Humanity Project

Seasoned With Giving

At a Humanity Project holiday party, some joyful singing

The tradition dates back centuries. During the holidays, well … Perhaps Charles Dickens said it best in his great story, “A Christmas Carol”: "At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, Sir."

Today, of course, the needs are often broader and more complex than in 19th Century London. Our society’s needs include a healthier planet, safer children, equality for every person. And much much more. At the Humanity Project, we promote “equality for each, respect for all.” At the heart of our mission is the need for greater self-worth, which in turn allows individuals to treat other folks with more humanity. As we tell our Humanity Project kids: “It’s only those people who feel bad about themselves that make others feel bad. When you feel like somebody, you treat everyone else like somebody too.” Respect for all begins with respect for self.

If you reflect on your experience, you’ll see that’s true. So our organization is tackling a fundamental social problem through practical programs that work. We strive to be effective, inspiring … and transparent. The respected national nonprofit rating service, Candid/Guidestar, consistently awards the Humanity Project its Gold Seal of Transparency, showing that we are open about our practices and careful with our funds.

We hope in this Season of Giving 2023, you will consider a donation in some form to the Humanity Project. Whether $5 or $500, it helps us do our important work both with children and adults. You can even make a monthly donation through our Sponsor A Child feature. It’s safe, simple and allows you to donate, say, $10 a month to sponsor a better future for one child.

We love the holidays here at the Humanity Project. It is a time when folks come together with affection and generosity. In that spirit, we wish you and yours a very joyful and healthy holiday season! We hope 2024 will bring our world a step or two closer to “equality for each, respect for all.”

Playlist For Educators

We have something new for both educators and students. The Humanity Project has assembled an “Educators Playlist” of inspiring videos for young people — all of them free, of course, and all available on our Humanity Project YouTube Channel.

You’ll discover videos that are appropriate for a wide range of kids: many for younger students, others for high school or even college-age youth. Some of these vids were made with the help of our Humanity Project students, others created solely by Humanity Project adults for younger viewers. We hope you may explore some of our awesome offerings … Oh, and here’s another link to share with any educators or guidance counselors or school media specialists you may know. This will take you directly to the Educators Playlist.

Again, it’s all free, all inspiring, all educational … and all of it, lots of fun. We believe both educators and kids will benefit from watching the videos on our new playlist. And we think you’ll enjoy watching them too.

Fave Humanity Pics (after 17 years)

The Humanity Project is 17 years old. Wow! A fullgrown teenager heading toward the big 2-0! Yep, our nonprofit was incorporated in the State of Florida on November 3, 2005. During all that time, we’ve organized and taken part in many events, of course, including our Thousand Youth March for Humanity in 2008 — the nation’s first mass children’s march against bullying. We’ve also connected with tens of thousands of kids and adults with a consistent message: every individual has an equal value and we all deserve respect. That’s been the theme with our acclaimed antibullying and teen driver safety programs … and with everything else we have done to date.

We thought you might enjoy a few of the photos we especially like after our first 17 years. Here they are, with a special shoutout to great photog Keith Spencer, who took some of these memorable shots. And here’s to another 17 years of work in the community by the Humanity Project! “Equality For Each, Respect For All!”


Welcoming Three New Board Members

The Humanity Project Board of Directors has long been diverse, smart and very accomplished. Our three new board members just added significantly to our strengths. Today we welcome Mandi Hawke, Shaikh Shafayat Mohamed and Madelin Marchant to the Humanity Project Board, all three previously members of our Leadership Council.

Let us introduce you to them:

  • Mandi Hawke is a longtime activist and leader in the South Florida LGBTQ community. Starting in 2007 her experience includes 10 years in administration at SunServe, a nonprofit that assists lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning individuals – with most of her tenure served as Director of Youth Service. She owns and operates Proud EmPOWERment Business Solutions, a social media management and virtual assisting agency. Ms. Hawke is the author of two books: “PROUD emPOWERment” for LGBTQ youth and “Cosmic Unicorns,” a children’s book. Her writings offer inclusive, trauma-informed content aimed at inspiring constructive change in both young people and adults. Before joining the Board of Directors Ms. Hawke served on the Humanity Project Leadership Council in charge of outreach on the topic of LGBTQ equality.

  • Shaikh Shafayat Mohamed is a Trinidadian Islamic scholar and Founder/Principal of Darul Uloom Islamic Institute in Pembroke Pines, Florida. He has more than 40 years of experience in interfaith activities, the first Muslim to become president of the Interfaith Council of Greater Hollywood, Florida. Shaikh Mohamed hosts an international television program called Al Hikmat, which reaches a large global audience. A recipient of the Peacemaker Award from St. Thomas University, he sits on the WPBT/PBS TV Community Advisory Board. Before joining the Board of Directors Shaikh Mohamed served on the Humanity Project Leadership Council in charge of outreach on the topic of religious equality.

  • Madelin Marchant is an accomplished and active actress of stage, film and television in both English and Spanish. Cuban born and Miami raised, she served for nearly 21 years as Theatre Arts Director at South Miami Middle School, a Florida arts magnet school. Ms. Marchant sits on the South Florida Theatre League board and since 2010 has been Chairperson of the Junior Thespian District Festival, overseeing the middle school theatre competition for Miami-Dade County. In 2020, she was voted Arts Educator of the Decade by BroadwayWorld Regional Miami Awards. Before joining the Board of Directors Ms. Marchant served on the Humanity Project Leadership Council in charge of outreach on the topic of equality through education.

    We are very proud to add these great folks to our Board of Directors, where they can channel their experience and skills even more effectively into our campaign for “Equality For Each, Respect For All.” Welcome, Madelin, Shafayat and Mandi!

One Child At A Time

At the Humanity Project, we believe in the individual. Humanity, afterall, is only a collection of individuals past, present and future. Our programs for both kids and adults focus on the value of every individual: “Equality For Each, Respect For All.”

Now we’re launching something new that gives more attention than ever to the individual. One child at a time. In November, the Humanity Project begins our own mentoring program, starting with two boys and one girl from Morrow Elementary School. Big thanks to our good friend, Guidance Counselor Mindy Nguyen, for helping us set this up. We view the mentoring as an expansion of our Humanity Club, which works intensively with young school leaders who in turn teach their classmates about respect-for-all, equality and antibullying. The three young kids chosen to begin our mentoring efforts each will partner with one member from the Humanity Project Board of Directors, connecting one-on-one weekly for special lessons focused on human values. We’ll teach these concepts wrapped up in games and discussions as well as through fun assignments in reading and writing. In this way, we advance their literacy skills as we help them better understand their own worth and the importance of other human beings.

So many children fell behind during this ongoing pandemic. Reading and writing are among the areas that especially suffered. We believe the Humanity Project can assist educators trying to make up this lost ground through our individual sessions. At the same time we further fulfill our mission by teaching a select group of kids “greater respect for the goodness and inherent value of humanity,” as our mission statement says. That includes helping them better appreciate their own value. To us, this seems an important new step forward as the Humanity Project turns 16-years-old in November. We hope to expand our mentoring program in the months and years ahead.

New Members Of Our Team

Welcome to the Humanity Project, Sasha Medvinsky and Victoria!

Meet our newest Leadership Council parent-child team.

Sasha was born and raised in Ukraine, leaving for Florida in 1992. She’s a registered nurse who manages Outpatient Services in the Pediatric Ambulatory Department of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. Her daughter, Victoria, is an honor roll student and a recognized leader in her school, often fundraising for causes that help children in need.

Of course, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is a longtime sponsor of the Humanity Project. So we think Sasha’s involvement with the Humanity Project seems especially appropriate.

Our Leadership Council was formed several years ago to serve as an in-house consulting and creative group of parents who partner with their child, collectively offering guidance to make sure our programs become even more kid-friendly and parent-friendly too. Since then we’ve added key new members to that team. We know Sasha and Victoria will bring their experience and talents to our work now — and we’re grateful.

We think of the Humanity Project as a family: not only our Board of Directors and Leadership Council but also our great volunteers and the many students and teachers and administrators who work with us closely. Together, we help kids to help kids. Together, we really do make a difference.

"Humanity Project Goes Hollywood!"

Looking For Our Closeup

The Humanity Project has gone Hollywood ... Well, let's say "Hollywood," as in kinda sorta. The truth is we created a new video that's just like a polished Hollywood-style trailer you'd see at the movies. In a clever way, it advertises the Humanity Project's work and our three core values that are part of every program we offer: respect, diversity, self-worth. Click on the linked pic just below to check it out. 

We've also posted another cool video on our YouTube channel, which you can find here: 

More and more folks are getting lots of their information and entertainment from videos. The trend seems to be accelerating. So the Humanity Project is embracing this new reality by stepping up our game. As you can see on our YouTube channel, or the Videos page here on our website, we've always gone big for videos. They can communicate with new audiences in new ways. But now -- oh definitely, you can expect to find more videos by us in the coming months, smart and engaging pieces that take our positive message to even higher heights. 

The Transgender Experience

The butterfly seems a good place to begin ... The transition, the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly has represented many inspiring things to many people over the centuries. At the Humanity Project, we think it's a fine symbol of the transgender experience ... as it ought to be: Human beings changing for the better, finding ways to be more of who they are. 

Unfortunately, it's rarely that easy and uncomplicated. The Transgender Experience is our latest podcast and we encourage you to listen. We talk with Tatiana Williams and Arianna Lint, two transgender women who also are community activists -- and the discussion about the challenges of transgender life is frank, wide-ranging and moving. It's all part of the Humanity Project's mission to create programs and materials that advance our core values of respect, diversity and self-worth. Please take the time to learn more about the transgender experience by going to our podcast page and listening: Go to the Humanity Project Podcast. 

Join Our Leadership Council

POSTED BY: BOB KNOTTS

I want to extend an invitation to you today through this blog. You won’t need money to accept it. You won’t need to make any sacrifices in your life. You only must commit to helping us help kids (and parents) with whatever time you can spare. Consider joining our new Humanity Project Leadership Council.

Okay, so here’s that invitation I mentioned: Consider joining our new Humanity Project Leadership Council. To do this, you must live where we’re headquartered – in South Florida, ideally in Broward County. And you must be a parent or grandparent, again ideally with your child or grandchild eager to join our work too.

We’re creating this Leadership Council to serve as our in-house panel of expert consultants. Experts in parenting, that is. We want the views and ideas of these smart parents and their kids to help guide our work. And yes, we welcome grandparents as well because so many grandparents are raising children and of course have even longer experience in child-rearing.

The Leadership Council first will tackle our I Care teen driver safety program’s latest expansion, funded by a generous grant from our great partners at State Farm. By joining our team, you will help us to create parent-friendly and grandparent-friendly content for a funny PowerPoint presentation on distracted driving, something we’ll give to parent groups around South Florida. We’re hoping to continue the council after this work is done, with our panel moving on to improve other Humanity Project programs and provide ongoing advice.

The Humanity Project Leadership Council will be made of as many as 16 adults and kids. We want creative folks who would love the chance to contribute to the community in clever, inventive ways. If you’re interested, just drop us an email or call by going through our Contact page.  We’ll tell you more about the kind of thing we have in mind. It’s simply one more way of fulfilling our mission of “helping kids to help kids” … and we could use your assistance.

Our Fund (and Our New Friends)

POSTED BY: BOB KNOTTS

This week we very proudly announce a major new sponsor for the Humanity Project. We welcome Our Fund to the distinguished list of community partners that you’ll find on our Sponsor page. Our Fund is a foundation that connects the LGBT community in South Florida. They support organizations that improve the lives for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

Our Fund is a foundation that connects the LGBT community in South Florida. They support organizations that improve the lives of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender: Visit the Our Fund website. That includes a $5,000 grant to the Humanity Project because we have a nationally acclaimed anti-bullying program, a website created by Gay-Straight Alliance students for socially isolated teens … and now the Humanity Club, which works with middle school student leaders to create an environment of respect for every kid on campus, making their school into a place that welcomes diversity.

Our Fund check presentation to new winners - May 2016

Our Fund check presentation to new winners - May 2016

This type of work is nothing different for the Humanity Project, of course. What’s different is the partnership with Our Fund under their dynamic new leader, David Jobin. David, along with Our Fund’s Grants Committee and Board of Directors, recognizes that the LGBT community benefits enormously from allies such as the Humanity Project, which deliver programs and foster goals that make the world much more welcoming for all. Take our Anti-bullying Through The Arts program, for instance. LGBT students are disproportionately targets of bullying, suffering in large numbers. Eight years of our pre-post testing shows that the Humanity Project program effectively teaches bystander students to help stop school bullying – thereby also reducing the bullying of LGBT students.

The Humanity Project is very proud that we have stood alongside the LGBT community throughout our nearly 11-year history, with or without funding. If you look back at our blogs or social media over that period, you’ll find many posts about the importance of respect for people of all sexual preferences and identities. Even our PeacePage’s introductory animated video mentions this, something we created several years ago: Visit the PeacePage. We were working with Gay-Straight Alliance students for more than a year before winning a large State Farm grant to complete our website for teens, “The Humanity Project 4 Kids”: Visit The Humanity Project 4 Kids.  To the Humanity Project, LGBT equality is the great human rights issue of this era in American history. We are honored to be part of it.

And just as much, we’re honored by Our Fund’s belief in our role within that fight. The LGBT community foundation now joins our other sponsors, including major sponsors, State Farm and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital … along with Children’s Services Council of Broward County; Google; Barry University; Monarch High School; Dr. David Sharaf and Skin and Cancer Associates and the Center for Cosmetic Enhancement; Blue Gallery and First Impression Printing. We thank them all.

And we know each of these amazing, community-minded organizations will welcome Our Fund to the Humanity Project family, as we do today.