A website created by Landmark Education Graduates with news about other Landmark Education Graduates and the difference they are making around the world
Earlier this year Caroline Glasner encountered asylum seekers in London, and the experience had a profound effect on her. She was shocked at how destitute they appeared, and how much they lacked even the basic necessities of life. When it was mentioned that new underwear would be gladly welcomed, Glasner began her campaign, which was her project in Landmark Education's Self-Expression and Leadership Programme. Glasner explains the actions she took to have her project be realized:
"I enlisted 100 people to do a sponsered walk via the centre wearing their undies over their clothing and asking for sponsorship in the form of undies. I also approached local underwear retailers for donations. Tesco printed up t-shirts for all the walkers and gave £750. Figleaves.com donated 1,000 items of lingerie and every organization I contacted bar one made a donation. The generosity of individuals too was incredible, and I have received literally hundreds of donations and messages of support and encouragement."
"The walk took place on October12th–It was amazing, and I have had so many messages from people who took part saying what a wonderful and special day it was."
The totals raised are still rising, but they are now in excess of 4,500 pairs of underwear and £5,700.
Celebrities including Hollywood star Tilda Swinton are donating their customized and signed undies for a Celebrity Undies Auction, which Glasner is now organizing. She is also working towards making the walk an annual event and to have hundreds more walkers raising money, underwear and awareness of destitute communities. Glasner has been contacted by other charities looking to get involved.
The project raised both a large sum of money and clothing for the asylum seekers, but it also brought significant attention to their plight. She has now gotten several celebrities involved.The Hendon News, a Times Series newspaper owned by Gannett, wrote an article about the campaign.
Bra-vo for fundraiser
By Kevin Bradford
A maverick mother displayed her drawers this weekend in a bid to collect thousands of sets of underwear for asylum seekers.
Caroline Glasner, 43, of North Crescent, Finchley, began the Desperately Seeking Undies movement earlier this year after meeting asylum seekers at a drop-in centre, run by New North London Synagogue volunteers.She said she was shocked that people were living with little help or understanding after fleeing oppression and persecution.
“I came across the drop-in centre and what I saw was very moving,” she said. “I was shocked by the level of destitution. They were having to queue for food parcels. They were desperate. I felt I had to do something.”
Ms Glasner began her campaign after some women suggested a collection of new underwear would be welcomed. On Sunday, Ms Glasner was joined by about 100 people who paraded around Finchley wearing knickers to raise the profile of the asylum seekers’ plight.
Ms. Glasner said: “It was a fantastic event and we were blessed with the most amazing weather which helped the incredible atmosphere. “My dream is to make this into something much bigger and that a charity might come out of this. I hope it can go wherever I can take it.”
She has raised more than £5,000 so far and collected at least 4,000 items of underwear which will be sorted and distributed to women. Several celebrities have donated signed underwear which Ms. Glasner hopes to auction in the new year.
Diane Taylor, co-organiser of the monthly drop-in service at Old Barn Community Centre, in Fallows Close, East Finchley, said: “The main reason for choosing underwear was to use it as a metaphor for destitution, because they can’t even afford those items. We are very grateful for Caroline’s work. She has done an amazing job.”To donate, email caroline glasner@tiscali.co.uk or see mycharitypage.com/desperatelyseekingundies. For details on the drop-in centre, contact Diane Taylor on 07966 145098.
The PSEG (Public Service Electric & Gas) Global Green Expo was a Landmark event of its kind: Over 12,000 people came to the Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, on a spring weekend to explore how smart, everyday decisions to live greener can make a difference, save consumers money and helping to keep the environment stable for future generations. Mayors, legislators, both New Jersey senators and Governor Jon Corzine attended alongside celebrity speakers such as Kevin Bacon, Ted Danson, Ed Begley Jr., Jeff Corwin and Deirdre Imus to make the event happen.
New Jersey resident Rich Goldberg didn’t start the event, but without him it would never have happened the way it did. According to Goldberg, he used the ideas he received out of Landmark Education programs to dynamically cause PSEG to jump aboard as the lead sponsor.
The New Jersey Star-Ledger, which is the state’s largest newspaper and a leading contributor in making the event happen as well as being Goldberg’s employer, wrote about Goldberg’s contribution in its special “Ledger Links” section, excerpts of which appear here:The crowning touch was Rich Goldberg’s inspired sales call with his client, PSEG.
Rich saw the path to take this event to a whole new level with a client that ‘walked the talk’ of the environmental movement. He perceived immediately how PSEG would benefit from partnering on this event, and he persevered through numerous meetings until a three-year title sponsorship/partnership was secured. Rich’s development of the PSEG funding made possible the all-star line-up of keynote speakers that made Global Green a MEGA-EVENT. Rich also participated every step of the way in developing the event plan and at the event itself, making sure that PSEG’s investment paid off.This critical funding, and additional major sponsorships developed by Jeff Horn (Prudential Insurance), Andrea Dove (The Office of Clean Energy) and other Star-Ledger account executives, enabled us to also present New Jersey’s most complete Earth Day event.
Global Green’s 100+ exhibitors offered an eclectic array of environmentally friendly products, ranging from an ecofriendly lawnmower (no emissions or noise!) to organic cleaning products and veggie-derived candies. There were electric cars and other energy efficient vehicles, demonstrations on organic cooking and composting, and even a family band whose sound system was powered by a stationary bike. The slogan of the Expo was “Saving the Planet One Person at a Time.” The three-day event was the start of a continuing 365-day-a-year campaign to raise awareness and have New Jersey at the forefront of the environmental movement.The Global Green Expo for 2009, to be held April 3-5, looks to be even bigger: visit http://www.pseggreenfest.com for more information.
Suraj Singh of Bangalore created the “Adopt a Road Project” in his Self-Expression and Leadership Program, as a means of making a difference in his community by improving road quality throughout the Indian metropolis, using a variety of methods. Singh created Good Life Traffic Solutions, whose offical purpose is “to reduce the congestion of traffic and ensure smooth flow of vehicles on the road.” The India Times recently wrote an article about the work being done.
Volunteers Help Solve Traffic Problems
Bangalore: On Sunday, residents of Marathahalli and Whitfield will see youths dressed in blue jeans and white T-shirts correcting the medians, removing stones and garbage and appreciating the efforts of the traffic cops and Home Guards.
Two Sundays ago, they did this on Hosur Road, Bannerghatta Road, Trinity Circle and Intermediate Ring Road. These volunteers of Good Life Traffic Solutions (GLTS) have a singular vision – eliminate traffic woes in Bangalore. These young professionals and students believe their effort will help Bangaloreans. They don’t depend on the authorities to fund their efforts and have pooled in RS 8,000 to take care of expenses.
On Hosur Road, the volunteers cleared garbage near Army School and later removed unwanted stones, corrected medians and median blockers which had been scattered. They fixed medians, realigned them and filled in missing sections. On Bannerghatta Road, they removed big slabs of stones on the road and covered two gaps created in the median by two-wheeler riders. They covered it using extra slabs. They did similar work on Intermediate Ring Road, Trinity Circle, CMH Road and Indiranagar 100 Feet Road.
“Our objective is to reduce traffic congestion and ensure smoth flow of vehicles on the road. We aim at making Bangalore a commuter-friendly city,” said Suraj Singh G of GLTS. They have several plans for this. Fill potholes on all busy roads; provide a website with road map, alternative routes, live feed updates about traffic density, give a toll-free number to help stranded commuters; help maintain lane discipline at busy places like temples, schools, hospitals and provide Home Guards controlling traffic with appropriate accessories like gloves, jackets, boots, etc.
The toll-free number is to provide services like immediate evacuation, mechanical assistance, first aid and route guidance to a stranded commuter who is lost or late for work in the event of broken down vehicle or health-related emergencies on the road.
City additional commissioner (traffic and security) KC Ramamurthy is all praise for their efforts. He said he’s extend all possible help to honour their work and agreed to train them to help traffic policemen at traffic jams.
Sunherald.com, a news website for the Biloxi-Gulfport and Southern Mississipi area, recently took note of a book published by Earnest Hooks Jr., "Let's Go See Mother Wilkerson's Farm: Adventures in Learning Excellence," that features the art of Lizzie Wilkerson and educates children and adults on early 20th century farming culture. The article also makes note that Hooks leads introductions to the Landmark Forum offered by Landmark Education.
Let's Go See Mother Wilkerson's Farm: New Book Uses Artwork of Lizzie Wilkerson to Enrich Growth Experiences of Early Learners
PEACHTREE CITY, GA, October 10
Designed for children and adults who are unfamiliar with early 20th century farming culture, "Let's Go See Mother Wilkerson's Farm: Adventures in Learning Excellence" (published by AuthorHouse — http://www.authorhouse.com) is the new book from Earnest Hooks Jr. and the Lizzie Wilkerson Foundation that brings to life a forgotten yet important historical era.
"Let's Go See Mother Wilkerson's Farm" takes readers on adventures designed to enrich early learning and growth experiences. "The intent is to expand the learning experiences and create a passion to sustain the desire for learning that will extend into a lifetime productive experience," explains Hooks.
A milk churn, a sausage-making machine, a well and a rub board are familiar to a few keen observers. However, for an increasingly large portion of the population, these objects of farm history are entirely foreign. Created to enhance children's reading and writing skills beginning at preschool ages, "Let's Go See Mother Wilkerson's Farm" speaks through the extraordinary works of artist Mother Lizzie Wilkerson, born in 1900 in rural Georgia as the youngest of 21 children. Wilkerson's "brilliant and unique" talent was discovered through a Georgia State University outreach program in 1978. Five years later, Tom Brokaw of NBC Nightly News featured her GSU exhibit in a clip and said, "… every piece sold; some pieces for as much as $500."
Her artwork hangs in some of the most prestigious museums in the United States, including the Museum of American Folk Art in New York, N.Y., the National Museum of American Folk Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Ga. In this new book, Wilkerson's artwork fills readers with excitement as they discover a vibrant, productive culture from a century ago.
In the upcoming second volume of "Let's Go See Mother Wilkerson's Farm," the adventures continue. Volume 2 will feature five more adventures: "Enterprise" exposes readers to the "classic model" for enterprise and the Golden Seven Values; "Your Winning Future" features a picture album of young, successful, inspiring achievers; "Self-Expression Adventure" uses poetry to help readers manage life learning and growth challenges; "World Travel Adventure" introduces learners to the exciting world of geography; and "The Platinum Growth Adventure" encourages readers to read books from a reading list, to eat more fruits and vegetables, to visit a farm and to write an essay for class reading. Also included are farm locations in the metro Atlanta area for future visits and study.
Earnest Hooks Jr. is a native of Atlanta, where he met Lizzie Wilkerson as a young child. He attended Howard University's School of Architecture and Harvard's GSD Professional Development Program. A registered architect and certified building biologist, Hooks has served as a mentor for local children for several years and is an Introduction Leader for Landmark Education, Inc. He considers writing to be his second passion to architecture and design. For more information, visit http://www.wilkersonbooks.com.
Kim Scott took Landmark Education’s Self-expression and leadership program in Ottawa, Canada, and in so doing created a series of public lectures on sustainable living. The local emc newspaper wrote a story about Scott’s project.
Trend-Arlington community builds towards sustainable living practices
by Kimberly Lochhead
August 29, 2008
Residents of the Trend-Arlington community showed an impressive turnout on Aug. 21 to hear lectures on solar power and how they can lead sustainable-rich lives by making their homes more environmentally friendly.
“My goal is to catalyze conversation about sustainable living,” explained Kim Scott, organizer of the event. “I want it so that every kitchen table in Trend-Arlington is talking about it. When you want change, you need to say something now.”
The lecture night was the first in a series that will continue every season. Residents are given the option to choose what topics they wish to cover under sustainability to ensure that they are based on community interest.
Ms. Scott said she organized the event as part of the Self Expression and Leadership course she is taking from Landmark Education, a company providing innovative programs about enhancing life to communities, organizations and institutions. The program encourages self-expression through community commitment.
“I had to create something in the community that gives back and didn’t exist before,” said Ms. Scott. “So I created the sustainable living seminars. The course was the kick to stop talking and do something and create.”
While she does have a career in health policy and research, Ms. Scott said she hopes other people will incorporate sustainable living into their lives and realize that it is possible.
“I want people to leave these seminars with a sense that anything is possible, that solar heat is possible and doable and is the right thing to do,” she said. “I hope they get a vision with commitment to lead our neighbourhood, community, and city towards sustainable living.”
The lecture had presentations on solar heating and how the process works. While some may have the misconception that Ottawa is too far north to use solar power efficiently, studies have verified with statistics that the city and its residents are a perfect candidate for the renewable resource.
A solar power heating system for a home requires 4.5 hours of sunlight per day. Ottawa averages 4.2 hours of sunlight a day per year, as winter sees approximately two hours and summer sees up to 6.8 hours or more.
The province is also providing new incentives to encourage people to use solar heating in their homes. Go Solar is a program of the Clean Air Foundation and is the main force behind encouraging the public on this energy source. The Ontario government provides a rebate on provincial sales tax for qualified photovoltaic energy systems (those that change sunlight into electricity). Performing a Home Energy Retrofit audit completes this.
A solar water heater is estimated to cost approximately $6,000 and with provincial and federal rebates, homeowners can receive up to $1,300. These heaters work by absorbing the sun’s energy and heating city water before it enters a home’s hot water tank. Homeowners will see savings on their energy bill over time as well as reap the benefits of conserving energy for the future
Ms. Scott has taken personal initiatives to live a sustainable live.
“I have a passive solar home, hybrid vehicle and I’m always looking to live more sustainable in every area of my life,” she said. “I compost and recycle like everyone else. My consumption patterns have gone down and I think twice about every purchase I make.”
Sustainable Ottawa is an organization offering discounts at local businesses that provide sustainable products and services. Membership costs $40 and lasts for five years.
There are many other ways to protect the environment while also creating a better quality of life.
“I have to do something,” said Ms. Scott. “It’s one thing to talk about living it, but when you have structure around ideas, then action results. We don’t have the option to do nothing. I want to leave a better world for young people.”
For more information or to be involved with future lectures, contact Kim Scott at kscott@rogers.com.
For additional information on Ottawa’s involvement in sustainable living, please visit www.sustainableottawa.ca.
To offset difficult economic times, Landmark Education has announced that it is reducing its tuition for the Landmark Forum for the rest of the year, according to the Landmark Education website.
The tuition reduction amounts to 20% for the Landmark Forum, which includes the Landmark Forum for Teens and the Landmark Forum for Young People. The tuition for people to review the Landmark Forum has been reduced even more, to 50% of the regular price.
According to Landmark website, the tuition reduction is good for anyone who registers by December 31, including for courses already scheduled in 2009.
Where Peace Lives, the innovative, New Jersey-based organization (founded by graduates of the Landmark Forum) that uses media based projects to foster peace in young people and adults in schools and organizations throughout the world, held a fundraiser on September 20 that used a novel concept: Pampering for Peace.
The fundraiser or this peace group, held at the United Methodist Church in Red Bank, was also a wellness fair: massage therapy, reflexology, reiki, raw foods and a variety of wellness vendors were all available to the hundreds of visitors, who also bought over a thousand raffle tickets towards 20 valuable gift baskets, which included various heath and wellness items, gift certificates, concert tickets, books, DVDs, etc.
The response was extremely positive, with many visitors asking for the date of the next event. Where Peace Lives founders and directors Jeff Clapp, Donna Clapp and Jeff Rudy have decided to make the fundraiser an annual event.
All funds from the event went to Where Peace Lives programs in the U.S. and abroad. To find out more about Where Peace Lives and its groundbreaking programs, read a previous Landmark Education News story about the organization (and a follow up), or visit the Where Peace Lives website.
Sarah Culberson’s story is known to many viewers of Good Morning America and CNN–How she had grown up adopted in West Virginia, used Landmark Education’s Landmark Forum program to get up the courage to look for her birth father (her birth mother had died years earlier), and discovering that she was in fact a long lost princess to a small tribe in Sierra Leone.
The story didn’t end there. When Culberson returned to her long lost home town of Bumpe, she discovered that the high school, which was a prominent West African boarding school where her father had been headmaster, and many other buildings in the town had been burned and destroyed by rebels years earlier in the brutal civil war that ended in 2002, but not before 50,000 citizens were killed. Bumpe and Sierra Leone are still recovering from the devastation.
With the aid of John Woehrle, Culberson co-founded the Kposowa Foundation, an organization to rebuild Bumpe’s schools and infrastructure, and ultimately, to assist in the rebuilding of all Sierra Leone. Culberson’s recent return to Sierra Leone showed that the Foundation’s work had been productive, many new school buildings have been rebuilt and were proudly displayed by the residents. Culberson and the Foundation aren’t stopping there; in addition to the completion of rebuilding the the remaining high school buildings, which is the current priority, they are committed to creating scholarships for students, providing bus transportation for students living in villages outside Bumpe, a clean water project, and improved an improved medical clinic and hospital facilities.
Earlier this year Caroline Glasner encountered asylum seekers in London, and the experience had a profound effect on her. She was shocked at how destitute they appeared, and how much they lacked even the basic necessities of life. When it was mentioned that new underwear would be gladly welcomed, Glasner began her campaign, which was her project in Landmark Education's Self-Expression and Leadership Programme. Glasner explains the actions she took to have her project be realized:
