FARMHOUSE
QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK
(From recent Inside FH newsletters)
Service
- "We read something about a FarmHouse Day of Service. What are the details behind this and how can our chapter get started?"
- "We're working on plans for a philanthropy and wanted to see if there's an international philanthropy that all FarmHouse chapters are supposed to support. Could you help?"
- "Do we need to do one big service project as a chapter for the Promise of Service Week or can each guy do different service projects?"
- "We read something about a FarmHouse International Community Service Man of the Year award. What's that all about?"
QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- We read something about a FarmHouse Day of Service. What are the details behind this and how can our chapter get started?
For 2003, we're just looking for chapters to take baby steps with this idea as we seek to become stronger servant leaders. We see it as an awesome opportunity for all FarmHouse men to come together and provide that "Promise of Service" to his fellow man and the world.
We've modified the concept just a bit. After further discussion, we've decided that our "Promise of Service" philanthropy effort should be a weeklong initiative rather than every chapter/member attempting to participate on April 15th of each year. In other words, giving everyone a week to participate in the "FarmHouse Promise of Service Week" rather than restricting it to just one day.
What we're proposing is for every chapter member and alumnus to commit himself to providing service to the community the Week of April 15th (April 13-19, 2003). At a minimum we'd ask each brother and alumnus to commit to at least 1 hour of community service next week. We'd like each chapter to track this, maybe creating a big poster board in the house with everyone's names and list what service project each member does. Shoot for 100 percent participation. Beginning in April 2004, we plan to include chapter participation in this as part of the Chapter Award of Excellence.
Many of your brothers likely already have service projects lined up to do next week (Highway Cleanup, volunteering at homeless shelter, helping with church youth group) or have an ongoing service project they'll be helping with (Big Brothers Big Sisters, elementary school tutoring, coaching youth sports teams, etc.) Any and all service that your members provide back to the community will qualify for this important initiative.
Some chapters already have the expectation that every brother does at least one hour of service per week (Oklahoma State completed 2,466 hours as a chapter last semester). However, If you're concerned about what kinds of projects your chapter might quickly organize for members to do next week, here's a few suggestions:
- Find out what ladies in the community have husbands who are serving in the war overseas or have been called to duty and volunteer to mow or seed their lawns, help with other yard work or landscaping. - Go to your church and see if there's any work brothers can do - yardwork/landscaping at church, minor repairs, assisting elderly in community, etc. - Contact your university's community service coordinator. That office will have tons of ideas. - Ask your alumni, advisors, housemom, cook and association board for ideas in the surrounding area. - Plan your chapter's Adopt-A-Highway cleanup for the weekend (even if you've fulfilled your commitment for the semester, go the extra mile and do it again).
It's also important for us to truly understand what we mean by "Promise of Service." Traditional campus-wide "philanthropies" such as sorority volleyball tournaments, softball tournaments, watermelon fests and such are fun and raise money for good causes - but if they don't have a hands-on service element included with them they don't reach their full potential. As an example, raising $500 for a foster children's home is great, but 30 guys spending an afternoon at the children's home doing yardwork, painting, cleaning and giving the staff some help can have far more impact on their lives as well as yours.
We'd encourage all 28 FarmHouse Chapters, our Texas A&M colony and Guelph interest group to each shoot for 100 percent participation in this initiative next week. Please send us an email next week to share what impact your chapter had on the community from April 13-19.
We'd also challenge every chapter advisor, FarmHouse association member, International Board member, staff and alumni to all join us in this initiative. It'll be a wonderful way for us to "serve our fellow man and the world." - JG & JH
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "We're working on plans for a philanthropy and wanted to see if there's an international philanthropy that all FarmHouse chapters are supposed to support. Could you help?"
RESPONSE --- FarmHouse International doesn't have a specific philanthropic organization that we are associated with. We encourage each chapter to think about what causes the men feel strongly about, so that the entire chapter takes an active part to provide hands-on service and raise money for that specific organization.
In the past we've had interest shown for an international philanthropy or common cause that chapters raise money for, and we've had several trial efforts over the past decade. However, we've never been able to find a common philanthropy that all of our chapters would be interested and willing to participate in and support.
When it comes to developing philanthropies for your chapter, we'd encourage you to include a hands-on service element. One example of an excellent balance between fun with sororities and hands-on service is a chapter that hosts a 3-on-3 women's basketball tournament raising money for a local children's home. Besides the money that's raised, an additional aspect to the philanthropy is that FH brothers and competitors also volunteer for a day of service at the children's home.
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "Do we need to do one big service project as a chapter for the Promise of Service Week or can each guy do different service projects?"
RESPONSE --- Chapters are free to decide how you'd like to provide a "Promise of Service" to your communities the week of April 11-18, 2004. The Promise of Service Week was designed as a way for every FarmHouse man to provide meaningful service to our "fellow man and world" during the week of our Fraternity's Founding. With chapters and individual members having such diverse interests and gifts for service, we created this powerful way for every member to be able to give back to his community in a way that best fits him.
At a minimum we're asking each brother and alumnus to commit to at least 1 hour of community service. We'd like each chapter to track this, maybe by creating a big poster board in the house with everyone's names and list what service project each member does. Shoot for 100 percent participation. Participation in the Promise of Service Week is one of the expectations in the Chapter Award of Excellence.
Many of your brothers likely already have service projects lined up to do that week (Highway Cleanup, volunteering at homeless shelter, helping with church youth group) or have an ongoing service project you'll be helping with (Big Brothers Big Sisters, elementary school tutoring, coaching youth sports teams, etc.) Any and all service that your members provide back to the community will qualify for this important initiative.
It's also important for us to truly understand what we mean by "Promise of Service." Traditional campus-wide "philanthropies" such as sorority volleyball tournaments, softball tournaments, watermelon fests and such are fun and raise money for good causes - but if they don't have a hands-on service element included with them they don't reach their full potential. As an example, raising $500 for a foster children's home is great, but 30 guys spending an afternoon at the children's home doing yardwork, painting, cleaning and giving the staff some help can have far more impact on their lives as well as yours.
We're encouraging all 28 FarmHouse Chapters and our Texas A&M and Guelph colonies to each shoot for 100 percent participation in this initiative next week. Please send us an email afterwards to let us know the various service efforts your chapters participated in.
We're also again challenging every chapter advisor, FarmHouse association member, International Board member, staff member and alumnus to all join us in this initiative. It'll be a wonderful way for us to "serve our fellow man and the world."
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "We read something about a FarmHouse International Community Service Man of the Year award. What's that all about?"
RESPONSE --- The FarmHouse International Community Service Man of the Year was created several years ago to recognize exemplary efforts by our members of providing outstanding service back to their communities. Each year we select one undergraduate who has gone above and beyond our call to service.
Previous recipients have donated as many as 500-600 hours of community service in the prior year - most volunteering to assist with at least a dozen different service projects - everything from coordinating blood drives, to making a year-round commitment to Big Brothers' programs, to volunteering at local hospitals, to giving up entire summers for mission experiences.
The award is not just a recognition of who contributes the most hours of service. We also look at who contributes the greatest good back to society, how the individual has influenced his chapter to make hands-on community service more of a priority and the year-round commitment that's been made.
We'd strongly encourage chapter presidents and advisors to help get deserving brothers get the recognition they deserve for their contributions to our communities.
Applications are due April 30, 2004. The simple 1-page app is available at http://www.farmhouse.org/pdf/part2.pdf ... The 2003-04 recipient will be recognized at Conclave for his outstanding contributions.
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