Josh Shear

Cross-posted from 40 Below Civic Engagement.

Please help us celebrate; it's time to highlight the many positive ways young people are impacting our community!

Approximately 1800 "Say Yes to Education" summer camp students will demonstrate new skills they have learned, talents they have developed and creativity they have unleashed throughout their 2010 "Say Yes" summer camp experiences at the Say Yes Summer Festival Wednesday, July 28th at Thornden Park.

We have a tremendous need for many volunteers to ensure a fun, safe, and successful event for our campers and their families!

Whether it's set up or break down, assisting in the information tent, or helping with an activity, we could use whatever time and effort you have available. Set up will begin at 7 AM, event will run from 9-2 and break down of the event will promptly follow.

We are specifically looking for corporate, community based organizations and other not-for-profit volunteer teams!

For more information contact Monica Richardson of Prevention Network at 315-471-1359, or log onto www.sayyessyracuse.org and follow the Summer Festival Link.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

This is cross-posted from the 40 Below Civic Engagement Task Force blog. What strikes me about this board position is that the metrics are well-defined. You don't just have to show up to meetings and generally support and promote the organization. If you can't raise $1,500, you're responsible for donating it, etc.

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Position Name: Leadership Board – at large member
Job Summary: The Leadership Board–Corporate Development member provides access to resources or constituents important to accomplishment of ADA’s mission
Reporting Line: Position reports to Chair/President of the Board
Time Commitment: 4 hours per month from Sept. 1, 2010 – Dec. 31, 2010; Two year term, repeatable for up to 2 years
Corp Recruitment member is responsible for:

• Understanding the American Diabetes Association’s mission and programs
• Attending the local Leadership Board, which meets 4 per year
• Securing financial and/or volunteer support from the community and/or own company
• Utilize community contacts to support priority events

Raising Dollar Commitment:

• Market's financial goal for the fiscal year is $.5 million
• Raise or personally contribute $1,500 or locate a corporate sponsor(s) of equal value
• Generate support from own company or organization for priority fund-raising events; i.e., Step Out Walk to Fight Diabetes and The Tour de Cure.
• Participate in at least one fund-raising event and serve on one Executive Committee

Recruiting Volunteers Commitment:

• Recommending an assisting in recruitment of potential event or committee member throughout the year
• Use existing relationships to leverage opportunities and open doors to support ADA in reaching its market's goals
• Identify at least one non-participating company and create access for ADA

Reaching People Commitment:

• Participate in at least one program/advocacy event
• Work to create relationships with new corporations

Candidate Profile:

• Lives or works in the board area
• Possesses resources and contacts that can help impact the success of the local ADA

Staff Resources:

Director: Tom Czajak (315) 438-8687 x3666, tczajak@diabetes.org

Some Facts About Diabetes

» Total: 23.6 million children and adults in the United States—7.8% of the population—have diabetes.
» Diagnosed: 17.9 million people
» Undiagnosed: 5.7 million people
» Pre-diabetes: 57 million people
» New Cases: 1.6 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older each year.

You may remember that I mentioned the involvement fair the other day. here's a look at what that is.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

40 Below Civic Engagement Task Force Brings Fourth Involvement Fair Downtown
Event to bring together non-profit organizations and volunteers across Central New York

Syracuse, NY — The 40 Below Civic Engagement Task Force is pleased to announce the fourth Central New York Involvement Fair, Thursday, May 27 from 4 until 7:30 p.m. at SUNY Oswego Metro Center, 2 Clinton Square, Syracuse. The fair will be followed by a networking event hosted by Syracuse First at Al's Wine & Whiskey, 321 S. Clinton St., Syracuse..

The Involvement Fair is a place for local volunteers to find non-profits to become involved with. Picture a job fair, but instead of company recruiters sitting behind tables collecting resumes from nervous students, the tables are staffed by passionate non-profit volunteers or employees, and the people walking around are local residents looking to engage in their communities.

The first three involvement fairs, held at Drivers Village, Le Moyne College and Pensabene's, have been hugely successful for area agencies and organizations, and bringing the event downtown will only mean easier access for more area residents.

There is a nominal table charge for non-profits (RSVP required), and the event is free to attend for anyone looking for volunteer opportunities (no RSVP needed).

The networking event at Al's, hosted by local non-profit organization Syracuse First, will feature food and drink specials for Involvement Fair vendors and attendees with name badges. The event is free to attend.

Local media outlets, non-profit organizations and anyone wishing to attend are invited to contact Civic Engagement Task Force co-chairs Kelly Bayne and Josh Shear at the information below. The task force website is 40bcetf.org.

Kelly Bayne: baynek@gmail.com
Josh Shear: joshuanshear@gmail.com

It was early February, and the beard had grown out of control. People told me I looked homeless. If I chewed my food, I chewed it with hair. If I drank anything, a layer stayed behind on my mustache. The sports editor at the newspaper never missed a chance to ask when I was getting rid of it. And co-workers at my new company were wondering if I actually did have a face under there.

OK, so that's a little melodramatic. I grew a beard. And the reason I grew a beard, to help cure childhood cancer? Yeah, those kids have a lot more to worry about than I ever did. All I did was get up in the morning and not shave.

As of the shave date, the Josh's Beard project had raised $2,679 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation (some donations and t-shirt sales are still outstanding). The Kitty Hoynes event on Sunday drew over $300,000 for the foundation.

It was amazing.

For my part, I have some thank yous to make for some individual fundraisers.

» The #Syracuse/#CNY Twitter community
» Jen at She Takes The Cake
» Chris K for #100Tweets100Bucks
» Tracy T and Matt T for #NutellaFest and #SHUTITDOWN
» Data Key Communications LLC for a large cash donation
» Assault City Roller Derby, Palace Theatre and Jeffrey Meyer/Brew & View

And everybody who donated, said, "That's awesome!" and ran a hand through the beard, even if you were just looking for Jimmy Hoffa.

Note: We have eliminated the cake donation not-an-auction.

Hey, want a cupcake? Yes, you really do. Because they're from Jen at She Takes The Cake. And they help beat the snot out of cancer.

Here's the deal: $2.50 per cupcake (order online), you pick 'em up, Jen puts the proceeds toward St. Baldrick's, which makes grants to help fight cancer in children. You can get more info, including a link to order cupcakes via Paypal, on Jen's blog.

Do it. Now.

It started off innocently enough.

He of course meant the Italian hazelnut spread Nutella, but you get the picture. Thing is, Matt said that while drinking Nutella hot chocolate, a pretty mild combination.

Frank called him on it.

Well, we'll see.

So Frank offered to put up $10 for the Josh's Beard project (fighting childhood cancer) if Matt ate meatballs (plural) with Nutella on them.

Matt was thinking sure, we'll have spaghetti and meatballs and I'll put some Nutella on a couple. But then Todd upped the ante.

Tracy, Amanda and Dan also jumped on board for donations.

Here are Tracy's posts:

» The preview
» The proof

And here's the video:

Not quite a week after announcing the Josh's Beard project to help raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, we crossed the $100 mark.

That's a long way from my $25,000 goal, but it feels like a milestone. I had been ramping up the project for three weeks, and had been telling friends and family members about it, but talking about the vision is a lot different from getting it implemented.

There are two things I learned right away about getting people to give. The first is you have to make it easy. I managed to filter people to the photo/video blog, but people didn't get that you had to click the text that says "St. Baldrick's Foundation" on the right. That brings you to a page, and then you click donate from there.

So I added a big red "Donate Now" link in the upper right, which actually takes you to the page where you donate. Much easier.

The second is that people love this project. They will tell everybody about it, and in multiple channels. That doesn't mean they have the inclination – or ability – to give. So that's going to be the bigger challenge, I think.

I recorded a new video yesterday asking people to give $18 (it will go on the tumblelog tomorrow). It's the amount represented by the Hebrew word for life. And several people did give.

Another challenge I'm going to face is actually a positive one. I have friends who are going to do it as well. My friend Kim did the event last year; I don't know if she plans to do it again. My friends Lorelei and (another) Kim are also going bald in 2010. So, donations are going to be split. Which is OK with me. I wound up just giving at the event last year, since I had so many friends who were having their heads shaved I couldn't afford to give to everyone's.

What can you do to help?

Well, the obvious answer is donate. But spreading the word is important. I don't need page views or thumbs-up (though it's always nice to hear that what you're doing is appreciated); I need to get in front of eyes that will donate. Send people to JoshsBeard.tumblr.com; get them to be fans of the Facebook page (and become one yourself).

If you know business owners, authors, musicians, what have you – I'm totally willing to work out an "advertising exchange" – they make an agreed-upon minimum donation, I'll hold up a copy of their book or CD, or flyer, or mention their business in a video. Have them email me.

And of course, follow me on Twitter, I mention it a lot there, and there's always a link to that day's photo.

Nobody likes cancer, least of all when it happens in children. The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that makes grants for research into cancer in children. Some of that money has stayed right here in Syracuse, other money has been granted to hospitals elsewhere across the U.S.

St. Baldrick's signature event is a fundraiser during which people get pledges to have their head shaved. While I'll certainly have my head shaved alongside, I'm launching a social media effort to raise money to shave my beard at the Syracuse event. There is not yet a firm date, but it takes place each year in late March at Kitty Hoynes in Armory Square.

The 2009 event raised nearly $295,000 as 502 had their heads and beards shaved.

If you've met me, you know you're not likely to give lots of money to see my hair disappear. There's not much of it to begin with. But I want to work with all of you – and all of your friends and contacts – to help raise $25,000 to get rid of my beard.

I am posting daily photos and weekly videos at JoshsBeard.tumblr.com. You can see the growth of the beard, and hear how we're doing.

If you have a business, a book, a CD, a video, a t-shirt, a hat or anything else you want to see me hold up or wear in a photo or video, email me at mail (at) joshshear (dot) com and we'll discuss a donation.

If you want me to dye my beard pink, tie blue ribbons in it, or otherwise desecrate my beard in a photo or video, do the same: email me, and we'll figure out what your donation should be.

To make a donation, go to my participant page at St. Baldrick's website. If you'd prefer to donate by check, email me at mail (at) joshshear (dot) com and I'll let you know where to send it.

In addition to the photos blog, you can see the videos at Vimeo and YouTube, and follow the progress (and become a fan!) at the Josh's Beard Facebook page.

Oh, and about the hat and shades: (a) I needed a gimmick and (b) I take a lot of these pictures before 6 a.m. Let's just say this is the better view

Kim Hurlbut was my first roommate in Syracuse when I moved here in August of 2003. I lived with her through some rough times for both of us, and, let's be honest, when I moved out in February 2005, we weren't on the best of terms.

But as time went by, we've grown back into casual friendship – we don't see each other much, but we get along fine when we do (we actually see each other on purpose, too, which is a good thing).

Kim became a hero of sorts on Sunday when she took the radical step of shaving of her hair in the name of charity.

We won't do the psychological thing here, primarily because she and I didn't talk about it. For some women, this is a really big deal. For others, eh, it'll grow back.

But Kim did manage to raise $1,600 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which funnels money to find a cure for cancer in children.

Kim's hair was long enough that she also collected a donation to Locks of Love, which takes donations of 10 or more inches of hair to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.

Syracuse establishment Kitty Hoynes hosts the St. Baldrick's event every year. They have two rooms with four-to-five chairs, and a bunch of hair professionals stand on their feet all day and shave head after head.

This was my first year attending, and it's a fantastic atmosphere. Yes, the bar makes lots of money on beer and booze, but rather than serve food, they have a hot dog stand out back. It's clearly not a once-in-a-while publicity stunt. The restaurant had a team raise a bunch of money (and at least one of the workers wound up having a hair-based practical joke played on him), and was generally supportive of everyone who walked into the place, paying customer or not.

This is a great event. I'll definitely be back, and maybe next year I'll remember to not shave my head and beard within a week of it so that I can participate!