and other community members come together from various school districts to participate in hands-on activities promoting imagination and creativity. From recyclable crafts to robotic technology, everyone has fun while learning new skills and making new friends. SLIME isn't just STEM or STEAM. It's STREAM...science, technology, research, engineering, art, and math. SLIME celebrates the creativity and innovation of all Long Island students K-12 regardless of age, gender, language, religion, culture, and socio-economic background. The basic principles of SLIME are: 1. All students k-12 from Long Island may participate 2. SLIME is a free event funded by sponsors and donors 3. Hands-on learning activities promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills 4. 21st century learning skills that involve both low and high tech can prepare our students to be active participants of the global community 5. Learning can and should be fun again! Will you be in the area? [Get your tickets](http://www.slimemakerexpo.com/tickets.html) today.

Why We Think This is Awesome

We were initially drawn to SLIME for the acronym - I mean, who wouldn't want to be a part of SLIME, right? _[Note to future applicants, we're suckers for a good name -ed]_ But beyond the amazing name, we were excited by the passion of the organizers of the event, the momentum that the Expo has right now (they've already matched last year's registrations, and they're still months away from their event) and the impact of our particular funds will have to the Expo in 2016 and in future years. We're also happy to be able to fund a project outside of New York City and bring the spirit of Awesome to new communities. Are you interested in starting your own Awesome Foundation chapter? [Get in touch!](mailto:join@awesomefoundation.org)

Philadelphia, PA – Climb the Wall

2016-02-05T00:00:00Z

Climb the Wall is an indoor rock climbing program for students with learning disabilities (LD). We aim to foster personal agency and promote self-discovery through innovative after-school programs that incorporate rock climbing, yoga and mindfulness meditation. A 2014 report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities indicates that transition planning support from high school through college, and beyond, is greatly lacking among LD students. While 55% of students with learning disabilities have transition plans, disability services personnel from two and four year institutions are sought out only 26% of the time. As a result, students are at risk of dropping out. There is a great need to empower and teach students the language of self-advocacy. Climb the Wall bridges the opportunity gap by offering experiential programs with structured and unstructured activities that provide students with time for self-discovery as they explore their strengths and develop coping mechanisms for their disabilities. Reflection time allows students to process their experience to gain self-knowledge and map new goals. Over six weeks students receive individualized climbing instruction in a safe and supervised environment where students learn the fundamentals of climbing and leave program with a belayer certification and much much more. A video of our first program is available here: https://youtu.be/9AEgoEwbl7w

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – Veteran Horizons / Free canes for Veterans

2016-02-05T00:00:00Z

Free canes for Veterans is as it says. Its a Free cane for a Veteran who depends on a cane for assistance with walking. Its a gift of love from one Veteran to another. Our page is a welcome mix of veterans and non veterans. 8200 likes and we reach 70,000. I give nightly videos of good news. And its much more than just an overwhelming order of over 500 orders and one man making them. We treat depression and PTSD with Chicken Soup ( your mother gave it to you when you were sick. It didn't cure you but it made you feel better. ) that's Random Acts of Kindness . It redirects the mind. We have never asked formoney. My cousin set up a go fund me account and it has paid for the shipping of 200 canes. But with 300 or more left to ship we will run out of funds I had to join up with another group called Veteran Horizons for protection under their 501 3c. But we share no funding. Both of our groups receive no pay. 100 % goes to spipping and suppies to make the canes. 1000 would pay shipping for an estimated 50 canes of the 300 to ship. Anything will help. Thank you for you consideration Oscar De Vere Morris III founder of Free canes for Veterans on facebook

San Francisco, CA – People's Open Network

2016-02-05T00:00:00Z

We’re building a community owned and operated alternative internets in the Bay Area! We’re using cheap off the shelf Wi-Fi routers running software developed by us (based on OpenWRT) to connect homes using point-to-point line of sight connections and allowing anyone with an existing internet connection to easily and safely share a limited portion of their bandwidth with the rest of the networks. We'll use the money to spend equipment for long-range high-speed links, which will be important for bootstrapping the network in the beginning since people using the network will be far apart when there are fewer users.

San Francisco, CA – 1-855-LADYFUN

2016-02-03T00:00:00Z

I am creating a satirical corporate phone tree. When it’s complete, people will be able to call a toll-free number and attempt to reach a real person, navigating a maze of menu options. During the call they will face many obstacles, including terrible smooth jazz, the dread of infinitely being stuck on hold, and accidentally launching a nuclear war. In other words, it’s just like an average call to the cable company. A grant from the Awesome Foundation will help me hire voice actors and will also help me keep the line active and free to the public. I think maintaining a mysterious corporate customer service number, confusing and disturbing anyone foolish enough to call it, would be a great public service.

Liverpool – Youth boxing and fitness programme

2016-02-02T00:00:00Z

Hi we are a non for profit gymnasium located in New Bird Street Liverpool just near the lower end of Upper Parliament Street. Whilst we do advertise training programmes for a fee, non of the trainers take a salary, all profits are reinvested.The only OPEX cost we incur is rent, heating and lighting. We are seeking funding for our youth boxing and fitness programme. Why you may ask, well we operate in a socially deprived area of Liverpool and we want to use fitness and boxing as an enabler to create good social citizens via discipline and sportsman ship

Portland, OR – We Work We Win

2016-02-01T00:00:00Z

We Work We Win is a dual project that provides hands-on work readiness skills while also providing supplemental food resources for 160 youth from homes with serious food insecurities. The student lead "free grocery" will also be open to the local community surrounding Helensview School in NE Portland, Oregon. Students will help to (1) organize food drives, (2) connect with local food panties and community gardens in the area (3) operate and run a student lead "free" grocery store for Helensview Students and Community members at large. The majority of all students at Helensview School (over 90%) are at or below poverty levels. Nearly all Helensview Students face serious food insecurity on a regular basis. The overwhelming majority of our students have little or no work experience and need realistic, hands-on opportunities for work-readiness and work ethics in action. The community surrounding Helensview School in NE Portland are at or below poverty level.

Atlanta, GA – 48in48

2016-02-01T00:00:00Z

48in48 started with a goal to empower communities to help 48 local nonprofits in 48 hours by assisting their marketing and technology efforts through hackathon-style events. This event began with two Atlanta-based CEOs, Jeff Hilimire of Dragon Army and Adam Walker of Sideways8, with an idea to provide highly skilled professionals in technology with an opportunity to use their skills for a philanthropic purpose. 48in48 proved to be a huge success for volunteers as well as for the participating local non profit organizations! In addition to website development, non profits also received logos, blog posts, web content, personal website training sessions, Adwords training and 6 to 12 months of hosting. Each nonprofit received $25,000 of value bringing the total value delivered by 48in48 volunteers to $1.2M over the course of the project! Because of this success, 48in48 has already received a national award from Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service. The goal of this project is to bring 48in48 to multiple cities around the US while continuing to execute the event in Atlanta.

El Paso, TX (Non-active) – Big Brite - Community LED Painting

2016-02-01T00:00:00Z

Remember Lite Brite...that wonderful light up peg painting game and choking hazard from the 80s? Now imagine that 10000 times bigger and powered by color changing LEDs. The Big Brite will allow all of us old enough to remember the original Lite Brite to collectively re-experience the fun of painting with light and introduce younger ones to the wonderful world of collaborative artwork. The Big Brite is based around a matrix of smart RGB LED pixels. The color of each individual pixel can be changed by "painting" it with a specially programmed brush. Using this simple system anyone can jump right in and start making awesomely huge digital paintings. With multiple brushes teams of painters can collaborate on a piece, or everyone can go nuts and see what magic comes out of the chaos. At this point, we've built a working prototype of the Big Brite and brush but need funds to make it bigger...much, much BIGGER. We'd like to install the final piece at Cleveland Square Park on a warm Spring night and invite all El Pasoans to come leave their mark. The Big Brite public painting event would be a great way to welcome AWESOME EL PASO to the city, and we're sure would generate a huge amount of press and social media coverage for both Awesome EP and Fab Lab EP. We could even start with "AWESOME EL PASO" Like most projects developed at Fab Lab EP, the Big Brite will be released under an Open Source license so that anyone in El Paso (and beyond) can replicate and improve upon the design as they wish.

Prince Edward County, ON (Non-active) – Fairy Portals

2016-01-30T00:00:00Z

I bought a fairy door for our family at the PEC WI Craft show in July 2014. Without telling our children (ages 8 & 5) about it, my husband installed it in a large boulder on our front lawn. BEHOLD! Much to the surprise of our children, a miraculous rock fairy had moved into our yard! In the past four months their imaginations have run riot. They leave her notes and gifts (candies, tiny toys, precious treasurers that they want to share). She writes back and leaves treasurers of her own. They concoct crazy plans on how they will trap her, they wonder what fairies eat and where they live when it snows, and they research her in the internet. By installing fairy doors in willing locations throughout the County, I hope to provide a free, imaginative, easy treat for children and families in our community. Families can take a picture of themselves with the door while touring, talk about where the fairy lives, or leave the fairy a note. Social media will allow people to share their discovery. The primary purpose it to give children something that is just for them. But their is also an educational component (schools) and a tourism component (social media). Some doors will be in public places (a park or beach), others will be on private business property (a winery or art gallery), others will be on private property (church or family home). Not all fairy doors are required to be accessible to the public. Think of it as Geo-Caching for children. Doors can be affixed to rock, trees, or buildings. Depending on the surface, the doors are attached with screws or silicone. Yes, some doors will be vandalized, or stolen. They will be outdoors and will experience the elements. But for a few years, kids and families can enjoy a special treat that doesn't exist, on this scale, anywhere else. It's free to enjoy, makes people smile, doesn't hurt the environment, is Ontario made, inspires the imagination, and is so beautiful.

Prince Edward County, ON (Non-active) – Food to share (working title)

2016-01-30T00:00:00Z

My Awesome project is to start an annual event that aims to address the issue of food insecurity in the County. The project would facilitate the provision of some home cooked food as well as raise interest in the issue. The plan is to announce in the spring that in the fall there will be a day on which church and community kitchens will be open for the preparation of food for the food bank and that now is the time to grow food for the project. The date in the fall would be a friendly competition between the different groups to produce as much food to be frozen as possible. Having spoken to the Picton food bank they have told me that some of their clients have said they would participate if there was ever a cooking day at the Picton United Church. I would like the event to bring together I a diverse group that includes people who use the food bank. The Athol recreation Committee the Hillier Recreation Committee and the Picton united church have both agreed that they would like to participate and I am confident that there would be interest from different groups around the County in particular the different recreation committees. The food bank assured me that they could handle all the food in their freezers if they were aware of the date. The food must be stored in a new containers in order to be accepted by the Food banks.

Prince Edward County, ON (Non-active) – PELC Pops!

2016-01-30T00:00:00Z

She’s 22, has 3 credits, and quit high school because of bullying and severe anxiety. She’s never had a job or been a volunteer. She’s now upgrading at PELC and earning credits toward her diploma. Now imagine her and a PELC staff, selling popcorn from our awesome cart: PELC Pops at one of the many County events. She begins to feel more comfortable during this supervised training. She’s raising funds and awareness for her school, and feels good about being able to ‘give back’. She smiles, hands customers their popcorn, makes change, and wishes them a good day. On the way home, she’s so proud of the work she’s done, the skills she’s learned, and can’t stop talking about how much fun it was. She has engaged: with customers, staff, herself, and her community. Most of our students have limited workplace experience, as well as anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. They need significant mentoring, job coaching, and support in order to learn the skills necessary to attend school and find meaningful employment. This funding would allow us to operate a small scale, portable, and self-sustaining training site. Students would learn transferable skills such as customer service and cash handling, as well as skills related to planning, ordering, and maintaining a social enterprise. The hours they work can count towards those that are required to graduate with an OSSD or as a coop credit. There are many amazing events in PEC. Sadly, most of our students don’t attend these events for a variety of reasons, including a lack of skill, confidence, and support. The recent Vital Signs Report states that youth have a serious lack of engagement in their community. We are always looking for events to attend, but that doesn't increase their ‘engagement’. They need to be more involved, but in a safe and nurturing way. This popcorn cart would be a vehicle to engage, an opportunity to try new experiences, and a chance to broaden networks. It’s an awesome win-win!

Prince Edward County, ON (Non-active) – DJU

2016-01-30T00:00:00Z

I have long seen dance events as a form of healing energy work that we can employ to release excess energy and stress, come together as a community and adjust our collective and personal moods. While options exist for commercial top 40 dancing in the area, I believe my emphasis on non-commercial and underground sounds from across genres and around the world, presented in non-club environments, serves a different set of goal: To promote the original tenants of dance music culture - Peace, love, unity and respect (PLUR) and create a safe space for self expression and the potential for ecstatic release through dance. As a celebration of the Awesome Foundations support of my ongoing community service, if I am awarded this prize, I will commit to additionally organizing a series of two - 2 part workshops for up to 8 participants each. The 1st workshop would be: Dj-ing 101: 2 x 6 hour sessions with a curriculum built around: -Crate digging -Listening -Setting up your gear to get the best sound -Vinyl and digital djing basics -Basic beat matching -Working with instrumentals and accapellas -Blending and transition techniques -Basic scratching -Looping, effects and other tools Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop, a controller and audio files, or records The 2nd workshop would be on Production: 2 x 6 hour sessions and the curriculum would include: -Introduction to software – Audacity (Freeware), Ableton Live -Linear editing -Working with samples -Working with virtual instruments -MIDI control surfaces, sound cards and such. Suggested equipment, a laptop with some space on it, external soundcard/mixer and/or midi controllers Cost - Free, Requirements: a short bio and explanation of musical interests, experience (if any), and goals in advance. Open to all ages no more than 8 per session, Selection at the discretion of me if there are more applicants than available slots. I would advertise the opportunity on social media and on my radio show.

Prince Edward County, ON (Non-active) – DISLOYAL (PEC/DIY/SK8)

2016-01-30T00:00:00Z

DISLOYAL (PEC/DIY/SK8) will engage teenagers from the County in a 2 day skateboard making workshop led by an experienced teenager Youth Leader from Toronto supported by an expert skateboard designer/street artist Mentor Teacher. Participants will not only learn from a peer in their age group and take away a hand-made Canadian Maple skateboard (made using the Roarockit vacuum press prototyping method) with their very own custom personalized graphics ready to ride at the local skatepark, but the youth will also develop transferable creative and entrepreneurial skills to continue to make their own local boards with their friends. Canadian youth are primarily targeted and marketed to as passive consumers of professional, mostly American, skateboard brands: DISLOYAL will be a catalyst to support an emerging local do-it-yourself skateboard culture in the County by mentoring local youth to be active producers of their own culture. DISLOYAL will be an ongoing youth mentoring outreach project and new PEC based skateboard brand presented and supported by HOOKY, which is a new professional skateboard company and design studio being launched in the fall by designer Craig Morrison (who is the founding teacher of the award-winning Oasis Skateboard Factory, a Toronto based alternative school design program and social enterprise for at-risk youth: http://oasisskateboardfactory.blogspot.com).

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – Urban Fruit Trails/ Endless Orchard

2016-01-28T00:00:00Z

The Endless Orchard is a sustainable, living public artwork. A way to navigate the Urban Fruit Trails – fruit trees planted, tended and harvested by the public. Endless Orchard is a way for cities and individuals to collaborate with us in creating more trails anywhere - essentially becoming the largest public artwork in the world. Anyone, anywhere can plant, map and share fruit. The Endless Orchard gives endlessly. Together we will make the largest and most generous public artwork in the world. We can almost taste the fruit now! The Endless Orchard invites the public to explore urban space by planting fruit trees. Placed along sidewalks and interstitial urban spaces, Public Fruit Trees form a series of walking trails. In cities, these tree pathways connect neighborhoods. Signage placed at each tree identifies it as part of a network of the Urban Fruit Trails that celebrates fruits’ symbolic meaning as an object of sharing. The Endless Orchard App is the portal to explore and share. Urban Fruit Trails are walking trails, populated with Public Fruit Trees and planted, tended, and harvested by the public. Public Fruit Trees planted to grow along sidewalks and overlooked urban spaces become an invitation for the public to explore and enjoy cities in a new way. Placed with attention to the needs of residents and what the trees themselves require to thrive, these street side plantings delineate trails that connect neighborhoods. Signs placed on trees designate them as part of the Urban Fruit Trails network, calling attention to fruit as a transcultural symbol of sharing. These trees can be planted by individuals in front of homes or businesses. Tree branches grow over sidewalks and are accessible to the public. They can be planted in areas that are already getting watered, in collaboration with cities in public spaces and parks.

Newcastle – MaD Science and Maker Space

2016-01-28T00:00:00Z

In 2014 Callaghan College started to look at ways to address the shortfall in students choosing Science, Math and Engineering subjects in Year 11-12 and in University. They developed an interest elective called MaD Science, which focuses on materials and design through Science and Engineering topics. Teacher Jivvel Kilham ran one small class in 2014. In 2015 their numbers rose as word spread and they managed to run two small classes with approximately 30 students in total. In 2016 84 students have chosen the class for Year 8- a huge increase in numbers. Being at a school in a low socioeconomic area there is a struggle to raise the money to buy materials for this many students. It is surprising how expensive these simple materials are (paddle pop sticks, glue guns,etc). At the same time the school is attempting to create a Maker Space in their library where students can spend their spare time exploring scientific and engineering concepts. Another school in Newcastle has come on board and is introducing MaD Science as an elective using Callaghan's resources, "Anything we can do to keep pushing the awesomeness of science in our schools is a win for me" - Jivvel Kilham

Amsterdam (Non-active) – The High-5-Mile club

2016-01-27T00:00:00Z

I run. Not a lot, and not too long, but a couple of times per week. It helps me clear my mind, gives me energy and make me more positive. When I run, I always run alone. I’m not one of those chatty people who can talk while running. I like being in my zone while listening to some good tunes. But, I still like running in the park with other runners around me. They give me an extra boost. It can be brief eye contact, a quick smile or just the fact of someone running 50m ahead and I make it my mission to overtake them… Not too long ago I got high-fived by some kids playing in Vondelpark. It made me smile and think: Why don’t more runners start high-fiving each other? Just to give each other that little extra boost and make the run more fun. That’s why I want to create The High-5-Mile club. A fun and friendly runners movement that anyone can join by high-fiving other runners. To kick it off I would hand out easy-to-spot colorful wristbands to runners in Vondelpark. These, together with brief instructions and link to the website, would be the spark for the movement The website / Facebook page would contain a brief introduction to the movement and would be used to to push like-minded runners to get out at certain times / days e.g. “The weather is looking great today. Go for a run in Vondelpark tonight and give someone an extra boost with a high-five. Don’t forget your sweatband.” The High-5-Mile club “The boost you need through a High-5 from a new friend.”

London, ON (Non-active) – Polaris (working title)

2016-01-27T00:00:00Z

the story of black settlement and the largest forced mass migration of a peoples in modern history remains unfinished. it also ended here, in London. i am shooting a photo book, and have been for some time now, about Black Settlement in Southwestern Ontario. i would use the $1000 to have an app and website created. the app will have GPS coordinates all over Southwestern Ontario, where interested parties could locate and learn about a specific site within the region. many sites already long gone physically, yet the land remains and we live on top of it. app/website users can plan routes all over the region. the app/website would link from The Elgin Settlement through to Ingersoll and on to Orro and Shanty Bay, where there are no shanty's today. the user can find schedules for events like the Labor Day weekend in Buxton, which should be on everyone's bucket list, emancipation day celebrations and stops in-between. all roads lead back to The Fugitive Slave Chapel, here in London. central to the app/website will be efforts to raise awareness of London's own significant role in the story There is no shortage of storytellers, academics and pastors in this neck of the woods with rich tales to tell of the Underground Railroad and African Settlement in Southwestern Ontario,. let's link up all that knowledge and make London's history part of the fabric that ties it all together.

Tallahassee, FL (Non-active) – DivvyUp Socks

2016-01-27T00:00:00Z

DivvyUp is a sock company with a mission to give amazing socks to the world. With every pair of socks you purchase, you give a pair to the homeless community. The project started in March 2014 out of Florida State University's entrepreneurship program. We saw the program as an opportunity to do something that gave back to the community. Unsure of what was needed, we thought the best option would be to take a trip down to The Shelter on Tennessee St. (before it moved to Pensacola St.) to simply ask how we could help. Expecting to hear shelter or food as their largest needs, we were really surprised when the homeless shelter expressed a huge need for clean socks. That got us thinking about ways we could give socks on a sustainable basis. Seeing that fun socks were trending on our college campus, we decided to buy a batch of designer socks with a mission to give pair to the homeless shelter for every pair sold. We received a $400 loan from our professor to purchase inventory and set up on campus wherever we could. After 6 weeks, our project enabled the Tallahassee community to give 160 pairs of clean socks to The Shelter! After the initial success, we invested $1,600 to buy more socks and to build a website during the summer. Over the past year, we have sold socks at various markets and events around Tallahassee and through our website. To date, we have gifted over 5,200 pairs of clean socks to homeless shelters across Florida, with most going to Tallahassee's Kearney Center. This fall, we partnered with Dance Marathon at Florida State University (DMFSU) to create custom socks for their philanthropic organization. For every pair of DMFSU socks sold, we give $5 to their fundraising efforts and a pair of clean socks to the Tallahassee homeless community. After 8 weeks, we have sold over 370 pairs and raised more than $1,800 for Children's Miracle Network, Shands Children's Hospital and FSU's College of Medicine.

Alaska (Non-active) – 12% Happier Class

2016-01-27T00:00:00Z

12% Happier is a class designed for less privileged women in our community to care for their inner wholeness. The experiential curriculum, which I designed helps women trust themselves more, handle feelings skillfully, treat themselves more kindly, and make good life decisions. In other words, live with more ease and yes, be a little happier. Over the course of 8 weeks in 90-minute classes at Many Rivers, women become aware of being witness to their body, heart, and mind’s rumblings, sorting through it, and being one’s own best friend. Each week women learn a new 12% Tool such as soothing breath (a certain breathing technique to kick in the resting nervous system and calm oneself) that they can begin applying in daily life immediately. As a pilot, Haven House and I partnered during Spring and Autumn 2015 to offer this class to two different groups of women that had received Haven House services. The spring class was 6 weeks and the autumn class was 7 weeks. Fortunately, we received great reviews from class participants of how this calming time together and tools for the week ahead were helpful in their lives. Pre-post surveys quantified positive learning also. In 2016, we want to partner again and provide one or two more sessions of our 8-week class, 90-minutes per week at Many Rivers. Haven House will again provide a staff member to assist with logistics and support to women, childcare services, transportation vouchers, and rental space. Again, I will voluntarily teach the class, provide incentives for women’s attendance, and donate childcare space (Art Barn). We would also like to expand this offering to women who are Head Start parents and WIC clients to touch even more women’s lives in our community. Because after all . . . everyone wants to be a little bit happier.

San Francisco, CA – The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival

2016-01-27T00:00:00Z

The 90-Second Newberry Film Festival, which I founded in 2011, is an annual video contest in which kid filmmakers create weird movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in about 90 seconds. Ever since 1922, the Newbery Medal has been recognized as the most prestigious award in children’s literature. But any classic book, no matter how worthy and somber, turns into something fresh and bonkers when compressed into 90 seconds. Over the last 5 years we’ve received 100s of film submissions from kids. The best of each year’s movies are shown at free screenings across the country. They are co-hosted by me and other children’s authors. These free shows combine screenings of the kids’ movies with comedy cabaret bits, and turn into standing room only events. On February 13, 2016 we are bringing the event to the Bay Area and doing two screenings. One will be at the San Francisco Public Library and the other at the Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library. The libraries don’t have enough money to pay for my transportation so this grant will help our operating expenses and will pay for me to travel to the Bay Area, host the film festival and present at several local schools in the area. The 90-Second Film Festival is awesome because it encourages literacy and filmmaking among the kids and provides a live venue for the recognition of their artistic efforts. And it really is something special to see the young filmmakers' faces light up when a whole audience of 250+ people is applauding for their movie.

Rio de Janeiro (Non-active) – O Embaixador

2016-01-27T00:00:00Z

Vinte mil soldados usaram suas armas na 2a Guerra Mundial, em nome do Brasil. Um brasileiro usou apenas a caneta para salvar milhares de pessoas, em nome da Vida. Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas foi embaixador do Brasil na França de 1922 até 1944, quando salvou milhares de refugiados do Holocausto. Em 1939, desobedeceu oficialmente o estado ditatorial e anti-semita brasileiro, e se arriscou emitindo incontáveis vistos ilegais e assim salvando milhares de vidas, sem pedir ou receber nada em troca. Receberam seus vistos diplomáticos desde os mais pobres até famílias de grandes banqueiros; artistas, atores, jornalistas, e centenas de perseguidos pelo racismo. Em 1941, foi submetido a um inquérito político pelo governo brasileiro por “emitir vistos irregulares a indesejáveis”. Souza Dantas nasceu no Rio de Janeiro em 1876, e morreu em Paris em 1954, sem deixar herdeiros. Desde então, sobreviveu na memória de poucos enquanto esteve esquecido pela história do Brasil. Braziiian Ambassador Luiz de Souza Dantas helped save the lives of thousands of refugees during Second World War. LSD, as he’s nicknamed by the director, saved not only jews, but lives of all those whom we don’t know or care where they came from. He did it “from the goodness of his heart”, says an FBI report and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, where he is recognised as a ‘Righteous Amongst Nations’. Even with all this, he was erased from the history books because of the Brazilian dictatorship at the time, which even sued the Ambassador for issuing illegal diplomatic visas to save lives. The documentary, which we are shooting, tells the story of this amazing human being, while showing some of the lives he helped nourish throughout the World. We have recently shot in Europe, and we are now preparing the material and transcripts, and editing the interviews.

Melbourne (Non-active) – Community Workshop: On The Move

2016-01-27T00:00:00Z

NORM is a volunteer run community workshop. The Awesome Foundation has helped us out in the past, helping us run wood and metalworking classes aimed specifically at providing practical building skills to women, youth, asylum seekers and the unemployed. These workshops have been super successful. Our community has been growing and with it the list of skills that can be taught and learnt here; we have since seen our repertoire expand to include things such as 3D printing and ceramics. We believe in grass-roots, peer-to-peer education. We also know that not everyone fits mainstream education methods and institutions. All of this considered, we want to keep offering alternative pathways to learning. We teach and help others learn to teach. We have seen all sorts of art, design and social projects come to life here! HOWEVER… development is upon us. Our building is soon to be reborn as an apartment block and we have to move our workshop. Here is where we’d love your help once again. We’ve found a new home but it needs renovating. We need to build new spaces, including studios (important for both our community and a sustainable revenue stream) and spaces for ‘clean’ crafts such as 3D printing and sewing. We also want to expand our workshop’s potential to house more groups and their various disciplines by adding a spray booth, dust extraction and a panel saw. Our wish list needs your help to come true! Help us run better, safer, more Awesome workshops into the future.

Rockport, MA – Bee Safe! Bee Natural!

2016-01-27T00:00:00Z

Twin Cities, MN (Non-active) – Start-Up Art Grant for Hassan Noor

2016-01-26T00:00:00Z

Hassan Noor, born in Jubaland, Somalia, in 1940, and has lived in Minneapolis for 14 years. I met him recently through his daughter, Farhia, who acts as our interpreter (Hassan speaks just a little English, and I speak just a little Somali). Hassan loves to draw, is self-taught as an artist, and has been prolilic in drawing for his entire life. He draws images from memory of back home, showing livestock, houses, clothing, food, traditions from nomadic Somali life. Also, he draws his life here in MN, showing people learning English at ESL class, buying food at the market, riding the bus, and praying at the mosque. My project is to bring Hassan a supply of large archival art paper to draw on and to allow his art to last longer, and to assist him to frame ten of his large drawings. I have already 'sold' the idea of his exhibit to Wing Young Huie at Third Place Gallery, in Minneapolis, for Hassan's first art exhibit. With the aid of this grant, Hassan will have his first exhibit at age 76!

Portland, OR – Taylor Electric Retrospective

2016-01-26T00:00:00Z

The Taylor Electric Retrospective will be an interactive art event and public engagement platform, documenting and displaying community-contributed photos, videos, media, and artwork of the former ruins of Taylor Electric in SE Portland. Taylor Electric was a burnt-out industrial building that served as a unique hub for street art for the past decade. A short documentary film exploring the space’s history and impact will be premiered at the event. The event will include an interactive temporary free-standing wall where the public can reminisce, reconnect, and share memories by leaving personal “eulogies” for Taylor Electric. An archival project website will provide a centralized space to document Taylor Electric’s history and art, and serve as a platform for the community to share their lived experiences interacting with and creating this unique public art gallery. The central focus of the project is to create spaces for public learning and dialogue. At the event, local artists, community leaders, and academics will lead discussions engaging with the community on various topics such as the politics of public space, insurgent public space-making, and the impacts of development, gentrification, and urban change on the arts community. The goal is to build relationships and facilitate dynamic dialogue between a diverse and often under-represented group of communities to help increase their input and impact on public decisions that involve art and urban development. With this project, we aim to capture and document some of this unique Portland history and energy, and encourage people to explore, appreciate, and positively engage with the spaces around them.

Washington, DC – Design.District: Identity Lounge

2016-01-26T00:00:00Z

Design.District fosters economic empowerment through creativity, knowledge and design to children who do not have the means or access to tools to enhance their artistic abilities. Identity Lounge is a creative workspace, dedicated to providing a unique designing opportunity for 16-20, African American/ Hispanic students. The program fosters the entrepreneurial spirit, through an “identity” process that involves creative expression, cultural awareness and self-motivation through fashion design and free enterprise. Of the 140 students we've affected, none have had basic to no art skills and to watch their creative confidence grow and become small business owners is so rewarding. Identity Lounge is so much more than just an afterschool art project. It is a safe space for marginalized young students of Coolidge SHS with an interest in the design and apparel industry to utilize the expertise of African American leaders in the fashion and business world and apply newly attained skills in a classroom setting. The program challenges some of the issues present as a result of economic injustices in communities of color, consists of a curriculum catered to the individual creative needs of each child. Young students of color participate in beginner to advanced fashion design classes, where they develop cooperative leadership skills and that will help restore economic opportunity. Our goal is to create a space where the students WANT to be a refuge, where mentors and opportunity are accessible and where physical hunger doesn’t trump creative and financial success. It is in this space that we strive to initiate a creative business platform and opportunity for young minority artists. This coming year, 2016, will also be taking our students on field trips to other successful designer work spaces and NEW YORK FASHION WEEK, to see with their own eyes

Kingston – Kingston 2 Kingston

2016-01-26T00:00:00Z

We are a group of around twenty students that attend Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in Grades 11-12, with the exception of one student who attends Regiopolis Notre-Dame . Every year, students submit information and essay towards why they should be chosen for the mission trip; only a fraction of the people are chosen. Over the past years, the Holy Cross mission teams travel from Kingston, Ontario to Kingston, Jamaica for a week of helping various troubled places around the city. Our group will visit St. Monica's Home for the Abandoned Elderly, Riverton City Early Childhood Centre, St. Margaret's Human Resource Centre, and participate in a number of activities. The difference between our group and groups from the past is that we want to leave a special mark from our Kingston community to theirs. We are hoping to build a house for a local family through an organization called Food for the Poor. We want to build a house in a day for a family that will move as soon as we are complete, taking them off the streets. The house build has never been done before as the money has never been able to be raised but this year we have a great group of willing students who have raised money for the house build but we have not reached goal and the fundraising for the house build has stopped.

Louisville, KY (Non-active) – Four Paws Two Hearts for Veterans

2016-01-25T00:00:00Z

The Americans with Disabilities Act protects the access rights of a person with a Service Dog and does allow for a person in need to train their own dog if they meet the requirements outlined in the law. We will provide professional guidance, support, and funding to help make this possible for qualified veterans in need. We invite them to apply with a dog they already have or we will select a specially talented rescue dog for them through our partnership with the Kentucky Humane Society. Through this program, we will continue the mission of our company: Helping dogs in need help people in need. Each veteran will attend a 60 minute private class and a 90 minute group class each week to work towards their Public Access Exam - the final exam for a working service dog team. We divide our participants into two classes - Phase 1 for basic manners and obedience, and Phase 2 for service dog tasks and public access work. Each veteran will be matched with one of our trainers as a training mentor and be given unlimited phone and email support in addition to class time as they work towards their goals. By committing to training their own dog, participating veterans can get started right away without sitting on a waiting list for years. They will also be armed with the necessary knowledge to train their next dog when it is time to retire the one trained in this program. We find that teams who train together tend to become stronger and have a deeper appreciation and understanding of one another as they navigate the world together. Professional dog trainers who believe in the importance of this program are collectively volunteering up to 40 hours a week of their time. We are building this as a pilot program that we plan to run for a minimum of 12 months to serve disabled veterans in the Louisville area. After our first year, we will call on our national network of service dog trainers to start new chapters of this program that would help serve veterans nationwide.

Louisville, KY (Non-active) – Light it up!

2016-01-25T00:00:00Z

People know that they can come to us for help. Many of our members are extremely poor, including a dozen or so that are homeless or living on the very edge of homelessness, and have problems we can't solve. One problem we would like to take a crack at, though, is the too-common occurrence of biking in the dark, practically invisible, because bike lights are just too expensive. Not only is night riding without bike lights illegal, it is also incredibly dangerous: while most accidents happen during daytime (when the most cycling happens), accidents at night are more likely to be fatal. But so many people run that risk nightly, and who can blame them when lights can cost as much or more than the bikes themselves? Unfortunately, we don't get many donations of lights, and even at the wholesale price that we get through our parts distributor, buying them new to distribute widely is beyond our means. Our current solution is to buy $3 caution lights from a local hardware store and duct tape them to the bike - this is a bandaid fix, since the battery life of these devices is poor, and the duct tape doesn’t hold up for long against the vibrations and jolts that are routine parts of urban bike riding. We can do better!!

Austin, TX – Shakespeare: REPRESENT

2016-01-25T00:00:00Z

Although Shrewd Productions has long focused on new work, the company has always had a powerful passion for the Bard. (Shrewd's very name is a Shakespearean reference: "She was damnably curst and shrewd.) It seems only fitting that a company named for cursed Kate should fly the banner for Shakespeare with an eye to gender parity and diversity in casting. Hence, Shakespeare: REPRESENT. The first production of the series, As You Like It, will run at Trinity Street Theatre from February 19 - March 6, 2016. The cast is comprised of 9 women and 5 men, playing 24 roles, with most actors playing cross-gender. However, Shrewd has gone beyond just trying to open up a few more roles for women. With director Lily Wolff's concept, the production explores the fluidity of fluidity and ambiguity of gender that was truly at the heart of Shakespeare's work. Expect to see an As You Like It that stays unwaveringly true to Shakespeare's text, but unlike ANY you've ever seen before.

Rockport, MA – Buddy's Bench

2016-01-25T00:00:00Z

For our first chapter outreach initiative, the Trustees of Awesome Rockport have purchased a “Buddy Bench.” We are donating the bench to Rockport Elementary School in honor of Buddy Garlick, who served as Caretaker at the school for many, many years. The Awesome Rockport bench will be one of two Buddy Benches donated to Rockport Elementary School this spring in honor of Mr. Garlick. The other bench is being donated by a 3rd grader at the school who was motivated to do something special in response to Mr. Garlick’s passing last year. Buddy Benches originated in Germany and have now been placed in schools around the world. These benches are meant to be symbols of inclusion and kindness in the schoolyard. As we all know, recess can pose a slew challenges to youngsters. Sometimes a friend is absent for the day. Other times a student might feel excluded. The Buddy Bench is a resource for students that helps facilitate compassion and friendship between students on the playground. It is a symbol all students come to understand as a call from a classmate for a buddy.

Seattle, WA – Edible Optics and Hands On STEM

2016-01-24T00:00:00Z

My awesome project is centered around edible optics! Did you know that you can make fiber optics and lenses out of Jello? I developed a fun, hands on lab for kids to do at our local observatory that lets them hold, play with and bend a variety of Jello optics to investigate how light interacts with matter. An awesome grant would help me expand the activities and the reach of my program. During my project, the kids were set up with converging and diverging lenses as well as a long, thin, "fiber optic" rectangle. With low powered lasers they were able to investigate how the lenses bent the laser beams. They found that for a converging lens their laser, placed at three different areas, always pointed to a certain point, the focal point! They also noticed that with a diverging lens there was no focal point. Students used a jello fiber optic to physically see their laser beam bouncing off the walls and back into the jello, allowing the other end to glow, even if it was bent side to side or pulled up off the paper. This was a fun and engaging lab, with kids getting a great first time experience with optics and lenses. I would love to expand this program to reach more kids in the community and also to bolster the experiments they are able to do with the edible optics. With a meager $25 budget I was able to provide this edible optics experience for ~25 kids. With more funding I would be able to build parallel laser boxes to help them see the action of lenses in another way, purchase lasers of different colors to learn about absorption, and buy more Jello and cutters to supply materials and training to other public libraries, schools or observatories that are interested in running the program! My goal is to bring fun and engaging hands on STEM projects to my community, and with your funding I would be able to enrich the program and reach many more future scientists.

Newmarket – Gardening in Kindergarten

2016-01-22T00:00:00Z

This project is to help my students learn the importance of cultivating plants, specifically food plants. They will be able to grow plants from seeds and seedlings, learning what plants need to grow and thrive. By growing food plants (carrots, potatoes, lettuce, etc.) They will develop an appreciation of the hard work that goes into producing the food they eat, as well as understand components and benefits of healthy eating. The following list of benefits to children from gardening are from the Better Health Channel website (betterhealth.vic.gov.au) Responsibility – from caring for plants Understanding – as they learn about cause and effect (for example, plants die without water, weeds compete with plants) Self-confidence – from achieving their goals and enjoying the food they have grown Love of nature – a chance to learn about the outdoor environment in a safe and pleasant place Reasoning and discovery – learning about the science of plants, animals, weather, the environment, nutrition and simple construction Physical activity – doing something fun and productive Cooperation – including shared play activity and teamwork Creativity – finding new and exciting ways to grow food Nutrition – learning about where fresh food comes from.

Miami, FL – Junk to Funk Sewing Classes for ages 8-12

2016-01-21T00:00:00Z

My idea is to offer a trade training that everyone would benefit and at the same time teach on how to recycle old garments, advertising banners and create usable wearable art. Our schools are no longer funding any kind of home economics classes and the aftercare for these ages are not created with a thought to encourage a new skill that will more than likely be needed as adults. Its really just the most useful and easiest way to create and have an actual real life result of your work and the joy that it gives the children is just wonderful. In my neighborhood I have tried several times to get together with city program managers for the parks and even submitted proposals and had two officials not even show up for the meeting, however I dusted myself off and kept looking and here you are. During the summer months I assist my best friend at the Miami Shores Community Center with her Sewing Camp and we came out in the Miami Herald this past summer and I know my area needs something like this.

Antigonish, NS (Non-active) – Townhouse Session Players: Food Bank CD Project

2016-01-21T00:00:00Z

We would like to use our music as a way to help feed our community; to turn the Scottish Gaelic metaphor "Puirt cho math gum bio' tu gan ithe" (Tunes so good that you would eat them), into reality. Each Sunday evening since The Townhouse opened in Antigonish, a corner of the pub has been reserved for people to join together and share their love of music in a traditional acoustic Irish Session with Scottish and Cape Breton influences. An invitation to all is listed on "thesession.org" web site along with similar sessions around the world. Over the past three years, musicians from far and wide have joined this table in the corner: a fiddler from New Zealand, an Irish piper who was on an episode of Friends, a harmonica player from Germany, to mention a few. Yet, week after week there is a solid corps of locals who look forward to this musical feast at the end of their weekly routines. They come from varied backgrounds, ages, and musical knowledge. Most would not know each other if it were not for this session. They play for no money, but for the love of music with likewise souls. This AWESOME group of local people would like to expand the good this session does for them, into something that will benefit our AWESOME community. We would like to make a recording of some of our favorite music we play and offer it as a CD to be sold at The Townhouse and other local venues with 100% of sales going towards the Antigonish Food Bank. The Townhouse is a community-supported pub that serves locally-sourced food as much as possible. The owners and staff are involved in the local food security movement, and many of their patrons are involved or concerned as well. There are many in our community who depend on the Food Bank to feed their families. Unlike the delicious bounty the Townhouse menu offers to its patrons, these people's choices are limited to what the Food Bank is able to supply. We support the Food Bank and... We hope to use tasty tunes to fill local tummies!

Ottawa – Hintonbeasts, the Guardians of the 'burg

2016-01-21T00:00:00Z

January’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Brenda Dunn and Shawn MacDonell, to support interactive art that the entire Hintonburg community can build and play with together. "I will be placing small monster sculptures in Hintonburg businesses — Hintonbeasts," Brenda explains. "The monsters will all be different and each will come with a unique story. If you find them, you can tag them on Instagram and share where you spotted one. You'll also be able to read their individual stories and see more photos of them out and about in the neighbourhood." "Loam Clay Studio has signed on to partner with the Hintonbeasts," Brenda continues, "and I will be hosting a day for people to come out and make a monster guardian of their very own. People will upload images and stories for their own monsters to the site, and suggest places that a guardian might be needed." Brenda and Shawn are thinking about other kinds of interactivity as well — a 'Burg Beast Bingo game, collective decision-making around where Hintonbeasts "looking for work" belong, 'Burg Beast apparel made by and sold at local clothing stores, and more. Brenda is an artist who learned a lot of busy words during a masters in English literature, but prefers the visual to verbal when it comes to communication. Shawn is the founder of a creative agency, and spends his time kicking people out of their comfort zone. You can follow their progress on Instagram, as well as on Brenda and Shawn's websites.

Bend, OR (Non-active) – Canine Care Kits

2016-01-20T00:00:00Z

A Canine Care Kit is a reusable bag that contains dog food, dog treats, a collapsible bowl, a foam sleeping pad, and a kennel lead. The goal for Canine Care Kits is to help homeless people meet the basic needs of their dogs. Many homeless people in Bend have pet dogs. Homeless people have help from soup kitchens and other non profit groups but there are few services for pets of homeless people. Dogs give their owners companionship and unconditional love. Dogs also give the owner a sense of responsibility and contribute to the owners' overall well being. The kits could be distributed at the Family Kitchen, Bend Community Center, and Central Oregon Veterans Outreach, Initially, I would like to make 50 kits with the help of friends and family. In the future, I would like to get donations from local vendors to make more kits if needed.

Rotterdam – Childify the city

2016-01-20T00:00:00Z

We see the city every day. We pass the most beautiful icons like de Markthal, de Erasmusbrug and de Euromast and look at them as they are. We observe, photograph and talk about these icons. But all from our own perspective. What if we could see these icons through the eyes of a child? The most pure form of perspective there is. What I would like to do, is set up a competition with 5 elementary schools located in Rotterdam. They will be challenged to create a poster (A2) of the icons of Rotterdam. How they do this, is up to them. But it has to be a child's point of view. Each school can submit three posters per gradegroup (1/2, 3/4/5 and 6/7/8). Out of these 45 posters, 10 will be chosen. Name, age, school and icon will be added in text and the final result will be shown to Rotterdam. Each winning poster will be shown on 5 different locations, giving everyone a view of our Rotterdam icons through a child's eyes. The ultimate goal is obviously to create visibility for both Rotterdam icons as for the art education of children. It will both be a wonderful way to visually promote the city and it's icons, as to motivate children to express themselves in an artistic way.

Boulder, CO (Non-active) – Fishing Academy for Kids from Low-income Families

2016-01-19T00:00:00Z

Our project is to create a standing, free "academy" that introduces children from low-income families in Boulder County to fly fishing and backpacking, in partnership with Trout Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Anglers, and Tenkara USA. Tenkara is a minimalist style of fly fishing brought to the United States by Daniel Galhardo, a resident of Boulder, project partner, and founder of Tenkara USA. Tenkara equipment is both light and small and, thus, well-suited for use when backpacking or hiking. Our project would provide children from low-income families with a free tenkara academy that would include: • tenkara fly fishing lessons (using rods that Boulder Valley ICO would purchase with grant funds) • fly tying lessons (using vices that Boulder Valley ICO would purchase with grant funds) • tenkara fly fishing outings (local) • stream improvement service outings • backpacking trips that feature tenkara fishing Children who complete the academy would be able to purchase at a deeply discounted price a complete tenkara fishing kit of their own so that they could fish on their own. We would also make available to the children, free of charge, a small fly tying kit so that they can tie their own flies. In our experience, there is little or no cultural barrier to fly fishing and, thus, it serves well as an introduction to the outdoors for children who have a little or no exposure to nature. Our goal is to connect children to nature, both to enrich their lives and to create a new and more diverse generation of environmental stewards.

Gloucester, MA – Fiesta People's Mural

2016-01-19T00:00:00Z

The end of each June, the City of Gloucester hosts the Saint Peter’s Fiesta, one of the most important cultural events on the North Shore of Massachusetts. I propose to finish painting and hang a large mural of the Fiesta People and their magic – past and present. I intend to paint these people in a way that is worthy of their incredible strength, love, and pride – at their best and most triumphant. I have secured the wall at the Seacoast Dental Building, 27 Commercial Street, facing Beach Court, down the Fort. There are four 6’ x 4’ MDL panels. I have also secured from Jason Turley, the dentist at Seacoast Dental, the big empty room out back with an industrial sink, to do the spray painting and finish the mural. This “Fiesta People’s Mural” is built to last. Students from the North Shore Vocational School primed and sanded the panels, front and back, twice. I am using top-shelf outdoor acrylic paint, a new Devilbis spray gun, and the varathane coating will protect the mural for a long time to come. I have been working on the subject material – the Fiesta people - for a long time now. I feel that this mural will portray the various events of Fiesta with justice and capture the pride and beauty of these people for the citizens of Gloucester and all who come to visit Gloucester. I have been working on this project since 2006. It has gone through several changes, including the number of panels and the location – from the original Intershell behind Captain Carlos to the Saint Peter’s Club to the best place yet – the Seacoast Dental Building. I had a health-related setback, but I feel really good about this now, and I believe that the time is right to go for it. Please help me make this worthy project a reality. It will be a gift that keeps on giving for many years to come for the people of Gloucester.

Pittsburgh, PA – Wanna CEEMI?

2016-01-18T00:00:00Z

CEEMI itself can be quickly described as the hardware generator of an instant virtual ensemble that turns any WiFi compatible device – a smartphone, tablet, desktop or laptop – into a collaborative electronic musical instrument on the fly. It was specially designed for the performance of music by groups of people without prior musical training. I envision "Wanna CEEMI?" as a series of flash mobs in different public spaces of Pittsburgh, where passers-by will be challenged to connect their smartphones to CEEMI and take part in a massive creative music workshop/performance led by me. Each event will have as an outcome an original piece of music created on the spot and a videoclip of its performance.

Philadelphia, PA – A Paper-Recycling and Paper-Making Project

2016-01-15T00:00:00Z

San Antonio, TX – Urban Farmacy - Wellness Center

2016-01-15T00:00:00Z

Yello! Gardopia Gardens has been blessed with the opportunity to grow on two vacant lots off N. New Braunfels (619 and 615). The vacant lots are the site of the highest crime rate in San Antonio, so we were approached by SAHA to help with crime prevention through environmental design (CPED). Since Gardopia does not own a physical location, this is the opportunity for us to be located in a high commerce area, creating visibility for us!!! As a wellness non-profit organization, we will fulfill our mission of promoting health and wellness through gardening! In addition to the raised beds you are accustomed to in a garden, we plan to have a 6-day a week juice bar and produce market! We don't need much to serve smoothies, juice, and tea all day, sell soil/mulch, and generate sales for garden installations. These three services/products are not currently offered on the near eastside of San Antonio, so we will have the chance to literally grow a healthier community, in turn growing wellness!

San Antonio, TX – Write Away!

2016-01-15T00:00:00Z

Catholic Charities After School Program serves our youth in grades K-12 grade. The students come from large, limited income families residing on the Westside of San Antonio (zip code 78207/78237). The program provides these students with a free, safe place to come after school to do homework, arts and crafts, character education, outdoor recreation, and build positive peer and adult relationships. The program aims to improve quality of life for the children and strengthen families. This is the only free After School Program on the Westside of San Antonio and it places a high emphasis on family involvement to ensure the success of each child in the program. The Write Away program will provide these students with an opportunity that they may not otherwise have: to learn how to write a book, poem, or short story over an 8 week writing course. The final project will result in a published book of the students work. This will be in partnership with Gemini Ink, a local non-profit that provides hands on writing workshops to people of all ages. This writing workshop will focus around Bullying in Schools and how the students can overcome it. This past summer, the middle school program was awarded with the Team Up Challenge where they identified that Bullying was a major issue within their school. They developed a self-made video to express their thoughts about bullying and how to overcome it. Write Away will expand on the issue of bullying and allow the students to take what they learned last summer and transform it into a work of writing. This gives our students a way to be a voice to the "voiceless", namely those other young individuals in our San Antonio community that face bullying and need encouragement. The hope is that this will start a community wide movement to raise awareness to bullying and build character among our youth. The After School Program wants to share hope and courage because we want kids everywhere to not just be ordinary- but extraordinary.

San Antonio, TX – Deeper Thoughts

2016-01-15T00:00:00Z

This project will be white coroplast signs with statements and questions that you don’t expect to face while you’re out and about in your daily commute. These statements and questions get people to think about deeper things other than their daily thought about what they’re going to eat that day or what they will watch on tv. The signs will say, “You Might Die Today,” “Do you deserve your soul?,” “Are you making the world a better place?,” and “Why do you exist?” The signs will have only those questions and statements. I don’t want to promote myself or a hashtag on the signs. I have already seen that people will react on their social media when they see the signs. The signs will be strategically placed at busy intersections or areas that attract a lot of foot traffic, so that the signs are seen by a large amount of people.

Asheville, NC (Non-active) – Signs of Acceptance

2016-01-14T00:00:00Z

Signs of Acceptance is an idea that initially came from my wife, Jamie, a teacher at TC Roberson High School in south Asheville. She's the sponsor of a club focused on giving gender non-conforming students a safe space as well as promoting awareness of trans and non-binary issues. Playing off the popular "Ampersand" model of pop culture based shirts, the signs were created for for teachers at TC to let their students know that their classroom is a safe space. Rather than a lame, xeroxed print out, SOA's signs are themed in a school's colors and look and are printed on archival grade cardstock, perfect for laminating. Steve and Jamie have provided the art free of charge to schools, churches, and other agencies around the country in a digital format wherein teachers are often paying out of pocket to get the posters printed.

Chicago, IL – 4Us Girls Club Self-Image Zine Project

2016-01-14T00:00:00Z

Our awesome project is a series of topics to empower girls in the form of an artful zine publication. A zine is a mini magazine that is creative and informational. The zine features original art projects from participant in our girls program. FOUS Youth Development Services provides school-based programming for girls, grades sixth through eighth. The topics for the girls program vary year to year. New schools who get the program for first time, there are seven standard topics. This includes self-image, self-esteem, self-confidence, courage, perseverance, empower and vision. In addition to topic specific sessions, we create youth-led projects. Two of the projects really resonated with students. Hence, the birth of our zine project. The first project is the I Am a Unique Human Being art project. This project consists of the gathering of magazine images …body types, fashion, styles etc. Girls are to find the perfect lips, eyes, hair along with fashion etc. They then glue these images together to create the perfect girl. Naturally, they are surprised to find the portrait is not what they anticipated. It’s very abstract. Our message to the girls…having the perfect body etc. is not the answer, but seeing their beauty. The art project speaks volumes. It continues to create opportunities to have real discussions with girls regarding mixed messages about body image, ethnic stereotypes and so forth. The second project the girls enjoy is creating a Zine. There have been many topics explored using zines including health, relationships among others. A benefit of the project is students find their voice on issues that matter to them. Since we’ve gotten great results from the two projects, we combined them. Every year we have up to four new groups of girls exposed to the program. We saw the opportunity to recreate the enormous impact from these two projects. As a result, creation of seven zines is now a standard curriculum for the girls club. The response have been very good

LA South Bay, CA (Non-active) – 1197 torbots

2016-01-13T00:00:00Z

TorBots FRC Team 1197 is a FIRST Robotics Competition team from Torrance, CA. Founded at South High in 2002 by Michael Ellena, our team has expanded to support youth robotics among all Torrance high schools, and Richardson Middle School. TorBots is student run and organized, aided by extraordinary mentors and amazing parents. Our current membership consists of over 80 students. During the build season that starts in January, students work at the South High School Robotics Shop after school and on weekends. Students develop and utilize their knowledge and skills in programming, mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as business proficiencies in management, public relations, finance, fundraising, and community outreach.

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – 2016 Awesome Foundation Summit

2016-01-13T00:00:00Z

We're holding a summit in March 2016 for Awesome Foundation trustees from around the world to meet and share their experiences and ideas for microphilanthropy! We'll hold working groups to work on projects to strenghten the global Awesome community, and have a party to introduce our former grantees to Summit attendees and the public. This is the fourth year of the Awesome Summit, and the first time it's being held on the West Coast!