Making My Mark on the World

Hey y'all so I decided to do something a little different today for the blog. Hope you like it!

My Staff Bio!
http://www.carolinacrossconnection.org/meganemerson

Peace and Blessings y'all!
Megan

Mission Work in the Corporate World

As graduation comes closer and closer, I have been trying to decide what I want to do with my Public Relations degree. I worked on a nonprofit concentration and have worked with different nonprofits over the last four years.

As I look through different organizations and other PR jobs, I have found that I keep gravitating to Community Affair centered jobs especially in sports. Did you know that the NFL is considered as a nonprofit organization? Crazy, right! Other professional sports teams, like the MLB, NBA, NASCAR and the NHL, are not considered to be nonprofit but many do have in-house foundations.

This lead me to think, how easy is it for a large corporation to be involved with the local community. Major League Baseball has a community website MLB Community that connects fans to different club initiatives as well as MLB initiatives.

At the April 7, 2014 Oakland-Minnesota game, both teams and the fans "Stood Up to Cancer" in support of the Minnesota Twins General Manager Terry Ryan and others affected by cancer. The video above shows one partnership between the MLB and Stand Up to Cancer. The MLB Community website also provides fans and teams other opportunities to get involved with charities such as local Habitat for Humanity organizations as well as national charities such as Make-A-Wish and Baseball Tomorrow Fund.

For more information on Stand Up to Cancer please go to standup2cancer.org.

zap2it.com

Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming such a large part of corporate day-to-day operation and as a fan of nonprofit organizations, I cannot wait to see how partnerships are formed across the world.

Life Goal: The World Race

As my time in college is winding down (faster than I really expected), I have been thinking about were I want to be in the next ten years. I have gone through the thoughts of going to grad school (not going to happen anytime soon) to finding a job in the corporate world. But I have also thought about spending a year in mission work.

One really cool mission opportunity is The World Race which takes you to 11 countries in 11 months where you work with "the least of these."




To participate in the World Race you have to be between the ages of 21 to 35 for the 11 month mission trip or 18 to 22 for the shorter WR Gap Year (three continents in nine months). Racers apply for their trips and go through an interview process. Then before and throughout the race, racers raise the cost of the trip, which can cost between $13,500 to $16,000 per trip. The funds racers raise cover all team costs once the trip begins. This includes food, lodging, and air, land & sea travel. It also covers administrative, setup, coaching, debrief, and training costs prior to and at the start of the Race (theworldrace.org).

Here is a testimonial video from WR Alumni Hollis Johnson:



Before I sign off, I want to leave this little tid bit. No matter what you may do, or what you may think you can do, there is always something more. You just have to have an open mind and an open heart to have a new experience, It could be a mission trip or it could just be a new friendship.

Good luck!

Christmas Doesn't Always Come in December

I always find it interesting when I hear about someone's mission trip or time away from home in a different country. I haven't had the opportunity to go overseas for a mission trip but I definitely have plans to do so. However, finding opportunities to volunteer and make a difference can be found right in your backyard.

One organization that I have had the opportunity to be involved with, and is close to home, is Operation Christmas Child, which is technically based in Boone, NC but has distribution centers across the Southeastern US. I have had the opportunity to work in the Charlotte, NC Distribution center and it has been an amazing experience.

(WBTV.com)

The above picture is just a small portion of the boxes that come into the Charlotte processing center. As a volunteer, I have had the opportunity to check boxes, tape boxes and make sure boxes are packaged for transport and easy access for those who are handing out the boxes to the children across the world.

Other than working in the processing/distribution center, you can also pack a box for a child. I usually do one every year and last year I had the opportunity to follow where my two boxes went. OCC sends has a barcode scanner that can keep track of where you box travels, mine happened to land in Cameroon (Fun Fact: Cameroon won the 2000 Olympic Gold Medal for Soccer) and I sincerely hope that the little boy and girl that received my boxes are doing well and are safe from anything.

There are so many different things and reason that I hold OCC so close to my heart. One of those being the idea that something so small like a shoebox full of small toys and toiletries can change a child's life. OCC is a great way for a child to experience the love of a friend without having to expect something in return other than a loving relationship with God.

(Samaritan's Purse)

I hope that you have or find an organization that you can hold close to your heart. It could be a religious based organization or it could just be a cause based one with only a focus on cause. No matter what I hope that you know that you are making a difference with any type of mission work that you do. A person, a community, or even the world can change with just a little bit of help.

World Water Day is Almost Here

I've found that it is important to know what interests you when it comes to what you want to volunteer with and what you want to take on as a someone who is involved with the world around you. In my last post I talked about the organization charity: water and a bit about the water crisis. So, I figured with World Water Day on March 22nd, which is THIS Saturday, I would focus on the water crisis and what we can do to help those who do not have easy access to water.

Water is such a necessary part of life. A person can live without water for about 3 to 5 days, but sometimes the water they end up drinking is even more damaging to their bodies than not having the water available to them. This image is a great infographic from People Water which is a for-profit, cause-based organization that sells different products to raise awareness of the water crisis. 25% of the proceeds from products goes towards water projects that the organization is supporting.

There are so many different organizations that support the water crisis around the world such as People Water, charity: water, Water Missions International, UNICEF Tap Project and water.org to just name a few. The beauty of having so many different organizations is that you can support any way you want to either through volunteering or from purchasing a product. 

The people that are being helped are so important to the cause. Every time a new well is built, or water purification tablets are available, a child is able to go to school or be safe from diseases. So take the time to investigate the water crisis and decide to take a chance on helping solve an important crisis. 

Also, on your smartphone go to UNICEFtapproject.org and go off the grid for a little bit. Every ten minutes that you do not touch your phone is ONE day of water for a child. The longer you go the more water is available to people around the world. So, if you do participate good luck and I hope you beat my 3 hours.

Taking the Plunge to Change

It seems that I am being asked about my future now that I am counting down the days until graduation, in case you were wondering it's down to two months. Normally I would answer with the usual, "I'm not sure, but I have something planned out." Reality is that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do after graduating in May. I have ideas, but I have no idea where it is going to lead me.

As a nonprofit PR major, I've had the opportunity to learn more about different nonprofits across not only the state but the world. One of which I hold close to my heart, that organization being charity: water.

Charity: water is a nonprofit based out of NYC that brings clean and safe water to people all across the world. Although I have never been across the world, and I have not seen the crisis first hand, I know how important clean water is to a person's health. For example, the West Virginia water contamination in January 2014. That crisis was minor compared to what people experience on a day to day basis in areas that have no access to water other than a five hour trip to dirty river.

I've always found the water crisis to be important, and I cannot stress it enough. Below is a video created by charity: water that expresses why water is so important to the world. If we can save water and help express the necessity for water to be accessible to everyone then we can make a change. How simple would it be to raise money for a village buy hosting an event or even dedicating your birthday, which I am doing for my 23rd birthday next year, through charity: water.




Although it seems so simple to fix, there has not been much done. I cannot wait to see the world come together to create change. Maybe a mission heart will growing in everyone across the world, and I can't wait to see that happen over the course of the next few years.

What would you do to change the world? Would you help end the water crisis or is there something else you want to tackle?

Kenyan Love

I've grown up in a very mission centered church in Concord, NC and have spent years working in the western part of the state either as a camper or staff member with Carolina Cross Connection, a mission ministry that reaches out to families in need of home repair, homeless in Asheville and orphans in Honduras. With CCC's recent involvement with Honduras, going outside of NC to do mission work has been on my mind and one of those places has been Africa, and more specifically Kenya.

Kenya has been this place that I have seen on TV and different mission oriented websites that has just drawn me in. I'm not sure if it is the culture of Kenya or the scenery, but Kenya is one of the first places that I think of when asked if I have ever wanted to travel and do mission work.

There are an estimated 890,000 orphaned Kenyan children who are also affected by the HIV/AIDS virus, which is the third highest amount in the world. There are also 700 children who are orphaned a day in Kenya and one place that they can go to is Naomi's Village in Maai Mahiu, Kenya. The village is located on 5-acres of land and has the capability of caring for 80 children from the ages of 0-12.

Volunteering with Naomi's Village gives you three options. The shortest being 10-12 days. The longest is an indefinite commitment for a long-term stay. Volunteers can also stay for two months or less as another long-term option.

Below is an informational video about Naomi's Village.

Volunteering with Naomi's Village and working with Kenyan children would be a great opportunity and I cannot wait to see if God leads me to this path.