Search results for: Beyond Belief Network Teams

By Elizabeth Minutello, Beyond Belief Network intern

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. In January, BBN observed National Mentoring Month and encouraged teams to forge mentoring relationships with young adults or other secular humanist groups.

Four times a year, Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry (SHL) choose a local charity as their Charity of the Quarter. After asking members for donations, SHL raised $655 for their most recent Charity of the Quarter, Charleston Animal Society. SHL also removed litter from their Adopt-a-Highway section, a two-mile stretch of Harborview Road on James Island, in mud and rain. With ten volunteers, this team collected twelve bags of trash.

One of the newest additions to Beyond Belief Network is off to a promising start. Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation Community Service collected food for local food pantries. 

After seeing that many residents in a local senior living center were in need of food and funds, Dogma Debate LLC started a fundraiser. Through their podcast, Dogma Debate’s call for action was heard by listeners within the community. Their efforts resulted in 471 donations totaling $3,093.33, which will feed and provide toiletries for all of the seniors for over a year. Dogma Debate is ecstatic that they were able to exceed their initial goal and promote a positive image of the atheist community.

The weather was warm and welcoming for Southern Maryland Secular Humanists when they cleaned their Adopt-a-Highway section of Route 5 in Lexington Park, MD. In four hours, they collected twelve bags of trash.

Five Central Ohio United Non-Theists (COUNT) members volunteered as housewarmers in January, working a total of 40.5 hours at the Columbus Ronald McDonald House (RMH). Last year, COUNT volunteers worked a total of 141.5 hours at RMH. RMH provides housing and meals to families with children being treated at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as well as other area hospitals. Housewarmers work with guests to provide a home-like environment. Among their duties, housewarmers greet, assist with a family’s needs, answer phones, give tours, assist with check-in/checkout, prepare guest rooms after checkout, clean the facility, do laundry, restock supplies, and staff the front desk. COUNT members try to volunteer as housewarmers for at least one four-hour shift a month.

Ethics in Action recently volunteered at Lydia’s House, an organization that provides housing for women and children survivors of domestic abuse for up to two years. Volunteers sorted donations received over the holidays for use by the families. They also removed unwanted materials in the basement and cleaned the laundry room.

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.

By Elizabeth Dorssom

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. In January, BBN is observing National Mentoring Month and encouraging teams to forge mentoring relationships with young adults or other secular humanist groups.

Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry volunteered at the Lowcountry Food Bank, a clearinghouse for donated food items that serves 10 counties in coastal South Carolina. During the three hours they volunteered, team members unpacked seven pallets of mixed food donations and inspected for expiration dates and potential damage to food containers. They also sorted the food into new boxes by category, sealed the boxes, and loaded them onto pallets.

Secular Hub volunteers went door to door with Groundwork Denver on MLK day, changing porch light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. Volunteers also handed out coupons for free trees and free recycling services. They also passed out educational materials about energy usage, making this an event that covered three categories: education, poverty, and the environment! Beyond Belief Network staff are currently exploring ways to expand this program to the rest of our teams.

Flagstaff Freethinkers also celebrated MLK day by putting together a community-wide day of service, which was covered on the FBB blog earlier this week.

Ethics in Action recently held a blood drive for the Red Cross. The Red Cross of America is always in need of blood donations, and 27 people were willing to give. Donors were invited to schedule a time when they could come in during this event, with information given about other ways to help if they were unable to donate at the time. All in all, there were 22 successful donations!

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 show the world that all we really need is charity and goodness to make the world a better place.

Are you a member of a humanist, atheist, or freethought group (or a podcast, blog, or online forum)? Are you interested in volunteering in your local community, helping others in the humanist community, joining the humanist response to a crisis, or fundraising for charities? Could you use help finding, planning, and funding service activities?

Join Beyond Belief Network today! We provide assistance and perks to encourage groups of humanists to serve their communities. For teams new to service, we offer advice, detailed event guides, and ideas for service. More experienced teams can join and receive grants, free T-shirts, awards, and recognition for the work they already do.

If your team joins by December 31, you will qualify for free T-shirts with your team’s logo and grants for service activities, and you’ll be eligible for the second annual Heart of Humanism awards, to be presented at FBB’s Humanism at Work conference in Chicago next July. Any teams, new or old, are also eligible for a bonus drawing to receive a signed book from Dale McGowan or Chris Stedman. Teams will receive one entry per event report submitted through January 15, 2014.

All you need to do to qualify is fill out the application, and when you receive the welcome email, you have until January 15, 2014, to submit reports detailing every service activity your group has done in 2013!

By Elizabeth Dorrsom

Join a Beyond Belief Network team near you as they do good this holiday season!

Dogma Debate is collecting money to benefit Seagoville Senior Center. Due to government shutdown and an overwhelmed local food bank, the Senior Center was nearly unable to feed 60 seniors in desperate need of at least one healthy meal daily. A $3 donation feeds a senior citizen in need for an entire week! To donate, visit www.dogmadebate.com and click “Donate” in the upper-right-hand corner. Dallas, TX-area residents are also encouraged to volunteer with the Dogma Debate crew. For information, please email Dogma Debate’s outreach director.

Secular Hub is hosting a Bead for Life party on December 14. Their efforts help impoverished Ugandan women become self-supporting by marketing their handmade beaded jewelry. This event is free and all of the jewelry is available for purchase. If you live close to Denver, Colorado, follow this link for more information!

Humanist Community of Central Ohio (HCCO) is holding a Holiday Red Cross Blood Drive on December 17. Columbus, OH, residents are encouraged to donate blood or volunteer to help with check-ins and the snack area.

By Elizabeth Dorssom

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. Our teams have been hard at work in November putting their compassionate humanism to work. During November, BBN observed Hunger Awareness Month, and in December we are encouraging everyone to keep toy safety in mind when making holiday purchases for children.

November Team of the Month Fellowship of Freethought Dallas teamed up with David Smalley of Dogma Debate to host a Cocktails for a Cause event for the Seagoville Senior Center. The Senior Center provides many seniors with their only healthy meal each day and is in desperate need of funds. FoF Dallas plans to donate a $150 award from FBB to the center in addition to the $250 raised at the event. They also hosted a mini Thanksgiving meal for the teens at Youth First Texas, complete with turkey, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes. Some of the teens do not have families to go to or do not feel comfortable attending family gatherings, which makes the family-style meals even more important to them.

The Humanist Community of Ventura County volunteered with Heal the Bay as part of their monthly Beach Cleanup in Pacific Palisades, CA. Heal the Bay is a local nonprofit dedicated to making southern California’s coastal waters and watersheds safe, healthy, and clean. For two hours HCVC walked the beach with buckets and gloves picking up any and all trash they could find. HCVC was also educated about what drains from their local communities into the oceans and how dangerous that can be to the environment. Being no strangers to hard work, they also joined the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA), the Santa Monica Trails Council, and other volunteers for the 23nd Annual COSCA Trailwork Day. HCVC worked on new trails in the Conejo Canyons Open Space that are accessible because of a new bridge.

Finally, they volunteered at Sunday Assembly of Los Angeles and modeled their brand-new BBN gear featuring our brand-new logo! Sunday Assembly of Los Angeles is a new godless community that meets monthly to hear great talks, connect for service projects, sing songs, and generally celebrate life. Assemblies are free to attend, and everyone is welcome. HCVC brought nine volunteers to help with set-up, check-in, greeting, ushering, donation collection, service project signups, food distribution, and cleanup. Sunday Assembly of Los Angeles had more than 400 people in attendance, and the event was a huge success!

FreeOK took Hunger Awareness month to heart by collecting non-perishable food items for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma during a recent blood drive. Twenty-eight people donated blood, and 100 pounds of food were collected. The event also served as the first official drop location for Humanist Gifting Project contributions. This innovative project allowed needy children nominated from the community to make wish lists, which FreeOK staff turned into Amazon wish lists. Members were able to bring in toys, “adopt a child,” and purchase toys directly from Amazon. Kai Tancredi of FreeOK reported that as of Monday, 100% of the children in the program had been adopted by generous donors! In addition, FreeOK returned to their original work site for their Oklahoma Tornado Disaster Response project at Steelman Estates to assist with the tent city that has sprouted up since their last venture there in May. They organized overflow donations that could not be put in the limited warehouse space, sorted a 35-foot moving truck full of donated clothing, and put together care packages of clothing items to be distributed to local women’s and children’s shelters and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of OKC.

Central Ohio United Non-Theists held their 2nd Annual Flying Spaghetti Monster Benefit Dinner. The dinner topped last year, with 76 pounds of food collected at the event and more than $2,000 raised for the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. Volunteers from several local atheist and freethought groups entertained and fed more than 120 guests. Their fun-filled event featured a raffle and silent auction of items donated by 21 area businesses, artists, and individuals. COUNT handled project management and post-event activity, made jewelry for the silent auction and raffle, and were represented by nine volunteers at the event. COUNT only recently reached 100 members, making it a prime example of what newly formed groups are capable of!

Ethics in Action recently helped Voices for Children in setting up a giving tree for the upcoming holidays in their local Whole Foods market. Voices for Children advocates for abused and neglected children and youth in St. Louis by representing their best interests in court and in the community. Volunteers spent most of their time preparing the ornaments, which double as gift wish tags. Shoppers collect tags and later return to Whole Foods with gifts for the children. The initiative has helped make the holidays brighter for nearly 600 kids in foster care over the past decade.

Secular Hub sorted medical supplies for Project C.U.R.E. in their first month of BBN membership. Project C.U.R.E. collects medical supplies and equipment from hospitals and other medical facilities and ships them to clinics and hospitals in poor countries, where the supplies are desperately needed.

Northern Arizona University’s Secular Student Alliance recently volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. NAU SSA members assisted with cleaning and painting the home of a local resident.

North Florida Atheists volunteered at Dignity U Wear to fold clothes that help out less fortunate families and kids. Dignity U Wear gives new clothing to schools and nonprofit agencies to serve those in need. Every North Florida Atheists member in attendance also brought canned goods to support their local Second Harvest Food Bank.

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 show the world that all we really need is charity and goodness to make the world a better place.

By Elizabeth Dorssom

Foundation Beyond Belief’s Beyond Belief Network is a network of secular humanist groups interested in volunteering in their communities (Volunteers Beyond Belief) and raising money for FBB and its beneficiaries (FBB Partners Program). September has arrived, so it’s time to take a look back at the amazing service projects our BBN teams carried out during August.

The St. Louis-based group Ethics in Action repacked and sorted food at the St. Louis Food Bank (pictured below). Over the three hours they spent volunteering, Ethics in Action was able to pack 816 boxes, 26,928 pounds of food, and provide 21,982 meals for St. Louis residents. Children of Ethics in Action members were also able to be involved in this event by collapsing used cardboard materials.

Pennsylvania Nonbelievers spent their summer staffing the snack bar at York Revolution Minor League home baseball games. Instead of accepting payment for their work, the Pennsylvania Nonbelievers decided to instead donate the proceeds to the Margaret Moul Home for cerebral palsy patients. Along with other volunteers, they donated more than $3,000. Next Friday, they’ll finish up the season with their eighth home game.

Flagstaff Freethinkers participated in the American Cancer Society’s Climb to Conquer Cancer. Seventeen freethinkers hiked through beautiful mountain scenery, and their hike ended in a festival to celebrate cancer survivors. The Flagstaff Freethinkers team raised $2,200.

The Humanist Community of Ventura County was extremely busy this summer. They cleaned up a classroom for Nature and Nurture, a secular preschool program (pictured below). After two hours, the windows were cleaned, spiders evicted, main door fixed, books organized, and furniture cleaned. In early August, The Humanist Community of Ventura also hosted their fifth blood drive to fill the inventory of their local blood bank, United Blood Services. They also picked up litter and cleared trails near the Ventura River. The Ventura Hillside Conservancy recently purchased the land, and HCVC is assisting the Conservancy to create trails and a wildlife restoration project.

North Florida Atheists (pictured below) sorted and folded clothes for Dignity U Wear. Dignity U Wear distributes dignity in the form of brand-new clothing. In order to maximize impact, the clothing is given in preparation for important events such as the first day of school or a job interview.

Humanists of Houston packed a total of 455 boxes for the Houston Food Bank. Despite working in a room with only partial air conditioning, the Humanists of Houston were able to provide 11, 375 meals as a result of this volunteer opportunity.

Are you a member of a secular humanist group and want to help your community, raise awareness of nonbelievers doing good deeds, and connect with other service-oriented groups? Ask your team to join Beyond Belief Network! BBN staff can help you achieve your service goals and, as you submit event reports, your team will qualify for free t-shirts and the opportunity to apply for grants.

Foundation Beyond Belief’s Beyond Belief Network is a network of secular humanist groups interested in volunteering (Volunteers Beyond Belief) and raising money for FBB and our beneficiaries (Foundation Partners Program). BBN teams were busy this June, putting their compassionate humanism to work and showing how good we can be without god.

The New Orleans Secular Humanist Association had two very successful events in June, first assisting with a historic preservation project called Save Our Cemeteries, which preserves and protects the historic cemeteries of New Orleans, and fosters a public appreciation for their historical, cultural, and architectural value. NOSHA volunteers cut back palm trees, removed invasive ferns from fragile tombs, and cleared broken marble fragments from the Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery.

In addition, NOSHA held a food drive at their annual Summer Solstice Picnic. By the end of the day more than 85 pounds of food had been donated to the local food bank!

Following the tragedies of the tornados in May that ravaged Moore, OK, and many surrounding areas, humanists across the country are still showing their drive to give back and help those in need. The organizers of FreeOK, an annual freethought convention held in Oklahoma City, decided to hold a literacy drive to collect books for the affected schools. They gathered 318 books! In addition, the Coweta County Atheists were busy collecting donations of items needed in the devastated areas.

The members of Siouxland Freethinkers have spent the past 2-1/2 months raising funds for Autism Speaks. They cumulatively raised $6,000 for autism research and advocacy. For their efforts, they were awarded by Autism Speaks in two categories: for being South Dakota’s top fundraising team this year, AND for having the top fundraising individual in the state. Congratulations to the Siouxland Freethinkers for their efforts! Siouxland FreeThinkers also took part in their bi-annual highway cleanup, helping to keep a stretch of highway pristine.

The Humanists of Rhode Island continued their tradition of supporting LGBTQ rights by hosting a table at RI Pride, an illuminated nighttime parade, at which they distributed freethought literature from AHA, SSA, and FFRF. They also distributed condoms provided by Planned Parenthood.

The Humanists of Houston also took part in a walk and prayer vigil following a tragic murder in Providence, RI. They attended in solidarity with those who wish to take a stand against senseless violence in our communities—as nonbelievers, but part of the community.

Member of a secular humanist group? Want to help your community, raise awareness of nonbelievers doing good, and connect with other service-oriented groups? Ask your team to join Beyond Belief Network! BBN staff can help you achieve your service goals and, as you submit event reports, your team will qualify for free t-shirts and the opportunity to apply for grants!

Congratulations to Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) Non-Theists, Humanists of Houston, and Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry for reaching Level One of the Beyond Belief Network for having at least four service activities in 2013. Additionally, Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry are one volunteer event away from reaching Level Two! Quite a few other groups are close to Level One status, including Fellowship of Freethought Dallas, Siouxland Freethinkers, and Secular Student Alliance at the University of South Carolina.

If your team is already a member of Beyond Belief Network, remind your BBN liaison or volunteer coordinator to submit reports about your service activities (see the Volunteers Beyond Belief or Foundation Partners Program pages to see what qualifies)! If your team isn’t already a BBN team, consider joining our active network of service groups. We can help your local social group start volunteering, get your Light The Night team engaged in other community events, and give your experienced service team grants, t-shirts, and opportunities to mentor newer teams! For more information, contact Brittany, Beyond Belief Network coordinator.