Next week, 200 of the very top Amway leaders from around the world, called the Amway Founders Council, will meet in West Michigan.
Members of the Yager family will be found among the Founders Council ranks, as they were some of the earliest Amway distributor leaders.
We had a chance to visit them last year in Charlotte, North Carolina, and see their values in action through the second generation of family leadership, in support of Easter Seals. This video tells the story:
For our readers in the United States, April 21-27 is National Volunteer Week, a time to recognize and honor those of you who donate your time, energy and skills in the community because you have a sincere desire to make a difference.
Amway North America is recognizing and rewarding one volunteer each day, with a $500 donation to the charity of the winner’s choice, for a total of seven winners throughout the week.
It’s not too late! The contest is open to Amway Independent Business Owners over the age of 18 and no purchase is necessary. Please see Official Rules for details and visit the Website to make a submission.
Amway is in so many communities, that it’s hard to keep track of all of our activities for children, particularly among Amway Independent Business Owners.
After learning that I would be heading to Boston next week to participate in the Boston College International Corporate Citizenship Conference, I decided to see what Amway people were doing there.
The best story I found came from Amway IBO and Claudia Nardone. She has been a longtime supporter of Easter Seals, an organization that helps people with disabilities to achieve their potential. Her network of Amway IBOs has raised approximately $3 million for Easter Seals over the years.
A couple of years ago, Claudia heard a speech by Easter Seals president Jim Williams that included the fact that $1 in preventative care can save $7 in later services. It made her think of the old proverb: “A stitch in time saves nine.”
Claudia used this spark of an idea to create a Stitch in Time campaign that collected people’s change using specially designed buckets. The initiative raised more than $100,000 in its first year alone.
Among the programs Claudia supports is Easter Seals Explorers Camp – a camp specifically geared to meet the needs of those on the autism spectrum or with other developmental disabilities.
Explorers Camp is an incredible place, with a high ratio of staff to campers, engaging the services and enthusiasm of a large crew of high school and college-age volunteers. Many of the staff and volunteers are also people with disabilities themselves including some who have autism.
I’m sure there are many other stories in Boston, some of which we will never learn about. It’s good to know that in any part of the world, anywhere Amway does business, there are Amway people finding unique and compelling ways to help children, one by one.
Thanks to Marsha Champion for sharing this story.
Monday couldn’t have been a more beautiful day in New York, where a team of Amway employees attended the annual gala for Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH).
The name of the event is called Skating with the Stars, and there were many in attendance. Rhonda Ross, Harry Smith, Vera Wang, Carson Kressley and many Olympic and world class skaters attended.
But the true stars of the night were young ladies recognized for their scholarship and athleticism. Five senior members of the program were honored and recognized for their high achievements. All of them will be attending college later this year.
FSH was founded in 1997 by Sharon Cohen, who still serves as the Executive Director. An Olympian skater herself, Sharon wanted to extend the art of figure skating to girls in New York’s underserved communities because she knew how it could transform their lives. The vision of FSH is to empower every young girl with the foundational academic, social and leadership skills she needs to achieve her dreams. Each will be a powerful speaker, an effective leader, live a healthy lifestyle and be a global citizen. Any of the FHS participants will tell you that skating is just a vehicle. The true impact on their lives is the academic achievement, leadership development and emphasis on personal responsibility.
In the heart of New York City, bright stars shine – tonight and forever.
Thanks to Angela Nelson for sharing this story.
Amway Independent Business Owner Wil Loewer has been a motorcyclist for most of his life.
“When we got married, he threw me on the back of a motorcycle and said, ‘Let’s go!’” laughs his wife and fellow IBO, Suzanne Loewer.
The Loewers channeled their passion for motorcycling into the Louisiana Ride for Kids, a motorcycling event held in support of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
Last year, 150 people hopped onto motorcycles and into sidecars to enjoy an hour-long ride through scenic central Louisiana. The official stars of the event – four children diagnosed with cancer – were given VIP treatment for the ride. The ride raised nearly $23,000.
“These kids’ lives change after a brain tumor diagnosis,” says Will. “When they ride, they get to forget all that and just have fun. Their smiles make everything worthwhile.”
Read more here at Amway.net. Thanks to Marsha Champion for sharing this story.
Over the past ten years, we’ve learned how a child’s future can change if you just provide a little help.
Yesterday, Amway leaders in the United States took the next step to empowering our youth, by giving them the opportunity, and the inspiration to make a difference themselves.
It’s called We Day, and you can’t buy a ticket for it. Teens can only earn admission to this amazing event by mobilizing civic change in their local communities, and through global projects.
Amway helped to bring We Day to the United States for the first time, in partnership with Free the Children, an organization started by the actions of a twelve-year-old boy from Canada who, now an adult, champions this initiative with celebrities, companies, and most importantly, our youth.
Amway Independent Business Owners and their children attended the event yesterday, which was an overwhelming inspiration that is sure to drive more action, and more positive change, at home and around the world.
Amway also used this opportunity to issue its own challenge to youth in the US to share their own projects with us for a chance to win some great prizes, including a trip to the next We Day.
Last week Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan visited Amway World Headquarters and West Michigan. She also spoke to students at two Grand Rapids middle schools about the importance of education, goals and dreams, and hosted a math and science game show.
©2013Wojtek Dabrowski
Last week, we received an update from SOS Children’s Villages on the groundbreaking of a village of homes for orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti. This news comes nearly three years since a massive earthquake killed 200,000 and displaced millions of Haitians.
For some, three years is just too long to wait. But major disasters call for a different strategic approach to humanitarian support, particularly from companies.
Ever since the Southeast Asian Tsunami in 2004, we have put systems in place to monitor and respond to major disasters, especially in communities where we have employees and distributors. We were among the first companies to respond to the Sichuan earthquake in China, the tsunami in Japan, and the recent storms in the US.
Haiti is no exception. Amway and its people raised more than $1 million for relief efforts, primarily through the American Red Cross, and we used our corporate planes to transport medical and humanitarian aid professionals immediately to the affected areas. But we also set aside funds for long-term rebuilding through Amway One by One.
It’s easy to walk away once the emotion settles and the cameras go away. But that is often when our help and long-term commitment is needed the most. Few may realize that the effects of the earthquake in Haiti are still felt, and more than 350,000 still live in tent camps.
SOS Children’s Village has done amazing work in building partnerships to establish an additional village in Haiti, a place already known for difficult land ownership rights and in additional bureaucratic turmoil when the earthquake took away many staff and records.
Today, we see the investment pay off, and we see a foundation that will serve many children into the future, providing a family environment and a future for those who need it most.
We have reached an important milestone.
The Amway One by One Campaign for Children has been transforming lives for 10 years.
What started as a corporate initiative in 2003 has become a grassroots movement of Amway distributors and employees helping children around the world. While Amway affiliates build alliances with local partners, it is the 3 million distributors and 20,000 employees who have helped us to bring our efforts for children to scale.
At the end of 2012, we have counted 10 million children who have been positively impacted through Amway One by One.
Actions include building hospital playrooms in Russia, enabling better nutrition at schools in rural China, providing customized bikes for children with disabilities in Australia, constructing homes in Guatemala and mentoring urban youth in the United States. There are more examples in every region where Amway does business.
Amway One by One has always been about inspiring and encouraging individual actions for children in need. Now, looking back over ten years, we see a beautiful mosaic of hope, inspiration and generosity.
Thanks to everyone who has joined Amway to build better lives for children in our communities.
This year, we celebrate these accomplishments and recognize the work of so many Amway people. But we also challenge ourselves to deepen our efforts, and will close the year with a demonstration of collective support for children in need, around the world.
Last week, we saw plenty of basketball, mixed with a little soccer.
Earlier this year, we profiled Power Soccer, played by athletes in power wheelchairs. Power Soccer is not just a game. It creates communities and friendships where they are most needed … as well as creating pure, intense competition.
All of this was on display during the Orlando Magic’s halftime show last Wednesday. While Atlanta and Orlando basketball players rested, Power Soccer players from Atlanta and Central Florida heated up the court with their own demonstration of speed and technique.
Some of Power Soccer’s biggest advocates and champions showed off their skills, including Jerome “Pika” Durand, Jerry Frick and Eric Dornan, along with more of the sport’s best players.
They had the crowd cheering for every near miss, and gasping at every spin kick from the heavy metal chairs.
It seemed to be an incredible experience for the players, and it was certainly a great show for the audience. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t intended for either.
We hope that this exposure will introduce the sport to another person in a power wheelchair who needs an outlet like Power Soccer, and just hasn’t heard about it yet. We want the word to spread.
If you know someone who may be interested in the sport, check out powersoccerusa.org.
Thanks to David Ruelas and RD Saunders for organizing a great Power Soccer demonstration, to JT McWalters and Matthew Keller for being amazing hosts on behalf of the Orlando Magic, and to David Madiol for helping us introduce the sport to the team.
