Support The Adventure Project

Archive for the ‘Ways to Give Back’ Category

Support The Adventure Project

December 6th, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. 3 Comments »

It’s always a telling sign when my favorite friends are suddenly all telling me that I simply have to meet someone because we’re from the same cloth and we’re destined to know one another. That is what happened with me and Becky Straw this fall. And honestly, everyone was right. We have tons of friends, passions and travel experiences in common and Becky instantly become a woman I not only wanted to be friends with but great admired. Soon it was my turn to be telling people about Becky and her new nonprofit, The Adventure Project. I’m proudly on the host committee for tonight’s Join our Nice List: A Celebration of Global Entrepreneurship honoring The Adventure Project and invited Becky to share her story of how The Adventure Project came to be and what we all can do to help.

If you’re in New York tonight, come on out and join us (RSVP here). For everyone else, consider making a $20 donation to buy a cookstove or shopping in their online store.

And now, Becky’s story.

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“People will tell you that it can’t be done. And you know what? They’re wrong. Nothing is ever impossible,” Gayle said matter-of-factly, before finishing off her glass of wine.

I admit I have ambitious dreams, but Gayle’s statements are not what I usually hear at happy hour. I was sitting in the clubroom at The Sheraton in Times Square, surrounded by five phenomenal women. Gayle Lemmon was speaking at the TEDxWomen conference in two days, and her friends gathered around her hotel room to hear her practice.

Gayle’s book, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, has recently become a New York Times bestseller, chronicling a young heroine working as a successful entrepreneur under the Taliban. I had been invited because my nonprofit, The Adventure Project, works with female entrepreneurs around the world.
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Why White Ribbon Alliance?

October 2nd, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. 1 Comment »

“If we can fix things for mothers – and we can – we can fix so many other things that are wrong in the world. Women are at the heart of every family, every nation. It’s mostly mothers who make sure children are loved, fed, vaccinated, educated. You just can’t build healthy, peaceful, prosperous societies without making life better for girls and women.” – Sarah Brown, Global Patron, White Ribbon Alliance. From White Ribbon Alliance Atlast of Birth.

I first came across the White Ribbon Alliance at the World Economic Forum in 2010. I met their founder and was moved by not only her stories about women in the developing world but her hard facts about maternal healths and the truth about what is happening in many parts of the world today where little to no care is given to women giving birth and the very real mortality rate for mothers and newborns.

I have been a supporter ever since. Those who know me often say I’m a “cause filter” because I look very carefully at organizations, what they do, what their intentions are and where they are spending their money. I proudly support WRA because they are making a real impact, with powerful campaigns, partners on the ground and patrons around the world all working towards the same goal – to reduce mother and newborn mortality around the world.
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Happy 5th Birthday charity: water!

September 19th, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. No Comments »

It has been such a tremendous journey to watch charity: water evolve, grow and change lives over the past 5 years. Five years ago (and five birthdays ago), charity: water’s Founder, Scott Harrison, had a dream to bring safe and clean drinking water to those who need it around the world. More than just providing water, he wanted to find a way for people in the affected areas to be a part of that process, provide them with opportunities to drill wells and know how to fix the water source locally.

In that time, they have donated an always-promised 100% of public donations directly to fund water projects, working in 19 countries with 25 different partners and funded 4,282 projects affecting 2,060,000 people. Wow.

The charity: water 5th Anniversary September Campaign continues to amaze this year. The place where digital and fundraising collide are nowhere more evident than at charity: water. From the beginning their videos and outreach has been unique in that it’s been highly visually appealing and personal. This year steps that up a notch with personal thank you videos from Scott and the staff. Many of them don’t have high page views but they are all personalized and what an incredible thank you that is to the people who donated their birthday instead of asking for presents. They are $60,000 into their goal of $150,000, I made a donation to support them this year. I encourage you to join me!

As an October baby, I am inspired by what they do. Many of you might remember my Cause It’s My Birthday campaign and it’s always so inspiring to see what organizations are doing that is focused on bringing digital into the conversation from the beginning and not just including it as an afterthought.

Find out more by making a donation today, liking their Facebook page, following them on Twitter or watching more of their amazing stories and videos on their media page.

Check-in for Checkups with Clorox and Children’s Health Fund (CHF)

August 4th, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. No Comments »

I first met the amazing folks from Children’s Health Fund last sumer when I spoke on a panel about Social Media for Social Good at Fundraising Day NY.

I was incredibly moved by their mission and their stories of success. I helped get the word out about a new mobile clinic in New Orleans last summer and have had them in my sights ever since. I was so honored to have been asked to partner with them for a summer campaign with Clorox to do some good.

Through a new social media-driven campaign, Clorox and CHF are working to encourage healthy habits and help provide health care to disadvantaged children. This is the second year CHF and Clorox are partnering and this year’s program is called Check-in for Checkups. You might have been my tweets or posts this summer or heard me talk about in person. I’m THAT passionate about this campaign. I’ve met the good folks from Clorox and their PR agency who helped put this together and it’s the real deal cause marketing campaign that included a multi-year cash donation and then this extra money donated through the help of YOU and people everywhere who share their summer healthy habits online.

For each check-in that you do, Clorox will donate 10 cents, up to $100,000, to CHF to help support their goal of providing half a million health care visits to children in need across the country. What’s amazing is that now when you check-in with your healthy habit, you are not only helping yourself, but also the lives of others. The more you check-in, the more you give back to disadvantaged children across the country.

This issue is so incredibly important since one in five children in the U.S. live in poverty and millions of children do not have access to regular checkups and timely health care visits when sick. As a result, simple childhood health problems, like ear infections and toothaches, can lead to lifelong health issues.

CHF’s mobile medical clinics go into underserved communities to bring ongoing health care to children at schools, community centers, homeless shelters and other places in the heart of the community. In addition to pediatric primary care providers, the CHF network consists of other dedicated health care professionals including dentists, mental health providers and nutritionists.

They are currently at 125,000+ checkins but are looking for 1 million! It’s super easy to get involved. You can either head over to their microsite and enter what your check-in is or send a tweet with the hashtag #checkinforcheckups.

Some of the healthy habits I’ve used this summer include walking to work every day, drinking 8 glasses of water a day, going to yoga each week, making a commitment to healthier eating habits – yours can be anything – but the best part of sharing those healthy habits is not only making them part of your daily life but helping others in the process.

Get in the habit of your summer healthy habit by checking in every day and spread the word! Join me in helping to support equal access to healthcare for children everywhere.

Introducing My New Web Project: Help A Woman Out

February 21st, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. 2 Comments »

I’m really excited to announce the launch of Help A Woman Out. It’s a new web project from me and The Causemopolitan Labs and something that has really taken off in the two weeks since it launched.

Help A Woman Out is your guide to finding organizations, events and nonprofits that support women and girls. Attend. Donate. Learn. Join. Jobs. Curated by your biggest cheerleader, me!

I released this site within 3 days of coming up with the idea. I found a domain name. Found a tumblr theme I liked and customized it. Started seeding content and then pushed publish to the world. Sometimes we need to create just to create. The power to press publish is powerful and freeing. I am of the school that (in regards to personal projects) you can fix just about anything after it launches. Start small, start anywhere, see what happens…and then iterate to match the feedback. It’s the entrepreneurial spirit in me that wanted to put this site out there to share, and then get feedback and figure out what needs to change or be upgraded.

I learned a lot about customizing tumblr themes for this site and also how to put the Facebook “like” and Twitter buttons into the HTML. I’m working on learning more of the development parts of websites this year and this was a great introduction towards that goal.

I know many women would like to get involved and help but don’t know how. Because they are too busy with their lives, careers and families. I wanted to create a place on the web that would seem magazine-like. A place to flip through women’s organizations, inspirations quotes by women, events listings and job opportunities that would focus specifically on girls and women. All of this content would create a portal to Help A Woman Out.

I really believe that woman are at a crucial point in history. Women are being recognized as the changemakers for society, an emphasis on girls education exists in some countries for the first time ever, the UN recently joined all of their programs and projects for girls and women together into one platform called UN Women. The third Millennium Development goal focuses on gender parity, and there are only 5 years left until those goals are set to be met.

I have three inspirations I’d like to thank that helped piece this project together first in my head and then in reality:

1. Help A Reporter Out, which if you know it, is a site founded by Peter Shankman to help reporters find sources and sources get stories placed in a quicker and more efficient fashion. There are lots of projects out there that play off of the name of another and I hope Peter (who is an amazing guy I had the privilege of working on My Mardi Gras Experience with in 2010) doesn’t mind this flattery! I didn’t have a name in mind at all for this project and was out walking one night in my neighborhood, where I usually get my best inspirations, and playing with words in my head. Something with the word “woman” and something that indicated “help” but maybe not exactly that word. It all literally happened in one hour. I thought of the name Help A Woman Out and came home to see if the domain was available (the real test) and was surprised that it was. I bought it on the spot…you never know when you’re going to want to use good domain names! I always believe in giving credit where credit is due, so thanks Peter.
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