True Hero

True Hero is a nonprofit that awards a total of $20,000 to public service projects carried out by high school and college students. Users generate most of the web-based organization’s content.

You can follow True Heroes on Facebook, too.

The organization was started by Mike Merriman, a former CEO of Royal Appliance Manufacturing in Cleveland, Ohio, after traveling to Honduras with his son’s high school class to build an orphanage.

Mr. Merriman’s True Hero organization enables student projects to receive votes, and awards funding annually to the projects that receive the most votes.

This voting cycle ends June 30, 2009, so check out the site, vote for the projects, and add your own community service project!

Not your average summer camp

At the Introductory Seminar we had a number of students who were interested in youth issues- please see below for an interesting initiative taking place this summer:

Since 2003, An-Najah National University has organized an annual summer work camp which has invited International Volunteers and Students to work with Palestinian students at the university, refugee camps, children and civil society organizations where they can truly experience the Palestinian community and the traditions.

At the same time, they encourage and support the local students and make them feel that they are a part of the larger global youth.

photo from Micky's photostream

Corporate Matchmaker

VolunteerMatch Corporate is a web-based service designed to manage, maximize, and measure employee volunteer programs.

Created to meet the needs of leading corporations that recognize the business and social value of community involvement, VolunteerMatch Corporate helps fulfill business goals for community outreach; assists employees in searching and signing up for local volunteer opportunities; and measures volunteer participation from one centralized location.

Demand? ... Solution.

Art in Public

A number of students from the Introductory Seminar had expressed an interest in "Youth issues"... I've been keeping my eyes and ears open for interesting ideas and programs, so here is one for you:

Voices of Youth: Art in Public



The competition seeks to identify ideas that will generate well-designed, sustainable public art that expresses the voices of youth in Pittsburgh.

Could something like this work in Jeddah? If so, how could Art be integrated into the Saudi cultural context?

College women serve Jeddah

Since the spring semester of 2007, students at Dar Al Hekma College (an all-girls college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) have given 14,000 hours of their time to serving their community.  

The "Social Responsibility Unit" at Dar Al Hekma is the unit through which students complete the 100 hours of community service required for graduation.  

Students have thus far spent their hours visiting, planning, and designing activities at various organizations throughout Jeddah, as well as fundraising activities, and advocacy work for non-profits. 

While these activities are not necessarily "social entrepreneurship", it is clear that:

1)  Interest in community service and responsibility exists throughout the Kingdom, and especially among the youth. This interest can be taken a step further (into sustainable enterprise) if students are given the necessary tools to turn community responsibility into a sustainable business.

2)  Saudi Arabia, and Islam overall, have a deep-rooted tradition in community service.  The religious and cultural focus of Islam on charity and giving to the community is an ideal that can, and should, be made sustainable.  

Community responsibility should not be on our minds only a few times per year- it should be a consistent part of our daily lives. 

(photo courtesy of Emily Tavoulareas)