BBN Teams showering April with service events

Foundation Beyond Belief’s Beyond Belief Network is a network of secular humanist groups volunteering in their communities and raising money for FBB’s featured charities and programs. Any group with a public secular humanist or atheist identity is welcome to join, regardless of experience or group size.

Corpus Christi Atheists in Corpus Christi, TX arranged Easter baskets for children currently being sheltered at the Women's Shelter of South Texas. They collected over $500 worth of candy and toys. Corpus Christi Atheists have also reached BBN Level One!

Another Beyond Belief Network team that’s recently hit BBN Level One is Fellowship of Freethought Dallas. Fellowship of Freethought Dallas prepared their monthly meal for the Supper Club program of AIDS Services of Dallas. AIDS Services of Dallas is a 501(c)3 organization that provides medically supportive housing to low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS. The Supper Club program provides residents with a hot, nutritious, home-cooked meal every night. This month, the team prepared a belated St. Patrick's Day themed meal. The team also participated in their bi-monthly Adopt-a-Highway cleanup. For the third month in a row, Fellowship of Freethought Dallas has collected feminine hygiene supplies at the team’s monthly women’s group meetup. These products  are donated to a local homeless shelter.   

Members of Springfield Skeptics, a recent addition to Beyond Belief Network, volunteered at one of the community gardens in Springfield, MO. They worked in the grass garden portion performing tasks including mulching, weeding, pruning, digging and splitting plants, and fertilizing.

Humanist Alliance Philippines, International (HAPI) wrapped up the fourth "Feeding sa Riles", a HAPI bimonthly nutritional campaign they've launched to help underfed and economically challenged children in Alabang, Philippines. "Ilaya", the name of the neighborhood, serves as their adopted community. HAPI feeds over 200 children and teaches them useful skills. For the fourth campaign, they've taught the children basic gardening skills and assessed their height and weight. Unfortunately, most of them are undernourished and underweight. For the fifth Feeding sa Riles held later this month, HAPI will be focusing on soil cultivation and container gardening.

Three Central Ohio United Non-Theists (COUNT) volunteers worked as Housewarmers last month at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Columbus, Ohio. RMH provides housing and meals to families with children being treated at Nationwide Childrens Hospital and other area hospitals. Housewarmers work with guests to provide a home-like environment. Their duties include greeting guests, assisting with a family’s needs, answering phones, giving tours, assisting with check-in/checkout, preparing guest rooms after checkout, cleaning the facility, doing laundry, restocking supplies and staffing the front desk. Their ten Housewarmers have contributed 519.5 hours to date.

Six volunteers from Upstate Atheists participated in an Adopt-a-Highway cleanup. They spent approximately three hours removing garbage on Blackstock Rd. in Spartanburg, SC.

Four members of Siouxland Freethinkers, based in Sioux Falls, ND, volunteered at the Washington Pavilion's Design Challenge. This annual event "aims to motivate and inspire innovation in students through a hands-on engineering challenge." It is free for student groups age Pre-K through High School, and encourages students to utilize elements of science, technology, engineering, and math. The volunteers acted as judges, helped reset the on-site portion of the challenge, worked at the registration desk, and had a lot of fun encouraging the next generation of scientists and engineers!

Don’t forget! It’s not too late to start planning your community service event for Week of Action now! Just like last year, you'll be able to register your Week of Action service event on the Week of Action website, and we'll help get the word out about all the great volunteering opportunities. For inspiration, check out some of last year's events. Whether or not you observe the National Day of Prayer or Reason, spend the last week of April acting.

If you are a member of a secular humanist or atheist group and would like to participate in community service projects under the national umbrella of Foundation Beyond Belief, join Beyond Belief Network. We welcome all atheist groups interested in service, from groups with extensive volunteer experience to newly formed groups new to secular service. By aggregating our efforts, we demonstrate that all we really need is charity and goodness to make the world a better place.