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"Our meeting tonight made me believe that change is possible and gave
me a stronger sense of community than I have ever felt in the last 5
1/2 years I have lived in New York. I feel inspired, motivated,
connected, and not as small and alone as before. Brave, even.
I know you must be thrilled with the impact of this initiative in
terms of number of meetings, variety of countries participating, etc,
but do you know what an absolutely essential and wonderful thing you
have done beyond those specifics? There are so many people who want
to create change, who want to help, but need someone to say to them
"Do it now." By whispering this voice of immediate action into the
ears of everyone connected to the Idealist website, you've allowed us
to turn and whisper into the ears of others, and on, and on. The
network you've created simply by saying "Do it now" is a beautiful
thing, and now that we've started, can we really in good conscience
abandon all the hopeful things we're all discussing this week? We
just can't; we have to create the change we talked about tonight.
Wasn't it Ghandi who said that we have to embody the change we wish to
see in this world? By creating this initiative, you have done that,
and passed it on to thousands of others."
– Kendra Levin, Brooklyn, NY, Unites States
" 9 people were at this meeting in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We each had big things we’d like to see in the world — shifting awareness from popular entertainment to local schools, cleaning up the environment, etc. And then we each have specific things we’d like to do a little bit more of — getting to know a more diverse bunch of people, working with kids and art, etc.
It was interesting to see how there was so much overlap of issues and so much openness/flexibility on what we work on as a group. One of the participants got the idea to see a space created in Park Slope where people go for 'one more need met, one more person met.' I really like that."
– Alex Linsker, Brooklyn, NY, United States
"On Feb. 5, 2007 I attended the idealist.org start-up idealist meeting at Hostelling International in San Francisco to help launch a global network of people who want to change their communities and the world by connecting people, ideas, and resources in every possible way. I was pleased and excited with all ideas and potential opportunities, especially the amount of good hearted people that had so many opportunities to give, as well as, many individuals that were looking for an organization to volunteer.
From all the great ideas and development that were discussed in the meeting, there was a stressed point on the difficulty of linking and bringing together those who want to volunteer and those who are in help of volunteers in the Bay Area. Also, there were two very interesting discussions:
1. How to bring organizations together and create a pool where all individuals can share resources and work in a symbiotic relationship.
2. Creating face-to-face meetings and discussions, considering there are so many of us out there who want to help, learn and share but don't know how.
Now, I believe this is a chance to make a difference and keep the ideas and wonderful minds working together towards a sustainable future and long term plan for the Bay Area, and perhaps, the world."
– Camila Ojeda, San Francisco, CA, United States
"I was the most amazed person - while setting up this meeting I never imagined such an impact. It made me see the bigger picture. At the end of the meeting I reiterated that setting the ball rolling is not enough - that we have to keep the fire burning by spreading the word and making the resolutions reached at our meeting count in terms of consolidated actions.” We also believed the impact of the meeting will not only affect only a generation or two but in fact be our own way of changing the world.
We want to use this opportunity to thank the idealist team for facilitating this meeting and making us believe that if all our little actions in different parts of the world are taken as sticks of a broom, that together we will all sweep the world and indeed make it a better place to live.
For those who will take a cue from the progress recorded in these meetings, we hope you can lead the way in your various communities and I believe others will definitely follow."
– Kingsley Ukwaja, Sokoto, Nigeria
"Personally it was really great to have people coming from Chicago neighborhoods far and wide to see what the meeting had in store for them. We discussed where we all were coming from, what resources we knew of and what we were looking to get out of it all. Whether looking to change the world, learn a specific skill, take a first step into community involvement, or just meet new people, I think everyone came away with a new connection or two."
– Chicago Blog
"The idealist meeting has connected strangers together, and i think that is a very good sign of something even better in the future."
– Odette Valentine Segura, General Santos City, Philippines
"By the end of the evening, we had a newly-formed group of very enthusiastic people who were willing to contribute to improve their community, and we even came up with some substantial ideas for the next few months...We all realized that we are fighting a very worthy cause – to try to bring the value of community and cooperation back into our lives, and to promote it over the individualistic life style that is nowadays becoming more and more accepted as the norm. I am so grateful that we have been able to initiate this group of ‘idealists’ now, so that we can really try to start the very necessary culture change that is so strongly called for in our society."
– Youth Services Initiative (blog), Utrecht, Netherlands
"Here's proof that actions, and not just talk, have already come from our meeting: At the end, the group that had subdivided to talk about Hunger and Homelessness reported back to the larger group, and got us all to pull out our cell phones and program in the number of a local Homeless Services agency - a number you can call to report the location of a homeless person who looks like they need help or support. That's at least 20 or 30 people in Philly who didn't know about the number before who now have it close at hand. I plan to use it and to pass it on to friends as well."
– Anonymous survey respondent
"I would love more tangible community involvement, to know how other people are connecting, methods to learn, share skills with others, etc... Idealistically, I see this as a way to truly enhance communication and knowlege - this can be at the root of serious change, even if nothing major happened. (Though I believe many tangible changes will result from a greater communication web.)"
–
Nicole Mauriello, New York, NY, United States
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