“Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands of time.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
These words are so poignant. Longfellow reminds us that, if our lives are to have meaning, we are obligated to accomplish something worthwhile while we inhabit this earth. He invites us to ponder: How will our actions benefit mankind? What will be the essence, short of carbon, of the footprints we leave for the next generation?
I’m a sucker for a good old American dream story. That’s the kind where somebody starts with nothing, and through determination and hard work, creates something fabulous. It makes me happy to be part of a society that values that sort of thing. The story I’m going to tell is particularly intriguing because it’s about two entities, once unknown to each other, and how they became entwined based on their common values—and dreams.
The first character in this story is the Suzuki Association of the Americas. This year will mark the fortieth anniversary of the organization. Started by a small group…
THANK YOU! to everyone who supported the Power of Community campaign.
Even though the week-long campaign is at its end, the donations are still rolling in and the word is still spreading.
We couldn’t have done it without you!
Join us in the Power of Community:
To donate by check, please make checks out to “Suzuki Association of the Americas”, and put “Power of Community” on the memo line. PO Box 17310, Boulder CO 80308
The “Power of Community” is a week-long campaign aimed at raising funds and awareness about the Suzuki Association of the Americas. The core of the campaign is not really about the $5 donation but, rather, realizing how far-reaching our own individual impact can be when we all act together as part of a larger community.
Our goal is to engage as many SAA members as possible and…
Have you visited the SAA Galaxy of Stars recently? It has brightened, well, astronomically! The members of SAA have embraced this opportunity to honor friends, mentors, teachers, parents, children, programs and organizations. Over 170 stars have been dedicated. We’ve had to expand our virtual universe!
The members of the SAA have always filled us with a sense of awe. In a world where competition, self-promotion, and the acquisition of material possessions seems to prevail, we thrive in a community that shares knowledge, that celebrates the…
We all enjoy the good fortune of having the ability to share the gift of music. We are also fortunate to be surrounded by people who deserve to be recognized for their contributions to our journey.
This year’s Annual Fund Drive provides an opportunity to give from our hearts by honoring a person or persons, a situation, an event, or whatever truly brightens our lives. It is a chance to recognize and dedicate the gifts of emotional support, encouragement, knowledge, and inspiration that we have received from those who have helped to shape our lives.
For…
Read more of Thanking Our Lucky Stars: Honor someone special in our SAA Galaxy of Stars »
To all my colleagues in the SAA:
Thanking Our Lucky Stars—what a wonderful sentiment to contemplate for the SAA’s Annual Fund Drive 2010. We each have had the good fortune to know many people, whose lives having touched ours, have left a lasting impression for the good in our own. There are teachers and mentors in our past, but also friends and family in the present, and colleagues whose programs have inspired us to reach for our own personal best. Choosing just one to honor now with a twinkling star may be daunting, but let’s get started and perhaps we can add others to our galaxy in ensuing years.
How can the SAA connect teachers with grant-writing classes to find funding? How does one go about finding philanthropic sources?
Grant writing is an art. But just like playing a musical instrument, anybody can do it if they are willing to invest the time to do the required research and write a persuasive and cohesive grant proposal. Here are some things you should know:
Dear Suzuki family,
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we did not win the Every Child Can grant.
A mathematician who was also in our 50k category and was part of a coalition helped me estimate with certainty that we were getting between 3,500 and 7,000 votes every day in September, which under normal circumstances would have been more than enough votes to end the month in the top 10 and in the money.
There were 8 or 9 groups in our category that I am sure were not submitted in the spirit that Pepsi promoted for this…
Read more of ECC Grant: The Concession and Paying It Forward »
Dear Friends,
You have all done a great job voting and texting for our Every Child Can grant this month!
We need your votes and texts now more than ever for the next few days!
As of the sending of this email, 9 groups ahead of us are being investigated for cheating.
We have 2 possible ways we can still win this thing this month:
6,500 of you will receive this email. If we each arrange for at 5 votes over…
Read more of ECC Grant: It’s Now or Never—Please Read Right Away! »
As of Monday morning 9/27 we’re in 8th place and in line to win the grant. Vote now to keep us there!
However, we were surpassed by 4 of 6 groups working together. These groups have a daily reminder list of over 7,000 voters! The other 2 groups are in the top 15 and will most likely knock us out of the top 10 if we ALL do not vote.
6,500 of you receive this email. If we all vote and text every day and as many of you as possible get just a handful of others…
Read more of ECC Grant: If we all vote for 4 days we win, if not, we lose. Please read today. »
As of Friday afternoon we’re in 5th place and in line to win the grant. Vote now to keep us there!
Please remember you can vote twice each day: Once by texting, once by voting on the website. Instructions below.
You can also vote yet again with the Pepsi Facebook app. Search for “Every Child Can”. Sometimes it isn’t working, but it’s worth checking too.
Please consider copying, pasting, and probably editing the note below to 10 folks you know that are not involved with our voting (relatives,…
Read more of ECC Grant: #5, but still need all of you to vote every day this weekend »
We are still in the running to win a Pepsi Refresh grant of $50,000 to be used for 1,000 partial Every Child Can scholarships.
As of Wednesday afternoon we’re in 4th place and in line to win the grant. If you live in the US, vote now to keep us there!
Please remember you can vote twice each day: Once by texting, once by voting on the website. Instructions below.
You can also vote again with the Pepsi Facebook app. Search for “Every Child Can”. Sometimes it isn’t working, but it’s worth…
Hi folks,
Please remember you can vote twice each day: Once by texting, once by voting on the website. Instructions below.
You can also vote again with the Pepsi Facebook app. Search for “Every Child Can”. Sometimes it isn’t working, but it’s worth checking too.
We were as high as #6 this weekend, but every night we drop into the low teens. We still need a lot more voting to secure a top 10 spot, so please pass the word!
Anyone ranked between #1-#10 gets the $50,000 grant money at the end of this month. We need more votes…
Read more of ECC Grant: Please vote twice every day! Once by texting, once online »
We’re at #13 as this is being written.
Help! We are sinking! We were as high as #7 and are now at #13.
Anyone ranked between #1-#10 gets the $50,000 grant money at the end of this month. We were there with some breathing room for a few days.
There is no question we could win this grant at this point with very little work.
I am confident that if you all voted and texted for the next 2 days, we’d be back in the top 10.
If all of you produced 20 votes (i.e., you online, you text, students,…
Read more of ECC Grant: #13—We’re sinking! Don’t forget to keep voting and texting »
We’re at #8 as this is being written.
Thank you for those daily votes and texts!
Today’s helpful trick:
Have everyone text at your next group class before you start or at the end (have a student remind you).
I will be doing that tomorrow night and passing around my laptop for online votes. (It’s insured" />
Anyone ranked between #1-#10 gets the $50,000 grant money at the end of this month.
To keep our spot, or if we have dropped by the time you get this, we need all of you to continue to [url=http://www.refresheverything.com/everychildcan]vote and text every…
Read more of ECC Grant: We’re #8! Help us stay there by voting and texting »
Copyright © 1997–2012
Suzuki Association of the Americas, Inc.
PO Box 17310
,
Boulder CO 80308
1-888-378-9854
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info@suzukiassociation.org
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http://suzukiassociation.org
