Moving Forward in 2012: A Thank You to My Parents

It’s already the 3rd of January and I have found myself in this “New Years rutt”.  Nothing to be alarmed by, I just personally got overwhelmed by everything that comes along with my goals in this new year.  As I have been pulling out the motivation to get some tasks done today, I found inspiration where I did not expect it.    About a week ago, I recieved this email from my stepfather.  At the moment I had no clue exactly what it was about, I just figured that he was sending me this link to tell me about the amazing desk work that Unicef andMSNBC’s, The Last Word is doing for the schools of Malawi.

Today, when I stopped by my parents house, my dad sat me down to show me exactly what the email was.  He was so moved by the story that he donated two desks in the name of Project Kinect.  This is a huge thank you to not just my stepfather, but to all four of my parents who constantly support my endeavors, no matter how crazy or difficult they may appear.  I love you so much and truly know how much I am blessed to have you in my lives. 

 

UNICEF - United States Fund
UNICEF
A seat at the table

Thank you!

Every day, hundreds of thousands of students in Malawi sit on the floor to learn.

Today, that number has been reduced significantly, thanks to a gift made in your honor.

Learn more about Kids in Need of Desks and UNICEF’s Schools for Africa, working to provide quality education for all.

for all u did down south
Tell your friends how to give to Kids in Need of Desks (K.I.N.D.) in Malawi

Click here to view a printable version of this eCard.

 

 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Occupy Wall Street

Since the middle of September, we have seen the entire nation taking on different charters of Occupy Wall Street.  While Occupy Together and Occupy Wall Street are the central hubs for this movement, I will be posting different stories, videos and events that  are happening on this page as well as different posts that I write.  In the New York Times today, the article on the non-violent protests shared a quote from Michael Kazin, a professor of history at Georgetown University. He said, “it was unclear if the current protests would lead to a lasting movement, which would require the newly unleashed passions to be channeled into institutions and shaped into political goals.”

Like the rest of the country, I have no clue to what the political goals or the right avenue for change is at the moment, but as this gains momentum, and leaders of this movement are chosen throughout the country, we will begin to see those needs and goals appear.  That is if this has the kinetic energy and the fuel to keep going the length it needs to make an impact and ignite the motivation from millions of others. 

October 4th:

 

 

  • CNN iReport: This video is fantastic of what happened on the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend.

An Update from the Disaster Assistance Program

Tracy and Mike stop for a picture in between making lunches for locals and volunteers. By the time Alyssa, Tracy and I left Tuscaloosa, there had been over 36,000 lunches served out of that motor home

I like to pass these emails on to the website from time to time to just share what else is happening and how are other ways that we can all connect and help in each other’s lives.  I met Mike Baumgartner while we were in Tuscaloosa helping out at the Church of Christ food and distribution center.  He and his motor home have been all over the country since we last saw them at the end of June.  Currently Mike is in Bastrop, TX helping up with the clean up from the wild-fires that burned over 1554 homes at the beginning of September.   This fire, coming from one of the worst droughts that Texas has ever seen where some are mentioning that it could last up to fifteen years.   The Disaster Assistance team from the Church of Christ is always on the move and even if you aren’t from that particular church, it is still beneficial to take note of what other individuals are doing to help out in other communities.  I know when we helped out with them in Tuscaloosa, we weren’t the only volunteers there that didn’t have an affiliation with the church.

Here is Mike’s latest email….
Many thanks to the thousands of volunteers that have and are helping us. We feel your efforts are much more than a minimum wage estimate. We know that weather you help 1 hr, 1 day, 1 week or more that the time you give is PRICELESS!!!!!!!!

At the present time here in Bastrop, TX at the Bastrop Church of Christ there is only two full time mission groups that are he…lping. Disaster Relief(Nashville) is providing part of the supplies and Disaster Assistance CoC is working onsite 24/7 with the Elders on all phases of this relief effort(homeowner fire damage cleanup, meal prep, supply distribution and all volunteer coordination for these efforts). Like at our past mission works we plan on being here as long as the Elders of Bastrop CoC feel we are needed.

I also want to thank the Elders and the members here at Bastrop CoC for all there help and support. So many of them are here everyday to make sure things are running smoothly. Also many other churches have sent volunteers, supplies and funds to help this work Thank You Thank You Thank You.

As always we still need three things:

Your Prayers
Volunteers
Funds

To Volunteer or Donate go to: www.disasterassistancecoc.com


Mike Baumgartner
Disaster Assistance CoC
Combating Natural Disasters with Acts of God
281-881-1876
www.disasterassistancecoc.com

Occupying the Country

Today is day fifteen of Occupy Wall Street.  This is a small movement that is growing exponentially not only in Manhatten, but through the whole of our country.  Here is a list of what I could find for times and places for different protests throughout the country today and I will attempt to keep this updated frequently.  This isn’t about politics, race, gender, sexual orientation but about the well being of the majority of our country.  The more you get active, the more you learn about the entire situation and the more you can make your own decisions on what actions you take. 

WE ARE ALL INVOLVED

Protests set for October 1st  

Washington D.C.: McPhearson Square.  I couldn’t find a time but I imagine people are already there.  Occupy D.C.

Boston: Dewey Square, Occupy Boston

Chicago: I couldn’t find anything yet but my guess is near Michigan and Congress, Occupy Chicago

Dallas: Federal Reserve Building 2200 North Pearl Street.  Occupy Dallas

Los Angeles: 10:00am Pershing Square, Occupy Los Angeles

Seattle: 10:00am-7pm, West Lake Center Plaza, Occupy Seattle

San Fransisco: Occupy San Fransisco 

Also keep checking Occupy Together for the most up to date information for the entire country. I will keep adding as I can.  Here is the footage from Susan Surandon. I really appreciate her sharing her views on how change starts from the bottom, not the top and that she is confident that we have “the tool kit to do this non-violently.”  Thank you to bYarlboro for putting this video up in its whole.

My Summer Community

For many of you following Project Kinect, you may know that when I returned from Tuscaloosa at the beginning of July, I found my pockets extremely empty so I picked up a summer job at Sprecher’s Restaurant & Pub in Wisconsin Dells.  Our community in the Dells is extremely diverse and represents the most modern form of the melting pot in our country.  I mentioned it briefly in this daily blog while I sat in Starbucks.

This video shares some of the lives of just a few of the amazing people that made my summer fantastic.  From a Project Kinect standpoint, we need to remember that we, with all of our different backgrounds, views and environments can still accomplish great things while getting to know each other.  The only way I can really say it is from the Project Kinect Mission:

 

A program that is focused solely on getting to know someone else:  Either through conversation, service, or swinging door education.

WE ARE ALL INVOLVED!

Ten Years After 9-11

When I was in New York last April, one of my first stops was Ground Zero.  I had been there twice since September 11th and wanted to see the most current progress almost ten years later.  Despite how one feels about where the progress should be at this point, or whether or not you like the plans, or if you hate the memorial, you must admit that this is still one huge step forward for our most diverse community in this country. New Yorkers have a resilience and a focus that keeps them moving forward, but in the case of 9-11, those components assisted in their recovery while still getting back to the fast paced, goal oriented and brash community that we love and get addicted to. So now, ten years later, how does Ground Zero represent the community of Manhattan?

               The main plan for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center is the One World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, will once again be known as the largest skyscraper in Manhattan.  With the goal of having it built past the 80th floor by the ten year anniversary, this building can already be seen in definition from New Jersey.  My video footage was shot from my trip in April and you can see the great progress done to One World Trade Center.

               One World Trade Center will also be equipped with the most recent collaborations in technology and energy.  This is a huge step forward in the way of social responsibility.  The design team has used the most up to date methods to maximize efficiency, minimize waste and pollution, conserve water and improve air quality. The designers really took it on themselves to use innovative energy sources such as off-site renewable wind and hydro power that will set One World Trade Center as a new design standard.

               Adjacent to the Freedom Tower will be a new performing arts center and a state of the art transportation hub.  Nothing really says more about New York than mass transit and the performing arts.  The plans for the performing arts center aren’t completely clear but it will be the new home for the Joyce Theater and really wants to put focus on rebuilding how Lower Manhattan can create a more vibrant cultural landscape.

               The brand new World Trade Center Transportation Hub will be built with the most up-to-date fare taking system and will be the home daily for over 200,000  New York commuters.  Comparable to the size of Grand Central Station, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub will be a great new go to landmark for the millions of tourists that visit New York City every year.

               In the footprints of the original Twin Towers will be two reflecting pools that will be the center of the September, 11th Memorial.

  This space is said to be open by the ten year anniversary and visitors will be able to relax within the hundred and fifty oak trees that will be planted around the reflecting pools.  The goal of the memorial is to provide a place for contemplation, reflection and remembrance.  The memorial will also contain all the names of the 2,981 people who lost their lives that day and will still have some of the structural beams that were in the original towers.

               Ten years of coping, mourning, and planning and we can now see a new face and feel a modern yet historical vibe on lower Manhattan. Despite the shiny new buildings and the great leaps forward with social responsibility, we must always remember what came out of the late summer morning in 20ll.  We do come together when times are tough and we need to remember that when times aren’t at such extremes.  We also have to remember to celebrate our advances and our victories as one community too.  If we don’t then we will never become solidified as one structure moving forward.

        To all the New Yorkers, as well as all of the people directly affected by the devastating events on September, 11th, 2011, I commemorate you on your courage to move forward and will always have love and hope in my heart for everything you had to endure.

I hope that you find strength and community on a daily basis for something that will never be forgotten.  And, when other tragedies such as war or natural disasters occur, that you use your experience to teach and support those affected when they have no direction into their futures.  We are all one community and as we saw after September 11th, 2001, we need to be there as one, together and united.

For more information about the develpoment of Ground Zero, please check out www.wtcprogress.com

This article can also be found on Dign2it Magazine

Pilgrimage to Las Vegas

One of my close friends whom I met while I lived in Las Vegas at the beginning of the last decade had decided to move back there to continue her education.  Now ten years older, with a child, she is making this pilgrimage west to the desert.  I didn’t realize that when I agreed to this journey that I would not only be documenting this road trip for Project Kinect, but I would also be looking at a similar path that I took almost ten years ago.

At age twenty-one, I had made the decision to move to Las Vegas.  That August, I helped my friend Corbin move back to Los Angeles for school and we stopped in Las Vegas so I could meet up with a couple different people in order to find somewhere to live when I moved.  Successfully, I met Darren and two weeks after September 11th, 2001, I moved to Sin City.

To do this exact same journey with someone who also took this journey ten years ago really makes you think.  I am shocked to know where I have come in that decade, the adult who I have become and what I have put out into the world.  Were my decisions wise or void of any pre-thought?  Did I get the most out of that time that I possibly could have?  Did I obtain the proper tools to handle what will come in the future?  The answers to these questions don’t really matter but if it caused you to ask yourself similar questions, then something is getting accomplished.  If you would like to continue this conversation with your answers, I would love to read them so feel free to email me at Gregg@projectkinect.com. I appreciate all involvement when it comes to Project Kinect.  WE ARE ALL INVOLVED!!!

For those of you who have asked and I refuse to share it with you, here is a small segment from my book, “I Have Three Kinds of Hiccups” that I shelved about a year ago.  Don’t worry, it will be moving forward again very shortly.

I don’t know why I chose to move to Vegas. People back home still ask me why I moved to Vegas and I always answer with some bull shit like I needed a change, it was inexpensive and I could find work or my best, I really like their theatre department at UNLV. I didn’t even look at their department until I began the transfer process that fall. I was fortunate though, it is an amazing program and I actually did get in.

The truth is, I don’t really know why I moved there. I do know however, that I was twenty years old and I was itching to conquer the world and when I was without a home for the following school year up at UWEC, I jumped. Yes, I was hurt by certain people in the process, but that little hiccup was nothing but a feather in the road as I approach thirty. That moment was one of the defining factors in my life. That moment is equivalent to me learning to walk or drive. I was learning a new vehicle in my life, the vehicle of self empowerment. This vehicle of self empowerment was not consciously inside me before that moment. This vehicle had been in its own little corner of my being and when it came out, it came out!

Once I said it, which was to one person at 9:30 am during an opening shift at Houlihan’s the last Sunday of Christmas break, it was done. My words came out of my mouth with no thought of the consequences they would have. “I’m gonna move to Las Vegas” I said, which was followed with some bull shit excuse, but that moment, that exact moment the words rolled off my tongue, that is when I decided to move to Vegas with no pre-meditated thought what-so-ever. At the end of the summer, after I studied in Cuba, after my over night trip with Corbin to see U2 in D.C., after I lived with the 2 Petes in the Dells, I was gonna move to Vegas. Holy Shit.

Embracing All Aspects of Our Community

Being home for a couple of months in the middle of Wisconsin makes me think about the whole of our community. In Wisconsin, we tend to go straight the German and Norwegian settlers that make up the original biological make of our community.  Of course time has changed that and I have spoken much about what my home area of Wisconsin Dells looks like as the demographics of the community continues to change.  What I haven’t mentioned though is the historical aspects of what makes up this area.  Before the Germans and the Norwegians were the French; but before the French were the two tribes of Native Americans.  These tribes were the Menominee and the Ho Chunk.  This website on the Wisconsin Dells History is really the best way to get the information and it offers some great historical photographs.
Before I left for Vegas last week, there was a Native American Ceremony in the park here in the Dells. I had a chance to head up there and see it so here is a little bit of the footage from that event.  This event was a mixture many different tribes so it wasn’t geograohical specific but local tribes were definitely represented.

Education Down at Hurricane Creek

I’ve done a lot on featuring the Hurricane Creek area, but I can’t help to reiterate the importance of this area and areas just like this that are all over the country.  We need to preserve them and share them and in all of this enjoyment, there must also be education.  We have to educate ourselves and the people around us about what it means to have these natural spaces, the importance of keeping them, and how to still enjoy these areas without damaging them.  It is all of our responsibility to take care of the space that we all inhabit. WE ARE ALL INVOLVED!!!

If you would like to volunteer at Hurricane Creek, please email Russell at restoration@hurricane-creek.org

4th of July from Chetek, WI

It is tradition to be up at my father’s cabin in Chetek, WI for the 4th of July. Here is a great example of how the midwest really utilizes the hundreds of thousands of lakes that are frozen in the winter.  All it takes is two days of sunny 65 degree weather and no more ice on the lake and our coolers are packed, BBQs set up and we are out on the water.  Just another reason why we are such a friendly bunch of Americans.