Greetings from Salisbury Maryland!

One of the faces of Salisbury, Md. US

At this month's 3rd Friday, our MiM Volunteers kicked off their participation in the Sister Cities International program, sharing photos with students in Tartu, Estonia.
When we first considered the program there were a coupe of things we needed to do. The first was to create, not an anonymous account but rather a group one. Several students use the same account at the same time. The idea is to give the students a level of protection and also allow the Foundation to retain some control over what they're posting.
The other thing we needed to do was to reach out to Estonia, which, as it turned out, was easier than one might think. We got in touch with +Jaan Übi, an Estonian from the Tartu region who is a visiting professor at Salisbury University. He was able to coordinate with some students in Tartu and help them set up their own Instagram accounts. He also came up with the hashtag #Maarjamaa (which is "Maryland" in Estonian) so the project photos would be easily searchable.
From there, we selected a kick-off date of Oct. 17 (which was the monthly 3rd Friday arts event in Downtown Salisbury. Then we just cut some of the kids loose with instructions to take photos of all the festivities.
As it turns out, Instagram photos aren't easy to import here. Instead, I used photos my daughter took with my phone. If you're interested in following the +Sister Cities International  digital pen pal program we've initiated, follow @SalisburyMiM and @TartuSalisbury on instagram. Please consider liking and sharing the kids' photos. If you take a photo of Salisbury's downtown and want to share it with our Estonian friends, please tag us and use the #Maarjamaa hashtag to help promote a better connection between the youth of our Sister City.
We also use #GetMiMvolved for many of our social interactions, if you want to search that hashtag for our other projects, we'd love to stay in touch.

MiM Marketing Plan

Worm Promos

In preparation for the Sept. 14, 2013 grand opening of the Salisbury Zoo Vermiculture exhibit, Foundation in Human Potential founder Kiya Safai and zoo representative Taylor Whitehair had a promotional appearance on Delmarva Life. The next day, the folks at Great Scott Broadcasting were kind enough to have Kiya on two of their radio shows, The Hip Hop Coffee Shop and the Worst Show Ever on OC104 and 93.5 The Beach respectively, to promote the event.

Worm Compost Event Announced

*** MiM is holding a logo design contest for our upcoming event. The design must be 10x10, black and white. For more information contact Tony Russo.

MiM Will partner with Home Depot, The Good Farm, the Salisbury Zoological Park and its support group, the Delmarva Zoological Society, to sponsor a permanent educational exhibit at the Salisbury Zoo.

Over the past three decades, recycling has gone from a fringe activity to a matter of civic responsibility. Increasingly, households are adding composting to their recycling regimen. Worm composting is an environmentally friendly, odor-free way households can dispose of biodegradable refuse.

As part of participating in the national Make a Difference Day event, MiM and its partners will establish a worm composting display at the zoo and provide at least 100 children with compost boxes to bring home. About 20 MiM Youth Volunteers will conceive and construct a plexiglass structure that will allow visitors to see the worms in action as they turn garbage into dirt. In addition to learning how to build a large worm composting container, the youth volunteers will be trained in how to construct one for in kitchen use. Small “under the sink” compost boxes can be made from shoebox-sized plastic containers. By learning how to put the smaller ones together the MiM Youth Volunteers will be able to show others how.

MiM volunteers also will produce signs to go along with the worm composting display. The signs will tell visitors how composting works and how they can make their own at home.

Another component of the Make a Difference Day event will be a how-to video produced by MiM volunteers. The video, which will cover how to build both a large and a small worm compost container, will be posted on YouTube and the web address as well as a QR code will be included in the signage.

The event will be 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Salisbury Zoo and will include recurring demonstrations on how to build your own compost box performed by MiM volunteers.

This project was inspired by the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore’s Volunteer Academy and the Foundation’s suggestion we might participate in the national Make a Difference Day event.

About MiM

The Make it Matter Movement (MiM) is a national youth movement organized by the nonprofit, Foundation in Human Potential. MiM creates a culture in which skilled youth embrace community service in their areas of expertise, in which a young business professional helps a college sophomore guide a nonprofit through the steps of developing a marketing plan. Youth should be infected with the community service bug early on. They can learn how to maximize their will to volunteer with doing the most good. They can be taught to take their gift, whatever it happens to be, and Make it Matter in their community.

MiM teaches community stewardship, volunteerism, and philanthropy to the next generation while meeting the critical needs of grassroots organizations for volunteers with enthusiasm and youthful purpose for change. It accomplishes this by partnering with like-minded organizations, building a database of the help nonprofits need, and connecting them with skilled individuals to support administrative, marketing, public relations, events planning, and the enthusiastic hands of MiM volunteers.

The Foundation In Human Potential

Serving the disadvantaged and the youth by providing resources, guidance, and support for grass roots organizations; expanding their programs and services to set a strong Foundation in Human Potential

 

 

 

The Foundation in Human Potential accomplishes this by sponsored programs:

• To serve as a resource to grassroots organizations serving the disadvantaged and the youth by providing resources, guidance, and support for service providers, and to help these organizations expand their programs and services.


• To serve as a catalyst and to advance causes serving the homeless, the disabled, economically disadvantaged and at-risk youths.


• To provide economically disadvantaged and at-risk youths with educational opportunities, and scholarship funds for higher education


• To facilitate the building of college preparatory schools for economically disadvantaged and at-risk youths


• To devise programs to advance educational practices in mathematics and sciences (STEM), as well as medicine, social sciences and arts and humanities


• To find innovative ways to support and promote youth volunteerism through the Make it Matter Movement

 

MiM Professional Facilitators

Young Professionals groups, such as those sponsored by chambers of commerce, don’t always have the time or energy to organize, but will participate in both volunteer efforts and take particular direction.

MiM Professional Facilitators are young professionals who still hope to participate in community service, either as part of their vocation or from an innate need to participate. Many professional associations encourage or even demand an accounting of public service. Through the Foundation In Human Potential, MiM will provide young professionals the opportunity and the guidance to participate in the larger community in a meaningful way.

Most critically, Professional Facilitators will be partnered with Campus Partners in a mentor-mentee relationship. They will act as advisors to and encouragers of like-minded college students who seek to eventually enter the professional world as full partners in civic life.

Professional Facilitators also will have access to other volunteer opportunities and be the first line recruiters for adult participation in the MiM Mobs.