2011 - A World Changing Year!

The very first day of 2011 - New Year's Day - is the first T-Day of the year. That's so cool!

We hope that you take advantage of T-Day as a monthly opportunity to consciously do something to make a difference in our world. Here is a listing of the T-Days of 2011. Please feel free to use this blog as a way to share ideas, inspiration, and thoughts about Together We Can Change The World Day!

2011

January 1

February 5

March 5

April 2

May 7

June 4

July 2

August 6

September 3

October 1

November 5

December 3

We want to hear from YOU!

Together We Can Change The World Day, T-Day, the first Saturday of every month, has been around for a long time and hundreds of thousands of people have participated. Millions of people have benefitted.

Now it's time you stop hearing from us and time to start sharing your ideas and T-Day projects taking place all over the world. We invite you to post your ideas, your projects, your successes, your lessons learned, and your reflections on:

• Service
• Helping change the world
• Working with others for a common cause
• Empowerment
• Results

Since this is a public forum, we also ask that you please be respectful of others. No spam. No profanity. Let's have this be a wonderful place for wonderful people to join together to help make the world a better place!

The next T-Day is November 6. What are you planning to do???

Steadfast Beacon

As we boarded the boat for the sunset cruise around the Maine islands, I knew it would be a spectacular evening. The air was filled with the enticing aromas of grilled food and the harmonies of acoustic guitars from the Old Port eateries.
We were playing local tourists that day, doing the things we always intended to do over the years. Jim and I raced to the back of the boat, hoping to get seats with an unobstructed view of the lighthouses.

Leaving Portland Harbor, we were greeted by two seals, playing like black lab pups in the water. The lights of the city had just come on, and sparkled like diamonds from a distance.

We sat side by side in a comfortable silence, taking in the magnificence of the craggy shoreline dotted with white Adirondack chairs. Everyone aboard waved to those lucky enough to have front row seats to the Atlantic.

The first of six lighthouses, Portland Breakwater Light, came into view. I had seen each of the beacons from the land, but there was something so calming from this aspect. Each one, as we passed by seemed to say “You’re safe, stay the course.”
One in particular intrigued me – Spring Point Ledge Light. To mariners properly positioned in the channel, the light showed white. Outside of the fairway, the light was red, providing clear, unmistakable guidance, even in the worst weather.

How dangerous and unpredictable sailing must have been before these guideposts were built. And by contrast, how assuasive it had to be for those aboard to see the steadfast lights.

It was the same reassured, confident look I get from my children as our eyes meet. Whether it’s from the stage of their elementary school Christmas concert, or peering out the window of the school bus in the morning, they’re just making sure I’m there. They’re looking for that light in my eyes telling them, “You’re safe. Stay the course. I’ll be here for you.”

This T-Day, create that safe harbor for someone in your life. Let them know you’ll be a steadfast beacon they can count on when times get tough.

Our monthly Together We Can Change The World Day is about joining together to make a conscious difference.
Please visit our website at www.togetherwecanchangetheworldday.com and scroll across available service projects and add your own.

An open invitation to be the difference in our schools

What a great time to be involved with schools! Children and educators are increasingly aware of how powerful their voices are in the world.

One of my goals as Director of T-Day is to form TWCCTW clubs in every school!
I'm starting where I live, in Maine, but hoping this will spread throughout the education system.

I envision these TWCCTW clubs to be an umbrella for existing clubs – based on volunteerism, uniting students to serve in their communities. The first Saturday of every month is T-Day. How powerful would it be to have many clubs working on the same project, under the umbrella of the TWCCTW Club? I'll give you an example:

The first of hopefully hundreds of annual TWCCTW walk-a-thons will be held in Portland, Maine on October 11, 2009. Already, students from 4 local schools have agreed to volunteer for this event. Some are in the National Honor Society or Key Club. Some are from sports teams. Individually, each club or group represented has a specific facet. Collectively, they form a sparkling gem in each community.

Each TWCCTW Club has the ability to earn funding through its own World Changer Mall. These funds can be used for T-Day projects, or for the benefit of a local nonprofit. Individually, each student has the potential to earn money for college, while volunteering for the community.

I would love to hear from you! What are your thoughts on this? Would you like to be on an international TWCCTW Club board?

We have in our hands the resources to change many lives, through My PowerMall and Together We Can Change the World. We have in our hands the vehicle for children to earn money for college in these trying economic times.

I look forward to your ideas!

Be the difference in your local schools.

Andrea Corbett
mpmcorbett@gmail.com

Deafening Silence

Internet and television inundate us with well intended directives. Go green! End world hunger now! Promote peace! But to what extent do these canned messages really make a difference? Maybe just by parroting the right phrase, or wearing the politically correct t-shirt, we feel like we’ve done our part. Really, how can I end world hunger now, anyway? Isn’t someone else doing something really big somewhere like collecting food, or selling CDs? I think there’s a worldwide concert somewhere….isn’t there?

“What are you personally doing to end world hunger?” That pointed question was posed to a congregation in a small, rural church a few years ago just before Thanksgiving. I was there for the uncomfortable soul searching session.

Many of us had brought in our canned pumpkin or stuffing mix for the food collection. ‘Well, he’s not talking about me, I did my part,’ was the collective grumbling.

The pastor was uncharacteristically brief in his sermon, but the second question was enough to drive home the point.

“Have any of you invited the homeless woman on Main Street to your house for Thanksgiving dinner?”

With that, he walked away from the podium.

The silence in that church was deafening.

I don’t know if anyone invited her that year, but I know that we didn’t. Our family talked about it all the way home, but we didn’t do anything. The kids wanted to. In their simple understanding of the world, this was something tangible. But Jim and I were reluctant.

And so, we put the subject to rest by justifying in our minds that we were actually protecting our family.

The answer, or at least our small part of the answer was so clear, so simple. Still, why did I do nothing?
I think about this a lot and always end up in the same place. I was afraid of connecting with her. If I got to know her, how could I let her continue to suffer?

This T-Day, try to see the faces of the people who need you. Instead of trying to end world hunger, change one day for one person.
Our monthly Together We Can Change the World Day is about joining together to make a conscious difference.
Please visit our website at www.togetherwecanchangetheworldday.com and scroll across available service projects and add your own.

A TWCCTW Club in Every School!

That's my goal! Huge? Of course...but when has this company ever done anything small? We're out to change the world and that takes some lofty goals and determination.

With the help of my sons, Ian, Shane and Kellan, I invited dozens of kids, ages 12 to 19, to my house on August 13th to learn more about the club. These kids will also be running the show at the first TWCCTW Walk in October. Some will help with parking, some will be handing out t-shirts, some will be along the route with water. The event will be in good hands.

If you would like to start a TWCCTW Club in your local schools, please email me! I will do whatever I can to help.

Imagine...kids earning money for college AND making a huge difference in their community!

MPMCorbett@gmail.com

Get hundreds of $ back for things you are already buying!

Did you go grocery shopping over the weekend, or fill up your tank? If you had a certificate from TWCCTW's Build a Solar Oven T-Day Project, you could be getting hundreds of dollars back!

Buy a certificate, spend $100/month on gas, groceries, retail or dining, get $25 Visa gift cards every month! That's a net gain of $270! For money you are already spending!

AND, you'll be helping to build the first solar oven factory in Uganda!

http://www.buildasolarovenfactory.com/

Now, that's socially conscious shopping!