Beyond Belief Network teams give time and effort to respective communities

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.

Each year, The Banquet, a Sioux Falls food bank, collects school supplies to distribute to children in need. This marks the fourth year Siouxland Freethinkers has participated in this collection drive. The team collected 643 items, including 177 spiral notebooks and 138 folders.

Three Central Ohio United Non-Theists (COUNT) volunteers worked as Housewarmers a total of 22.7 hours in July 2014 at the Columbus Ohio Ronald McDonald House (RMH). RMH provides housing and meals to families with children being treated at Nationwide Childrens Hospital and other area hospitals. Housewarmers work with the guests to provide a home-like environment. Their duties include greeting guests, assisting with family needs, answering phones, giving tours, assisting with check-in/checkout, preparing guest rooms after checkout, cleaning the facility, laundry, restocking supplies and staffing the front desk. Their nine Housewarmers try to volunteer for at least one four-hour shift a month and have contributed 336 hours to date. In the photo the team added to their event report, COUNT members Dave N., Brian C. and Dan H. posed with a Budweiser Clydesdale at Ronald McDonald House. The Budweiser crew took a break from the Ohio State Fair to visit Ronald McDonald House during COUNT's shift on August 3, 2014.

Fellowship of Freethought Dallas participated in a school supplies drive hosted by Community Partners of Dallas. They collected enough supplies to fill a car trunk!

South Jersey Humanists' community food garden is winding down as fall approaches. They delivered 43 pounds of produce to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. The Southern Branch of CFNJ is anticipating greater need in the near future with the anticipated closure of four casinos in Atlantic City.

Austin Atheists Helping the Homeless had another successful donation drive and giveaway.

Between July 21-August 17, ATXAHH collected over $5,000 in cash and tangible donations to provide basic living supplies to people who are homeless in Downtown Austin. That's a new collection record for this team! In addition to this, the ATXAHH Gettin' Knotty knitting guild produced 54 handmade washcloths for the August giveaway. Nineteen of these washcloths came from a youth volunteer who solicited help from her friends. They also had received washcloths from New York. The current donated count is 220 washcloths. That's about 16,830 yards of yarn used and 165+ hours volunteered in four months! Upcoming gatherings will focus on adding knitted scarves and hats for giveaways held in the winter months. During the giveaway, on August 17, 2014, 32 volunteers distributed basic living supplies to 125 people who are homeless. Everything was gone in under an hour.

In another note, ATXAHH is celebrating its fifth year serving people who are homeless in Downtown Austin. Starting September 1st, their Facebook and Twitter feeds will feature flashbacks of past giveaways, answer some common questions about what they do, and celebrate their fifth anniversary.

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.