Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Protecting wildlife for our children’s future

I’m crazy: I get inspired by something I see, have, what I think is a great idea, then open my mouth and make a commitment to turn that idea in to reality. And exactly that happened over the Labor Day weekend once again while I was sitting with Elizabeth relaxing over a cup of coffee in our front yard. It was crazy because don’t I have enough on my plate already? What I saw was 13 neighborhood children playing up and down the street and frequently stopping by to say hi, petting our cats and dogs and listening to all the fantastic stories I tell them. What came to my mind was the question, what can I do to make a difference. I love children, I believe we need to give them all the support we can and teach them well, because they are our future. And what would be better than combining that with my interest in animals and nature in general and the idea of creating a better environment for all of us. And my commitment was ”Ok kids, here’s my vision: How about if we start a neighborhood kids group and get involved with doing something great for the nature and everybody’s future?” The response was an overwhelming :”Yes, let’s do it!” And ideas started bubbling like water from a mountain spring. How refreshing to see youth and such enthusiasm. Needless to say, the group needs some helping hand to get a little more organized. Otherwise 10 of the 13 members talk at the same time and it sounds more like a choir than what we actually intended to be.
So here is what we got accomplished so far: We elected the President Courtney and her Vice Elvis, Sidney is our Treasurer (for to me mysterious reasons she ended up with a Vice too, but no, Alex, let me tell you, you’re not going to split 50/50 with Sidney) and our Secretary is Brandy. The Pet Food Examiner is acting as an external advisor, counselor or referee, depending on the circumstances at the time of engagement. In preparation for our next meeting we all are going to write down our ideas as to what our name is going to be, which need we are going to make our major objective, i.e. do we go for sea turtles, or domestic dogs and cats, or the whales, the wolves, etc.., what are our activities to actively get involved and help the cause and how do we raise money. I’m sure, though the next meeting is already called for Wednesday night after the homework is done, there will be lots of ideas to talk about. But I said, it’s a democratic organization, so we vote on everything. At least when electing the officers this seemed to work surprisingly well. The outcome of the election was 100% accepted by everybody.
What I am personally looking for is to see if anybody in the blog community has any experience in setting up something like this and can provide some helpful feedback and advise. Because my job now is to make this work. Despite being crazy, I always live up to my commitments.

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