Charity/Philanthropic
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Let us help!
Jan 13th
In some of my upcoming posts, I will be covering some features on BorrowMe that you may or may not be aware of. This will help to bring awareness to these features, but also to make life easier for the users (That’s you!).
This week, we talk about Wishes!
BorrowMe supports uEnd.org this holiday season.
Dec 15th
I stood just inside the doorway, I might as well have been invisible. Hundreds of holiday shoppers were dodging in and out of stores, nearly climbing over each other, like a colony of ants. Loads of holiday gifts were being deposited with weary husbands trying to avoid the fray on the limited benches scattered throughout the mall. As I watched them scurry around, arms loaded with overpriced swag I wondered if anybody was thinking about the less fortunate?
Helping the less fortunate without spending a dime.
Nov 16th
As the holiday season runs head on towards us, non-profit groups are scrambling to get their holiday programs into full swing. Due to the recent recession, this year will be incredibly tough for many Charities and even tougher for many families. But just because the purse-strings are tight this year does not mean you can’t help out the less fortunate this holiday season.
Xmas is almost here, have you rented your tree?
Nov 9th
No, that’s not a typo! Los Angeles based Living Christmas Co. has embarked upon the ingenious idea of renting live trees for the holiday season! Inspired by the sheer sadness he felt while navigating the Post-Christmas carnage lining the streets in his neighborhood, landscape architect Scott Martin took it upon himself to ensure some trees would see many a Merry Christmases.
Personal Consumption: The Things We Keep
Sep 9th
The Things We Keep
This was adapted from an email I received from a friend today. Although it is quaint and sentimental – it exposes our attitudes towards obsolescence, and the disposable society we sanction.
—
“I grew up in the 40’s/50’s with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it… A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away.
I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a housedress, lawn mower in one hand, and dishtowel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress, things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy – with all that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there’d always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer’s night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t any more.
This is true. It is just as true for marriage, children with bad report cards and aging parents as it is for old cars, cracked tools, worn toys and torn furniture. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. “
—
Give a second thought next time you buy a product designed for you to toss it out, and buy another. It is the only way we will every go back to the best aspects of a more ‘made to last’ world of the past.
Sean Young
Founder, BorrowMe Inc.
http://borrowme.com/sean
Don’t forget to join our Facebook Group, follow us on Twitter, check out Why BorrowMe or consider Getting Started.
Getting Constructive!
Sep 8th
The BorrowMe offices have been getting a bit of a face-lift over the past week to help increase productivity and organization throughout the organization.
Seen here is BorrowMe CEO and Founder Sean Young working tirelessly to mount the new ‘White Board Walls’ for our meeting area. Hey Sean, I have a garage door opener that needs installing when you’re done!
BorrowMe CEO Sean Young at work
Don’t forget to join our Facebook Group, follow us on Twitter, check out Why BorrowMe or consider Getting Started.
A New American Dream
Aug 25th
Here at BorrowMe, we are real fans of the New American Dream Foundation. Their perspective on how we’ve lost our freedom & opportunity to the bondage of the consumption myth is one we can’t deny.
For past generations of Americans, the American dream stood for opportunity—a promise of attainable comfort and security. More recently, however, the traditional dream has been displaced by a much crasser version. Relentless marketing and an exclusive, myopic focus on growth have created a “more is better” dream that promotes, not comfort and security, but rather the unbridled production and consumption of stuff.
By shifting the prize from well-being to stuff, the “more is better” version actually harms the very things we cherish. It is unsustainable personally, as it draws American families into a work and spend treadmill that clutters our lives and depletes our savings. It is also unsustainable for the planet and its people, as it requires an endless churning out of cheap goods, with little regard for who made them and how, the strain on precious natural resources, or where it all goes in the end.
The Center for a New American Dream is dedicated to helping support and nurture an American dream that upholds the spirit of the traditional dream—but with a new emphasis on sustainability and a celebration of non-material values. We envision a society that values not just “more” but more of what matters.
It will be those who are willing to swim against the current, take a chance, and rebel against the momentum of the consumption myth. If you’re up to the challenge – we are here to help you.
– Sean
Does this make sense to you? TAKE ACTION before you leave, and make a small change in how you deal with your stuff.
Create a wish for any kind of special item on BorrowMe.
Create a listing to lend any book, dvd, tool or treasure to a friend or neighbor.
– Sean
http://www.borrowme.com/sean
Contact me directly.
Don’t forget to join our Facebook Group, follow us on Twitter, or consider Getting Started.
Going good while doing well …
Aug 13th
I was confronted by a homeless man on my way out of a Make it Good function … (For those of you who do not know Make it Good – check out http://www.borrowme.org, the philanthropic arm of BorrowMe.)
When it comes to doing well by doing good – many of us can talk a pretty good talk about the numbers, the capacity and creativity of business & its potentially positive social & environmental impacts. My experience is that if we’re not careful, it can all become pretty theoretical.
So, after the last Make it Good function, where I sensed a general feeling of self-satisfaction about being involved in doing good – I was confronted by a homeless man. I was on my way out of the restaurant, and he
approached me in the parking lot. I listened patiently as he told me about his situation, but already I was prepared to tell him that I had no money for him (what I almost always say – because I don’t trust him to use it well).
As I got into my car and reflected on the encounter, I was struck by the paradox. I was enjoying the comforts of a restaurant while dismissing the very people I purport to want to help.
I was left feeling a bit confused, even a bit ashamed. Wasn’t there something more I could have, or should have done? Perhaps he would have wasted the money, or used it unwisely in some fashion. Perhaps I could have taken him for a bite of food – although he told me he needed a place to sleep. Mostly – I didn’t know what to do, and frankly, I still don’t.
I make an effort not to be dismissive or to ignore the the folks I see on the street, even as as they approach me for ‘the ask’. This seems to fall short, and frankly leaves me with an empty feeling. Frankly, it still bothers me. Perhaps it should. I really don’t know.
The postscript: In reading over this blog posting – I was more confronted by my sense of helplessness, than I was by the middle aged gentleman who was looking for a place to sleep.
– Sean
Founder, BorrowMe Inc.
http://www.borrowme.com/start.php?id=2723