It's a great thing when you get a chance to give back to the community that you are a part of. Whether its publicity for the organization through re-tweets or messages, some volunteer time or just a quick financial donation, you are doing so much to help the world that you love. It helps define who you are and what you are passionate about. And it shows true growth. You can now not only love yourself, but love countless others. I enjoy being part of many communities and give to many different causes. My dream is to save the world. And I think giving to the community is a great start.
Get Up, Give Back is a program that will be in my first non-profit organization, Big Hearts. The idea is simple: Each month, two participants are tasked with working out. Each day, they report what they did. For each reported day, they receive $2.50 for the organization of their choice. At the end of the month, I will donate that amount to the charity. It’s a win-win situation. They win for working out. The charity wins by getting a donation.
I wanted to give you an update of this month’s progress, as we get started for the September challenge.
1. Dave LeBlanc - Primary Get Up, Give Back Reporting - Walking Distance
2. Bethany Vale - Primary Get Up, Give Back Reporting - Calories Burned
As of 8/22/11, Dave has walked approximately 50 miles so far! He has already raised $35 for the American Heart Association!
As of 8/22/11, Bethany has burned 57,000 calories! She has already raised $45 for the ASPCA!
Additional activities that they have also done include: stair-climbing, yard work, house-cleaning, exercising and even dancing!
I'm so proud of them. We are in the home stretch this week. Between the two of them, they have done so much for themselves and also are preparing for making a nice donation to their causes.
It's a honor for them to represent Big Hearts! They are taking their health into their own hands and also getting a chance to help out some wonderful organizations. I'm so glad that they are not waiting until tomorrow to make a difference to themselves and the world today!
I'll do a final report at the end of the month, when also introducting September's participants!
I'll leave you tonight with a parting thought: You are a product of your beliefs, wisdom and experience. Turn that product into a wise investment for others to enjoy. That's the way to live and love in life.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Get Up, Give Back - August 2011 (Welcome Dave and Bethany!)
Welcome to the August Get Up, Give Back Challenge!
I'm so excited that this is finally here and we get a chance to change the world. Here's the background of the challenge I created, for those that are new to the blog:
About a year ago, I auditioned for NBC's Biggest Loser. While I did not get cast, I began to think, "I might as well save the world before I get cast. And when that time comes, I'll just be even more ready to save the world." So, out of that experience, I started a dream. I have a dream of starting a non-profit organization called Big Hearts.
This organization will assist through advocacy and wellness to help those that are needy of financial assistance, supplies and clothes. While I complete the paperwork process, I wanted to find a way to not only improve my health, but also have others do the same, while all finding a way to give back to the community. From that dream, Get Up, Give Back was born.
I'm not a rich man. I have many things going on in my life, including an ailing family, job transferring and the ever-lasting battle for human equal rights. But, I always feel that you should pay it forward. You should always do something good for you and also for someone else.
Get Up, Give Back is simple. I pick 2 Twitter friends (I don't like the word "follwers") that want to participate. During the month they are assigned, we have a task: Work out. That's it. Just work out each day. Go running, jogging, hit up a gym, do weights, walk the dog, complete a nature walk, do yardwork. Just something that makes us more fit. They tweet me daily to let me know where they are at. I track the days. At the end of the month, I tally up the workout tweets and for each day, they are given $2.50. The total is then donated to the charity of their choice.
So, we get healthy, save ourselves and save others at the same time. It costs them nothing but time to work out. I don't have tons of cash, but I do have a heart of gold. This is how you pay it foward. This is doing something finally bigger than me. I'm so glad you've decided to join me for this journey! Let's do this! TIME TO GET UP, GIVE BACK!
Let's meet this month's participants!
1. Dave LeBlanc
Twitter Handle: @davel424
Charity: American Heart Association
About the Charity: The American Heart Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke." The American Heart Association publishes a standard for providing basic and advanced life support, including standards for proper performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The AHA offers the most widely accepted certification for basic life support (BLS). The AHA is now also a provider of training for first aid, in addition to CPR.
2. Bethany Vale
Twitter Handle: @Bethany330
Charity: ASPCA
About the Charity: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing cruelty towards animals. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States." Additionally, the ASPCA provides relief services for the domestic animal victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, where the National Outreach department collected donations to provide supplies; coordinated volunteer efforts; deployed rescue teams to recover abandoned pets; provided temporary shelter to displaced animals; and reunited pets with their owners.
3. Jase Davila
Twitter Handle: @houstonJase
Charity: It Gets Better Project
About the Charity: It Gets Better is an Internet-based project founded by Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller on September 21, 2010, in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas and a number of other teenagers who were bullied because they were gay or because their peers suspected that they were gay, such as Raymond Chase, Tyler Clementi, Ryan Halligan, Asher Brown, and Seth Walsh. Its goal is to prevent suicide among LGBT youth by having gay adults convey the message that these teens' lives will improve.The project has grown rapidly: over 200 videos were uploaded in the first week, and the project's YouTube channel reached the 650 video limit in the next week. The project is now organized on its own website, the It Gets Better Project, and includes more than 22,000 entries from people of all sexual orientations, including many celebrities. A book of essays from the project was released in March 2011. It Gets Better is a beneficiary of The Trevor Project and GLSEN.
Well, those are our participants for this month. Wish them luck as they do something very awesome. They are changing the world. And themselves. Today is the end of day one, and each of us have done a work-out. That's $2.50 for everyone! Look for more updates and testimonies as the month continues!
Here's to Dave and Bethany! They have the eye of the tiger! Good luck and thank you for deciding to Get Up, Give Back!
I'm so excited that this is finally here and we get a chance to change the world. Here's the background of the challenge I created, for those that are new to the blog:
About a year ago, I auditioned for NBC's Biggest Loser. While I did not get cast, I began to think, "I might as well save the world before I get cast. And when that time comes, I'll just be even more ready to save the world." So, out of that experience, I started a dream. I have a dream of starting a non-profit organization called Big Hearts.
This organization will assist through advocacy and wellness to help those that are needy of financial assistance, supplies and clothes. While I complete the paperwork process, I wanted to find a way to not only improve my health, but also have others do the same, while all finding a way to give back to the community. From that dream, Get Up, Give Back was born.
I'm not a rich man. I have many things going on in my life, including an ailing family, job transferring and the ever-lasting battle for human equal rights. But, I always feel that you should pay it forward. You should always do something good for you and also for someone else.
Get Up, Give Back is simple. I pick 2 Twitter friends (I don't like the word "follwers") that want to participate. During the month they are assigned, we have a task: Work out. That's it. Just work out each day. Go running, jogging, hit up a gym, do weights, walk the dog, complete a nature walk, do yardwork. Just something that makes us more fit. They tweet me daily to let me know where they are at. I track the days. At the end of the month, I tally up the workout tweets and for each day, they are given $2.50. The total is then donated to the charity of their choice.
So, we get healthy, save ourselves and save others at the same time. It costs them nothing but time to work out. I don't have tons of cash, but I do have a heart of gold. This is how you pay it foward. This is doing something finally bigger than me. I'm so glad you've decided to join me for this journey! Let's do this! TIME TO GET UP, GIVE BACK!
Let's meet this month's participants!
1. Dave LeBlanc
Twitter Handle: @davel424
Charity: American Heart Association
About the Charity: The American Heart Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke." The American Heart Association publishes a standard for providing basic and advanced life support, including standards for proper performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The AHA offers the most widely accepted certification for basic life support (BLS). The AHA is now also a provider of training for first aid, in addition to CPR.
2. Bethany Vale
Twitter Handle: @Bethany330
Charity: ASPCA
About the Charity: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing cruelty towards animals. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States." Additionally, the ASPCA provides relief services for the domestic animal victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, where the National Outreach department collected donations to provide supplies; coordinated volunteer efforts; deployed rescue teams to recover abandoned pets; provided temporary shelter to displaced animals; and reunited pets with their owners.
3. Jase Davila
Twitter Handle: @houstonJase
Charity: It Gets Better Project
About the Charity: It Gets Better is an Internet-based project founded by Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller on September 21, 2010, in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas and a number of other teenagers who were bullied because they were gay or because their peers suspected that they were gay, such as Raymond Chase, Tyler Clementi, Ryan Halligan, Asher Brown, and Seth Walsh. Its goal is to prevent suicide among LGBT youth by having gay adults convey the message that these teens' lives will improve.The project has grown rapidly: over 200 videos were uploaded in the first week, and the project's YouTube channel reached the 650 video limit in the next week. The project is now organized on its own website, the It Gets Better Project, and includes more than 22,000 entries from people of all sexual orientations, including many celebrities. A book of essays from the project was released in March 2011. It Gets Better is a beneficiary of The Trevor Project and GLSEN.
Well, those are our participants for this month. Wish them luck as they do something very awesome. They are changing the world. And themselves. Today is the end of day one, and each of us have done a work-out. That's $2.50 for everyone! Look for more updates and testimonies as the month continues!
Here's to Dave and Bethany! They have the eye of the tiger! Good luck and thank you for deciding to Get Up, Give Back!
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