Our Mission…
Watts in the World Objective
The 5×12 Family – Global Initiative
Our big, juicy Goal: Log 10 million hours of volunteer work
done by families across the globe in 2013.
5 hrs.+ a month x (avg. 4 ppl per family) x12 months x 4,167 families= 1,000,000 hours of service in 1 year.
WHY is this important?:
1. Happiness & self-worth that comes to an individual who looks out side themselves and helps their fellow man.
2. Opportunity to give back. By sharing your time and God given talents with others, you are showing gratitude & good karma to your Higher Power/Universe.
3. Strengthens marriages. Couples who engage in selfless activities build more meaning and purpose in their relationship. It also gives them perspective on their current challenges.
4. Unites families- When you work together towards a common goal, it bonds a family unit together, and instills values and work ethic into kids. Creates fantastic memories that will last a lifetime. Keeps your focus on what’s truly important in life.
5. Builds communities- when a communities citizens ban together for a common cause, it generates love, friendship, cooperation and pride in the project. There’s a deeper level of ownership of what happens to that community, long after the project is completed.
How we will achieve this &
How you can be a part of it:
1. Community Event: Create an event once per month (12- 18 cities), where we gather local families on a Saturday and do a community service project together, in conjunction with local organizations and sponsors.
2. Pre-Event: We will hold a pre-event Marriage & Family Enrichment workshop, for free, the Friday evening before, in an effort to strengthen the volunteer families and set the context for why ongoing volunteer work builds the family unit. Invite participants to consider doing 5 hrs. of service work per month, for a year.
3. Post event: Hold a rally meeting in the evening after the service project, where refreshments will be served and people can share their experiences from that day. People can give video testimonials to be uploaded and shared worldwide about what they experienced during that day, and hopefully sign a pledge to continue volunteering the rest of the year. A resource guide of upcoming, local volunteer opportunities will be handed out as well.
4. THE PLEDGE: A .pdf document that can be downloaded online, or available at volunteer events. It’s a challenge families can sign, pledging that they will continue to volunteer 5 hrs. per month x 12 months, helping is reach our goal of 10 million hours of volunteer work completed.
5. Website: We will offer a place on WattsintheWorld.com for people from across the globe to log their hours & interact on a community forum. You can post local upcoming projects, and share photos of projects that you complete.
6. Contests: We could run monthly contests or nominate a “family of the year” who did the most hours or had the biggest impact by the end of 2013.
7. Sponsors: We love sponsors and their generosity in paying it forward in local communities! They will play a big part in helping us pull of this big dream. Each sponsor will have many opportunities to interact and engage with our volunteers before, during and after the event, donate to our contests, and support the communities we serve in multiple ways.
8. Media- we will get local TV, radio, newspaper, internet exposure, and possibly pro blogger involvement in broadcasting the event and enrolling their audience to come and help. We hope these outlets will also participate, document the event, and share their experience in various media outlets.
9. Agencies: We will reach out to all local government, religious, and community agencies to support, attend, and involve members of their organization in participating in the success of these events.
10. Donations: We will create a fund where people who are unable to do manual work can participate by monetary donations to be used on materials & supplies for the monthly projects.
11. Social media: We love to connect with you on social media. If you haven’t already, please sign up for our newsletter, like us on facebook, and follow us on Twitter. We realize this is a fast and easy way to keep you in the loop about where we are at & what we are up to, post updates to our itinerary, and share your stories with other volunteers. Our teens are excited to connect with fellow youth and create a movement among young people to volunteer and donate to charities.
Even with all the planning we are doing, I’m sure new and improved ways to achieve the 1 million hour Family Initiative will be revealed, and will result in tweaks to our plan. So if you are interested in keeping up to date on ways you can be a part of this mission, please make sure you sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll be in touch!
Thanks so much!
