Surgance Central

The Man Who Planted Trees

via videoproject.com

Watched this short film today. It is a spectacular story of community transformation and the difference one life can make.

I highly recommend it.

Posted via web from Brian D. Audia

Surgance Glove Progam at Berea College

On the first weekend of October, Berea College (KY) celebrated its Annual Oldtimer's Baseball Game.  Surgance Glove Program Director Dave Audia (Berea Grad - 1969, 3rd Baseman -64-68) and Surgance volunteer Bob North were in attendance. 

Between games of the doubleheader, Berea Coach Ryan Hess announced that the team had been working to help the Surgance Glove Program by collecting baseball gloves and taking donations.  The players then brought 35 really good used gloves out to donate and Coach Hess handed over the $200 collected to help with purchasing other gloves.  What a great surprise this was.  Coach Hess had heard about the program, researched it, then put his team into action to help.  This action was a great boost with the gloves and money, but more than that, was such a boost for the spirit of what we want our program to be, one of people helping people in need. 

Once again, when we bring Uncommon partners to Common ground issues, we will get very Remarkable Results.

By the way, as Dave continued his string of consecutive starts at 3rd to 4 years and 3 games over a 45 year span, he went 0 for 1 in the game, reaching base on a throwing error and scoring a run with assistance from a pinch runner.

 

Student Philanthropists

Ashley Patricio

The following article was posted in this month’s PayPal Quarterly Nonprofit Newsletter. I love it. Surgance needs some Ashley’s!

Student philanthropists

                         When Ashley Patricio learned that she could win a trip to see the Jonas Brothers by raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, she immediately got to work. "The prize motivated me at first," says 14-year-old Ashley. "But knowing that I'm helping people out is great."

                         Ashley raised $1,800 for St. Jude and won a coveted trip to Los Angeles for the hospital's Power of Youth event. A big Jonas Brothers fan, she was delighted to meet the celebrities. But what surprised her was how much she enjoyed getting to know the patients at St. Jude. "When I got there, I realized how cool it was," says Ashley. "I met a really great five-year-old girl named Ellen Taylor. I check up on her through her website all the time now."

                         Steven Foster, Ashley's father, encourages his daughter's fundraising. When asked how, he says, "We've always talked about helping others who need help. The prizes pulled her in at first, but then it became contagious. There's no stopping her now. We brainstorm all the time about what to do next. It's something we do together."

                         There have been challenges to the fundraising along the way. Steven explains, "When Ashley tried to raise money online, trust was definitely an issue. People were a bit skeptical. PayPal is a trusted name – and I think if PayPal was more prominently part of the experience, people would feel more comfortable making donations."

                         In addition to the $1,800 she’s raised for Power of Youth, Ashley's fundraising has included collecting $700 for the American Diabetes Foundation through a movie-a-thon she masterminded, and $2,000 for Change for Children. Inspired by her experience at St. Jude in L.A., she also volunteers at the St. Jude office in Seattle.

                         Ashley and her father believe that by taking fundraising online, more kids will get involved in philanthropy. "The younger generation is on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter all the time," says Steven. "If companies make it easier for youth to fundraise through these social networks, more would do it."

brian AUDIA
President and CEO
Surgance, Inc.
Uncommon Partners. Common Ground. Remarkable Results.
www.surgance.com <http://www.surgance.com/>
702.468.4637 cell
702.309.SURG (7874) office

Posted via email from Brian D. Audia

Drink Coffee. Do Good. | Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee

via landof1000hills.com

I'm a big fan of these guys. I love what they do. They are truly making a difference in the lives of many.

Posted via web from Brian D. Audia

Surgance Helps Supply Teachers and Students with Supplies in Colorado

Download now or preview on posterous

image.pdf (150 KB)

Posted via email from Brian D. Audia

Austin, TX Project Planning

I just returned from Austin, TX where we toured the city and evaluated various service opportunities with community leader Jeremy Webb. Look for updates as Jeremy and his team begin to follow up on local opportunities to make a difference in the capital of the Lone Star State.

Here’s a picture of Jeremy and his family. That’s Luke (5), Halle (2) and his wife Robin with two little twins (Ben and Bo) due in about six weeks.

Additionally, Jeremy took me by the University of Texas to meet with a “rock of the community” he said. “A guy we need to talk to” that looked a lot like Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell to me. He didn’t say much, but he was a great listener.

brian AUDIA
President and CEO
Surgance, Inc.
Uncommon Partners. Common Ground. Remarkable Results.
www.surgance.com <http://www.surgance.com/>
702.468.4637 cell
702.309.SURG (7874) office

Posted via email from Brian D. Audia

Surgance Glove Program - DOM REP - Good News!

Here is a quick update about our recent trip to the Dominican Republic, a couple of pictures from that and a glimpse at at the future.

1.  We provided, repaired or replaced 358 baseball gloves for underprivileged kids. 

• Monday morning - 10 gloves in Aleman
• Monday afternoon - 61 in Los Llanos
• Tuesday -  82 in Santiago for one baseball training facility, 34 for another
• Wednesday - 49 in San Pedro
• Thursday - 48 in Boca Chica
• Friday - 74 in La Ramona

2.  Our trip overall was successful, but the biggest impact will surely be in the future since the Surgance Glove Program was so well received.  We will be working with leaders, in at least 3 locations, who want to use gloves for an educational incentives program.

• Santiago - we gave a glove (10) for the best of each grade level.  The program as announced last November to the group of 77 players enrolled in the Santos Brito's baseball training program. All are looking forward to compete for a new glove next year.
• The leaders of another baseball group in Santiago, a regular school in Aleman and a baseball league near San Pedro all have committed to and are excited about moving forward to announce the Surgance Glove Program to their players.
• Ron Bishop, Founder and Director of Score, spoke with us in the Dominican Republic about our success and wants to introduce this program to his contacts for a possible national incentive program.  

Dave

 

I Love Birmingham

I just spent a couple of days in Birmingham, Alabama.

It's a great city in need of transformation. As is typical of the South, I am encouraged by the sincere desire of faith-based organizations to make a difference in their cities in real and tangible ways. Two churches in particular stood out to me on this trip: Shades Mountain Baptist Church and Valleydale Church. I look forward to working with them and their members in the future.
 
brian AUDIA
President and CEO
www.surgance.com
Uncommon Partners, Common Ground, Remarkable Results.
702.468.4637 Cell
702.309.7874 Office

Posted via email from Brian D. Audia

Trying To Use Twitter the "Right" Way

According to The Economist in a brief entitled “A Rare Tweet,” “A recent study from Harvard Business School has dared raise one of the most important unspoken questions since a small boy wondered aloud why that Emperor fellow was naked. Exactly what is the point of Twitter? The technorati—and the media—may be enamored with the micro social-networking site, where people can keep their “followers” informed of their every move in 140 characters or fewer, but, it turns out, very few others are. The study, conducted by Bill Heil, a Harvard student, found that Twitter’s usage patterns are different from other on-line social networks. “A typical Twitter user contributes very rarely,” says the report. “Among Twitter users, the median number of lifetime tweets per user is one. This translates into over half of Twitter users tweeting less than once every 74 days.” The study, which examined the activity of over 300,000 people who had signed up to the site, also found that the top 10% of users accounted for over 90% of tweets.

So, to return to the original question: given those figures, what exactly is the point of Twitter? Despite describing itself as “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected,” Mr. Heil believes that, in reality, it has become little more than a marketing tool for companies and celebrities. Quoted on the BBC, he said: “Twitter is a broadcast medium rather than an intimate conversation with friends…The Twitter management need to decide if this is a problem, and if they decide it is, how they will tweak Twitter to become more acceptable to the average user?”’

I routinely watch speeches from T.E.D. (just Google it), and the founder of Twitter spoke about the social media giant just a few months ago. He was asked what he thought was the “right” way to use Twitter. His response was that there was no “right” way to use the micro-blogging site. I agree. To disagree with the BBC quote above, there is no need to change anything at the core of the platform because Twitter followers determine whether the service serves them or not. If people are not happy with the way that an individual, a business or an organization is utilizing the service, they may determine privately that they will begin to “unfollow” that entity. If they are active and happy, they continue to follow.

Which brings me to this: Surgance and I are both interested in your feedback. If you follow me or us on Twitter, please send feedback if you would prefer a different type of tweet than you are getting. Are you interested in what you are receiving or is there something else we could do that would be better for you? We are interested in keeping you informed and creating dialogue. We are open to suggestions about other ways that we could utilize this tool.

http://twitter.com/BrianAudia
http://twitter.com/Surgance

brian AUDIA
President and CEO
Surgance, Inc.
Uncommon Partners. Common Ground. Remarkable Results.
www.surgance.com <http://www.surgance.com/>
702.468.4637 cell
702.309.SURG (7874) office

Posted via email from Brian D. Audia

When To Quit (And When Not To Quit)

This hill may not look like much in a picture, but believe me, if you are out jogging in this neighborhood you dread seeing it on your horizon. It’s a backbreaker.

So I went for a run yesterday. I don’t run or workout everyday, but I stay in shape. I know (and so do you) that we should all exercise, that it is good for you, that it wards off disease and that you will live longer – and function more effectively – if you do. You’ll be a better person if you exercise. You will bring greater joy and happiness to your life if you exercise. Your health insurance will be cheaper if you exercise. Your body works better and your mind works better. You’ll be more energized and you’ll conquer the world! I know this. I knew it was going to be tough, but hey, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Right? I took off in my LiveStrong gear and my Nike shoes listening to my iPod... I was prepared mentally, physically and emotionally.

None of that mattered when I got to this hill.

You see, I knew that I should stay the course. I knew the benefits of doing so and I knew that I would feel very good about myself when I finished my run. But when I got to this hill, I was SO TIRED. My legs were burning. My lungs felt like they were going to explode. My heart was racing (I would have preferred for my heart to burn and my legs to race, but alas...). I felt like I might throw up. I thought about quitting. I thought SERIOUSLY about quitting. About a third of the way up the hill, I almost stopped. I even began to negotiate with myself. Before I left I had determined to run the whole way. But now I thought, “You have probably run at least three miles already (justification based on the great work I had already accomplished). Just chill out and walk (you would still be doing something beneficial, who could argue with that?). The rest of the way can be your cool down phase (you need that anyway). You can run further tomorrow or the next time (you can get up super early tomorrow and do it). It’ll probably be easier then (you’ll be even more prepared!).”

But I didn’t quit. And the reason I didn’t quit is because I WAS GOING UPHILL. I determined that I would stick it out through the toughest part of my run, climbing this hill, and once I got past the hardest part and was cruising downhill, then if I still felt like quitting I would quit.

I think you can probably guess the end of the story now. I barely made it up that hill. I was probably moving no faster than a slow jog near the top, but once I got on flat terrain I began to recover. And then the road turned down the hill and I was running again (maybe even faster than before?). I was really tired. But I was smiling. And I felt great! What was I thinking back there? This is great. That would have been silly to quit...

I finished the run. I got the benefits. And I learned a lesson that now I will try to apply as a principle in my life from now on:

Don’t quit when the going is hard. That’s when quitters quit precisely because it is hard. Just because something gets difficult doesn’t mean you should quit. Consider waiting and working until things turn around and then reevaluate the situation. You’ll be more likely to know then whether it is the right thing to do or whether you just felt like quitting because it was hard.

brian AUDIA
President and CEO
Surgance, Inc.
Uncommon Partners. Common Ground. Remarkable Results.
www.surgance.com <http://www.surgance.com/>
702.468.4637 cell
702.309.SURG (7874) office

Posted via email from Brian D. Audia