Room to Read - Scalability, Sustainability and Results

Room to Read has forever been my number one charitable organization, starting with the keynote speech that changed my life (yes you all know about this by now). I just received their Quarterly Newsletter and wasn't too surprised to see that the founding CEO of Yahoo! Tim Koogle has been nominated to sit on their board as well as the fact that they raised $33 million this year for investing into scalable, sustainable plans for education around the world. To date, they've established over 11,200 libraries, 1,400 schools, 9.4 million local language children’s books distributed, and more than 10,500 girl participants in their Girls’ Education program. All in all, over five million children now have access to Room to Read projects.

WOW.

Take a moment to read about their projects, or to learn about the organization. This is one you're going to note that definitely changes the world.

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Room to Read 2010

My absolute favourite charity and the man who changed my life have come out with a 2010 Holiday Catalogue. Feel free to peruse and if you so feel charitable, make a purchase for someone on your list!

Room to Read Gift Catalogue

and what Room to Read accomplished this year. Fantastic.

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Barron's Names Room to Read in Top 25 "Best Givers" Demonstrating Effective Giving and Results

The speech that changed my life was based around the organization Room to Read that I often blog about and Mr. John Wood's vision for this organization.

What made it SO compelling to me, was the fact that what he did was so tangible, so effective, and so results oriented. It spoke to me that you could give a certain amount of money and know exactly which project it was used for, whom it affected and how you actually made a difference. Prior to hearing about this organization, I felt this was something that some non-profits missed the boat on, because of the difficulty of tracking it down to the actual mouth it feeds or school it builds.

So, it was excited today when I received Room to Reads news bulletin that they've officially been named one of the Top 25 "Best Givers" Demonstrating Effective Giving & Results. Read about it below:


It was an exciting week for Room to Read in the press, so we hope you don’t mind hearing about another great article where we were highlighted! This week, Barron’s magazine unveiled their cover story on The 25 Best Givers and John Wood/Room to Read ranked 11th out of 25 worldwide philanthropists!

Being on the list at all was an honor itself. Being ranked 11th above Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, George Soros, Peter and Jennifer Buffett, Brad Pitt and "Magic" Johnson was truly humbling. But, to be included in the list along with our funders and friends Jeff Skoll and Bill and Melinda Gates was the icing on the cake!

This list itself was compiled by Barron’s, in collaboration with the Global Philanthropy Group, to highlight the “best of the best” and most effective charities when people are looking for the greatest “bang for their buck.” As reporter Suzanne McGee suggests, “With the recession squeezing donors and charities alike, it's more important than ever to make sure your giving really makes a difference.”

Room to Read has always been committed to transparency with our donors and considers itself, as Barron's called those on the list, a "high-impact giving" organization that takes care with each dollar invested with us. Especially considering the state of the economy during this giving season, we are particularly proud of our accomplishments and we thank Barron’s for recognizing us and bestowing us with this award.

Click here to read the full article.

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Miss Library

Just received the monthly newsletter from Room to Read (Founder: John Wood - the man who changed my life), and of course was inspired. The best part was this excerpt:

"As those of you who have traveled to Africa can attest, there is no way words can do justice to the impact this continent and its people have on one’s mind and spirit. On one hand, you bear witness to such grinding poverty and the impact malnourishment and HIV/AIDs is having on a population that is faced by so many challenges. Yet, on the other hand, you are greeted by smiles, dancing and music everywhere you go and by a power in the voices of the people that gives one hope the future will be different. We visited girls in Zambia that are supported by our Girls’ Education program and flourishing because of it. We also traveled to a community school that was one of the poorest communities I have ever been in; yet, the positive energy of the children was addictive. We experienced some of the most well-managed and utilized libraries in South Africa, including one which serves orphans and vulnerable children that have little else in their lives except for the teachers and schools that act as their safety net.

But, the story that I really want to share with you is a poem called "Miss Library" that's in our Story Time section (see box to your right) and one I think everyone on the trek would agree was the most memorable and inspiring. It belongs to a student called “Mr. Poet” whose own words prove our work, with your help, make our results possible and so tangible.
Here’s to empowering more student poets through the power of education!"


And the poem: Miss Library:
The following poem was written by “Mr. Poet,” a student and frequent visitor to a Room to Read library in East London South Africa.

Miss Library

Miss Library, you are the quiet lady full of respect and dignity.
You attend to people who take time to seek information and never get disappointed.

Your shelves are full of books filled with knowledge, inspirational information and amusement.
Through you I shared in the ideas of very important people like William Shakespeare and Gcina Mhlophe.
The dinosaurs became extinct before our time but you kept record of them and make them alive to us.
Anytime I visit you seeking knowledge, I depart more powerful which confirms the saying ‘knowledge is power.’
When I seek a good story, she leaves me inspired. Oh Miss Library you are one of a kind.
You are a mother of all nations.
You feed the nations with knowledge and wisdom.
Feed us."
WOW. Here's to my bookstore & library program...one day...
Visit http://www.roomtoread.org.

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From (one) of my favourite men in the world!

Here is the end of year address from John Wood - my inspiration.

Please read.

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The Beautiful Way it Happens

Yesterday I had brunch with some very important people in my life and we happened to get on the subject of Room to Read...(no...not me!) I gave the coles notes version of why I wanted to get involved in not-for-profit organizations and how my first huge inspiration came from John Wood of Room to Read. The majority of you have heard this story, so I'll just link to www.roomtoread.org if you want to read about this amazing charity and John's inspirational story.

The book "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World," that John wrote after starting Room to Read also literally changed my life. I mentioned that at brunch and just after leaving the restaurant, got a message that a friend of mine was going straight to the bookstore to pick up a copy.

Talk more, care more, share your inspirations and it will inspire others. It's the beautiful way it happens!

PS - this weekend Tara and I sold 13 mosquito nets, enough exercise books to fill a classroom for a whole year in Africa and over $200 in UNICEF merchandise to help offset operating costs. What a wonderful day and thanks to all the people who care!

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the Beginning of a Journey...or has it already Begun?

Lets just say that this journey of mine, we'll call it a Soul Journey, started long ago. I can't really explain what I'm feeling right now, 4.5 months from my trip date, about to embark on the trip of a lifetime.

I was overwhelmed with feelings back last May. In one weekend I felt a life change occurred, one of those life paths was carved out to me and it was up to me which one I chose. I was so lucky to have been sent to Ottawa for the Cdn Marketing Conference, a weekend that truly inspired me to be in the industry that I'm in. It opened my eyes to a breathtaking city, and sense of success and liberation.



My boss, John, made sure to send me to that conference, where I heard John Wood speak, about Room to Read. I've played the story out a million times in my head, but basically, in the two hours that I heard him speak, I was ready to join him on his quest. I met more Compassion that day than ever before.I've told the story a million times, but I'll touch on it again:

John spoke of coming from a middle class family to finding himself as the head of China operations at Microsoft, one of the most dominant figures in the business world. He worked overtime, all the time, and finally decided to take a "vacation." On a three week backpacking trip through Nepal, he came across a school that was in bad condition and contained absolutely no children’s books. The few books that backpackers had left behind were locked away and no one could touch them because they were so rare. At that moment, John realized that a part of why he succeeded at Microsoft, was because in his childhood he became an avid reader, so much so that it opened his mind, imagination and eventually huge doors of opportunity that would’ve never been possible without books and the knowledge he gained from them. He decided to start a book drive, which became so big it resulted in the not-for-profit organization Room to Read. Room to Read now builds schools, libraries and educational centres all across the developing world.

I, too, feel that books have had an ENORMOUS impact on me growing up. They created a world where nothing was impossible and opened the door to a great education and career. So, when I had him sign my book “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World,” I told him I was interested in helping in anyway I could and he signed it “See you in Winnipeg.” Believing that this was a sign from the Universe, I set home on a mission.

After successfully getting my company on board for a fundraising golf tournament and an unsuccessful attempt at the actual event, I decided I needed to first go to South Africa, understand my connection with this land, see what the issues there are for myself and find out what I could do to help this country.

Hence the search for how I can get there to get to know people who can connect me with a way to help the land. After looking at the availability of various programs and locations, the conservation initiative felt the best to me. I'm very interested in environmental conservation and it is a field I one day may want to study, but most importantly it gives me a chance to be around people who work and live in South Africa all year round.

As a volunteer, I will be working with many aspects of maintaining a wildlife sanctuary just outside of Johannesburg in a rare conservation in Pretoria. In addition to ensuring a pristine habitat for the wildlife there, we will also be preserving a type of vegetation that is increasingly threatened by agriculture, forestry and urban development.

That one speech, one afternoon in May, 2006, truly carved out a new path in life for me. I've always wondered what my life path is. I think that to explore and find greatness and beauty in this life could be an answer, for me, for why I'm here. Maybe it's to be able to bring beauty to others life, or at least bring smiles to them. Maybe it's to be a shoulder to cry on when someone needs it, or to listen when no one else will. Maybe it is to show others the beauty that they have, but just don't realize...After all of this, I truly understand that the two TRUE answers I know: LOVE and KINDNESS. Seeing a smile, a compassionate hug or a lovestruck gaze, these make me truly content. A friends love, a Grandma's love, the love of a stranger who helps you out, or the love of your partner for 50 years, these are our true lessons. These two go above and beyond race, religion, age, language or attitudes. They are truly transferable and they are the reason we exist. So above all the feelings and friends I've met, those two are sticking to me forever.To those you love. To those you keep near you. To those that matter.Love.

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