Search results for: humanism

We received more than 1,500 votes for the Heart of Humanism Best Photo and Best Article awards. Thank you for your votes!

For Best Article, Valley Skeptics in the Park won with a fantastic write-up about their school supply drive for School on Wheels. Humanist Community of Central Ohio is our runner-up for best article with a submission about their recurring blood drive Bleed and Feed.

Our photo finalists were both fabulous! Valley Skeptics won Best Photo as well for a picture of some skeptics and mini skeptics in some great-looking shirts at a tree-planting event. Siouxland Freethinkers were the runners-up for a great picture of a cold day cleaning up a highway.

We’ll be announcing our full list of 2012 Heart of Humanism Awards soon. It’s not too late for your local group to be considered for the 2013 Heart of Humanism Awards. Join Beyond Belief Network to connect with other local groups performing service activities, and gain access to BBN resources and perks like event guides, assistance in planning events, and much more.

We need your help to choose the winners of the first-annual Foundation Beyond Belief Heart of Humanism Awards. Our Beyond Belief Network teams have submitted their best pictures and articles. We’ve narrowed down the field to two finalists in each category. Voting will close on Sunday, August 25, 2013, so vote today and share with your friends.

The Heart of Humanism Awards are to honor the community service projects of Volunteers Beyond Belief teams. All 2012 Volunteers Beyond Belief teams were eligible. The award winners will be announced in September at the Feminist Faces of Freethought conference in Dallas, TX.

We’re asking the FBB community to vote on two of the awards, Best Photo and Best Article. Our finalists for Best Photo are Valley Skeptics in the Park and Siouxland Freethinkers. Humanist Community of Central Ohio and Valley Skeptics in the Park are finalists for Best Article.

Click here to see the nominated articles and photos, and to cast your vote.

Does your local humanist group deserve an award for community service, too? Join Beyond Belief Network. Your team will get t-shirts and awards, and will qualify for grants for submitting reports about your service events. New to service? We can help you with that, too. We provide our teams with ideas, event guides, and assistance with event planning. For the 2013 Heart of Humanism Awards, Beyond Belief Network teams who reach Level Two (at least eight service events or four fundraisers benefiting FBB or beneficiaries) by the end of the year will be eligible.

Foundation Beyond Belief is looking for volunteer interns to join our fun and welcoming staff between August 2013 and January 2014. Our interns are a vital part of our organizational structure, and each person plays an important role in helping to build what is still a new and quickly growing charity. FBB volunteer interns commit to work about eight hours per week and can complete their tasks from anywhere with an Internet connection.

This is an ideal position for students looking to build their resumes, as well as for non-students looking to get involved in charity work and humanism. The internship will not only provide useful experience for you, but will also enable you to live out your humanism and make an impact on the world. For details on the position and how to apply, please see below.

Past interns have found the experience a unique opportunity to match their values with the chance to foster skills in management and communication. Many have enjoyed their time at FBB so much that they have stayed on as staff when positions have been available.

Position: Fall Intern

Number of positions: 3 to 5

Position type: Volunteer

Duration: Four months (August 7, 2013, to January 31, 2014)

Time commitment: 8 hrs/wk average

Location: Virtual

Application deadline: Saturday, July 20, at 11:59 pm Eastern Time

We are looking for people who are:

• Self-disciplined and reliable, with self-direction
• Highly motivated and tenacious
• Enthusiastic about, and committed to, the Foundation’s mission and approach
• Familiar or involved with the freethought community
• Able to express themselves clearly in writing
• Creative, with good problem-solving abilities

Foundation Beyond Belief is happy to work with interns who are participating in internship credit programs through their schools.

Experience in the nonprofit sector is not a requirement, but is certainly a plus, as is experience in grant writing or other development capacities. Although interns will do work in several areas of Foundation operations, each internship includes a primary focus area, special project, and cause area vetting assignment. 

During the application process, you will be asked to select your top three focus areas and briefly explain why you’re drawn to each. Past focus areas have included:

• the Humanist Giving program
• the Beyond Belief Network program
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Light The Night International Team planning
• Special projects and new FBB initiatives
• Communications and marketing
• Website and technology

Each intern cycle is different, with different needs, and while we make every effort to match interns with their selections, we also take into consideration other factors such as Foundation needs, each intern’s strengths, and past work experience.

Resume, references, and letter of interest are needed for a complete application. To apply for the summer internships, please click here. The deadline to apply for fall internships is Saturday, July 20 at 11:59 pm Eastern time.

We look forward to hearing from you!

By Daniel Hay

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 across the country came out in force in May to put their compassionate humanism to work and show how good we can be without god.

Humanists of Houston volunteered at the Houston Food Bank. Alongside other members of the community, HoH worked to sort and box food donations for individuals in need.

Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) Non-Theists helped out the CSRA Humane Society during the Humane Society’s annual “Paws in the Park” fundraiser by monitoring the trail taken by the walkers and keeping those playful pups on the right path.

Siouxland Freethinkers gathered on May 2, the National Day of Reason, at their local hospital to donate blood and took the advice of Humanist Rabbi Adam Chalom to Choose to Act!

Fellowship of Freethought Dallas had three May events. First, they worked with Youth First Texas, whose mission is to provide a safe space for LGBTQ youth in which they can find opportunities for improving themselves and finding peer support. Members of FoF Dallas helped cook a family-style meal for the group and were able to meet and connect with the teens.

They also volunteered with the AIDS Service of Dallas, a charity supporting low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS, helping to cook and serving meals to those affected. FoF Dallas plans to do this on a regular basis.

Finally, the members of FoF Dallas jumped into action following the tragedy of the Moore, OK, and Granbury, TX, tornados to help raise money for FBB’s crisis response. At their local Coalition of Reason Picnic, members sold refreshments and yo-yos to help raise money for the victims. They even brought in 1992 World yo-yo champion Dale Oliver to do demonstrations/tutorials.

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 apply 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!

Several Volunteers Beyond Belief teams put their compassionate humanism into action in March. If your team has a fundraising or volunteer event to report, you can do it here. If you want to join VBB or our Partners program, apply here (be sure to specify which programs you’d like to apply for).

Military Atheists and Secular Humanists (MASH) Fort Bragg joined members of CNCAH (Central North Carolina Atheists & Humanists) to raise $736 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to fight childhood cancer. St. Baldrick’s encourages head-shaving in lieu of a walkathon. Five of their members volunteered their heads and beards for shaving.

SSA at University of South Carolina had a pasta dinner to benefit the Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands. They had a speaker from STSM come speak to the group and are exploring ways to volunteer time as well as money. This is their sixth-annual benefit dinner.

Pennsylvania Nonbelievers packed boxes of food for the Central Pennsylvania food bank, which benefited low-income and elderly populations in their area. They worked with employees from a local credit union.

Siouxland Freethinkers had their monthly “Are You My Type? Freethinkers Blood Drive.” SSA at University of South Carolina also had their very first blood drive, and a fantastically successful one. They collected 28 pints of blood, and many students who weren’t members wanted to give.

Thanks to everyone who entered our Compassionate Humanism Meme Contest! Announcing the second-place winner, submitted by Irene Panchuk:

Irene wins a $25 Amazon.com gift card and that fuzzy feeling you get when you do something good. Stay tuned for our first-place meme contest winner, coming soon!

Know a quote that captures compassionate humanism at its best? Got the perfect image to put behind it? Time to create a meme!

Foundation Beyond Belief is now accepting submissions for the FBB Compassionate Humanism Meme Contest. We need your help to spread the word about humanism at work for a better world. If selected, your submission will be made available for use in social and other media.

The creator of the top meme, selected by our staff, will receive a $50 Amazon gift certificate. Second and third place will each receive a $25 Amazon gift certificate. FBB reserves the right to designate fewer than three winners (or none).

Criteria:

• The submission must be an original internet meme image and text combination.
• Image must be obtained without violating copyright (personal photo, public domain, Creative Commons, etc.). Please let us know which applies in the body of your email.
• Text does not have to be original. If it is not, please let us know the source in the body of your email.
• Topics must be relevant to the Foundation’s mission, vision and/or goals of promoting compassionate humanism and mutual care and responsibility.   
• Size should be 500 x 500 pixels or larger.
• File formats: jpeg, png, or psd (at a resolution of 300 ppi) or an original Adobe Illustrator file (ai or eps).
• Minimum 175 KB for jpeg.
• The image must contain the Foundation’s URL: www.FoundationBeyondBelief.org or Facebook URL www.facebook.com/foundationbb.

Send to Development (at) FoundationBeyondBelief.org with subject line “FBB February 2013 Meme Contest.” Entries must be received by February 28, 2013, 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

All entries will become the sole property of Foundation Beyond Belief and may be displayed publicly.

Need some inspirpation to get started? Below the fold, we’ve shared some images to get you going. If you’d like to use one of our images to create your meme, just right-click the image and save it to your computer, and then start meming!

The staff of Foundation Beyond Belief was saddened to learn of the death of Paul Kurtz on October 20.

It’s hard to think of anyone whose contribution to humanism approaches Paul’s. Often called the father of secular humanism, he founded Prometheus Books, the first significant press devoted entirely to humanist/skeptical works, and co-authored Humanist Manifesto II. In addition to writing 40 books and several hundred articles, Paul created several influential organizations including the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, the Council for Secular Humanism, the Center for Inquiry, and most recently the Institute for Science and Human Values.

In addition to his intellectual vision, Paul Kurtz was a man of great heart and compassion. When he heard about FBB’s newly launched Humanist Crisis Response program, he immediately endorsed and promoted it through ISHV. “A vital test of any humanist organization’s humanism is its ability to help those in need, which the Foundation is doing so admirably,” he said. It meant a great deal to us to have earned his confidence.

Paul leaves behind a tremendous legacy, as well as a great example of a life lived to the fullest. He will be missed.

This post is part of our Humanist Perspectives series. In this series, we invite guest contributors to explore active humanism and what it means to be a thoughtful, engaged member of society. Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Doing Humanism
by Jennifer Hancock

Being a Humanist isn’t just a philosophical stance one takes to distinguish oneself from our religious brethren. To be meaningful, Humanism must be put into practice. So how does one “do” Humanism? How does one go about being the best human being they can be?

The way I answer the all-important question of how to be a good person is to be ethical, compassionate, and responsible. It’s the last part of this trinity that requires the most effort. It isn’t enough to want to do good and it isn’t enough to care about the suffering of others. To actually be a good person, you have to do something about your good intentions.

To me, the best way to do Humanism is to do good deeds. When I reflect back on my life, the times that stand out as being moments when I truly felt like I was living up to my potential and doing the things I should be doing were those moments when I was helping others.

I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels, upon reflection, that I should be doing more. Obviously, we can’t tackle the world’s problems on our own. But we can do something. Choose a cause and volunteer. It doesn’t take much. For instance, the Humanist Families group I belong to made comfort care packages this year for the local Red Cross. Just make the time to become active. You will feel better and the world will be slightly better off because you made the effort. And that’s the best way to do Humanism.

Jennifer Hancock is the author of the new book, the Humanist Approach to Happiness: Practical Wisdom. She can be found on the web at www.Jen-Hancock.com.