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Stand Together Against Poverty

Looking to make an impact in your community? These people have some ideas.

Making an impact is easier than you think.

Looking to make an impact in your community? These people have some ideas.
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Stand Together

We're always talking about giving back to our community. It's important. But sometimes it's hard to figure out where to start.

Volunteering and helping others isn't just good for the people around you, it's good for you, too. However, deciding what you want to do to help make an impact is often the trickiest part. Perhaps you're wondering whether or not the skills you already have can translate into actions that will elevate the lives of those in your neighborhood?

The answer is: Yes. There are endless ways to be an arbiter of change no matter where you live. Below you'll find some great ideas and places to start.

Photo by RawPixel and Unsplash

Build relationships with young people to help them gain the tools and skills they need to reach their full potential through programs like Thread.

The relationships a child develops early on play a crucial role in their educational and future life successes. Each of us can point to a critically important relationship in our life that helped us reach our goals.But few organizations emphasize the importance of building strong relationships more than Thread in Baltimore Maryland, which has seen first-hand how positive bonds with adults has turned under-resourced children's lives around.

Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash

The basis of their program is simple — they believe positive, intentional relationships is the best way to unleash a child's potential, setting them up for future success. This relationship gap is seen consistently in children struggling in the bottom 25% of their class. So, Thread set out to build an innovative model: creating a "family of mentors," 4-5 volunteers, to become the"Thread Family" of disconnected students. For a commitment of ten years, these volunteers check in with students, encourage them, help with homework and accountability, and connect them with resources. It's a mentorship in which the volunteer treats the student exactly as if he or she was a part of their own family.

Their methodology seems to be working. Historically, only 6% of Baltimore's 9th graders with GPAs less than 1.0 graduate from high school in four years. Thread students beat those odds by more than 10 times. 87% of Thread students graduate high school within six years.,and 83% have completed a two or four-year degree or certificate program. Thread currently works with 527 students, alumni and over 1,000 volunteers.

But it's about more than helping students. Thread fervently believes everyone who forms relationships through the program benefits, because we could all use more ties to a community.

Becoming a volunteer is easy — as long as you can connect with a student once a week, you're more than welcome. Learn more about how you can get involved here.

Leverage your unique knowledge and skills to help others learn, like Oliver Ballou.

Olivier wanted to find a way to give back, but was finding it difficult to make time for traditional volunteering. As a full-time graphics designer and father of two kids, he also felt like, even if he found an organization he was passionate about, he wouldn't be able to help much with the limited amount of time he could commit.

Then, while working on a project for Stand Together Foundation, he came across their Needs and Offers Marketplace, which helps people match their skills with needs of already-vetted organizations(meaning they have proven themselves to be effective, innovative and responsible nonprofits in the communities they serve). He quickly found one that interested him – the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project (NYEP), which provides services for homeless youth. The program helps youth finish high school, enter college, find jobs, obtain housing, and maintain employment all while building the interpersonal relationships they need to create a strong support network that can offer help if they need it.

Olivier volunteered his services, and Monica DuPea, Executive Director had a perfect job for him — design two infographics that could help newcomers quickly learn about what their organization has to offer.

DuPea hoped they would also "help increase donors and raise awareness about the organization."

Olivier was more than up to the task. "By applying my design skills – which I've been honing for years – I felt like I was providing real value for the time spent,"he said.

Each infographic is estimated to have saved MYEP $4,212 — so Ballou ended up saving them a combined total of over $8,400.

You too can leverage your unique gifts and talents to help organizations like NYEP for a variety of things like design, coding, sales force, legal etc. through the Stand Together Foundation platform.

Identify ways to reduce barriers in your community through creative means like Be My Eyes andThe Path Project.

Jennifer Bristol struggled for a long time about how to give back. Not only has she relocated many times in her life — attaching her to "many geographic communities" — but she's also an introvert. Being around others for too long drained her of energy. So while she's always been passionate about helping others, she sometimes found it hard to do.

"I give back to my global community through an app called Be My Eyes," Jennifer writes. "This app connects sighted people with blind people who need assistance with pretty much anything having to do with sight." She's helped people choose items of clothing, read the directions to a recipe, and select the movie they might want to see that night. While they might sound like small things, the help has made a make huge differences to blind people all over the world.

"I find it really satisfying to do something for someone else that I do on a daily basis and take for granted," Jennifer adds. "It's grounding and a great reminder to be grateful for all I have. I also love that it gives the recipients a sense of independence. Instead of one pair of eyes, they have tens of thousands at their disposal."

While the barriers Jennifer helps blind people navigate are often physical, there are other barriers, like a lack of access to education, that are similarly limiting for individuals in neighborhoods across the country.That's where organizations like The Path Project come in.

Before they started The Path Project, Jim and Melinda Hollandsworth had signed up through their church to deliverChristmas gifts to a local family that lived in a mobile home park. By spending time with this family and building relationships, they realized there was a much bigger need they could help fill.

The Hollandsworths, saw that a significant gap existed between the older and younger kids in the neighborhood — the younger kids had big aspirations for their futures whereas many of the older kids had dropped out of school, had children already, some were even in jail. Their parents also had trouble helping their kids with their homework, becauseEnglish wasn't their first language.

SinceMelinda was a teacher, she decided that she wanted to at least help a couple of the kids with their homework after school. That went over so well that it quickly turned into a volunteer homework-helping program for the entire mobile park community. When the opportunity to dedicate an entire mobile home to the tutoring program presented itself, the Hollandsworths decided to turn their simple idea into a full-blown nonprofit.

Path Project's success speaks for itself. 95% of its students attend school regularly, 87% have passing grades in reading and math, and 92% have good behavior reports in school compared to 33% of the kids living in the same neighborhood.

And it all started because Jim and Melinda just wanted to be good neighbors. "At the very least, you have the opportunity to be a good neighbor," says Jim, "I think that's what we're all supposed to be."

Jennifer,Jim and Melinda are all examples of social entrepreneurs — people stepping up and addressing the unique needs of their communities in innovative ways. This is how positive change happens. And organizations like Stand Together Foundation look for these social entrepreneurs who enact change in communities that truly need it by hearing people's concerns and finding solutions that work for everyone.

Whether you mentor kids, use your professional skills to support causes that mean the most to you or start something new in your community to help kids finish their homework, you're helping others get where they want to go. That's making the world a better place.

While it can be intimidating to figure out how to get involved, as you can see, there are many different ways and so many different organizations that you can support to make a big difference.

Check out Stand Together Foundation to get connected to over 140 innovative social entrepreneurs making a difference and find your way to get involved!

Learn More About Stand Together Foundation

To find out which of these organizations supports your values, take this quiz here and let Stand Together Foundation do the searching for you.

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6th grader's science experiment answers, 'Do cat buttholes touch every surface they sit on?'

A question no one knew they needed answered.

Photo courtesy of Kerry Hyde

Do cat buttholes touch every surface they sit on? Science answers.

Cat owners sometimes have unique questions that even Google doesn't always have the answer to. This is probably the sole reason cat forums exist, but one kid who needed a 6th grade science project decided to skip the cat forums for answers and instead use the scientific method. Kaeden Henry, a sixth grader living in Florida, bravely pondered a question few (if any one) has been brave enough to ask: do cat buttholes touch every surface they sit on?

Since cats do whatever the heck they want, training them not to jump on kitchen counters is a feat even Hercules struggles to complete. These fierce felines don't care if you're cooking dinner or trying to get comfy in bed. If they want to sit somewhere, they're going to do it. The thought of cat butts on that expensive Serta pillow designed to feel like you're sleeping on a cloud can gross people out, but thanks to Kaeden, you no longer have to wonder if the butthole itself is also making contact.

Courtesy of Kerry Hyde

The curious sixth grader is homeschooled and well-versed in the scientific method thanks to her mother's PhD in animal behavior with a concentration in feline behavior. And, since they own cats, the science experiment was pretty straightforward (and directly impactful).

To complete the experiment, Henry and his mom, Kerry Hyde, bought non-toxic lipstick and applied it to each of their cat's anuses. Then, the cats were given commands.

Courtesy of Kerry Hyde

"Non-toxic lipstick was applied to their bum-bums, they were then given a series of commands (sit, wait, lie down, and jump up. Side note: Both cats have been trained since kittenhood with a variety of commands, they also know how to high-five, spin around, and speak.), they were compensated with lots of praise, pets, and their favorite treats, and the lipstick was removed with a baby wipe once we collected our data in just under 10 minutes," Hyde wrote in a Facebook post.

The results? Turns out that, no, cat buttholes do not touch every surface cats sit on. Now, let's all take a collective sigh of relief while we go over the details. Kaeden's experiment covered long-haired, short-haired, and medium-haired cats (if your cat is hairless, you better stock up on Clorox wipes just in case).

"His results and general findings: Long and medium haired cat’s buttholes made NO contact with soft or hard surfaces at all. Short haired cats made NO contact on hard surfaces. But we did see evidence of a slight smear on the soft bedding surface. Conclusion, if you have a short haired cat and they may be lying on a pile of laundry, an unmade bed, or other soft uneven surface, then their butthole MAY touch those surfaces!" Hyde shares.

Now every curious cat owner can rest easy knowing that as long as their cat has hair, their bare bottom balloon knot is not touching the majority of surfaces in their home.

Courtesy of Kerry Hyde

The amusing experiment caught the Internet's attention. People laughed and commented, with one person writing, "This is probably the most useful information I’ve learned from a science fair project."

"Good to know!...I can now eat my sandwich left on the counter with confidence!" another writes.

Courtesy of Kerry Hyde

"A+++!!! Whew!! I am very grateful for your sciencing on this subject. My fears from walking in on my cat sitting on my laptop keyboard and subsequently being grossed out and cleaning furiously in a hyper-ocd manner have been somewhat allayed and now maybe I won’t have to use QUIIITE so many wipes." someone chimes in.

"Finally.. Someone answers the important questions!!"

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Humor

Teacher earns 'school dad' label from his female students, shares funny realities of dad-duty

"When you have over 50 daughters..."

Berhanu Dallas/YouTube

Teacher Berhanu Dallas shares funny video about being a "school dad" to students.

Teachers wear many hats besides 'educator.' For high school teacher Berhanu Dallas (@_b.dallas) at Forest Park High School in Clayton County, Georgia, stepping up and into the role of "school dad" for many of his female students has been his most interesting hat so far.

Mr. Dallas, who refers to himself as "more than a teacher," shared the hilarious realities of what it takes to be a father figure to the ladies in his classes. From dealing with boyfriends, breakups, bad hair days, and more, it's a role filled with duties he never realized he would have.

"When you have over 50 daughters...," he captioned the video. It begins with one of his students bringing her new boyfriend into his classroom for him to meet, and he immediately tells her, "Try again."

@_b.dallas

When you have over 50 daughters...#trending #atlanta #fyp #highschool #teachersoftiktok #morethanateacher #drdrip #teacherlife

In the next clip, another student comes to talk with him at his desk, complaining to him that her boyfriend didn't get her anything for her birthday. Without even looking up, Mr. Dallas hands her a Stanley-esque water bottle that has a shiny red bow attached. (As a "student dad" he is always prepared with gifts when others fumble.)

The video cuts to another student grooving behind Mr. Dallas, as he holds up a sign that says 'Please Forgive Her,' with a broken heart in the lower right corner. He says to the camera, "Please take her back." (As a "student dad," he's there to help his students with their love lives.)

@_b.dallas

Who remembers these days? #morethanateacher #teacherlife #teachersoftiktok #teacherfunny #trending #highschool #fyp #claytoncounty #drdrip #relationshipgoals #breakup

In the next funny clip, the same girl who brought her boyfriend in the first scene is back with another boy for him to approve of, asking Mr. Dallas, "What about this one?" He gives a one-word response, "Nope." Then, in a quick shot, Mr. Dallas is seen handing some money to a student in need, before another student walks into his room with a tummy-bearing top. He immediately tells her, "No ma'am, put some clothes on!"

As if the bit couldn't get funnier, the same student from previous clips wrangles up another boy to bring to Mr. Dallas, asking him, "What about him?" Mr. Dallas quips, "Uh-uh." She even comes back a fourth time, and Mr. Dallas is not having it.

@_b.dallas

They really like this, and we love it! #morethanateacher #teacherlife #teachersoftiktok #teacherfunny #trending #highschool #fyp #trending #drdrip

When another students tells him that she is "having a really bad day," he's got a bouquet of roses ready to go in his desk for her. And when another begs him for help because she needs her hair done, he's prepared: he pulls out a wig from his desk drawer and hands it to her. In a final hilarious scene, a teary-eyed student shares that she was broken up with–and Mr. Dallas has a belt in his hand as he asks her, "Where is he?"

Although they can be demanding, test his patience, and bleed him dry of funds–he wouldn't have it any other way. Mr. Dallas has gained a following on social media for his funny, day-in-the-life videos that have shown his care and investment for all of his students.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Earlier this year, he appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show to share more about what his teaching experience has been like. He explained that he has been teaching for eight years, but he hated it at the beginning.

"When I first started teaching, I went in with an iron fist," he told Hudson. It was a method that didn't work, adding that many of his students come from difficult backgrounds and trauma. He felt disconnected from his students, until tragedy struck in his own life: his wife of 10 years passed away two years ago. It changed his perspective. "Now I'm in their shoes. I need someone to talk to. I need someone to understand me. So now I understood where they were," he said.

He decided to be "more than a teacher." He started sharing more about himself with his students: his kids, his hobbies, and who he was outside the classroom. On his classroom door, he shares an important message: "When you enter you are able. You are smart. You are loved. You are great. You are why I am here! Be exceptional."

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Science

Innovative farm in Virginia can grow 4 million pounds of strawberries on less than one acre

This method uses 97 percent less land and up to 90 percent less water than conventional farming.

Photo credit: Canva

A new way to grow strawberries with less land, less water, and more berries.

Strawberry farm harvests aren't something most of us calculate on a regular basis (or ever at all), but the numbers from a strawberry farm in Richmond, Virginia, are staggering enough to make it worth an old-school word problem. If the average American eats 8 pounds of strawberries a year, and an average strawberry farm yields approximately 20,000 pounds of berries per acre, how many people could a 200-acre strawberry field feed?

I won't make you do the math. The answer is 500,000 people. But what if a crop that size, providing enough strawberries for half a million people, could be grown on just one acre instead of 200? It's possible. You just have to go—or rather grow—up, up, up.

Indoor vertical farm company Plenty Unlimited knows a lot about growing up. In fact, it's their entire business model. Instead of the sprawling fields that traditional farming methods require, vertical farms have a much smaller land footprint, utilizing proprietary towers for growing. Plenty has used vertical farming methods to grow greens such as lettuce, kale, spinach and more for years, but now it boasts a vertical berry farm that can yield a whopping 4 million pounds of strawberries on a little less than an acre.

Growing indoors means not being at the mercy of weather or climate inpredictability (barring a storm taking out your building), which is wise in the era of climate change. Unlike a traditional greenhouse which still uses the sun for light, Plenty's indoor vertical farms make use of the latest technology and research on light, pinpointing the wavelengths plants need from the sun to thrive and recreating them with LED lights. Plenty farms also don't use soil, as what plants really need is water and nutrients, which can be provided without soil (and with a lot less water than soil requires). Being able to carefully control water and nutrients means you can more easily control the size, taste and uniformity of the berries you’re growing.

If that sounds like a lot of control, it is. And that idea might freak people out. But when a highly controlled environment means not having to use pesticides and using up to 90% less water than traditional farming, it starts to sound like a solid, sustainable farming innovation.

Plenty even uses AI in its strawberry farm, according to its website:

“Every element of the Plenty Richmond Farm–including temperature, light and humidity–is precisely controlled through proprietary software to create the perfect environment for the strawberry plants to thrive. The farm uses AI to analyze more than 10 million data points each day across its 12 grow rooms, adapting each grow room’s environment to the evolving needs of the plants – creating the perfect environment for Driscoll’s proprietary plants to thrive and optimizing the strawberries’ flavor, texture and size.”

Plenty even has its own patent-pending method of pollinating the strawberry flowers that doesn’t require bees. Even just the fact that this enormous crop of strawberries will be coming from Virginia is notable, since the vast majority of strawberries in the U.S. are grown in California.

strawberry fieldTraditional strawberry farming takes up a lot of land.Photo credit: Canva

Plenty's Richmond farm is currently growing strawberries exclusively for Driscoll’s.

“Partnering with Plenty for the launch of the Richmond Farm allows us to bring our premium strawberries closer to consumers in the Northeast, the largest berry consumption region in the U.S.,” Driscoll’s CEO Soren Bjorn said in a press release. “By combining our 100 years of farming expertise and proprietary varieties along with Plenty’s cutting-edge technology, we can deliver the same consistent flavor and quality our customers love — now grown locally. This new innovative farm is a powerful step forward in continuing to drive category growth in new ways for our customers and consumers.”

Is Plenty’s model the farm of the future? Perhaps it’s one option, at least. The more we grapple with the impact of climate change and outdated, unsustainable farming practices, the more innovative ideas we’ll need to feed the masses. If they can get 4 million pounds of strawberries out of an acre of land, what else is possible?

This article originally appeared in February

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Community

Fiercely hilarious exchange finally settles the debate over how to split the check with friends

Why should I pay for your lobster?

Canva

A woman side-eyes a bill from a restaurant.

Picture this. You're at dinner with a bunch of friends. You're not super hungry and a little strapped for cash, so you order a small Caesar salad and one beer. The check comes and your friend (we'll call her Wanda) says, "Okay everyone, let's just splitsies. That's 100 dollars per person. Venmo is fine."

If I had a dime for every time this happened to me, I'd be rich enough to actually pay for other people's filet mignon. It's especially annoying when that "one person" (looking at you, Wanda) orders ten appetizers for the table and you find yourself with one forkful of roasted cauliflower but are still expected to absorb that into your portion of the bill. And apparently, I'm not alone in this quandary. The "how should the bill be split?" question has re-emerged as one of the most fierce debates online, and folks have a lot of opinions.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Over on the subreddit r/poor, an OP asks, "How to handle splitting dinner bill when others order expensive things?" They essentially elaborate that they would like advice on what to do if someone in your dinner party orders "expensive rib-eyes and wine" and then suggests evenly splitting the bill. "Any elegant ways to approach this?"

One commenter gets right to the point: "Pay for what you order. Plain and simple." But some argue it's not so plain and simple. This person claims you must get ahead of it: "Nah bro, before going to the place clarify that you're not splitting the bill, that everyone is paying for their own food. Then tell the server that you're doing separate checks."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

A lot of waitstaff have complained, however, that they don't actually like the separate check option, as it's a huge, unnecessary hassle for the restaurant. So, barring that method, some actually say if you can't split the bill, "don't go out." That judgmental belief was met with this: "I've honestly never understood the greed and gluttony of some people. They want to split the bill, conveniently enough, when they've put the most on the tab. I've always found that the people with the least to give are the first to offer to pay or treat someone else. Those with the most money like taking advantage."

That Redditor also offered this advice: "If you can only afford your own meal, bring exact change or close to what you think it will be and throw that in when the bill comes."

TikTok user Lisa Beverly (lisabeverlyy) has an entire sketch about it. Playing both roles, she acts out the super relatable conversation between the one who orders everything and wants to split the bill, and the one who orders nothing and doesn't.

@lisabeverlyy

who’s in the right #pov #friends #besties #relatable

Experts are even weighing in. On YouTube, NPR put up this nifty video plugging theirLife Kit podcast called "The Social Etiquette of Splitting the Check." In it, they describe different scenarios and ways to combat the awkwardness when these situations arise. One suggestion is to "speak up," as "it can make people a little bit more conscious of the non-drinkers in the group."

She also brings up the "separate check" option, but notes that can be a "tough ask" if the group is super large.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

If all else fails, and you find yourself unable to use these tactics, maybe YOU should be the one ordering the surf 'n' turf with a side of 60-year-old whiskey. Then, ask for a Venmo of 1,000 each, and you'll be set.

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Kindergartener tries to get out of going to school by leaving a voicemail imitating her dad

The school alerted her mom to the hilarious voicemail.

Photo credit: Canva

Kindergartener calls school impersonating dad to pull a Ferris Bueller.

Kindergarten is hard. Nowadays there's a lot less playing and many school districts have cut out naps and half-day programs in exchange for more seated, curriculum-heavy work. Sometimes the shift in workload can feel like a little too much, especially for a kindergartener named Lyric. The little girl decided to take a day to herself to reflect on the hard work she's doing in kindergarten. The only problem is she didn't her parents.

Instead, Lyric decided to call her elementary school the evening prior to her self-scheduled mini vacation and impersonate her father. She left a very clever voicemail in the attendance office informing them that she would not be attending school the following day. To disguise her voice, she spoke as deeply as possible and hoped that would do the trick. The only problem with her genius plan was that she's not in charge of taking herself to school.

gif, school, skipping school, day off, kidsEpisode 7 No School GIF by South ParkGiphy

Skipping school, or in this case, attempting to skip school is nothing new. Students have been skipping out on classes since the first school house was built because, even before iPads, playing with a ball in a cup was more exciting than classwork for most students. The 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off is all about a kid who decided to skip school, though Ferris was a wee bit older than a kindergartener.

Lyric's mom had no idea her daughter attempted to get out of going to school until she was called into the office about the voicemail. Surprisingly, though, Lyric's school wasn't upset with her. The elementary school officials found the voicemail amusing and wanted to share the unbelievable impersonation with her mom.

gif, skip school, day off, Ferris bueller, fiilm Ferris Buellers Day Off Film GIFGiphy

"I don't know what I did to deserve a daughter like mine but let me tell y'all what just happened," Tyonda, the girl's mother, starts to explain in her video uploaded to TikTok. "I go to drop her off at school, the ladies in the front office are like, 'yeah, we we received a message last night,." Tyonda already suspected the message was from her daughter. "I'm never amazed. It's like the element of surprise with her. So, they play the message back. My daughter tried to act like her daddy and call herself out of school. What in the Ferris Bueller is going on here? Baby, you're in kindergarten."

You can listen to Lyric's attempt at her dad's voice here:

@keepingupwityonda Help me!! #fypシ #viral #kidsoftiktok #kidsbelike #Capcut ♬ original sound - The only LaYonda Reann 💛

Apparently, the girl's impersonation of her father's voice is much deeper voice than his actual voice, which is pretty impressive for a six-year-old girl. People found Lyric's antics highly amusing, with some issuing warnings for the girl's teenage years, "Buckle up honey, the next 13-14 years bout to be wild."

"I’m expecting a teenager a KINDERGARTENER???!!!" one person writes.

"We need to hear daddy’s voice before we can say if it was or wasn’t him," another jokes.

gif, hide, imposter, joke, prank, funnySunglasses Hiding GIF by Soul TrainGiphy

"The thing is ..... this was practiced and planned. she had the number, the voice and a mission," someone shares.

"But wait yall have to drop her off at school where was she gonna go if that worked?" another commenter asks.

Lyric was unconvinced that she did not sound exactly like her dad. In a follow up video the little girl insists that she sounds like her father and reveals she was able to get the number to the school from Apple Maps on her iPad. It also seems that Lyric has zero regrets and plans to continue her shenanigans well into high school.

@keepingupwityonda

Replying to @itsshamitch💋

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