The Humanity Project

Bob Knotts | May 24, 2013

This post will be brief. There’s no need to dwell on the obvious beyond a simple fact: The devastating Oklahoma tornado shattered many lives, and ended others … and the people there need our help. The stories have been heart-rending and sometimes inspiring too, like that of the teacher who laid on top of her students during the height of the storm to protect them, risking her own life. She survived. Some of her kids didn’t, despite her courage. I was in tears listening to this brave woman recount those frightening moments from her hospital bed. There are many, many other such memories among survivors. As always after these awful events, we ask ourselves the question: How can I help? Well, of course we can begin by making a donation. Every one of us can afford at least $10 and the simplest way to give that amount is to text the Red Cross. Just text their name as one word, REDCROSS, to 90999.

Category: Sharing, Volunteering | No Comments »
Tags: aid for Oklahoma tornado victims, helping kids, Humanity Project, Oklahoma tornado victims, teaching human values, The Humanity Project

Bob Knotts | May 19, 2013

The Humanity Project was proud to be part of an event this weekend here in South Florida, where our national nonprofit organization is based. We helped to plan and then participated in the big “Above the Influence” march and rally in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Despite some heavy rain at times, more than 2,000 students and adults turned out on May 18 to show their support for smart, healthy decisionmaking by youths. Above the Influence means above bullying, above substance abuse … and more. The march harkened back in some ways to our own Humanity Project “Thousand Youth March for Humanity,” the nation’s first mass children’s march against bullying. That event was held in November 2008, well before the bullying issue became topical across the United States and beyond.

Category: Our Board Of Directors, Our Programs, Volunteering | 1 Comment »
Tags: Above the Influence, Above the Influence Broward, anti-bullying, Anti-bullying Through The Arts, Broward County Public Schools, bullies, bullying, helping kids, helping others, Humanity Project, teaching human values, The Humanity Project

Bob Knotts | May 11, 2013

Wow! We really hope you’ll check out this new website, totally created by teens, for teens … for the Humanity Project. Talented students in Ms. Madeline Rosario’s web design classes took our I Care book and ran with it — and came up with this site for our program. They even recorded a music version of the I Care book’s rap poem, then created an animated video to go with it. You’ll find this on the home page, which is shown in a screenshot photo posted with this blog.

Category: Our Programs, Our Website, Sponsors/Community Partners | 1 Comment »
Tags: "I Care! Safe Driving with the Three Cs: Concentrate, "I Care", distracted teen drivers, helping kids, helping teens drive safer, Humanity Project, safe teen driving, State Farm Insurance, teen driver safety programs, teen driving, The Humanity Project

Bob Knotts | May 3, 2013

We have some wonderful news to share this week. Our friends at Sears now have provided financial support for the Humanity Project’s acclaimed Anti-bullying Through The Arts program — and have joined our list of official sponsors. We are grateful to add this long-respected retailer to our growing list of great sponsors and community partners. That list can be seen in full by clicking on the Sponsors/Community Partners menu tab above, with such names as State Farm, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Broward Sheriff’s Office, Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, Children’s Services Council of Broward County and Google among them.

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Tags: anti-bullying, Anti-bullying Through The Arts, bullies, bullying, Sears, Sears Team Up To Stop Bullying, Team Up To Stop Bullying, The Humanity Project

site administrator | April 26, 2013

(Editor’s Note: This blog was written especially for the Humanity Project website.)

My name is Angelo Marchelletta, also known as “A-Lo.” I am a singer and songwriter from Windsor, Ontario. My newest single is called “Alive” and it is an anti-bullying song. I grew up in Windsor, a border city with Detroit, so I grew up in a rough neighborhood. There was always trouble wherever I went. It felt like being the tough guy was the thing to be, and it seemed like they could smell out the weakness in people. I remember waking up every day for school and being terrified to go, because I knew that there was this group of bullies that picked on anyone who was weaker than them. They thrived off of it.

Category: Our Programs, Our Website, The Arts, Volunteering | 1 Comment »
Tags: Angelo Marchelletta, anti-bullying, bullies, bullying, helping kids, Humanity Project, teaching human values, The Humanity Project

Bob Knotts | April 20, 2013

It has been a tough week for those of us in this country, here in the United States. The Boston bombing, the ricin mailings, the chases, the shootings and arrests … and of course the deaths and injuries that followed another terrorist attack. At such times, it helps to look toward the light. And toward faith — faith in other people, ironically enough. Whatever your personal religious beliefs, a faith in humanity surely must be part of a useful belief system for any person.

Category: Our Programs, Our Website, Sharing | 1 Comment »
Tags: helping others, human values, Humanity Project, philosophy, positive psychology, shared value, The Humanity Project

Bob Knotts | April 13, 2013

See that new logo in this story? Cool, isn’t it? This boldly redesigned I Care logo is only the beginning of all the great new elements coming to our Humanity Project I Care teen driver safety program. We’re about to launch teen-created videos and memes as well as Tumblr and Twitter pages to join our Facebook page … even a whole website devoted to I Care.

Category: Our Programs, Sponsors/Community Partners | No Comments »
Tags: "I Care", helping kids, Humanity Project, I Care! Just Let Me Drive!, State Farm Insurance, teen driver safety, teen driving, The Humanity Project

site administrator | April 6, 2013

Can music save the world? Why do we love music so much? I think it might have to do with the fact that when we listen to songs we like, we become music. For those brief moments, we go a little beyond our rational selves with name, position, job and we get to experience a broader range of emotions. Our hearts sing to the beat of music and we experience freedom. And in that space of closeness to our essence, we also get to establish connection with others’ essence. I think that’s the magic of music. It happens at a very personal level and yet it serves as a bridge. When we cross that bridge, we understand each other better. This understanding is the first step towards accepting others and thus establishing stronger social connections.

Category: Sharing, The Arts, Volunteering | No Comments »
Tags: "Can music save the world?", "Work Of Art project", Haikaa Yamamoto, Humanity Project, teaching human values, The Humanity Project, Work of Art Global Project

Bob Knotts | March 29, 2013

With the arrival of another spring, the Humanity Project is full of hope. We are an optimistic organization anyway, with faith in humanity based on a rational assessment of our past and present as well as our very attainable future as a species. Despite the news stories of tragedy, there is much more good than bad in this world. And the human race truly is moving in the right direction, as studies of things such as worldwide poverty and access to education have shown. And so as millions of our fellow human beings celebrate religious or spiritual holidays, we offer some thoughts on hope, that most human of emotions.

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Tags: helping others, hope and humanity, human values, Humanity Project, philosophy, positive psychology, quotes on hope, The Humanity Project

Bob Knotts | March 23, 2013

We will keep this blog very short, mostly because we’d rather have you watch a brief video than spend more time reading. This is the latest 40-sec video from our ongoing thp4kids effort. (You’ll remember that the Humanity Project is leading a talented group of students from South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida. With their great teacher, Madeline Rosario, we’re creating a unique website for socially isolated middle school students, including many in the LGBT community: thp4kids.com. All this is being done through generous funding from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board.) Our quick vid shows some key thp4kids staffers at work … on their Friday off school!

Category: Our Programs, Our Website, Sponsors/Community Partners | No Comments »
Tags: helping kids, human values, South Plantation High School, State Farm Insurance, State Farm Youth Advisory Board, The Humanity Project, thp4kids, thp4kids.com