We are Humanism at Work

Foundation Beyond Belief is so proud of the many individuals and local groups who made extraordinary contributions to compassionate humanism in 2017. Through our work, we are honored to partner with these individuals and organizations in order to improve the lives of so many communities throughout the world. Our Heart of Humanism awards recognizes some of these dedicated volunteers, and we were so thrilled to announce the 2017 winners in our newsletter a few weeks ago. We're happy to share this news here on our blog now, as we also remind folks that this is your last chance to register for the American Humanist Association Conference in Vegas. Award winners in attendance will be presented with their awards. We'll also have a table set up at the conference, so if you're planning to be there, please come say hello. We'd love to get to know you.

Our Humanism at Work award goes to the team with the most volunteer hours. This year our winner is Austin Humanists at Work with an incredible 5,156 total hours. Their team will receive a grant of $250.00.   Our Eat. Sleep. Volunteer. Repeat. award goes to the team with the most events in 2017. This year we're proud to honor STAR, South Texas Atheists for Reason, who had more than double the number of events of the next active team, with an amazing 104 events! This award brings the team a grant of $100.00.

This year's Rookie of the Year award goes to Austin Atheists Helping the Homeless. They may have been new to our Beyond Belief Network, but they came in ready to work. They will receive a grant of $50.00.  The Campus All-Star award recognizes an outstanding student team, and this year our winner is the Secular Student Alliance at Ohio State University. These bright students will receive a grant of $100.00.   

The Gimme Food and Shelter award, which recognizes the team with outstanding contributions to causes related to homelessness and food insecurity, goes to Minnesota Atheists. Their monthly events include sitting down and eating with the people experiencing homelessness that they are serving. We know they will put their award grant of $100.00 to good use.

Our Best Photo award goes to Long Island Atheists. This photo was taken during their first trail and highway clean up event at their adopted area near Little League of the Islips. They had a great turnout with more volunteers than expected and even got support from others in the area who were playing sports or fishing.

The Backbone Volunteers award goes to the team that played a consistent and reliable role in a local organization. This year our winner is BeOrlando, who hosted a monthly meal serve at SafeHouse of Seminole with monthly themes like Fiesta, Food from the Heart, or Super Spooky Supper. Just a couple days before their scheduled event in September, Hurricane Irma hit Florida and the shelter was in the midst of being evacuated. The shelter didn't have dinner or clean water for their residents, so BeOrlando took them cases of water and pizza. The team will receive a grant of $100.00.

Now that we've acknowledged our team recipients, we are so excited to announce our individual Heart of Humanism awards.     

Most Valuable Volunteer, awarded to the most dedicated team member across all BBN teams (as nominated by team leaders) is Jamie del Rosario Martinez of HAPI. Jamie has been a volunteer with HAPI since 2014. Her primary involvement began with feeding 200 children in Alabang, Muntinlupa, Philippines each month. She is also active in administrative duties, serving as group Secretary, taking charge of the HAPI merchandise like shirts, hats, scarves, and the book, "From Superstition to Reason" printed in Manila, Philippines. She was an active 'behind the scenes' coordinator of the Asian Humanist Convention in June 2017. 

Our Outstanding Leader award recognizes an outstanding Beyond Belief Network team leader, and this year we are proud to award this honor to Victoria Gettman of South Texas Atheists for Reason (STAR). Vicki is the founder and force behind STAR, a group that had so many different service events in 2017 that they won our Eat. Sleep. Volunteer. Repeat. award for most events! STAR hosts a weekly meeting at Lackland Air Force Base as an alternative to mandatory religious services and regularly hosts over 20% of the BMT trainees at their meeting.

The Heart of Humanism, our highest award, for outstanding contributions to compassionate humanism, goes to David Tamayo of Hispanic American Freethinkers (HAFree). As President of HAFree, David (while working a full-time job) coordinated with HAFree groups in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. David communicated closely with them in order to understand their situation and their needs, and then collected donations of water filters, solar ovens and cookers, and much more, and shipped seven containers of desperately needed items which arrived less than two months after Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. David's dedication and contributions have made a huge difference to many people in Puerto Rico, and FBB was proud to designate a $5,000 grant to HAFree in support of their hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.

The Heart of Humanism awards will be presented in person to the awardees who are present at the American Humanist Association's 77th Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV on the weekend of May 18th.

Thank you to all of our outstanding teams and leaders. We can't wait to see what you accomplish this year! 

By FBB

In the early parts of any new year, many people make resolutions. Our Beyond Belief Network (BBN) teams were already amazing in 2017, but it seems they've resolved to do even more good work in 2018. Let's take a look at how they've already made a big difference in their communities this first quarter of 2018.

The Humanist Community of Central Ohio (HCCO) and the Central Ohio United Non-Theists (COUNT) teamed up as the Columbus Coalition of Reason (CoR) once again to work at the Community Shelter Board (CSB,) volunteering over 50 combined hours in January, February and March! The Community Shelter Board provides housing and meals to homeless families and individual men and women in Central Ohio. Some volunteers serve dinners while others wash dishes, mop floors, file forms and clean tables. To date, Columbus CoR volunteers have worked 831 hours in 39 events with the CSB to date. Volunteers wear COUNT/HCCO branded name tags to raise awareness that they are non-theists doing charity.

COUNT volunteers also worked as Housewarmers at the Columbus Ohio Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in January, February, and March. RMH provides housing and meals to families with children being treated at Nationwide Children's Hospital and other area hospitals. Housewarmers work with our guests to provide a home-like environment - greet, assist with family needs, answer phones, give tours, assist with checkin/checkout, prepare guest rooms after checkout, clean facility, laundry, restock supplies and staff the front desk. COUNT volunteers have contributed over 50 hours since January and over 1143 hours from the start of their involvement with RMH in 2013 through the end of March 2018.

CoR also sponsored a Charity Fundraiser Happy Hour at Land Grant Brewing Company in the Franklinton area of downtown Columbus to benefit the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. Volunteers from multiple Columbus CoR groups showed up to support the local charity and raised over $50 while collecting an estimated 72 pounds of food. This fun event again paired great conversations with some of the best local craft beer in Central Ohio. COUNT members arranged the event for Columbus CoR and various member groups advertised it building on the annual Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) Benefit Dinner’s success in helping the foodbank. Columbus CoR has now raised $14,197.22 and collected 1,846 lbs of food for the Mid-Ohio Foodbank since 2012. Great work, teams!

Ohio volunteers held their Eighth Columbus CoR Bleed-N-Feed since the Central Ohio United Non-Theists (COUNT) helped to expand the longstanding Humanist Community of Central Ohio (HCCO) event. Volunteers donated 10 hours of their time, giving a total of 10 units at the Carriage Place Red Cross Donor Center in Columbus, Ohio. Some donors make appointments and give 1 unit of whole blood while others do apheresis donating up to 3 units of platelets or 2 units of red blood cells. Donors become diners as they head to a nearby restaurant after to replenish. Columbus CoR members spent 56 hours donating 49 units for Bleed-N-Feed events since January 2017.

Down in Florida, BBN team Brevard Area Atheists also kicked off the year in high gear. They held a road cleanup in January during which they picked up 11 bags of trash totaling 83 pounds. It was very cold, but they had enough energy to make it manageable and covered a lot of ground. In February, they were able to pick up 12 bags of trash totaling over 60 pounds!

Over in Texas, the Austin Humanists at Work had a meeting of their Gettin' Knotty guild. Members meet to knit and crochet hats and scarves, which they hand out in cold-weather months. They also make cotton washcloths, which are handed out year-round.

Austin Humanists at Work also held donation drives and giveaways this quarter. They gathered under a bridge in downtown Austin to hand out basic living items to those in need our community. We had a long line of tables and plenty of donations to put on them. They were able to serve over 290 people. They also hosted a book drive and put together first aid kits this quarter. This Austin BBN team is always busy doing good!

South Texas Atheists for Reason (STAR) teamed up with Habitat for Humanity this quarter, assisting with house building duties as assigned, using power tools to help homeowners in the program complete their homes. They installed closet bracings, cabinets, siding, window frames, and J-channels for the soffits. STAR also continued their Gardening for Good program with the San Antonio Food Bank, planting gardens that help local citizens who need fresh vegetables.

STAR also continues providing a Humanist Chaplain at Lackland Airforce base. They generally have between 800 and 950 attendees and discuss various topics, such as: Humanism as an introductory course, Grief & Stress, and Separation of Church and State.

The Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry picked up 375 pounds of litter along their designated highway with the South Carolina Adopt-a-Highway program, despite the cold temperatures!

The Humanist Alliance of the Phillipines, International (HAPI) held an event called Kids NutriCamp this quarter. It's their feeding program with the school and out-of-school kids of Ilaya Street in Muntinlupa City as regular beneficiaries. The program began with some storytelling and values education by parent volunteers, followed by dance numbers and a musical recital prepared by the kids and dinner made with vegetables and herbs. This feeding program was organized in preparation for the involvement of a nutritionist from the city health office going forward.

Sandhills Secular Society held their first street clean up. They had to get a few of the logistics worked out deciding how best to split up, but they cleaned a 2-mile stretch of road and had a great turnout! They're ready for their event to be flawless! Good start, Sandhills, and welcome to the team! (Featured Image)

The Humanists Doing Good crew of Grand Junction, Colorado volunteeed at Eureka! McConnell Science Museum during their grand opening. Volunteers carried out a variety of tasks ranging from directing traffic to moving construction equipment. The grand opening was a big success and the new museum will be a great opportunity for children's education in the community.  Everyone had a great time, and volunteers were able to see all the exhibits. They built some new connections in the community, too. 

BBN team Springfield Skeptics cleaned up their stretch of adopted highway cramming several dozen pounds of trash into 7 trash bags and for MODOT to pick up.  It went off without a hitch, as always. Good work, y'all!

Foundation Beyond Belief is so proud of our many BBN teams and all the good you do. Thanks for being humanism at work!

By FBB

We are happy to announce our March BBN Picture of the Month and Team of the Month winners. This month’s Picture of the Month winning picture is from Humanists Doing Good’s volunteering event at Eureka! McConnell Science Museum in Grand Junction, CO. During the museum’s grand opening Humanists Doing Good volunteers carried out a variety of tasks ranging from directing traffic to moving construction equipment and since they were able to rotate duties, they all were able to see all the exhibits. Congratulations Humanists Doing Good on a great event and great new science museum in your community!

March’s Team of the Month, Sandhills Secular Society, cleaned their 2 mile stretch of road in Fayetteville, NC for the first time in March.  Their very first Adopt-A-Street event didn’t come without it’s hitches, but now they know what to expect. Keep up the great work Sandhills Secular Society!

By FBB

In March 2016, I joined FBB’s board of directors. Earlier that year, I had met executive director Noelle George at the Secular Social Justice Conference (SSJCon) in Houston. At the time, I was a newbie to the secular community. My professional work and passion was—and continues to be—focused on nonprofit and grassroots social justice movement-building. SSJCon appealed to this passion and offered invigorating spaces that centered peoples of color, making me feel respected as an Asian Indian-American atheist. The conference inspired me to dedicate some energy to the secular movement. FBB offered me a forum to do so.

At SSJCon, I began to truly understand that humanism is about deeply valuing and working to improve the human condition. Conference panelists spoke of how this requires embodying a sense of social responsibility that acknowledges and works to dismantle historical oppression. A major reason why I identify as humanist is because I refuse to take part in religious institutions that have systematically oppressed my people in the name of “serving” and “saving” us. Throughout history, service programs have been framed as “God’s work” while simultaneously destroying cultures, communities, and individual autonomy. As an atheist who has dedicated her life to service and justice without religious motivation, I often felt alone. That is, until I learned about FBB.

“The care and thoughtfulness which the Humanist Service Corps brings to this process… increases non-religious engagement in service.”

This is why I support FBB. The Humanist Service Corps (HSC), an international service program aiding local organizations in Ghana since 2015, demonstrates that secular individuals also value service to our fellow humans and can do so without disrespectfully pushing a worldview - secular or otherwise. HSC gives me hope that we can shift the narrative about the secular community as well as our responsibility to each other as human beings.

With this said, as I discussed on the Armchair Atheism podcast with Taylor Carr, as secular people we need to be very intentional about not repeating oppressive patterns. “Service” has been wielded to uphold religious dominance as well as white supremacy, patriarchy, and other forms of oppression. Secular people are also very capable of upholding these systems of oppression. When considering FBB board membership, I knew if I were to dedicate my valuable time and energy to the secular movement, I needed a role in which my contributions, and those of our society’s most marginalized communities, would be respected without tokenization or marginalization.

I feel I have found such a place in FBB. The Humanist Grants Program, which pools monthly donations from humanists to give grants to carefully selected charities, provides ample example, as demonstrated by one of its several Defining Values:

“Community Based: solutions are being addressed with strong community input; onsite employees are local wherever possible.”

FBB has designed a grants program that centers the expertise of those most negatively impacted by social injustice. It is rare to find philanthropic organizations that recognize this necessary truth. My experience in philanthropy, public policy, and organizing has taught me that dismantling an unjust system requires investment in local leadership with lived experience in the issues. My experience as a child of immigrants from India, a country that has received more than its fair share of disrespectful volunteers and “charity,” has taught me that any charitable service must actively denounce white saviorism (both religious and secular). Service, including monetary support like grants, must be rooted in the humanist value of unbiased respect for the sustainable well-being of those receiving support.

Two years ago, I was in search of people with a similar innate sense of social responsibility to our fellow human beings without reliance on the concept of a higher power. People who know that if we learn from humanity’s faults and oppressive history, and invest in our most marginalized communities, we can create an equitable and just society. Secular organizations should look to FBB’s model as a framework for creating a space that is worthwhile for marginalized voices to dedicate time, energy, and capacity. For over two years, I have seen that FBB centers the values of social responsibility and justice, and that is why #WeNeedFBB.

By Rajani Gudlavalleti