Search results for: Humanist Community of the Space Coast

By Liz Moody

We take for granted that when we drink water from the tap, we won’t develop a serious disease. This is, however, not the case in much of the world. In Isla Puná, Ecuador, not getting sick from your water is a luxury for the rich. The only source of uncontaminated, potable water is bottles brought over from the mainland. Bottled water is prohibitively costly for most residents, not just in terms of the cost of the fuel needed to produce plastic bottles and to transport them by boat to the island, but also the cost to the environment of importing water to a place where there are existing freshwater sources. To residents of Puná, the problem was clear—they needed a local water purification facility.

The Pathfinders are working with Water Ecuador to build a clean water center in Puná. Not only will this provide an affordable source of clean water, it will empower the community to take their health into their own hands. Once completed, the center will be entirely owned and operated by residents; water from Puná, for Puná, with no continued reliance on outsiders, just Water Ecuador playing a supporting role.

This is the kind of service Pathfinders Project embraces—no agenda, no presuming to tell people what they need, just service in its purest form; the Pathfinders show up and do what they’re told to do. This type of service requires trusting the community to identify local issues that they want to address, evaluate options, and choose a course of action. The Pathfinders just help make it happen. As Wendy notes, “we are helping hands, not saviors coming in with the ‘answers.’” When the Pathfinders discussed this with a local shopkeeper, he responded with the adage, “Si uno no vive para servir, no sirve para vivir” (“If you don’t live to serve, you don’t serve to live”). This is humanist service in action—helping other humans solve human problems and effecting change at the community level.

The Pathfinders will be continuing their work with water in Santa Marta, Colombia. In this coastal Caribbean town in the far Northeast of the country, they will be focusing on water sanitation issues and some natural resources work with Fundaci Misi Gaia. If you’d like to help support the Pathfinders and their yearlong service trip, click here.

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.

By AJ Chalom, Humanist Giving Program Coordinator

This year, Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response program was on a roller coaster, frequently called upon to respond to the constant trials facing our world. Crisis response is not something we at FBB want to do—but we need to do it. Our compassion drives us—and you, our members—to help, as we try to connect with the victims and imagine the pain that they endure.

In January, we reported on a significant hurricane, Bopha, that had slammed into the Philippines, leaving destruction in its wake. We did not launch a crisis drive, but suggested an organization to support. There was no way to know that these people would face an even more severe disaster within the year.

In May, a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, and surrounding communities. This crisis was on home soil, and perhaps it was that familiarity that resulted in a flood of donations from our members and community. We supported the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and Operation USA, two organizations that would be involved in the recovery effort long term. We heard stories of the devastation, and the world met Rebecca, before being able to comprehend the destruction to the world around her, in an interview that would change her life.

There are crises that occur in an instant, that we watch develop on the news in a raw, unexpected way. When these events occur, like the Moore tornado, we are compelled to jump into action. Others crises sneak up on you, building slowly over time. Sometimes they are across the globe, evolving and growing unnoticed by the wider world. The extreme refugee crisis created by the war in Syria is one such disaster. More than 7 million people have been displaced, many of them children. When the true scope of this disaster became clear, Foundation Beyond Belief could no longer ignore the humanitarian crisis and the pleas for assistance from international aid organizations. We turned to International Rescue Committee, which was already providing relief in a number of refugee areas. Each area had a different need: one needed clean water and sanitation, one needed shelter, others needed to protect residents or teach the children. Again, our members and supporters responded with donations that went to support the IRC in their work.  

In November, we could see another immanent crisis. We knew a typhoon was moving toward the Philippines. This is a country that faces 20 tropical storms a year and was already reeling from a recent devastating earthquake. Typhoon Haiyan was later described as the strongest hurricane to make landfall in recorded history. FBB staff researched aid organizations and chose a local disaster response team, Citizens’ Disaster Response Center, as the beneficiary of our crisis response fund drive. However, very little news was reaching us. Power, road access, adequate food, and clean water—all were wiped out in the hardest-hit areas across the country. Responders had to choose how to use their limited resources: bring in food or water, offer medical assistance, or remove dead bodies? They just couldn’t do it all. We added seasoned relief responders Team Rubicon as a beneficiary, supporting TR’s infrastructure and medical teams. Even Team Rubicon’s experienced volunteers were stunned by the magnitude of the disaster and summed it up in a few words: “It’s too much.”

As a member of the FBB staff who works with our Crisis Response program, those three words echo in me and drive me to help in the way that I can. Many thanks to members and our community for supporting our Humanist Crisis Response program in 2013. When we’ve sent out the call in times of crisis, your response has been swift and generous. As our world changes, we can expect more disasters in the coming year, both natural and manmade. Your continued support helps to provide clean water for refugees, shelter for the displaced, medicine for the injured. Thank you for helping us show humanist compassion in times of greatest need.

By Conor Robinson, Pathfinders Project director

Back when I ran Pathfinders Project out of my garage, months before I approached Foundation Beyond Belief to discuss the idea of launching a Humanist Action: Ghana, I knew I wanted to focus on clean water work. Clean water projects are never just clean water projects—they improve health, increase access to education, empower women and communities, and free up resources for development. 

Most people don’t realize the severity of the global water crisis. Waterborne diseases kill more people every year than conflict. These deaths disproportionately affect children—90% of the more than 1.5 million water-related deaths each year are in children under five years old. 

People spend hundreds of billions of hours every year just walking for water. The responsibility usually falls to women and young girls, who often face harassment and sexual assault as they walk miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely contaminated. Time spent walking keeps the girls from school and the women from work and taking care of their families.

Water Ecuador’s approach to the water crisis in coastal Ecuador is simple, honest, and effective. The organization essentially creates a market for clean water by educating the community about the importance of drinking it, and then they use the revenues generated by water purchases to pay for maintenance of a Water Center and the water manager’s salary. Proper care of the Water Center is incentivized because it is a source of income; consequently, communities are invested in protecting the source of clean water generation after generation.

Currently, Water Ecuador runs six Water Centers in rural Ecuador that provide clean water to more than 2,000 people daily. I was thrilled when I heard that Foundation Beyond Belief is supporting Water Ecuador with a Poverty and Health grant in the fourth quarter of 2013, and I am proud that the Pathfinders will help Water Ecuador break ground on its seventh Water Center, on Isla Puná, off the southern coast of Ecuador.

Like the other Water Centers, the one in Isla Puná is being built in collaboration with the community leaders and residents after grassroots education about the importance of clean water. Water Ecuador is working to have things on Isla Puná ready for construction by the beginning of February, when the Pathfinders arrive. In addition to the construction, the Pathfinders will be involved with Water Ecuador’s continued education efforts in the Isla Puná community. The Pathfinders will give presentations in schools to teach children of all ages about good water and hygiene practices, and they will visit families in their homes to learn about how the water crisis has affected them.

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.