Joe Hackman

Joe Hackman

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I can fix anything, except broken Crayons

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While working on a computer today and my son asked me what I was doing. I told him “I am fixing this computer”. As I stepped away he pulled up a chair and said “I can fix anything, let me do it”. I was able to sneak this picture:

I can Fix Anything

I can Fix Anything, let me do it.

He proceeded to work on the machine talking about how he can fix anything, quite proud of himself. Then suddenly he seemed to realize limitations to his skills and stated:

“I can fix anything, except broken crayons. I can’t fix broken crayons.” – my favorite four year old

I am glad that my son is confident in his abilities and wise enough to know he does have limitations. Being his dad is absolutely the best thing I have had the opportunity to do. Like many other parenting experiences, I also felt inspired to do more than write a blog article about this. I felt inspired to continue to do something that I pledged to do long ago. Someone at some point in my past stressed to me the importance that we empower children with the confidence to believe that they can achieve anything they set their minds and hearts to accomplish. I wish I could remember who it was, but that call to action stuck with me.

Please join me in an effort to encourage young people to believe in themselves. Start today!

Baragwanath Blessings Inc. Founder Colette Ankenman (Podcast)

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I had the honor to interview a very dedicated young lady on my September 22, 2010 Blogtalk Radio podcast. This young woman – Colette Ankenman as a senior in high school done more to serve others than most people could hope to do in their lifetimes.

“It’s very important to me to feel that every baby and child feels like they are important and loved.” -Colette Ankenman

Baragwanath Blessings, Inc. LogoColette’s journey started during an 8th grade community service project at the Athenian Middle School. She knew she wanted to do a project to help babies and children around the world. After learning about the situations mothers and babies were experiencing at Baragwanath Hospital in South Africa, Colette was convinced that something needed to be done. At Baragwanath Hospital mothers are released six hours after giving birth and their babies are often sent home not wrapped in blankets but either newspaper or plastic. Colette ended up sending her first international aid in the form of knitted hats and blankets to a family friend in South Africa. Those hats and blankets ended up being given to new born babies at Baragwanath Hospital. In 2009 Colette founded Baragwanath Blessings, Inc. and is seeking a life of service. This interview provides some insights into the steps involved in founding a non profit and serving others. Listen to her story and be inspired, I was truly inspired by her passion, organization and achievements.

Listen to the full interview

Visit Baragwanath Blessings Website


Donating my 40th Birthday to Charity #40thpledge (Video)

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I’ve thought of a lot of things to do for my upcoming 40th Birthday this Saturday, here are a few of the ideas I had:

  1. Houseboat trip with family/friends.
  2. Trip to Vegas trip.
  3. Traditional Birthday party w/ family friends.

Each idea had its perks and this is a pretty major birthday for me, but today I had an idea while driving on highway 24 west bound towards downtown Oakland. I was thinking about the Vegas trip idea and listening to Counting Crows “Carriage” cranked up and I caught a view of the bay bridge, San Francisco and fog seemingly stalled at the edge of the SF skyline. I was feeling exceptionally grateful and fortunate for my life, family and “where I am at” and thought a trip to Vegas while fun lacked the kind of meaning that I want my this coming chapter of my life to have. The idea that popped into my head was donating my birthday to charity.

How do you donate your birthday?

I know it sounds like a strange idea, but the next step for me was thinking about all the projects my Rotary Club, District and PR group have that I could work on. I also thought about the blogs, websites and Facebook pages that all sorts of local non-profits that I’ve supported, helped or been exposed to over the past couple of years. More importantly I thought about the volunteer opportunities that might exist to donate some time to help others.

Action Plan

The plan involves 4 steps:

  1. Write a blog article to point the potential benefactors to.
  2. Compile a list of potential benefactors and their Email addresses.
  3. Compose a message to the potential benefactors.
  4. Compose a list of things that I will do if no-one has hands on opportunities or requests.

Steps 1 to 3 being done offline or already complete, that left me with a list of things to do if no-one has hands on opportunities or requests.

Default Go-to Activity List

  1. Setup some scheduled blog posts and tweets about the charities.
  2. Spend some time working on Rotary related websites.

Kind of a short list, but it’s also an ambitious list by itself. If you’re interested in following the effort I will tag everything I do with #40thpledge so you can search via Twitter, Google or even as a Tag on this blog.

Update 8/29/2010 – One of my friends over at Amplify.com was asking me about updates on this effort. Here is how my day went (quick summary I want to record a video later)

  1. Many of the 11 non profits responded, 2 of them had tasks for me for Saturday.
  2. One task was to talk to husband of the founder of the Booker T. Washington Empowerment Network about using Social Media (Youtube and Facebook mostly).
  3. Another task was to help Sonrise Equestrian Foundation with Ranch Cleanup.
  4. Since this was only part of the day I planned to work on a website for Rotary in the Valley, a group of 6 Rotary clubs regional effort.

Booker T. Washington Empowerment Network

I spoke with Anthony on my drive to Sonrise Equestrian. We discussed how to use the Facebook pages, Causes and some best practices for Facebook and Youtube. Anthony is pretty sharp he knew the right questions to ask and I am confident that he will be able to effectively execute. If not I’m prepared to advise them on an ongoing basis.

Sonrise Equestrian Foundation

The founder of this wonderful organization is Melanie Burke, after she spoke at my Rotary Club earlier this year I invited her to be on my Podcast. You can listen to that interview here. I spent 4 hours at the Charles Wilhelm Training Center – the ranch that hosts Sonrise. I was teamed up with a few other volunteeers carting in broken down asphalt into the back yards of the horse stables. The challenge with this job involved clearing the thresholds and the stuff is heavy and difficult to spread. I learned it helps with drainage in the rainy months. We also repaired one of the stables with some plywood sheets. Evidently sometimes horses lay down too close to one side of the stall and don’t realize they can just roll over so they panic and kick the heck out of the wall. Wow I would not want to be anywhere near that when it was occurring. My time working with the Sonrise volunteers was the highlight of my day. She has a very supportive group of people that help her, and when you meet Melanie or hear her story you will probably understand why.

Rotary in the Valley

Since I was out of requested tasks to do I looked at where I could have the most impact using my skills. I can navigate my way around WordPress fairly well and there was a site that needed to be built for Rotary in the Valley. It is still a work in progress but you can check it out here. This site is a team effort of the 6 San Ramon Valley Rotary club’s PR chairs. I happen to the PR chair for the Danville/Sycamore Valley Rotary for the 2010-2011 year. Our fearless leader is none other than THE Bill Randall, our District 5160 PR Chair and Alamo Rotary past president. Bill drives the bus and we all do our best to support his efforts. Rotary is very important to me and the benefactor of the majority of my community service outreach time.

Summary

Ultimately I do what I do for my benefit, but I am always thinking about my son and the importance of setting an example for him. I learned about the importance of serving others through my mother. She used to bring me and my other siblings to visit elderly people in the local convalescent hospital. I know she also volunteered throughout her life and the things I do know about probably only scratch the surface. My mom passed away 10 years ago and I suppose for me being able to give back and follow in her footsteps to some degree is really a celebration of her good example. I hope as a result that this has somehow inspired you.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~William James

Interview Sean Kennedy Good News in Oakland (Podcast)

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Tonight I interviewed Sean Kennedy and Stephanie Geter on Blogtalkradio. It was inspiring to hear about all the positive things that are going on every day in Oakland, CA. Sean is the Executive Producer for Good News in Oakland. He is also highly recognized in the community in his role as Co-Chair of the City of Oakland Cultural Affairs Commission and for his innovative internet based TV network, “Good News In Oakland.”

You can check out Good News on Youtube or visit their Facebook page.

Listen to Joe Hackman on Blog Talk Radio

“The chips can be stacked against you but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it.” – Sean Kennedy

The Beginnings of Changing a Paradoxical Conundrum

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Cristine Orillosa-ThurberGuest Blogger Profile – Cristine Jeda D. Orillosa-Thurber

Cristine Jeda D. Orillosa-Thurber is a 2008 graduate of Loma Linda University, earning her Masters degree in Social Work.  Passionate about culture, diversity, and cultural awareness, she plans to further her education in International Development.  An avid traveler, and married to a wonderful classical guitarist, she works as a child abuse investigator and continues, through her challenges and successes, to seek her own identity.

The Beginnings of Changing a Paradoxical Conundrum:  My Search for Identity

In a culture where the journey of finding “your own identity” is encouraged, isn’t it ironic that we quickly trade this in for a quick fix of labels already present?  I am Filipina.  I am female.  Which then leads to the assumptions:  I am the minority.  I am oppressed.

Growing up, I had a hard time with the question, “Where are you from?”  This question, which I was led to believe was pertinent to my own identity, was a source of frustration for my young mind.  I was born in the Philippine islands, which would then, obviously, make me a Filipina.  Most of my childhood, however, was spent on the continent of Africa.  Would that then make me a South African, Kenyan, and Zimbabwean as well?  And of course, now that I have pledged allegiance to the United States of America, shouldn’t I now be prone to say, “I am American?”

Thinking back, I realize that the source of this frustration did not stem from the fact that I was privileged enough to live in all these places, but rather, that I felt that I could only choose one as my identity.  To appease my conflicted young mind, I decided to identify the country I was presently residing in as the answer to that wearisome question.  With that decision came confused looks and awkward silences, as I did not “look” Zimbabwean or Kenyan or South African (another assumption?).

The older I got, the more unsatisfied I became with my answers.  And as I thought more about where I was from, who I was, and what I claimed as my identity, I started to ask myself, “Why can’t I construct my own concept of who I am and where I come from?  What would be the cost of not buying into the labels already present?”

The answer?  Look at the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.  Remember Rosa Parks sitting on the bus and picture Nelson Mandela cooped up in his cell.  They all paid a hefty price for not conforming to the labels of their day.  But don’t we also hold them up as heroes, as the definition of people who were true to their own identity?

I know I may never be pivotal to a movement that will change the course of history and my name may never be in history books.  But I can start changing my answers and molding my own identity.

You ask where I am from?  My answer is that it is not necessary to know, not in the way you think it is.  What is necessary is that you know that I am human to the core, molded and shaped by my own personal experiences, and trying my best to not fit in with the labels of today.  I am Cristine Jeda Dollosa Orillosa-Thurber.  I refuse to apathetically choose a label that I can comfortably fit in.  I am still on a life-long journey of finding my own identity.