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Summer, 2005, Update for Members and Volunteers


UPDATE

For Members and Volunteers

Summer, 2005

meapple

My name is Melinda, and I'm a member of Alternatives' board of directors.

My husband and I are expecting our first baby soon, and I'm anxious about bringing a child into this world. As a Christian, I have eternal hope, but until I reach my final home, there is so much to worry about and protect our children from. I worry about the state of our families with loved ones spending so little time together. I worry about the state of the Earth and what will be left for my children's children.

Serving on Alternatives' board gives me hope that there are ways to deal with these issues if we will only make the commitment.

Please join me in supporting Alternatives with a generous donation, with a membership renewal (at a higher level if at all possible) and some of your time.

Thank you.
Peace,
Melinda Zobel


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Your opinion makes a difference! As Alternatives’ “new visual image” develops, we plan to upload designs to our website for your comments. On our <www.SimpleLiving.org> home page click on Join Us!

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kirkwoodfair

One of several tables of beautiful items at the Kirkwood Alternative Christmas Market. For help organizing an event at your church, call Alternatives. Share your stories and photos!


Success Story

You Can Do It Too!

Alternative Christmas Gift Market
at Kirkwood Church


Each year during the first three weekends of Advent, our church offers handcrafted gifts from other cultures to meet local and international needs.

• a diversity of worldwide items from “Ten Thousand Villages”

• beautifully made holiday decorations carried back from Guatemala by our Mission Team

• delicate hand-painted Guatemalan bisque butterflies

handbags, shawls, etc. from Peru

These affordable, colorful gifts made a great display and were well received by the congregation. Can you imagine a one-of-a-kind, loom-woven baby blanket for $15? Kids could readily afford the $2 small butterflies or $1 woven bookmarks as family gifts. All proceeds directly benefit the artisans.

Also, we sold the following gifts, tagged so that the recipient would know who benefited from the purchase.

• Cookie mixes made by our Middle Schoolers helped the St. Louis-based Peanut Butter Project provide wholesome peanut butter paste to malnourished children in Malawi. A cookie mix sold for $10, the amount needed to restore one child to health through this simple food supplement. One person bought 20 cookie mixes as gifts for everyone on her list. :)

• Small, nicely wrapped, home-made loaves of Pumpkin Cranberry Bread benefited Bread for the World.

• Glazed “house pins” supported Room at the Inn in its local ministry to the homeless.

Our long commitment to Heifer Project continued through the sale of tribute cards. We now have a member who buys “a pair of llamas” each year and another whose brother looks forward to his annual “goat.”

The $4,700 income will happily help many... and kept at least some of our folks out of the malls.

We are grateful for the ongoing inspiration of Alternatives to offer our members simple, affordable gifts that come from a loving heart and not a platinum card. Guided by the penetrating question, “Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?” we will continue to seek ways to help the families in our busy suburban congregation to center their holiday celebration on the teachings of Christ.

Cathy Yost, Co-Chair
Social and Environmental Concerns Commitment
First Presbyterian Church, Kirkwood, MO
314-965-0326 cyost@kirkwoodpres.org



EXTENDED VERSION

Success Stories

You Can Do It Too!

Christmas Fair at Kirkwood Presbyterian

Alternative Christmas Gift Market at Kirkwood Church

Here’s what we try to accomplish through our annual Alternative Market.
 
Seven long display tables are set up on the first Saturday of Advent (concurrent with Hanging of the Greens) and the next two Sunday mornings. In 2004, we offered four kinds of handcrafted gifts from other cultures:
 
1) a diversity of worldwide items from “10,000 Villages” brought to us by a local non-profit shop called Plowsharing Crafts;
 
2) beautifully made holiday decorations carried back from Guatemala for this purpose by our Mission Team in March 2004;
 
3) three sizes of delicate hand-painted bisque butterflies shipped to us by a Guatemalan artist with help from a social worker friend of mine there; and
 
4) handbags, shawls, etc. from Peru, which came by way of a Task Force in our Presbytery.
 
These affordable, colorful gifts made a great display and were well received by the congregation. Can you imagine a one-of-a-kind, loom-woven baby blanket for $15? Kids could readily afford the $2 small butterflies or $1 woven bookmarks as family gifts. All proceeds will directly benefit the artisans.

In addition, we sold gifts appropriately tagged for the recipient to know exactly who benefited from the purchase:

1) Forty-eight dry cookie mixes made by our Middle Schoolers to help the St. Louis-based Peanut Butter Project provide wholesome peanut butter paste to malnourished children in Malawi. A cookie mix sold for $10, exactly the amount needed to restore one child to health through this simple supplement. One person bought 20 cookie mixes as gifts for everyone on her list.  :)
 
2) Twenty small, nicely wrapped loaves of Pumpkin Cranberry Bread made by our Chair of Mission Outreach sold at $10 each to benefit Bread for the World.
 
3) Glazed “house pins” to help Room at the Inn in its local ministry to the homeless. We sold 94 pins at $17 each.
 
In addition, our long commitment to Heifer Project continued through the sale of tribute cards. We now have a member who buys “a pair of llamas” each year and another whose brother looks forward to his annual “goat.”
 
For the first time, our talented Chancel Choir made a professionally recorded and packaged CD, which at $15 was a popular gift for people to send to fellow members, former children of the church or any fan of spiritual music.
 
The total income (not counting Plowsharing Crafts, which kept its accounting separately) from our three days of business was over $4,700, which happily will help many and kept at least some of our folks out of the malls.
 
We are grateful for the ongoing inspiration of Alternatives to offer our members simple, affordable gifts that come from a loving heart and not a platinum card. Guided by the penetrating question, “Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?” we will continue to seek ways to help the families in our busy suburban congregation to center their holiday celebration on the teachings of Christ.
 
With appreciation for all you do,
Cathy Yost, Co-Chair
Social and Environmental Concerns Commitment
First Presbyterian Church
100 East Adams Avenue
Kirkwood, MO 63122
Office phone 314-965-0326
Office e-mail cyost@kirkwoodpres.org

Home phone 636-527-8847


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Referrals! Referrals! Referrals!

We must be proactive! Please share the names and contact information of anyone that might have a spark of interest in voluntary simplicity – church members, friends, relatives, colleagues. It’s much more likely to happen if you call toll free – 800-821-6153.

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Alternatives’ supporters gather at The Hospitality Place, operated for over a decade by the Yackels in Circle Pines, Minnesota.

CirclePines100.gif

Back row from left: Stella and “Pete” Petersen and John Yackel. Front row: Roberta Dale, Eleanor Yackel and Lynn Rossiter.

Eleanor & John Yackel Support
New Initiative


Eleanor and John Yackel of Circle Pines, Minnesota, support Alternatives’ new initiative “Reaching Out to Young Adults.” Their gift will enhance the appearance, navigation and content of Alternatives’ web site.

“Young adults use the internet to get the information they want and we want them to find Alternatives’ message of simpler living easily,” said John.

“We urge other supporters of Alternatives to join us in this exciting initiative,” said Eleanor. “We really need to provide the inspiration and ideas for young adults who are bombarded with messages to over consume.”

The Yackels are longtime supporters of peacemaking and recently received the Outstanding World Citizen Award at Augsburg College in St. Paul, Minnesota, as part of the annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum.

John has served on Alternatives’ board of directors. They also helped fund Alternatives’ video “Break Forth into Joy: Beyond a Consumer Lifestyle.”


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webster

Webster Energizes
SLOW Down Network


Dick Webster is an organizational guru... and he’s determined to get more volunteers and members spreading the message of simpler living.

Dick is recruiting Volunteer Coordinators to stay in touch with some of Alternatives’ 800 volunteers, urging them to be proactive in spreading voluntary simplicity.

You could be a volunteer coordinator too
. Call 800-821-6153 or contact him directly at <webster.1@osu.edu>.

Richard Webster, Ph.D., is President of Personal Resources Management Institute, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978. He is also a Founding Principal of Abintra Performance Learning LLC. He joined The Ohio State University in 1981, taught there until 1994. He has published more than 30 articles, books and other learning resources in higher education, management, and continual improvement of quality and performance. He’s also a new member of Alternatives’ board of directors.


EXTENDED VERSION

Richard Scott Webster, Ph.D.

Dr. Richard Webster is President of Personal Resources Management Institute. PRMI (501-c-3 non-profit, founded 1978) undertakes R&D projects and provides consulting services for those interested in organizational learning, communities of practice, creativity, innovation, constructive change and continual improvement.

Dr. Webster is also a Founding Principal of Abintra Performance Learning LLC. Abintra, founded 2002, developed and markets IdeasProcess™ (IsP™) for leaders interested in creativity, innovation, constructive change and continual improvement. Abintra's IsP tools work for all organizations, every size and type: business and industry, education, government, health care, other non-profits.

Dr. Webster joined The Ohio State University in 1981 as Director of Executive Education, and taught in the (now) Fisher College of Business, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, from 1986 to 1994.

Executive Education responsibilities included needs assessment, program design and marketing, and quality assessment of clients' learning and satisfaction—for some 200 programs each year: one-half day to five weeks. Major clients included American Electric Power, Battelle Memorial Institute, IBM, Lazarus, the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors, Robert Morris Associates, and Wendy’s.

Before coming to Ohio State, Dick Webster was Research Director and then Executive Director of the Higher Education Management Institute (HEMI) at the American Council on Education (ACE), Washington, D.C. Previous teaching, budgeting, and research administration experience was at Florida International and Michigan State Universities, The University of Michigan, Grand Valley State College, for Michigan's State Board of Education and in the Governor’s Budget Office.

Dick completed graduate work at The University of Michigan following under-graduate work at Antioch College. He has published more than 30 articles, books and other learning resources in higher education, management, and continual improvement of quality and performance.


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forbes

Forbes Speaks Out
for Alternatives


Dr. Bruce Forbes plans to write another book during his sabbatical... and to speak out for Alternatives. From now through August, 2006, he is available to speak throughout Minnesota. He will donate any honoraria to Alternatives.

For details, call 800-821-6153 or contact him directly at <forbes@morningside.edu>.

Professor of Religious Studies at Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa, he is a new member of Alternatives’ board of directors. Morningside College is a teaching-oriented institution, and the school offers three different awards for outstanding teaching, one chosen by a student honor society, one by a faculty committee, and one by outside evaluators. Forbes has received all three awards, and he has received the student award twice. In addition to his teaching, he is a frequent and popular guest speaker at local churches, workshops, and regional conferences.

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EXTENDED VERSION

Forbes Speaks Out for Alternatives


Dr. Bruce Forbes plans to write another book during his sabbatical... and to speak out for Alternatives for Simple Living. From now through August, 2006, he is available to speak throughout Minnesota. He will donate any honoraria to Alternatives.

“I have taught college students for over 30 years and the pressures on them to saddle their future with debt by over consuming have never been greater,” Forbes said. “Alternatives’ positive message of voluntary simplicity addresses those pressures. I want to tell adults of all ages about our ‘Young Adults Initiative’ and get their feedback.”

For scheduling information, call 800-821-6153 or contact him directly at <forbes@morningside.edu>.

Professor of Religious Studies at Morningside College, Sioux City, IA, he is a new member of Alternatives’ board of directors. Morningside College is a teaching-oriented institution, and the school offers three different awards for outstanding teaching, one chosen by a student honor society, one by a faculty committee, and one by outside evaluators. Forbes has received all three awards, and he has received the student award twice. In addition to his teaching, he is a frequent and popular guest speaker at local churches, workshops, and regional conferences.

Alternatives is a nonprofit educational organization that "equips people of faith to challenge consumerism, live justly, and celebrate responsibly." Its most widely read resource is the family Christmas magazine “Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?”

Alternatives' free catalog contains works on simpler living for children and adults. Alternatives serves everyone.

“In addition to our free quarterly Resource Guide, Alternatives has an extensive web site offering hundreds of inspiring articles for individuals and editors to use. Also we have a North American network of over 800 volunteers ready to give talks, workshops, help organize events and simplicity circles and study/action groups," said Gerald Iversen, Alternatives’ National Coordinator.

Forbes is an ordained United Methodist minister. He holds a BA from Morningside College, an MTh from Southern Methodist University, and a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. His formal academic training is in the history of Christianity, but he has also developed a special interest in the analysis of popular culture. He is the co-editor of two books: “Religion and Popular Culture in America” (2000, revised edition 2005) and “Rapture, Revelation and the End Times: An Exploration of the Left Behind Series” (2004). He is currently working on a history of Christmas, for general readers. ###


UPDATE: The following information is obsolete.

Flyer Time! Please promote “Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?” 2005 – our family Advent magazine – by distributing color flyers. Call for your free copies today! Or mark and return the reply form below.

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----Please clip and return your reply to Alternatives. Thanks for using your own envelop. Or call toll free! We’d love to talk to you.----

Member/Volunteer Reply [6/05]
___ I want to support the Young Adults Initiative.
___ I want to be a dues-paying member, or renew.
___ I want to be a charter member of Alternatives’ endowment. I’am pledging at least $500.
___ I want to help sponsor Alternatives’ resources for 2006. I’m pledging at least $500.
___ I have a presentation/outline that I am willing to share. I’ll send a copy.
___ I’m sending an item for you to consider for “Whose Birthday?” 2006.
___ Contact me about hosting a speaker in my area.
___ I will distribute “Whose Birthday?” flyers in 2005. Send me _____ copies (___ folded; ___ flat).

___ I’m giving $100 or more by check or credit card numbers and expiration date. Send me one of the following free resource for each $100...
___ Audio CD “Alternative Christmas Trilogy”
___ Audio CD “Living Simply & Loving It!”
___ CD-ROM “Simply the Best: Over 30 Years of Alternatives.”
___ “Unplug the Christmas Machine” Workshop-on-a-CD (audio).
___ “Living More-with-Less Study/Action Guide.”
___ “Spirit of Simplicity: Quotes & Art” CD-ROM

___ Send me information about including Alternatives in my will and about planned giving.

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