Awesome Foundation - Projecten

New Orleans, LA (Inactief) – LGBTQ Pregnancy and Parenting Resource Project

2014-04-28T00:00:00Z

As birth workers, we often interact with LGBTQ families struggling to find support in forging their path to parenthood. Obstetricians, hospitals, and birth support organizations usually lack the necessary information to assist these families. We came together to devise a plan to increase access to information on quality conception, pregnancy, and parenting resources for LGBTQ families. Our goals are: 1) To create a Resource Directory of LGBTQ-friendly conception, pregnancy, and parenting resources in New Orleans. We plan to spark this process with a listening session/focus group with 5-8 families who have gone through the birth or adoption process. We will then supplement this with community surveys, existing lists, and organizational connections. We plan to print several hundred copies of the directory and to distribute it electronically, making the resource freely available. 2) To create Doula Continuing Education Workshops to develop a better system of support for LGBTQ families in the path to parenthood. This will consist of a three-part training on a) Legal Issues in Adoption/Parenting for LGBTQ Families, b) Conception/Fertility Options for LGBTQ Families, and c) Doula Support for LGBTQ Families. In this, we plan to center the experiences of families of color. 3) To create a Doula Training Addendum. This will synthesize key points from the Directory and workshop process and incorporate them into future doula trainings in the region. Our immediate next step: As mentioned, we plan to conduct – this May – a listening session with a small group of 5-8 LGBTQ families who are conceiving, pregnant, or parenting. This will be a chance for us to learn about the resources that were helpful to them and to identify the support they wished they had. We are also in conversation with a number of local organizations, including NO/AIDS, Planned Parenthood, the LGBT Center, the Women’s Health and Justice Initiative, BreakOUT, and NOLA Baby Parenting.

Miami, FL – Colony1 Design Charrette

2014-04-26T00:00:00Z

Now we are moving forward with a bigger version of our Midtown 34th Street project called Colony1. We have been awarded a 50 year land lease in Wynwood to build a sustainability center for Miami. The center will provide opportunities for residents to learn to grow food, receive a permaculture education, eat and buy locally produced goods, engage in sustainable water, energy and architectural design systems. The center will also host an art and science residency program where an artist and scientist will be paired to produce programming that will heighten environmental awareness through contemporary art. The center is in Wynwood, but straddles Overtown and Allapattah, two of the most underserved areas in Miami. Our goal is to be a bridge between these communities and facilitate community connectivity to bring Miami towards resiliency in the face of climate change, economics and gentrification.

London (Inactief) – Makerble

2014-04-25T00:00:00Z

Makerble is a new way of giving to charity that overcomes the growing skepticism people have about what charities actually do with their donations. The charities we work with log the stories, variety and quantity of people helped through their projects each month. We turn that data into a personalised newsfeed for each donor on Makerble so that they get to see the difference their donations are making to the causes they care about. Makerble is a digital service available online and we are building mobile apps. We believe we can turn the tide on charity skepticism. Research by New Philanthropy Capital shows that the amount of money that current donors would give extra to charity each year if they believed that their donations would be effective, is £665million. That's the annual income of half the charities in the UK. Research by the Cabinet Office shows that 5.5million non-donors would become donors if they believed that their donations would be effective. We have 60 charities registering to use Makerble in the run up to our public launch. Research by Charities Aid Foundation shows that 1 in 6 charities are at risk of closure due to financial constraints. Data from the Charity Commission shows that 70% of charitable donations go to the largest 1% of charities. Charities see Makerble as a cost-efficient way to reach donors they would be unable to reach otherwise. Makerble is free for charities to use, we earn a commission on donations. Makerble is the only donations platform in the world that enables all charities to log the stories and quantity of people helped by their projects. UKTI have flown us to New York and Singapore to explore future expansion opportunities and pitch to the UN (we came 2nd!). Media agencies like PHD with clients including Warner Brothers are keen to promote Makerble as a way to make CSR campaigns more interactive. Organisations that might have been seen as competitors want to use our software e.g. JustGiving and GlobalGiving.

Miami, FL – Miami Laughfest (Laughter Yoga in Miami)

2014-04-24T00:00:00Z

I would like to conduct a laughter yoga workshop in Miami. There are many benefits of laughter including reducing stress, heart disease and increasing overall mood. As a comedian its my job to make people laugh, with the Awesome Foundation help I would like to put on this amazing event to greatly benefit the Miami community.

Calgary, AB (Inactief) – Acts of Fabulousness

2014-04-24T00:00:00Z

Chronicling the individual stories of gender and sexual minority youth throughout Calgary. This is a new project that leverages an existing organization I founded called Acts of Greatness. Acts of Greatness is a non-profit on a mission to raise awareness and funds to support the development of more gender and sexual minority specific awards in Calgary's secondary schools. This project and this organization are aligned in their focus on empowering our next generation of gender and sexual minority leaders. Through artistic expression and “as-told-to” interviews in the participant’s own voices, “Acts of Fabulousness” captures the incredible diversity and uniqueness amongst Calgary's gender and sexual minority youth population. We’re capturing portraits to tell stories, raise awareness, and help create a more inclusive conversation around gender and sexual minorities. This project leverages my existing relationships with key stakeholder groups across Canada. I have previously served as a Youth Advisor for Parks Canada and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). I’m currently on the Advisory Board of Zaypo, am a Voting Member with Greenpeace Canada, and am a Local Organizer with Amnesty International. I have access to many groups who can help support this project, and bring further notice to Awesome Foundation Calgary.

London (Inactief) – FLY: disable dancers project

2014-04-23T00:00:00Z

I work with disabled people who wish to be more than their disabled bodies. Many with spinal cord injuries or paralysis have strong upper bodies and are able to dance in the air when they can barely stand on the ground. Blind people who cannot dance across the floor can feel their way around a trapeze and dance in the air. One paralympic competitor I worked with improved her performance because she was able to go upside down for the first time in 15 years and lengthen her spine. One of my dancers is learning to walk again because her spine is lengthening and her upper body is strengthening. The benefit to their families (pain free, they use less medication, no drug fogs, adrenaline fueled joy) is obvious, as is the benefit to their communities who no longer have the burden of caring for depressed, physically incapable people. The project I am developing is to bring my students together to create a performance troupe that can travel with a freestanding aerial rig to schools and disability conventions so they can show that just because you can't walk, you can fly, just because you are disabled doesn't mean you can't soar, and they can tell their stories of how they are being productive, inspiring members of the world despite the challenges handed to them. The show includes aerial and acrobatic work as well as spoken word. it is inclusive of disabilities including an autistic composer and autistic company photographer, we have visual and hearing impaired dancers, dancers missing limbs, dancers with cerebral palsy and hyper mobile joints -- all benefit from strength training and joy! My personal site is nimblearts.org and the school I founded is the New England Center for Circus Arts. I travel from the United States to work with these dancers as I live in a small rural community where there are few disabled dancers to be inspired by and create with. We have a community of supporters in Newbury, England. London is within easy public transport for the disabled.

Melbourne (Inactief) – EDDIES BACKPACKS

2014-04-23T00:00:00Z

Eddies Backpacks began less than a year ago after meeting with the FCAV. Kids going into foster care arrive with nothing and with placements happening quickly, foster carers don't have time to arrange personal things. WE DECIDED THINGS NEED TO CHANGE We produced 70 backpacks with items including toothbrushes, photo frames, towels and books. The contents came through meetings with foster carers and kids. Having personal items can make a huge difference to the traumatic time being experienced by the kids. We have feedback from kids who still carry the bags and carers as well as Mackillop Family Services and FCAV and now include a survey with each backpack to continually improve the project. Each backpack costs around $25 and while we funded the original phase we are aiming to target businesses for donations. Our plan in the next 12 months is to partner with two primary schools and four secondary schools. We are also working with Bahay Tuluyan (a not for profit working with Australian schools) to promote our project at their upcoming social justice conferences. We also want to promote foster care. With declining numbers of carers (and growing numbers of kids) in foster care in Victoria we are working to promote the concept of foster care to parents at schools. We reach a milestone next month when Mackillop Family Services will present to parents at Parade College Parent Teacher night to talk about foster care. We want the project operating in 30 schools within 5 years. With our contacts this is possible. Bernie Geary. the Commisioner for Children and Young People, spoke to us when we were invited to State Parliament in 2013. He was impressed and has offered his support to our project. We think its an awesome project because it can change kids lives. We started this from nothing a year ago and we need help to make this massive. Every time we produce a backpack another kid goes home and talks about foster care. This can change lives!

Delhi (Inactief) – History -Monuments

2014-04-22T00:00:00Z

I am working with multiple dimensions on paper which is an extension of the previous, experimenting over surface and media with the theme being history and monuments. The places or monuments in my works may refer to recognizable and popular sites. But I use them only as reference signs to bring about certain experiences and specific instants. The architecture and the city spaces can also be seen as enclosures bounding the self without allowing its social interaction. In that way they are disciplinary mechanisms in play within the picture frame. Also the dark colors and layered textures try to bring about the gloomy and layered intermingling of situations and emotions. They are shown in such a way that one always sees the scene with some obstructions or screens. No scene or image is done in a clear manner. I feel this is what characterizes our situation, where every information reaches us only after passing through several screens

Awesome Without Borders (Inactief) – Mikst Me-di-an

2014-04-22T00:00:00Z

MIXED MEDIAN: “I went looking for a reflection of myself in a Museum, couldn’t find any--so I decided to hang here.” Mixed; /mikst/ Adjective ~ Consisting of different qualities or elements. Median; me·di·an /ˈmedean/ Noun ~ the median value of a range of values, noting or pertaining to a plane dividing something into two equal parts. _______________________________ I have been photographing Mixed Race People, from Eastern NY to the San Francisco Bay, Northern Buffalo to Southern Texas. I set up shop, for 2-7 days in any given city. Work 9-12 hr days. Then on the heels of each PHOTO session, I walk the individual over to a pre-lit area, and ask them questions for the VIDEO portion. I am aiming to capture, reflect and catalog the varied scope and subjective life experiences of Mixed Race People, from all economic stratas/Aged 4-100/Women/Men/LGBTQ. I have been working on this project in between directing film/tv gigs, personally funding it. After culling a wide range of PHOTOS & VIDEO footage, I intend for the exhibit to tour statewide. Ultimately, I will donate the elements to a University Library or archival Museum as contemporary commentary on Mixed Race People, in America.

Gloucester, MA – Judith Sargent Murray Comes Alive!

2014-04-22T00:00:00Z

We feel called to resurrect the great plays of Judith Sargent Murray, and awaken a new audience to her theatrical work. We strongly believe that a fully staged production of her first play - a comedy - The Medium, or Virtue Triumphant (1795), could put Judith Sargent Murray back on the national map. In turn, this will draw new attention and interest to her work as a writer and to her historical significance as a founding mother of our nation. We also believe that this production will positively impact interest in our community partner the Sargent House Museum as a cultural tourist destination. The Medium has not been seen on a stage since 1795, has never before been performed in Gloucester, and was the first play to be legitimately produced in Boston (Federal Theater)- and quite possibly America. Thus, it will be a historically significant event, and we expect it to receive not only regional, but national attention. We have invited the Sargent House Museum to join hands with us as a partner in doing the work it will take to fund and promote this monumental event. We are adding The Medium to our 2014 season to launch it in August, in the hopes that we will be able to stage it outdoors, on the lawn of the Sargent House itself.

Doha (Inactief) – Mokha Origin

2014-04-22T00:00:00Z

We're a group of Harvard students who met through the University's Innovation Lab. We would like to import and market Yemen's impressive Mokha coffee, thus encouraging the country's development and stability, Have you heard of Mokha? It's not only a Starbucks drink but the name of the port, Al Mokha, from which Yemen exported coffee 500 years ago. They were the first place in the world to cultivate and trade beans. Back in the day, Mokha was associated with Yemeni coffee, which is known for chocolate undertones. Times change, Mokha loses the Yemen connection but not that of chocolate. Thus, you have the misleading Starbucks beverage of today. This is where we need you! We have an idea, namely reclaim Mokha for the authentic product. But doing so is a large marketing challenge. At the moment, we are getting our coffee on the shelves of Whole Foods, a premium grocery store in the US. This will be our first store, and if we are successful at this, we will be ready to scale bigger. For this grocery story process, we are on track doing the paperwork. But we need funding to hone our marketing and create a product design that we can use for a national product. We have fortunately found a team of three designers from the Harvard School of Design who are doing this work for low cost. But once they are done, we need to custom print small runs of coffee bags and marketing material. This is where your funding would come in. Additionally, we will do tastings at Whole Foods to develop our brand and customers who shop at this Whole Foods Market River location. This process will be at a loss but part of building momentum. Tying into our larger goals, this first grocery store is the initial step to growing first regionally in Boston and then to 100 and then 1000 stores across the country. Then we will have a national product and be on track to see Yemen's coffee sector double in size in ten years. Accomplishing this means job opportunities supporting 650,000 people in Yemen.

San Antonio, TX – Alamo Forest Partnership/SiClovia September 2014

2014-04-21T00:00:00Z

AFP is best known for its annual “Jammin Jams Fruit Tree Adoptions” at the Pearl Farmers Market. This event is a public tree adoption event of 500-750 fruit and nut trees. Before an individual can adopt a tree they must first complete an education session to learn about the commitment of tree adoptions - proper placement, planting and maintenance. AFP is requesting $1000.00 from Awesome SA to expand its tree adoption event reach to the YMCA’s September 2014 SiClovia event. Síclovía is a free event that turns major city streets in to a safe place for people to exercise and play. Based on the previous four SiClovia events we expect over 65,000 participants. AFP has found this event to be a perfect opportunity to engage a large audience to learn the value trees bring to San Antonio and to take the pledge by adopting a tree. Each individual adopting a tree will be required to complete an education session on proper tree care. AFP with its matching funds of $1000.00 will commit to have at least 400 one-gallon trees adopted by San Antonio families.

Miami, FL – Borscht Nights

2014-04-20T00:00:00Z

For almost a decade, the Borscht Film Festival has increased the vibrancy of Miami by facilitating local artists to tell Miami stories through film, and providing a platform to share these films with the community at large. We screen and commission films that portray a wide diversity of stories about the city, empowering local citizens to define Miami’s cinematic identity for themselves. Up until this point the Borscht Film Festival has been held in large spaces in urban centers to accommodate the size of the audiences, but in our research we found many people travel from disparate communities to attend the festival. We are seeking funding to bring the films directly to some of the diverse communities that inspired them, creating a greater sense of civic pride and community engagement. The lack of reliable public transportation in Miami makes it difficult to have as diverse an audience as we would like, and we feel creating a monthly series of free popup film screenings in underused spaces located in underserved communities would be received very positively. Of all the art forms, cinema is one of the most accessible, and each screening would be curated to maximize the accessibility in these neighborhoods that receive less than their share of arts programming. For instance, we would play films that were made in or about the neighborhoods we are screening them in, as well as films that deal with themes that are predominant in that specific community. Local musicians or artists that complement the films could perform before them to give the screening a sense of being an event. We could also bring in filmmakers originally from the neighborhoods for an open Q and A. These events are projected to take place every month for the duration of the year and beyond, and will lead up to the Borscht Film Festival.

Liverpool (Inactief) – Shared Futures

2014-04-19T00:00:00Z

Manna Community Kitchen understands food & believes in its catalytic properties. Liverpool is home to a vibrant migrant & refugee community. Many have had to flee warzones, oppression & persecution and unfortunately their struggles do not always end there. Life as a refugee can be isolating and lonely, particularly for many women whose religious beliefs debar them from engaging with the wider community & integrating fully in society. These women are frequently unable to access the support networks which they are entitled to. Shared Futures is a women only cookery collective that provides a safe & socially acceptable forum for these women to socialise, form relationships & learn about what support is available to them & where they can access this help. Shared Futures is about making friends & regaining confidence. It is a warm and casual environment that is completely adaptable to the needs of each individual woman. At Manna Community Kitchen, we welcome everyone into the kitchen. Each workshop is led by local refugee & immigrant women & offers a true cultural exchange & the opportunity to learn, first hand, how to prepare speciality food from all over the world. All workshops are hands on & once the meal is prepared, everyone sits down together to enjoy the meal we have shared in preparing. Each workshop facilitates dialogue into the association of food and memory; aiding integration through the creation of a familiar, comforting meal in what is, for many, an unfamiliar setting. At every workshop, each woman will receive a menu card outlining the ingredients needed to recreate the dish elsewhere & the necessary information on costing & where exactly each product can be sourced in the city. This means that each participant leaves with a little taste of home.

Dubai (Inactief) – Bilbaal

2014-04-18T00:00:00Z

The UAE has a large population of skilled human capital from all nationalities that are sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle and want to get involved. However, many of those compassionate to the Palestinian cause are currently impassive due an extensive information gap. THey want to help and don't know how. Therefore, a friend and I are launching an online platform (“Bilbaal”) which will connect UAE-based professionals interested in donating their time and skills to Palestinian organizations that need them. We are optimistic that by matching needs to resources, and minimizing search time on behalf of users, civic engagement will increase. We are essentially doing all the homework on behalf of the user. We named our platform "Bilbaal" because it is means "on your mind" in Arabic, and highlights the need to keep the Palestine on our minds. Bilbaal will ultimately be a facilitator and primary information source for anyone in the UAE interested in helping the Palestinian cause. We believe Bilbaal will be able to: • Create a community that brings likeminded individuals and charitable organizations together • Facilitate engagement with and contribution to existing Palestinian initiatives globally • Organize information in a simple and interactive manner for individuals and organizations • Encourage collaboration and interconnect organizations dedicated to similar causes • Highlight ongoing activities through an events calendar per country Professionals will be able to create a profile and search the site for projects that fit their skills and personal interests. Additionally, there will be an events calendar outlining Palestinian related events around the world. Professionals will also be able to learn from other user experiences through a rating tool we will have in place and message other uses through a private messaging system.

Detroit, MI – Urban Nation Radio

2014-04-18T00:00:00Z

The next two phases of our Urban Nation Radio project include 1) sustaining the station to assist youth with business acumen and assistance with college tuition and 2)the animation project for the station that will further our community education concerning behavior driving economic outcomes. The phase of sustaining the station includes research and development on the different revenue streams that a web radio station may generate for its sustainability. Youth will learn how to compare and contrast different radio formats, leverage social media and the internet, evaluate trends, develop advertising packages, and create a sustainability plan for the station and scholarship for youth. The youth will present ideas and proposals for sustainability projects by the close of April 2014. Urban Nation Radio plans to present annual scholarships with the first presented in 2015. The animation portion of the project is engaging the creativity and imagination of the teens and young adults who have talent in media arts, animation, storytelling, video editing and the like. The animation shorts will be designed as advertising and show break fillers that educate youth on today's topics such as bullying, obesity, sexual identity issues, local and global politics, economics, education and much more. The stories will be entertaining, humorous, informative and engaging. The youth are slated to present character ideas by the mid May 2014.

Kingston – Furnishing families, singles and youth

2014-04-17T00:00:00Z

OK, Working with homeless I have noticed many clients finally receive housing but do not have the furnishings to make their new place a home. It is well known that here in Kingston on April 30th there are many furnishings put to the curb as that is the day that Queens and St. Lawrence college students move out. Myself and a close friend/co-worker have been brainstorming how we can put these furnishings to use to the homeless population here in Kingston. We have come up with an idea to advertise throughout the University and College with posters, letters to the prof's and in the journal. We have also made sign up sheets to put in all the shelters of Kingston so any clients moving out will be able to sign up for needed furnishings. This idea can happen, we just need storage and Homebase housing has many properties but very little storage throughout these properties.

New York City, NY – Curbside Compost Messaging

2014-04-17T00:00:00Z

I have been collaboratively teaching Cafcu’s ARTS+ACTION Cafeteria Waste Reduction curriculum to over 4,000 K-8th graders in 14 schools, mostly located in low-income minority communities. Teaching the “why” before the “how,” we train students to be Cafeteria Rangers who oversee all sorting and recycling. I also teach “Make Change Messaging” lessons, which culminate in student designed campaigns, such as building giant puppets, to engage entire communities on the inextricably link between garbage and climate change. NYC recently launched a School Composting Program, which has expanded from 60 schools to almost 400, with plans to accommodate all 1,800 public schools. But the NYC school cafeteria lunch period is a unique situation within the school day, full of obstacles for achieving recycling, composting and proper sorting. Due to operational gaps, limited cafeteria staff, few educational components, and lack of kid-appealing signage, the contents of the compost bins (totes) often look identical to that of the trash bins. Additionally, curbside theft of the new totes is a growing problem. Our team has spent thousands of hours training students and school staff in cafeterias, primarily in underserved communities. We constantly pilot new ways of improving the cafeteria recycling procedure and sorting stations. We also seek new methods of engaging youth on the environmental injustice issues surrounding NYC’s 11,000 tons of garbage generated daily. Building upon the success of ARTS+ACTION, we will lead the Curbside Compost Messaging (C2m) project as an after school workshop with low-income minority youth from grades 3-5 in 2 Crown Heights -Brooklyn schools. Youth will co-design and paint 3 D murals directly onto the City’s new totes (there are 8 totes per school), transforming the dull brown totes with their visual messages of garbage reduction, beautifying Brooklyn, and composting, to inspire and educate their peers and neighboring communities.

Sydney – OpenLingo

2014-04-16T00:00:00Z

OpenLingo is an awesome project that aims to create Global Good through the creation of an opensource mobile application and cloud platform to ensure the protect and maintenance of endangered languages globally. OpenLingo is being built as an opensource platform that uses crowdcoding to create the platform and will also provide for crowdsourcing of languages. To date a lot of systems have been built globally but these projects have all worked in individually in silos. What we aim to do through OpenLingo is create a platform that delivers a system that will ensure the protect of languages globally and the creation of a platform that provide a global space where this most important data is stored and protected, and accessible. OpenLingo also aims to alleviate tech issues that groups may have with protecting their languages and allow them to concentrate the knowledge transfer of these languages. The most important part of protecting endangered languages. We are currently underway with stage one of the project which is to engage socially with people across the globe in preparation for the release of OpenLingo on crowdfunding platform kickstarter.

Awesome Without Borders (Inactief) – Morbid Anatomy Museum Live Stream

2014-04-14T00:00:00Z

Since 2009, Morbid Anatomy has presented hundreds of lectures by museum professionals, rogue scholars, and autodidacts at our base in Brooklyn, New York. These lectures--just a few of which have included Selfies At Funerals: Postmortem Photography and Cultural Taboos; The Dark Arts in the Dark Ages; Dracula, Degeneration and Syphilitic Births at the Fin de Siècle; Women Who Bite: Chastity Belts, Castration Anxiety and Feminism; Heavenly Bodies: Jeweled Sacred Skeletons of the 16th Century; and Viva la Muerte: The Mushrooming Cult of Saint Death--are often sold out, standing room only affairs, and have cultivated a passionate community of like minded people over the years. Since we began this series, our international audience has steadily grown; we now regularly hear from readers in places as diverse as Japan, Australia, Spain, France, Belgium, the UK, Sweden, South Africa and Mexico. Nearly every time we list a lecture on our Facebook page--which now has nearly 200,000 followers-- we receive at least one comment asking about the possibility of viewing these lectures remotely from those unable to make it to our (very small!) physical space in Brooklyn. We would use an Awesome Without Borders grant to purchase cameras and other equipment necessary to livecast and archive Youtube videos of our events so that the non-New York based Morbid Anatomy community can enjoy the awesomeness of these lectures, which are, at the moment, ephemeral affairs for locals only (and a severely limited number at that!). We are sure that livecasting and archiving the Morbid Anatomy lectures online will radically enhance our work and radically expand our reach. We have a very large and active social media following who will, in this way, finally be able to truly connect with our unique programming, to virtually join our community, and to meet the roster of fascinating and underrepresented scholars, artists, and autodidacts who make up the greater Morbid Anatomy community!

Ottawa – Good Art Shouldn't be Hard to Find

2014-04-14T00:00:00Z

April’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Kristina Corre, to support an Easter egg hunt for original artwork hidden across the city. “I've always loved a good easter egg hunt,” says Kristina. “My favourite part of the hunt, of course, is being the one to hide the eggs. My awesome project is the chance for me to be that Easter bunny for Ottawa. But instead of leaving mystery chocolates that no one will want to eat off the streets, I'm going to leave some original, hand-painted, made-with-love art.” Kristina aims to use 10x10” wood panels, leaving five pieces of art in each of the city’s 23 wards. Some pieces she will produce herself, and others will be made by talented friends and artists she plans to recruit. Each piece will be accompanied by a note encouraging members of the public to take it home if they love it. Before being dispersed through the city, the art will be shown at the Chinatown Remixed festival. Kristina, who blogs at goodthingsottawa.ca, is an architecture graduate who has recently embraced her artistic talents. She invites other artists interested in producing a panel to contact her at goodthingsottawa@gmail.com. You can follow her progress at awesomearthunt.tumblr.com.

Portland, OR – Shrink Circuits Nomad Lab

2014-04-10T00:00:00Z

Shrink Circuits Uncanny Laboratory (SCUL) is a transportable workshop for teaching anyone the fundamentals of product design and solderless electrical circuits. I organize 1-3 hour project-based workshops that let participants create and build their own robots, synthesizers, board games, desk lamps, and other fun projects. We use shrink plastic as a main constructing substrate, because it easy to work with, can be readily changed to suit radically different project needs, and, once it has been baked and shrunken, is a permanent, water-proof, durable substance that can be used for practical, mechanical design applications. The project materials are all provided for participants, and utilize techniques that do not require advanced learning or previous experience. The idea is to empower participants in the experience of creating a functioning device of their own design, working to develop project specifications that suit particular uses that they imagine. Participants become acquainted with the "language" of design, even as they articulate their own vision in the unique shapes and forms their project takes. Because we emphasize accessible, safe methods and materials, participants learn to jump into the challenge of "making" or inventing without fear of failure. Things can repaired, processes can be redone, and SCUL lets participants experience the benefits from failures or mistakes during rapid iteration and prototyping. Some SCUL projects may end up departing entirely from the schematics, Arduino code or provided starting points of the project to arrive at some new invention - all the better! The SCUL begins with a group of 5-25 participants who are given materials, supplies, some helpful guidelines and the basic knowledge required to complete the project. At the end of every SCUL workshop, participants leave with a functioning electronic device that they made. We have taken SCUL to Maker Faires and MakerSpaces around the world, now we hit the streets of Portland!

Seattle, WA – Musical Trip Around the World

2014-04-10T00:00:00Z

My musical partner, Diego Coy from Colombia, South America and I from Japan will introduce our native music and encourage the audience to participate by joining them in singing in both Japanese and Spanish as well as body percussion. This program is designed to have children/youths understand different cultures and languages by introducing a new genre of music. Participants will have the opportunity to learn the names and histories of various instruments that are very rare to find in the States. This 45 minute program includes elements that appeal to audiences of all ages. Miho and Diego have found great joy in exploring and mastering the musical traditions of their own countries and feel it is a wonderful tool to stay connected to their roots even after leaving their homes. It is from this joy that the concept of this program is derived; to encourage participants, whether born in or outside of the United States, to begin to discover and explore their own heritage. The program aims to accomplish this goal by combining two of the most natural and powerful aspects of cultural identity, music and language.

Miami, FL – Sweatstock #5

2014-04-08T00:00:00Z

Sweatstock has become a local institution but is still overall a giant labor of love. This free, annual block party/pop-up music festival celebrates Sweat's anniversary, the international Record Store Day "holiday", and the Miami music scene as a whole. The main stage outside and the Churchill's stage next door feature almost entirely homegrown artists from a variety of genres. We don't repeat bands year to year to shake things up, and only artists whom we've seen putting the work in get selected. SSSHHHH (seriously) but this year's headliner is AJ Davila of San Juan, PR garage rockers Davila 666. His new solo album "Terror Amor" on Nacional Records has gotten blown up by NPR, Pitchfork, VICE, Spin, MTV Iggy, etc. and he'll be playing Sweatstock fresh off a handful of shows at SXSW. In addition to the tons of live music there is comedy, food trucks, DJs, film (the back patio stage at Churchill's is the "Borscht Lounge" this year), a bike valet, and more. 2014 is the 5th year of us putting on the festival. We get overwhelmingly great feedback from the event and loads of people say it's their favorite day of the year. It's also a living example of the amazing sense of community in Miami's arts'music/activism scenes. Walk around Sweatstock and you'll see people laughing, hugging, running into old friends and making new ones. People bring their kids, pets, lovers, band mates, parents, etc. Did we mention that the entire event is free to the public?? When does that ever happen...

Awesome Without Borders (Inactief) – Jafflechutes: North America

2014-04-07T00:00:00Z

Jafflechutes is a Melbourne-born toasted sandwich parachute delivery service. Over the last nine months, myself and a small closely-knit team have been holding jaffle-parachuting events throughout Melbourne that work a bit like this: 1) Order a jaffle of your choice and elect a delivery time through a bespoke, mobile-friendly website 2) Travel to a pre-arranged location in the Melbourne CBD ('find the X!') 3) Catch your jaffle as it floats down from the sky All parachutes are hand-made, and all jaffles cooked with the greatest love and care. We strive to create an experience that is as entertaining and deliciously unique as possible. Any jafflechutes that get caught in trees / eaten by a ledges / whisked away by Wind Gods are immediately replaced, *free of charge*. Jafflechutes is not a money-making operation. All profits (if any) are re-invested in materials or donated to charity (Fr Bob Foundation, Lifeline). We are proudly Melbourne-based, and consider ourselves the beneficiaries of the city’s unique architecture, cultural industries and batman-crazy weather. To this date we have operated exclusively within Melbourne, but now we want to take Melbourne to North America (!!!!). At this stage, we are planning three Jafflechutes events throughout North America - New York City, Montreal and Vancouver. Each event will operate largely as they do back home, however the realities of working in unfamiliar spaces will in all probability significantly increase costs (and losses, *but not fun*).

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactief) – Medical Wigs for Children with Cancer

2014-04-07T00:00:00Z

This project produces and donates wigs for children suffering with cancer.

Yerevan – Ուշագրավ գիտություն

2014-04-07T00:00:00Z

Ծխի մետրանոց օղակներ, հայացքից հալվող մետաղյա գդալ (ճիշտ և ճիշտ Մատրիցի պես), անտեսանելի հեղուկ, անհետացող թանաք, երեխաներ պղպջակներում, մետրանոց կառավարելի երգող կայծակներ ու վայրկյանական փչվող ահռելի տոպրակներ, առանց լարի վառվող լամպեր ու ամպրոպ բանկայում։ Կառավարելի հրաբխեր, ակնթարթային սևացող թափանցիկ հեղուկ, կանաչ ու դեղին բոց, անհետացող մետաղական փշեր, օպտիկական խաբկանքներ ու վեր բարձրացող վզնոց։ Փշրվող թարմ ծաղիկներ ) Հակիրճ՝ անում ենք Երևանում, տարածում մարզերում ու դպրոցներում։ Բանից պարզվեց, որ ուշագրավ, անսպասելի արդյունքով գիտափորձերը կարող են զարմացնել անգամ աշխարհի լավագույն կենտրոնների մասնագետ շրջանավարտներին։ Այդ փորձերը մարդկանց մղում են շրջակա բնության ու միջավայրի մասին հարցեր տալու ու պատասխաններ փնտրելու։ Ի վերջո, պարզապես սիրուն են (տե՛ս կցված նկարները)։ Մենք ուսումնասիրել ենք ողջ ոլորտը և մեր պայմաններում, համեմատաբար պարզ գործողություններով, սարքերով ու նյութերով կարող ենք ցուցադրել մոտ 200 փորձ։ Սա նշանակում է, որ ամեն երեկո մեկ ժամանոց միջոցառման պարագայում անգամ (ուր կա մոտ 10-15 փորձ) կարող ենք մի ամիս ամեն օր էապես տարբեր ծրագրեր իրագործել։ Ավելին, բեմական խիստ ուշագրավ շոուին կհաջորդեն բաց տաղավարները՝ պակաս վտանգավոր, սակայն մասշտաբացվող փորձերով, որոնցից յուրաքանչյուր երեխա մի փոքրիկ փորձարարական հավաքածու կտանի տուն ու մի լավ կզվարճանա։ Սրանց կարելի է ավելացնել թեմատիկ workshop-եր (օր՝ 15 վայրկյանում ինքնուրույն պաղպաղակ պատրաստել ֆիզիկայի միջոցով)։ Ծրագիրը լայն է, ներառում է փորձեր գերսառը, գերտաք նյութերի հետ (այսինքն՝ մարդիկ կտեսնեն սառույց, մառախուղ, պայթյուններ, կրակ), մեխանիկական, օպտիկական, էլեկտրամագնիսական փորձեր։ Մշակված է նաև մի տասնյակ հարմար փորձ հեռուստատեսության համար։ Այսպիսով, միտքը հետևյալն է. ցուցադրել Երևանի կենտրոնում, հետո՝ հեռուստատեսությամբ, ապա, առաջացած բուռն հետաքրքրության ալիքի վրա տարածել մարզերով (մեքենան և ֆինանսավորումն արդեն կան), իսկ դրա հիման վրա էլ տարածել դպրոցներում (օրինակ՝ մի քանի տասնյակ դպրոցական ուսուցիչների պարզ վերապատրաստմամբ)։

Rio de Janeiro (Inactief) – Bela Arte Jazz

2014-04-04T00:00:00Z

Bela Arte Jazz é uma escola de música para crianças e adolescentes, com idade de 8 aos 16 anos. Propõe um ambiente para vivência musical no complexo do Cantagalo e cultiva a cultura musical através da prática e experimentação do Jazz, sendo uma opção de profissionalização para os jovens envolvidos. Com este objetivo, durante seus 2 anos de realização, o projeto executou as seguintes ações: Aulas Práticas e Teóricas, Big Band e o Jazz na Laje. O projeto teve início através do jovem Leonardo Januario, morador da favela do Cantagalo. Ao ouvir John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker e outros grandes artistas do jazz, surge a percepção do potencial musical da sua comunidade. Após participar do projeto Agencia de Redes para Juventude, deu origem ao Bela Arte Jazz em janeiro de 2012, onde começou com 3 instrumentos de sopro(saxofone, trompete e trombone). Atualmente o projeto possui um grupo de 12 alunos que já adquiriram seus instrumentos e conhecimentos básicos de música, e que se apresentaram no Jazz na Laje e em outros eventos na comunidade. Possui parceria com o Quarteto Cantagalo, um grupo instrumental formados por professores e amigos músicos do projeto O projeto também realiza eventos como o Jazz na Laje: Evento mensal de música instrumental, com entrada franca, no próprio espaço onde as aulas são realizadas, com suporte de 80 pessoas e que possui estrutura independente para eventos com vista privilegiada da Orla da zona sul (Copacabana, Ipanema e Leblon) . O evento sempre tem como público permanente os alunos e seus responsáveis, os moradores do Cantagalo e das proximidades e convidados. Além da música ao vivo pelo o Quinteto Cantagalo (um grupo instrumental formado por professores e músicos parceiros do projeto) e participações especiais dos alunos apresentando seus trabalhos desenvolvidos nas aulas, o evento conta também com petiscos e bebidas para crianças e adultos, sendo isso uma das formas que o projeto encontra de sustentabilidade.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactief) – RE-SPECS Frames for the Needy

2014-04-03T00:00:00Z

The project collects and restore used and surplus glasses frames, redistributing them to Israelis in need. Frames are sold at a nominal price at the RE-SPECS store, where we also provide customized lenses for a nominal price, generating the proceeds back into the operation. Those who are unable to afford even the nominal fees are assisted through our Project 2C Fund. In addition to being a worthy recycling venture whose benefit to the environment is obvious, RE-SPECS aims to ensure that all vision-impaired people, regardless of financial standing, are able to obtain suitable eyewear. RE-SPECS believes that no person should live without corrective eyewear simply because he cannot afford it. To date we have collected 14,000 frames - mostly new, surplus - and this has enabled us to establish 4 additional branches and thus to broaden our reach as much as possible.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactief) – עמותת חיבוק ראשון

2014-04-03T00:00:00Z

הפרויקט לשנת 2013-2014- הכשרה במכללת "צעד ראשון"- ליווי התפתחותי של תינוקות, של 300 מתנדבות פעילות בעמותה: כיום ישנן כ- 500 מתנדבים פעילים המגיעים לטפל בתינוקות הנטושים בכל בתי החולים בארץ מכללת צעד ראשון הינה מכללת המכשירה מטפלים בליווי התפתחותי לתינוקות. מטרת ההכשרה הינה לתת כלים וידע מקצועי ממוקד, למתנדבי העמותה המטפלים בתינוקות הסובלים מתסמונת גמילה וכאבים כתוצאה מחולי ונכות שונים. אופן ביצוע הפרויקט: הכשרת המתנדבים תיעשה בקבוצות אינטימיות של 15 מתנדבות (ההכשרה כוללת התנסות בפועל עם תינוקות ולכן חשוב כי מספר המשתתפים בכל פגישה לא יעלה על 15). כל קבוצה תיפגש 4 פעמים למשך 4 שעות. סך כל ההשתלמות הינה של 16 שעות אשר בסיומה תקבל כל מתנדבת תעודה. יבוצעו ההשתלמויות בתל אביב, ירושלים, באר שבע ובחיפה משך הפעלת פרוייקט ההכשרה: החל מאוקטובר 2013 ועד 12/2014,עם המשכיות לשנה העוקבת לפי הצורך.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactief) – Help the Dogs

2014-04-02T00:00:00Z

Yuval Mendelovitz is a BSL dog saver. This grant will go toward supporting a farm which houses, rehabilitate and saves pit bulls and other BSL dogs which have been neglected, thrown out or abused by their owners. We love this project because Yuval has taken responsibility for a group of dogs abandoned and rejected by the wider community - giving them a second chance to be the wonderful, safe and happy dogs they can be.

Atlanta, GA (Inactief) – "S.M.A.R.T. Moves" Chess Program

2014-04-01T00:00:00Z

I am employed with the Fulton County Juvenile Court as a Juvenile Court Officer. We serve approximately 50 teens per week with criminal charges including gang activity, robbery, burglary, carjacking, drug possession & trafficking and runaway. Virtually every teens involvement with the juvenile courts began with a history of neglect, abandonment or abuse. Over 90% of our teens also come from homes where the father is absent and many teens turn to substance abuse as a means of self medicating to, in their words, "reduce stress". During their up to 8 hour stay at the juvenile court awaiting a hearing, I have an opportunity to talk with our teens. Most are good kids, dealing with overwhelming environmental and peer pressures, with limited parental supervision, guidance and support. Virtually all are receptive to advice and guidance, but need immediate support and mentoring upon release from detention. We implemented the "S.M.A.R.T. Moves" Chess and Mentoring Program for boys. We meet every Friday at the Juvenile Court, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. Our slogan is "teach young men to make Smart Moves in Chess and life". Our mission is to provide activities, services and mentors to prepare males for the challenges of manhood and responsible fatherhood. "S.M.A.R.T." is an acronym for Science, Math, Arts, Reading and Technology. Our mentors (Deputies, Probation Officers, college students and parents) also provides homework help and tutoring for teens. We started the program 2 months ago and we have up to 25 teens and adult volunteers per week attending regularly. Our goal is to register 50 teens in the Chess Program and develop a competitive chess team of reformed "teen leaders" who will share their personal stories of choices, consequences, overcoming obstacles and smart moves with elementary, middle and high school students in Fulton County and Atlanta Public Schools. Many participants are former gang members who can also advise teens how to avoid gang involvement.

Awesome Without Borders (Inactief) – Frame by Frame : film translation

2014-04-01T00:00:00Z

From 1996 to 2001, photography was completely banned in Afghanistan by the Taliban regime. When the US invaded after 9/11, Afghans saw a Taliban government topple -- and with it, the suppression of media as well. Since then, there's been massive investment in building the country's local media. In 2012, I joined filmmaker Alexandria Bombach to travel to Afghanistan and chase this story through personal, intimate stories of photojournalists building the country's first free press in history. Alexandria and I found four amazing characters with stories worthy of a feature-length documentary... only to promptly run out of money needed to keep filming with them beyond a week. We returned to the US, raised more funds on Kickstarter in summer 2013, and in fall 2013 filmed our first feature-length documentary on these photographers. We spent 6 weeks following our characters through the trails and triumphs of local media -- from covering daily life of women strolling through vibrant markets, to hanging out in press pools for Afghanistan's first boxing match, to frantically covering breaking news at the aftermath of suicide bombings. We have an incredible story to tell that will connect a global audience to professional Afghan photojournalists, while also painting a broader picture of what it's like to build free press from the ground up. The film will be feature-length (90 minutes) and we're planning to submit to festivals and seek distribution support once we have a cut!

San Francisco, CA – Automata Subterranea

2014-04-01T00:00:00Z

I busk all ages and adult shows under the title "Automata Subterranea" (Puppets From The Underground), formerly under the (better known) name "The Flat Broke Puppet Co." The show consists of a vaudeville style variety of acts, including short, ridiculous and cleverly worded puppet interpretations of fairy tales and poems both well known and forgotten; songs to sing along with, songs to dance to and songs to get parents to dance to while their children look on horrified; and lots of interaction. I learned early on that people of all ages love to have their "moment," and I can provide that by just rolling along with whatever they want to chat about. I am pleased and proud to say that my biggest fans and donators are locals Bay Area people, despite me playing in tourist heavy areas. I have a strong, regular, middle school base, and parents who seek me out with their kids, in addition to banker looking ladies that get concerned when they don't see me for too long. That being said, I have a keen interest in bringing my all ages shows to a broader range of local San Franciscans by booking time in the smaller public parks around town. I would like, however, to provide this as a free service; not something where people will feel obligated (or worse yet, not watch or not let their children watch to avoid an implied obligation) to tip. Unfortunately, the fees from Parks and Recreation to use park space are outrageous, somewhere in the arena of 175 dollars per day for their lowest "amateur" permit. As you can imagine, living in San Francisco as an alternative street and burlesque/cabaret performer is rough enough in the current climate that losing a third of your rent a month to provide 2 days of happiness to kids a month seems noble, but also kinda dumb.

Boston, MA – Project M@CH: Makerspace at Children's Hospital

2014-03-31T00:00:00Z

Brandon, a senior in high school and an aspiring engineer, was restricted from returning to school while undergoing treatment for leukemia at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. The Hospital School Program and I came up with an idea to provide Brandon with a variety of digital and physical materials, such as an Arduino microcontroller, LEDs, 3-D modeling software, LEGO’s, strings, & plastic cups. Using the given physical and digital materials, Brandon designed, invented and created a “Nurse Night Light” to, “light up the bathroom in a hospital at night just enough for a nurse to be able to look in the bathroom and see if anything needed to be dumped or not. Keeping the nurse from having to turn the light on and possibly waking the patient.” An idea was born from this experience with Brandon.To support other patients like Brandon who are interested in Engineering, Technology and hands on activities, we came up with an idea to create a "Makerspace" within the hospital to support creative and intellectually empowering experiences for the patients and their loved ones. Makerspaces are places where groups and individuals of diverse ages, genders, and backgrounds come together to “make”: to mess around at the crossroads and fringes of disciplines such as science,technology, engineering,art and math. We are designing and implementing the first Makerspace in a children's hospital. This novel, mobile, maker environment not only provides patients with creative outlets and learning opportunities, but also an occasion for the hospital to explore new avenues in patient care and might just spark an idea for a career or new medical equipment. The Mobile Makerspace meets health,safety and accessibility requirements of the children.Its philosophy is rooted in understanding the unique needs of patients and families, and in constructivist educational approaches. We hope to inspire other hospitals with space restrictions to create and use mobile makerspaces.

Nairobi (Inactief) – 50/50 Board Game

2014-03-31T00:00:00Z

The winner for the March 2014 grant is Casey Marenge. Casey is a quadriplegic who suffered a tragic road accident in 2003 and became paralyzed from the shoulder downwards. Since then she has been championing the rights of people with disabilities while creating awareness on road safety through her charity organization - Chariots of Destiny. Casey would like to generate income to sustain her various charity initiatives. She has to this end developed for sale a truly cool and exciting game known as the 50-50 board game. Casey now describes the project in her own words: I created the 50/50 board game and launched last year on the day my country Kenya was celebrating 50 years of independence. The 50-50 Board Game whose theme is "50 years of Kenya's history in 50 seconds" is a fast paced, educative and entertaining board game that celebrates 50 years of Kenya's history. The game aims to create a fun way to relive memories of our beautiful country touches on words that define Kenya in the past 50 years. I took one year off working on the NGO to carry out research, and to create the board game, 99% done just by voice-activated software. The game which is a points system and team effort game sees players give clues and descriptions to as many words possible out of a total of 20 words and get their teammates to state the word on the cards in 50 seconds. The game has a total of 2500 words touching on anything and everything that has played a part in shaping Kenya's history in the past 50 years. The game also has a "Supreme Court" section which gets team members to either gain or lose points. This section touches on events, good or bad that have taken place in the country in the past 50 years. The vision for the game is to not only promote our countries tourism industry by selling the game in hotels, Curio stores and putting it in Kenyan embassies globally, but to also provide a fun way to educate the youth in our country. We are also working on putting the game in different hospitals, rehabilitation centres as well as schools to be used as an entertainment and indoor activity for those in the facility. The 50/50 board game has also served as a great memory to Kenyan's in the diaspora as they remember events from there childhood and from back home. The game sold out in the first month of production with the greatest achievement yet being invited to Statehouse to present the board game to the First Lady her Excellency Margret Kenyatta which I believe is pretty awesome!!

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactief) – STAND UP FOR THEM

2014-03-30T00:00:00Z

A grant for the renovation and redecoration of a community center.

Washington, DC – Peace Camp Scholarships for Refugee Kids

2014-03-30T00:00:00Z

Through a partnership with TASSC, the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition, LFFP offers free Peace Camp slots to kids whose families have gone through serial hells: first in the country they had to escape, then in navigating the immigration maze, and now in adjusting to strange ways in a strange land & trying to find an economic foothold. Most are housed in a single room or crowded in with relatives. They could spend the summer staring at walls with stunned and depressed parents. Instead they're in the sunshine with a unique mixture of kids from the inner city (many of them also on scholarship) and kids from the suburbs and more affluent neighborhoods. Because LFFP has so many volunteers, and older campers routinely transition through several levels as counselors in training & junior counselors, there will be almost as many staff as campers, and their training will have emphasized relationship skills, empathy, and creating a welcoming, even healing environment. Campers will make friends, eat nourishing food, play cooperative games where everyone wins, and enjoy art, music, drama, healthy exercise, and stories that emphasize peace heroes, relationship skills, cooperation, problem solving, and appreciation for diversity. Parents, meanwhile, will be free to network, look for work, and improve their skills. LFFP provides much of its programming for free. Camp fees are kept low to make this opportunity available to all, and a large chunk of the budget goes to stipends for youth counselors and junior counselors. This makes outside funding for scholarships absolutely essential.

San Antonio, TX – "Let's MOVE! Fun Run and Health Fair"

2014-03-28T00:00:00Z

How awesome is this: Pre-K families from all over San Antonio will gather at Olmos Park on May 17th. There will be a large stage with a Zumba Team encouraging families to dance and burn calories in a fun way. There will be also a Yoga station teaching families balance and stretching their muscles. We have a fun run simultaneously occurring where kids get prizes for running to every station. Selrico’s Farmer’s Market has inexpensive fresh produce to purchase. SATX Pedal Power (an Awesome Grant winner!), will be running a blender station, where kids can cycle to blend their own smoothie. Various Health organizations like the Diabetes Association will have booths to educate families on healthy lifestyles. The event will be from 9am-12pm and we are expecting over 1000 participants. Families will be encouraged to bring picnics and stay in the park all day. It’s an awesome celebration for people from all over our city.

Orlando, FL – IDEAS For ARTS

2014-03-27T00:00:00Z

IDEAS For ARTS is an effort to show Orlando an example of an "Artistic Representation Towards Sustainability (ARTS)". Through this project, we will raise awareness about our environmental impacts through a creative street art initiative we are calling "sustainable graffiti", with a goal of changing peoples behaviors and #ReThink their impacts on the environment. Unlike traditional graffiti that uses volatile chemicals and petroleum-based paints, (not to mention permanently vandalizes property), the sustainable graffiti method we will showcase environmental messages by pressure washing a stencil on dirty roads, sidewalks, and walls with water. By pressure washing these dirty areas around the city, we will literally be cleaning the dirty surfaces, and revealing our message to the public. This project is non-toxic, temporary, and uses no chemicals in the entire process. As part of the project, we will highlight 5 themes of sustainability: energy, water, food, waste and ecology. For each theme, we will choose 1 statistics, fact, OR solution that relates to our impacts on the environment. To have the greatest impact, we will choose 5 high-traffic locations in Orlando, with a focus on the downtown region. We will also use the hashtag #ReThink in hopes of getting the public to take pictures and share this piece through social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Sarnia (Inactief) – Ignite Sarnia

2014-03-26T00:00:00Z

Enlighten us - but make it quick! We are planning to hold an Ignite Sarnia event in May, to coincide with the City's 100th birthday. Ignite is a geek event in over 100 cities worldwide. At the events Ignite presenters share their personal and professional passions, using 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds for a total of just five minutes. It's like a mini-TedTalk. Speakers share what they are passionate about in the hopes of igniting the crowd to be passionate about Sarnia-Lambton. Talks can be about pretty much anything - as long as it's on 20 slides and exactly 5 minutes long. Our committee will jury the talk submissions to make sure our Ignite event has great speakers, interesting topics, and can really get Sarnians ignited about Sarnia! That's the best part.

Perth (Inactief) – Ivor Burge Basketball Men's team

2014-03-26T00:00:00Z

I started West Rise Basketball which is a basketball competition for people with intellectual disabilities 3 years ago and we now have 9 teams, including 3 teams in mainstream C Mens Competition. Our players learn to play basketball, but also learn to coach, umpire and score. They play alongside mainstream competition and they are quite inclusive and part of the regular competition. From that Basketball WA asked me to coach the state intellectual disability men's team, called the Ivor Burge State Men's Team. All players in the Ivor Burge Men's team play in C Men's teams at Ray Owen Stadium in regular competition as it gives them more experience to play well against other State Teams. West Rise is highly regarded by Disability Services, Basketball WA, Inclusion WA and other bodies as we cater for all levels of disabilities.

London, ON (Inactief) – Food On The Move

2014-03-25T00:00:00Z

The South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre would like to create a new program for the summer months would like to be able to create a program focusing on Healthy Eat and Healthy Activities that would run 4 hours once a week for 8 weeks for youth ages 11-18. In this program we will be looking to take 8 participants. In the first 2 hours of the program we will either like to take the bus down to the local farmers market were we can teach the importance of locally grown food and supporting our community or take a 15 minute walk each way to the local grocery store to purchase healthy food choices. This part of the program will allow the youth to have a hands on experience in picking out their food as well as the importance of a budget. After the shopping portion is done we then will head back to the South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre to cook a meal together with the fresh vegetables that we bought. During this time we will be able to teach healthy and affordable ways to create a yummy dish for our youth to eat or take home to their families. We plan on having a few experts in healthy eating and healthy activities (ie. Dietitian from the Health Unit, Fitness Health students) come in and join our cooking class and teach the youth and healthy choices and portions as well as the five food groups and how to read and follow the nutrition guide on food packages. This program has a number of beneficial learning outcomes for these youth: they will learn planning and preparation, money management and budgeting skills, healthy food choices. We will also be looking at weekly flyer to have the youth understand that price matching and coupons can help in saving money in the long run.

Philadelphia, PA – Spells Writing Lab Summer Camp

2014-03-25T00:00:00Z

Spells's summer camp is unlike any other in the city: It is both fun and educational; physically adventurous and intellectually stimulating; wacky and productive. Just take a gander at the description of one week, themed “Out Of This World”: Welcome, aspiring astronauts! For one week, Spells will become Dr. Spells’ Space Camp, as we perform NASA-inspired experiments to expand our understanding of the great beyond! From stars to Mars, and all the black holes and meteors in between, we’ll combine that real space knowledge with our imaginations as we trek across the universe, creating strange new worlds and alien lifeforms and writing science fiction. So grab your pencils and buckle into our spacecraft, the Spells Sputnik 500, as we shoot out to the Milky Way! Each week has a different theme, selected to allow for different types of writing, and to incorporate other disciplines, like science, technology, filmmaking, design, storytelling (and sometimes even cooking). Each theme involves kids in different activities, from field trips to local restaurants, so kids can write food reviews; to video game design instruction; to spy adventures in and around the Lab, at the Village of Arts and Humanities. And every week ends with a finished product--a book of wacky space tales, an animated film, a comic book written and designed by the campers. This gives kids a proud piece of work to take home, and offers a reminder of what they’ve learned. Counselors hail from professional writers, filmmakers, musicians and designers, who pepper the camp adventures with real-life stories of their adventures in creativity. About 90 percent of Spells campers are economically disadvantaged, hailing from the neighborhood around Spells, in North Philadelphia. They attend schools that struggle with the basics, and have no time to teach writing, which has been found to be an integral part of academic success. Videos from 2013 camp: https://www.youtube.com/user/SpellsWritingLab

Philadelphia, PA – Rescue H2O

2014-03-25T00:00:00Z

This awesome project, Rescue H2O, is an eccentric but relevant offshoot from my Schuylkill River photography. While exploring by boat and on foot, over the last year I collected 100+ balls as they floated down the Philadelphia portion of the river or landed on the banks: soccer balls, pimple balls, kickballs, beach balls, ping pong balls, etc. In the next two months more balls will be collected; I'm hoping for 150+. With these rescued balls, I propose to assemble numerous H2O molecules. Like atoms, the balls will be attracted to each other – by magnets. They'll stick together like the familiar H2O models, three balls for each. Positive poles will face out from the smaller H balls, and negative poles will face out on the larger O balls. The assembled model molecules will be elevated 4-6 feet on thin stakes stuck in the ground, adorning the waterfront in a jazzy thicket or formal row. There is a definite date and exhibition venue. I have already been accepted into Art in the Open, Schuylkill Banks, May 16-18, 2014, when I must construct my installation of H2O molecules onsite along the river during those three days. Visitors to the festival, including children, can help me create them by choosing the colorful balls from two piles, H balls and O balls, and sticking them together. The resulting installation along the riverfront will be very beautiful, funny, and educational. The education starts when people ask where the balls came from. Then we can talk about stormwater runoff, and the importance of managing the whole watershed for the health of the river. Though I've had a long career in photography, this will be my first 3D public installation. My Art Car covered with marbles is still in my back yard.

Awesome Without Borders (Inactief) – Ka Pa Hula Na Pua o Kamali'i (Houston Hula School)

2014-03-24T00:00:00Z

Last year was the first time we entered Ho'ike Hawai'i, a hula competition hosted in Orlando, Florida. We are proud to say we placed 1st or 2nd in six of the seven categories we entered! We showcased the presence of hula and Hawaiian culture as it thrives in Houston, Texas. You are welcome to see videos of last year's performances on our FB page: https://www.facebook.com/HoustonHula. (Please note that this year, we are under new leadership, so our name has changed, but the school remains the same.) We are eager to return to the competition this year and reclaim our awards. We are entering this year with even more dancers because of the energy and momentum last year's success created. This year, we plan to enter into 7 categories across hula, tahitian dancing and Hawaiian chanting. We began preparing for this year's competition shortly after returning from last year's competition because of the time needed to prepare for a competition of this stature. We have many hours of dance practice ahead of us, and even more time dedicated to creating our costumes and implements. We are also planning a variety of fundraisers - ranging from garage/yard sales to a major Hawaiian food fundraising event happening on March 29. For all of our halau members, it is just as much about the journey as it is about the end goal. We are a vibrant community and school because each of us shares this passion for hula and the Hawaiian culture. Of course, for many of us, this activity is what we do in our spare time (as if there is such a thing!) - so we decided to apply for a grant from your Awesome Foundation because we believe that we add to the awesomeness that there is in Houston!

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactief) – Design Solutions for the Elderly

2014-03-23T00:00:00Z

Cool designs for the elderly make their lives easier and better looking!

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactief) – תערוכת צילום תרפויטית של ניצולי שואה

2014-03-23T00:00:00Z

This project will fund an exhibition of photographs taken by Holocaust Survivors through the Beer Sheva branch of Amcha, a center for the rehabilitation and support of Holocaust Survivors.

Newmarket – Alexander Muir PS Eco Team

2014-03-23T00:00:00Z

We actually have 2 projects for which we would appreciate funding. One of our projects involves building container gardens, and growing vegetables in them. We used the vegetables we grew last year to make a big pot of soup that people in our school shared. Our goal is to expand our garden, and build more boxes, so that we can harvest more produce so that we can donate fresh food to the local food bank or shelters. Many families became involved with what became a community garden. We hope that such a project will encourage our families to plants vegetables in their own gardens, as they see benefits of eating locally. Our other project which we have been involved with now since we opened, involves banning the plastic disposable water bottle. Students and staff at our school are very aware of the large footprint these wasteful bottles creates, and we use only stainless steel bottles., having earned enough money now to have a filling station installed at our school, to help us fill our bottles more safe and efficiently. Our next step, is to help inform the rest of our community. Last year we painted yellow fish on storm drains, and distributed fish-shaped info to houses, telling the dangers of pouring items down storm drains. We are now in the process of creating bottle-shaped info sheets to distribute to homes, telling how tap water is safer and more environmentally friendly...not to mention economical! A third project we have undertaken, now that we have fundraised and established an outdoor classroom, is to plant more trees to provide shade. Our school, when built, had no landscaping, and no trees. We have made some improvements, but have a ways to go yet! I am unable to upload photos from this computer, but am happy to send others soon. We also were part of the Feb 10 Rogers "A Greener York" "TV Show if you would like to see more of what we do.

Toronto – LoveTO

2014-03-21T00:00:00Z

Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America. Like all big cities, people here are really quite lovely and nice, but they are too afraid to talk to each other. The resultant isolation and loneliness is a sad city phenomenon. When I moved here from my native South Africa, I was taken with how closed off and unfriendly people seemed. I couldn't make new friends and had trouble integrating with my new society. I thought I was alone until I started speaking with local people and realized that they felt the same way too. Matthew's lovebots are made from concrete to represent the concrete jungle we live in. We're all a little like Matthew's concrete robots, running on auto pilot as we go about our daily lives. These little lovebots are here to remind us to reach out, love each other and be kind. This resonates with my greenmoxie drive to get people to do one act of random kindness a day. I always get such a great response to our calls to action. Its because at heart, people want to be kind, lovely and friendly, but sometimes they just need a little nudge or a call to action. And that's what we want to give then, a little reminder that in a city of millions of people, there shouldn't be loneliness or isolation. IT TAKES A CITY TO RAISE A VILLAGE That's why we are organizing a spring picnic social. We hope that this will be the first of many social picnics that we will arrange through the summer. The rules are simple; bring a picnic and make sure your picnic blanket touches someone else's. Between us, Matthew and I can leverage a lot of support. We already have a team of dedicated volunteers who help with our current endeavors and we have the design and media savvy to launch a formidable press campaign.

Miami, FL – The Asylum Solution @ Dirt Therapy Farm

2014-03-20T00:00:00Z

With over 50,000 asylum applications to the United States filed each year, and only 126 immigration judges throughout the country, we face an overburdened immigration system. For the subset of asylum seekers who are survivors of torture, a 3-year average wait time for their applications to be processed strips them of potential for human dignity and mental health improvement. The Asylum Solution @ Dirt Therapy Farm is a social enterprise created to address the healthcare access barriers faced by torture survivors seeking asylum. Because asylum seekers, unlike refugees, are often legally prohibited from seeking employment, they are unable to access health and legal services, which aggravates the physical and mental health condition of torture survivors. Dirt Therapy projects to be a community-support agriculture farm where asylum-seeking torture survivors can benefit not only from the therapy of growing things, but also from the sales of their produce through free access to health and legal services on site. Clients will farm communally under the guidance of a farm manager, and benefit from community, while the produce is sold and revenue is invested back into operational costs of providing comprehensive mental health and legal services. Miami has a substantial population of torture survivors seeking asylum here, primarily from Colombia and Venezuela, but also, most recently, coming from Syria. This population is still invisible in many ways, and my project aims to raise awareness and integrate them here. I currently have a site donated for AS@DT by Little River, in addition to partnerships with attorneys from VIDA and private practices, who have agreed to donate pro-bono hours to my clients' complex case needs. I am in the process of writing an MoU with the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture, for them to refer clients to me, and to aid Asylum Solution with administrative procedures. AS@DT will start with a pilot, backed by Awesome Foundation!

Kingston – If Wishes Were Dresses

2014-03-20T00:00:00Z

If Wishes Were Dresses is a not-for-profit group; started in Napanee in 2011; we provide under-privileged girls in our community with the formal wear needed to attended their Graduation or Prom. Many girls would not attend these milestone functions because they do not have the appropriate attire. If Wishes Were Dresses relies on the generous donations of gently used formal wear from the community to provide to these young ladies, free of charge. We try very hard to make these girls feel as special as possible. It is not just a dress, we guarantee a dress to every girl who applies to our group; and do our absolute best to make sure that they also have shoes, accessories and appropriate undergarments for their dress. With increasing interest, this year for the 2014 Graduation and Prom season, If Wishes Were Dresses will be expanding from Napanee into Kingston.