And so it begins. MDY5 has officially kicked off!
Share the MDY5 love! Tell your friends and family!
83,334 people doing an hour a week over the summer of 2016 means 1 million hours of giving back to our communities.
Check out the tabs above, follow us on Twitter andd Facebook. Be part of an amazing summer of giving back. It all starts with you.
And thanks!
The world is an awesome, amazing place because you are in it, don’t ever forget that. – Jeny, founder of Moving Difference
Moving Difference Year 5 kicks off tomorrow.
I am still as nervous as I was 5 years ago, this year seems almost unreal.
Our goal for Year 5 is 1 million volunteer hours from June 21, 2016 to September 21,2016
One perfect summer of giving back. We are sticking to our founding roots, so all the details are below and of course on the website here too.
Time to read thru and start planning your MDY5 goal, join us starting tomorrow!
The Goal: One Amazing Summer 2016!! Goal of 1 million hours of giving forward time and talents to your/our communities!!!
The Plan: From June 21, 2016 to September 21, 2016, with our friends and family & your friends and family, we become a Moving Difference. On September 21, 2016, no matter where in the world we are, we all watch that sunset together.
What is a Moving Difference? Glad you ask. It is spending at least an hour a week all summer long getting out there and moving to help someone or something in your community. It is picking up trash at the park, it is reading books to sick kids, it is handing water out to the homeless, it is gathering a group of friends to paint over graffiti, it is finally cleaning out that monster of a closet and get those clothes to charity, it is volunteering with your group or church, it is planting some flowers for an older neighbor, it is making dinner for a shut-in, it is walking dogs at the shelter, it is a garage sale with proceeds going to charity, it is anything and everything that gets you out moving and helping your community in any form or fashion.
How do I do Moving Difference? Easy!
• Join the Moving Difference on Facebook. This is your way to connect with people like you wanting to be a Moving Difference. It will have tips, suggestions and fun items for the entire summer. There is a Moving Difference Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Moving-Difference/457038127655525)
• Pick something that you want to do in your community to help out. Commit to doing it at least an hour a week or 12 hours over this summer. You can do the same thing all summer or 12 different things. The choice of what to do is completely yours! (If you need help picking something, just ask!)
• Then DO IT!! Get out there and become that Moving Difference. Even invite some of your friends and family to join you when you do the Moving Difference activity.
• And of course, when you have done it – come back to the Moving Difference on Facebook, Twitter or email us and tell us what you did! This way everybody’s hours get logged and we can all inspire each other to get out there. You can even post an “action” photo!!
• Aren’t on Facebook? That’s cool, you can follow Moving Difference on twitter (@movingdifferenc) or be part of the action with https://movingdifference.wordpress.com or even email us at movingdifference@yahoo.com.
What’s the result? If everything goes as planned, together we will have done 1 million hours of Moving Difference (or maybe more depending on how many people get involved!)- Think about it – 1 million hours of actually helping our communities, preventing just another “boring” summer, getting out there are moving ourselves (despite the hot and sticky) and we will have enjoyed one amazing summer together and one perfect sunset!! That is pretty cool!!
Can I invite my friends and families get involved in the Moving Difference? YES and please!! Everybody is welcomed to be a Moving Difference. Please help us to help get the word out on this awesome project!! This project is truly about sharing the experience of getting out there and moving and being part of the world.
What about this sunset thing? It is a sweet way to end being part of Moving Difference and the Summer 2016! This will be an once-in-a-lifetime sunset! No matter where in the world you are, stopping and enjoying the sunset of September 21, 2016. It’s the last day of summer and the perfect way to reflect on an amazing project that we all did together.
Other stuff to know: It seems simple because it is. This isn’t a corporate ad trick, bleeding hearts pleas or anything like that. It is just humans, in our own little way trying to do our little part and make the world a better place. We aren’t asking for the moon or your money, we are inviting you to spend some of your time to be a difference with us by moving. An hour a week for twelve weeks means 83,334 people like you and us can easily do a million hours!! And we know life happens, so if you can’t do one week, do it the next – just keep moving and just keep being a difference.
And one other thing: We know that money is tight, times are tough for many people and we appreciate you simply taking the time. Whatever you do as part of Moving Difference over this summer, THANKS!
This is the last #Sunday Thought of MDY3 –
It has been an amazing summer and tomorrow is that amazing sunset that we all have been working towards….
one more sleep before the last sunset of this summer…
one last Sunday to go and do, one more thing, one more hour or even all of it again…..
It has been a busy summer – I honestly in my heart am a bit sad that it is at the end….
I even cried this morning thinking about this MDY3, its hours, its goals, its people, its everything….
As I sip this tea, I think this last quote should be directly from me.
But I am lost for words…… the only thing I can think is –
Thank you. You are amazing people doing amazing things. Thank you very much.
Truly thank you.
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. –Mark Twain
With SO MANY MANY MANY MANY people out there in the world doing the Silly Hat Big Clean this weekend – (Big thank you BTW!)
this quote is for you!
“Grab your coat, and get your hat,
Leave your worry on the doorstep,
Just direct your feet,
To the sunny side of the street.”
Dorothy Fields
Of the many hours reported, there are many different projects going on in this world.
We don’t have enough time in our lives to tell you all the stories we have read and happy tears of joy this MDY3 has brought into our lives.
We humbly thank you for doing all the hours that you have been doing and look forward to the rest of the summer as we are passed the half-way mark and heading for home base- that wonderful sunset –
Here is something to think about –
Officially we are in the middle of summer, half-way there and half-way back.
The good intentions of June have passed thru the murky waters of July and are now staring you in the face with the heat of August…. and there is a list of things to be done by September too!
It isn’t what you planned in your head, when you started this year or even this summer. The truth is life happens.
But that doesn’t mean you failed or are a failure. You adjust and attack again or adjust and simply come away with a different viewpoint.
Failure doesn’t define us, it strengthens us.
If you haven’t gotten your Moving Difference hours done yet, take a breath. You got time and you got this…
Even a minute, even just one hour of Moving Difference is something to be proud of.
Don’t let the doubt of failure be your hallmark.
Have the courage on the path that you have set out for yourself. You got this!
Sometimes I am the mouse, sometimes I am the cheese….
It has not been a stellar week.
Here I sit at a bus stop in the the middle of a bad rain storm in the middle of a very long week.
Personally I have spent too much time looking for a package, waiting and worrying for calls and emails on a variety of things and everything else plus work and other life stuff.
Then I am reminded of a phrase from an old college science professor.
“A jewel is just a pebble that is worth something to someone”
I am reminded of the small things that do the most good are how you see them. Sure, there is bad everywhere and anywhere, but there is good at the same places.
The raindrops aren’t tears from heaven, they are water leaking from cloud, right?
I am losing it – I am wet, scared, tired, unsuccessful and beyond frustrated.
The wind is making the rain dance on the puddles in a rhythm pattern. And I am so wet that I don’t think anybody can tell the difference between the rain and my tears. I am a large very wet to the bone sobbing mess and I am thinking about rocks.
A truck hits the puddles. I didn’t think I could get more wet, but I did.
There is nowhere to escape the rain, the wet, the heat or the fact that I am officially spent emotionally and it is only Wednesday.
I see the next truck coming, I know the puddles are deep. I know that I don’t have the package that I have spent all of this week looking for. I know I am waiting and worrying on many areas of life stuff. I know that it is still raining. I know the puddle is coming to me.
And it did. I wasn’t any wetter this time.
Just mad that I couldn’t do anything to change the situation – the moment of time that I was in.
Still no bus, still raining, still wet.
I decided to pick up the trash so it doesn’t go into the storm drain.
Cans, wrappers and plastic bottles and a pretty cool rock…..
I think I will keep it….
And I am walking home, can’t get any wetter and I can’t make the package appear, the emails and calls happen or the world to stop being crazy but I pick up the trash here and I can enjoy a walk in the rain in a new rock in my pocket.
Note: This was written yesterday, but because of storms and the internet being funky – it was finally posted today.
Summer is starting to truly heat up!!!
Thank you for all the hours that you have done this far!!
(Keep sending your hours in!! -With the subject line “reporting hours”)
The quote for this delightful Sunday is:
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. –Confucius
Keeping going – keep doing – YOU ARE A MOVING DIFFERENCE!!!
Moving Difference 