Beyond Belief Network teams end 2014 with a bang

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.

It’s a new year and we are excited to see what kind of positive impact each Beyond Belief Network team will have on their community! As a reminder to all teams, BBN levels renew on an annual basis. Every January, each team returns to Level 0, but will have the opportunity to level up, with all the associated perks (such as t-shirts and grants). Beyond Belief Network had five Level 3 teams in 2014, and we hope to see more teams reach our highest BBN level.

For a second year, Lehigh Valley Humanists volunteered to feed local homeless, disadvantaged, and shut-ins on Christmas Day. Foundation Beyond Belief's 2014 Most Valuable Volunteer winner, John Giovanni Landi, used his restaurant and staff to prepare hundreds of free meals. LVH volunteers helped pack, serve, and deliver the meals. Even a local paper covered the event.

In mid-December, several members of the Central New York Humanist Association met at Destiny USA to wrap holiday gifts in support of Vera House – a local organization offering support to those affected by domestic violence. They taped and curled ribbon for three hours and had a fantastic time supporting a great cause.

In November, after becoming inspired by a story of a local homeless woman who died during a cold snap, several members of Siouxland Freethinkers spontaneously organized a coat and clothing drive. Over thirty coats were collected and donated to Volunteers of America. At their December meeting, Siouxland Freethinkers collected about three dozen new toys and games that were later donated to Children's Inn, a local non-profit that provides services for women and children who are victims of family violence, abuse, assault, and neglect. Siouxland Freethinkers also participated in a community-wide event called Project Warm-Up, making fleece blankets. The blankets are distributed to children in need through local schools and social workers. The team thinks they made between eight and twelve blankets over the course of the event. They reached Level Two in 2014.

Minnesota Atheists provided ingredients for and cooked a meal for twenty homeless adults and children at the Family Place, a shelter in St. Paul, MN. They ended 2014 as a Level Three team.

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.