Through snow and sleet, BBN Teams host service events
By Administrator
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.
Beyond Belief Network would like to welcome two new teams: Secular Ministries Foundation and North Gwinnett Freethinkers, Secularists & Humanists. BBN can’t wait to hear about each team’s service events!
Congratulations to Corpus Christi Atheists in Corpus Christi, TX! They submitted our Picture of the Month. The picture was taken when team members assisted in collecting Christmas trees for recycling. The trees were made into mulch that was free to city residents.
Congratulations to Omaha Atheists in Omaha, NE! They’re our Team of the Month. This month, the team created a food pantry for their group members. Members can privately access the pantry whenever they are in need. So far, the pantry has been accessed three times. The team has a box at all meetups for pantry items (non-perishable food items and hygiene products) as well as monetary donations so the pantry can be stocked. In another recent service event, four members of Omaha Atheists came together and prepared a meal for Youth Emergency Services, an organization in Omaha that supports homeless youth. This included shopping for ingredients, preparing the meal, and delivering the meal.
South Jersey Humanists (SJH) in Galloway, NJ participated in Stockton University's MLK Day of Service by providing an activity for students and local participants. The team set up a letter-writing campaign for Amnesty International's "Write for Rights" campaign. Each hour, they presented information on two of Amnesty's cases and helped participants write letters to authorities and to the subjects themselves. In all, SJH gathered 111 letters on seven different cases. A diverse range of groups wrote letters, including Boy Scouts, a sorority, and a high school Rotarian club.
Humanist Alliance Philippines, International (HAPI), currently BBN’s only international team, are proud to report that they're continuing to feed over 200 kids monthly from a slum area in Alabang. Also, a Balikbayan box containing books, bags, clothes, and candies arrived from New York City, NY to HAPI-Riles and HAPI-Library. HAPI also donated a button/pin maker to their project implementer as a small business to make these items for events.
This month, ten volunteers from Minnesota Atheists in Minneapolis, MN repackaged food and filled mini meat packs at the Food Group, a local organization that to helps feed individuals in need for the Twin Cities Metro area. In a separate service event, twelve members of Minnesota Atheists braved bone-chilling cold to purchase ingredients and cook a healthy meal for 25 homeless individuals at The Family Place, a local shelter. They served the food, dined with the guests and cleaned up afterwards, leaving behind plenty of leftovers.
Members of the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix (HGSP) in Mesa, AZ volunteered with 12 Books program and, in doing so, also helped another program, Helen's Closet. Both programs are run by Mesa's United Way. 12 Books makes sure that families with children in kindergarten and first grade have a variety of age-appropriate books in their homes. Over their summer break, the children have a chance to read at home. Helen's Closet is a boutique where foster and kinship families are able to "shop" from nearly new clothes, toys and books. HSGP members cleaned and sorted hundreds of books that were divided between the two programs.
Volunteers from Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry in Charleston, SC helped out at their local "no-kill" shelter. Some members cleaned particular areas and others spent time with the animals. The biggest project of the day was removing old mulch and replacing it with new material in outdoor dog play area.
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.