Community Engage Results Are In!
One of the most important aspects of Plugged In is the emphasis placed on showing students how they can use music to better the world. Plugged In does this by supporting our students to throw a benefit concert at the end of each session. These concerts benefit charities or organizations that are making positive change in the world. The students choose which charity Plugged In will support at our Community Engage evening. At Community Engage students present charities and causes that are important to them. Students explain how they learned about the charities, what needs are met by the organizations and why they feel it is important to support the organizations. By the end of the evening after much discussion and voting the students determine the recipient charitable organization for their concert.
Bikes Not Bombs uses the bicycle as a vehicle for social change. Reclaiming and repairing thousands of bicycles each year, Bikes Not Bombs provides local and global programs focused on skill development, jobs, and sustainable transportation. Their programs mobilize youth and adults to be leaders in community transformation.
For more information on Bikes Not Bombs check out their website. You can also learn more by liking their Facebook page or by following them on Twitter!
We encourage you to watch this short video about the amazing work Bikes Not Bombs is doing in your community and throughout the world!
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Check out the pictures of all the fun and hard work at Community Engage! Thanks again to all of our fantastic students for presenting such great ideas. Every charity presented is worthy of our community’s respect and support and we encourage you to explore the amazing this being done by the charities and non-profit organizations in your neighborhood.
See you at the benefit concert in January!
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Every year, hundreds of thousands of people across the country bring their determination, energy, and passion to the Walk to Defeat ALS. More than just a few mile trek, it’s an opportunity to bring hope to ALS patients, to raise money for a cure, and to join together to fight for something important. The Walk to Defeat ALS is the ALS Foundations largest event, raising funds to sustain patient care and support research for much of the following year. Approximately 165 walks are held around the country each year. Since 2000, the events have raised over $137 million toward their mission – a world without ALS. The Walk to Defeat ALS empowers patients, friends, families, and the business community to fight back against a disease that leaves many feeling powerless.
This Needham High School club engages students to make a positive impact on their community bu rebuilding and redistributing donated computers running Linux to low-income families.
The Bay Colony Rail Trail
The Bay Colony Rail Trail project aims to convert the abandoned rail corridor between Needham and Medfield to a new multi-use greenway. The path will provide a safe and natural facility for hiking, walking, running, biking, cross-country skiing, and other recreational activities. The proposed trial will extend for 7 miles through the towns of Needham, Dover and Medfield.
The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone – and it WILL get better.
The Greene’s Field Fundraising Committee is comprised of community volunteers who are working to make Greene’s Field a destination park and vibrant, attractive Town Center. The Committee is dedicated to building a spectacular playground for children of all ages in Needham.
Animal Rescue League of Boston
The Animal Rescue League is a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing domesticated animals and wildlife from suffering, cruelty, abandonment, and neglect. Since 1899 the Animal Rescue League has advocated the philosophy of their founder, Anna Harris Smith, that “Kindness Uplifts the World”.
The mission of Genuine Voices is to teach music, musical composition, and computer-based music “sequencing” to youth in juvenile detention centers and other educational and institutional settings across the United States and Worldwide. The Genuine Voices program aims to provide youth with the experience of planning and creating finished music productions. They also wish to help juveniles discover the world through participation in cultural events, travel and by inviting musicians to perform.
Rachel’s Challenge
Rachel’s Challenge is a series of student empowering programs and strategies that equip students and adults to combat bullying and allay feelings of isolation and despair by creating a culture of kindness and compassion. The programs are based on the writings and life of 17 year-old Rachel Scott who was the first student killed at Columbine High School in 1999. Rachel left a legacy of reaching out to those who were different, who were picked on by others, or who were new at her school.
charity : water
charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing drinking water to some of the more than 800 million people in developing nations without a reliable source of clean, safe water.
The Jimmy Fund Clinic at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a place where children and their families find hope. For people in New England and around the globe, the Jimmy Fund Clinic is one of the world’s premier centers for pediatric cancer research and treatment. Starting in the 1940s, when Institute founder Sidney Farber, M.D. used drug therapy to achieve the first-ever remissions of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Dana-Farber researchers have made strides against virtually every type of cancer that strikes children.
The Heifer Fund envisions a world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet. The Heifer Fund aims to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. It’s a simple strategy, to “Pass on the Gift.” As people share their animals’ offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources, and skills – an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.
AFH’s central program, the Youth Arts Enterprise, is a paid apprenticeship and leadership program employing urban teens. Youth are partnered in small groups with professional artists, designers and young artist mentors to create, market and sell fine art and design services. With fully equipped, staffed studios in Painting/Murals, Sculpture/Industrial Design, Screen-Printing, Graphic Design, Digital Media, and Photography/Web Design, youth and mentors collaborate on creative projects, many specifically commissioned by clients. In the process, young artists develop entrepreneurial skills as they participate in planning, product development, outreach and marketing of projects.
Children in Need is the BBC’s UK corporate charity. Children in Need provides grants to projects in the UK which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged. They provide support to children in all corners of the UK as well as small and large organizations which empower children and expand their life choices.
The Travis Roy Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the life of individuals with spinal cord injuries and their families by providing adaptive equipment and to finding a cure through increased funding of research, resulting in self-reliance and the ability to be as independent as possible.
Inspiring youth to trust and respect themselves and all life through nature. By striving to reach out and help young people to experience some of life’s enjoyable activities, 1 on 1 Fishing Experience aims to help youngsters develop a positive outlook toward authority, understand their career options and provide them with alternatives to the types of activities that have led them to their troubled lifestyles.