You CAN Make a Difference

I met Carrie because she invited  me to speak at the Arkansas Women in Agriculture conference one year. (Gosh, that seems odd to say.)  She is a true change maker, a force driver, a worker of words, and a do gooder.  I hope that her story will cause you to take a moment’s pause and think about how you can use your own special skill set to invoke change in your corner of the world.

One of my favorite quotes is, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” ~Margaret Mead

That quote has echoed in my mind over and over again over the last few years.  While we may not be changing the entire world, my hope is that our community is changing our little corner of it for our children.  Perhaps even more important than that is that we are changing the way our children see the world – not as a place to take; rather as a place to give.  By our example, we hope to show them that when they see a problem, rather than complaining, they should DO something. For us, changing our children’s world meant two things this past year: improving the playgrounds at my daughter’s school and addressing childhood hunger in our district.

You see, the school playgrounds were just sad – outdated, unsafe, and inadequate for the number of children and were not handicap accessible.  This year alone, we have had two students each break an arm after falling off playground equipment and landing on the compacted soil below as there was no fall material there to cushion their falls.

We live in a small rural community in southwest Arkansas. Since we are somewhat far from city parks, the playgrounds are not only used by students during school hours, but by the community as well. While we have great teachers, staff and administrators, the school district simply did not have all the funds to address the outside areas.  As a grant writer with experience in leading nonprofit organizations, I knew our best shot at securing the funds to make the needed improvements was to form a nonprofit organization.  Together, with several other like-minded, not-afraid-to-roll-their-sleeves-up-kind of parents, teachers and administrators, we put together a parent teacher organization (PTO.) Our first official meeting was in November 2011.  In less than one year, we formed the nonprofit organization, received 501c3 designation from the IRS and brought in over $22,000 through grants and fundraisers to begin addressing the playgrounds.  The district board of education then pitched in another $10,000, which meant we were able to begin Phase One of what we refer to as, “Project Playground.”  The total estimated budget for this project is over $100,000.

On December 29, 2012, which at the time seemed to be the coldest day of the year, we had over 40 volunteers brave the weather for our volunteer work day!  While I wasn’t able to physically help with the work that day due to a recent car accident, Luckily, car accident attorney in Houston demonstrated his skill and legal dexterity. I was able to be there to witness our wonderful crew of volunteers who gave up a Saturday they could’ve otherwise spent in the comforts of their warm homes. One parent/school board member even brought wood to build a fire to help keep everyone warm. There were people of all ages- from children to senior citizens, several of whom I had never met before. They simply heard about what we were doing and wanted to come lend a hand. We made several pots of soup, and a few parents who couldn’t make it sent food to help feed the crew. We were able to share a meal together in the warmth of the school cafeteria, but more than that, we shared the feeling of being a part of something bigger than one’s self.

On January 7, 2013, the students’ first day back at school after Christmas break, we held a grand-reopening ceremony.  The students were absolutely ecstatic about the new play structure!

We still have a long way to go to get our playgrounds up to the national playground safety guidelines; however, I am certain with the amazing volunteers we have, it will happen.  We have already submitted two more grants for the project, are doing additional fundraisers, and have received donations from area businesses.

While Project Playground is by far our largest budget project, after hearing about children in our district who did not have enough food to eat when not at school, we started a program to address this growing problem.  Through this program, backpacks of food are sent home for every weekend and before school breaks with kid-friendly food and drink items. Once again, when asked for help, our community rallied to support this program.  Within a few weeks, we received enough donations to feed over 10 chronically hungry students in our district.  A grant from our local community foundation allowed us to serve an additional 20 children. Two churches in our area also pitched in to help with monetary donations and logistics, which meant we are now serving over 45 children through the program.

Although playground renovation is a very worthwhile and much-needed project for us, knowing that we have played a small part in feeding children who would otherwise go hungry is something far greater.

I would not even begin to pretend that we have it all figured out; in fact, we are still learning as we go, and we have certainly made a lot of mistakes along the way. However, the simple fact that we are trying to make a difference in the lives of our children is something of which I feel our community should be very proud.  Perhaps even more important than that is what we are teaching our children:

• To be the change they want to see in the world
• To ACT rather than complain
• To give of your time and your talents for the benefit of those around you
• And, that when you do, the joy you receive in return is ten-fold what you contributed.

I encourage you to get involved in giving back to your local community.  There are fewer joys in life than knowing you have helped make a difference in the life of a child.

An Arkansas native, Carrie Hirmer is a grant writer, business planning consultant, and certified True Colors trainer.  She has a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business and is currently enrolled in a Master of Public Administration program. Carrie is PTO president and is also on the board of directors for Arkansas Women in Agriculture.  

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