Help Pioneers Dish It Up Go Viral!

Help us reach our goal of feeding 1 million people by going viral! Our first ever International Centennial project, Dish It Up, is well under way in over 45 states and provinces across the US and Canada. Please help us meet our goal!  Here is your chance to participate in some quick and easy micro volunteering opportunities!

Complete one or more of these activities each day for the next (and last!) 7 days of the project:

• Send this email to 10 people and ask them to participate in helping Pioneers Dish It Up go viral!

• Post a link to the project on your personal and/or Pioneers unit’s Facebook page and ask your friends and family to “like” it and repost

• Share some of the heartbreaking statistics with your online community about hunger (i.e. "50.2 million Americans struggle with hunger and 17.2 million of them are children." Visit the Feeding America web site.  Or, “38% of those helped by Canadian Food Banks are children and youth.”  See the Food Banks of Canada website.)

• Share these moving Hunger Counts videos and request support for Dish It Up through volunteer time, food, or funds.
• United States

• Canada

• Tweet on how your community is participating

• Tweet and update Facebook while you are at a Dish It Up event

• Email your friends and family and ask them to help spread the word

• Ask 10 people to donate $10 using our secure online donation form

• Share with your connections on LinkedIn

• Include project information as your next blog post

• Drive your friends and family to the August 2011 Pioneers Projects and Programs Periodical focusing on Dish It Up.

• Post pictures and videos from your project as it is happening or right after on Facebook, Twitter, your website, blog, etc.

• Text 5 friends and ask them to participate with you

• Share the link to the press release

• “Like” Pioneers a Volunteer Network on Facebook

And finally, remember to join Pioneers in your community from now to the 25th for special events as we wrap up our Dish It Up project and feed 1 million people.

Dish It Up kicks-off September 11

Pioneers across North America will kick off Pioneers Dish It Up on Sunday, September 11, the U.S. National Day of Service and Remembrance. Numerous volunteer efforts focused on addressing hunger will run through September 25th.

During this time, Pioneers volunteers will be collecting healthy, nutritious, non-perishable food donations, as well as transporting food to food banks, filling backpacks with healthy snacks or easy to prepare “weekend” food for children and serving food at local shelters or soup kitchens.

“The United States has 49 million people who do not have access to enough food, and in Canada over 800,000 individuals access food banks on a monthly basis,” said Carey Wirtzfeld, president of Pioneers. “We’ve been engaged in amazing volunteer efforts for 100 years and this year, as a tribute to our Centennial, we decided to address the issue of hunger in the US and Canada.”

With the support of partners such as Liberty Mutual and Feeding America, as well as local retailers, Pioneers have a goal of providing one million healthy meals to individuals across North America through a variety of community service activities. Volunteer efforts will occur in hundreds of cities across 45 states and provinces.

“The hunger issue isn’t going away,” said Doug Montgomery, Feeding America. “In 2010, food pantries and soup kitchens served more than 37 million Americans – this is an increase of 46% from 2006. Events like Pioneers Dish It Up are meeting a tremendous need, by not only focusing on filling food banks, but by raising awareness about the importance of bringing healthy food into our communities.”

Every Pioneers member is encouraged to participate by visiting us online for a list of food collection and drop-off sites in their community.

Examples of healthy food that Pioneers are collecting include:

    Whole wheat pastas
    Brown rice
    Canned fruit (packed in own juice)
    Canned vegetables
    Canned meats (tuna, salmon, ham, chicken or turkey)
    Canned or dry beans (such as black, kidney, pinto, navy, garbanzo)
    Peanut butter (plastic jars, please)

Pioneers can also participate by making a financial contribution through our secure online donation form. Each dollar donated can provide eight meals for people in need.

Together, we can make a difference in the fight against hunger!

Every Dollar Helps Feed Eight Hungry People

While donating food to Pioneers Dish It Up: Feeding Families Healthy Food is a great hands-on volunteer experience for Pioneers to participate in together from September 11th – 25th, your cash donations can go even further. A food bank or pantry can purchase food in bulk at a much greater discount than retail price. When you make a cash contribution to Dish It Up, your contributions benefit local food banks and hunger programs.

The easiest way to make a cash donation to Dish It Up is through our secure online donation page, plus your donation is tax deductible, where applicable by law. The best part is that each dollar you give can provide up to eight meals to people in need.

Please join the Pioneers in feeding one million people who are facing hunger in the United States and Canada.

A $100 donation, in celebration of the Pioneers’ Centennial, started by Alexander Graham Bell in 1911, will help provide a meal to 800 hungry people. Donate online now by clicking the button next to “I want to make a donation to Dish It Up".

Together, we can make a difference!

100 Years Means Hundreds of Dish It Up Projects

In celebration of the Pioneers 100 years of service, volunteerism and philanthropy, Pioneers Dish It Up: Feeding Families Healthy Food projects are taking place all across North America from September 11th – 25th.

During this time, Pioneers across the United States and Canada have committed to numerous local volunteer efforts including collecting healthy, nutritious, non-perishable food donations, as well as transporting food to food banks, filling backpacks with healthy snacks or easy to prepare “weekend” food for children, and serving food at local shelters or soup kitchens, just to name a few.

The following states and provinces have committed to efforts which aim to feed one million people: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Florida, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.

Food security is defined as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” Food insecurity occurs when:

1. Sufficient quantities of food are not available on a consistent basis.

2. People don’t have the resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.

3. Knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation, are lacking.

Please help address this issue by volunteering your time, donating food, or donating money to the Pioneers Dish It Up project.

Join the Pioneers in Dish It Up: Feeding Families Healthy Food

In celebration of the Pioneers 100 years of service, volunteerism and philanthropy, Pioneers are joining together for one of the biggest volunteer efforts in our history. Pioneers Dish It Up aims to feed one million people across the U.S. and Canada who face the daily challenge of “food insecurity.”

Pioneers are volunteering in hundreds of cities across North America and we are inviting you to help make a difference.

Between September 11th and 25th, join Pioneers in addressing the hunger issue by participating in the Pioneers Dish It Up project, which includes a healthy food drive, as well as other service projects aimed at feeding the hungry. 

You can help by donating non-perishable, healthy, nutritious food for local food banks.  In partnership with Feeding America, and its network of member food banks, a list has been compiled of the most requested foods that also fall into the “healthy” category.  We ask that you donate one of the foods included on our food list. 

We hope that you will join us in this project.  By dropping your donated food in the Dish It Up collection receptacles or by making a cash contribution online you can help us succeed in our goal of feeding one million people. 

Volunteer efforts are occurring in almost every state and many provinces, so sign up today! To find a Dish It Up project in your area visit VolunteerNow!, enter your company preference (if any), your state, click search and look for Dish It Up under the Health and Human Services category.

Together, we can help make a difference!

Back to school means back to work for Pioneers

With the end of summer nearing, thoughts turn for many to heading back to school. “Back to School” means “Back to Work” for many of our volunteers who focus on helping students in the United States and Canada start off the school year on the right foot.

With education as a primary focus of our community service efforts, it has come to be expected that Pioneers will provide the support students need. Pioneers are making a difference inside and outside of the classroom, from pre-K on.

There are many organizations that provide for students in September, but what sets Pioneers apart is that we provide support throughout the year.  After filling backpacks with supplies, we develop relationships with schools and with teachers that lead to the introduction of programs such as Power Up To Read and Project Connect.

Pioneers serve as tutors and mentors, as teacher’s aids and classroom facilitators. We expand our reach beyond the classroom to paint playground maps, or, we go direct to students living in transitional housing to ensure educational materials are available at home.

These are just a few examples of how Pioneers enhance the education experience. Are you going back to school? If so, invite a co-worker, family member or friend to join you – so that they can learn what it means to be a Pioneer.

To help you out as you help others return to school, one lucky Pioneer will receive a canvas book bag. 

To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post and answer the following question.

* What back to school project are you participating in this year?
* Deadline to enter is Tuesday, July 16th
* One winner will be chosen at random and announced on Wednesday

Good Luck!

2011 Beep Baseball World Series

In 1964, the first softball with an audio tone was designed by Mountain Bell employee Charlie Fairbanks.  Over the years, the design was improved, the Beep Ball game was born and in 1972 Pioneers began to manufacture the audio balls. 

In March of 1976, the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) was formed and the first World Series of Beep Baseball was planned.  Today, the NBBA manages the annual Beep Baseball World Series, which brings together blind athletes from all across the world to compete in the game.  Pioneers volunteer their time and talents to the local tournaments and the World Series and adopt beep balls.  The Qwest Pioneers manufacture and sell the beep balls and the ball chargers.  This year, the World Series is being held in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 31- August 6th.  

Do you have a favorite beep baseball memory? Share it with us!