Everything in our lives has brought us to exactly where we are. When we don't already know what is calling us to act, all we need to do is look and listen right where we are — it will probably be near. Maybe not geographically near, because our neighbourhoods are not only physical, but it will be near. As you read this, there is something that needs to be done. Suffering can be reduced and help can be offered. Just look around. In every community, there are calls for help. If you are interested in working to relieve hunger, for example, any small effort will be appreciated by the people who work in the various shelters and soup kitchens in your region. You can work as an accountant or proposal writer to raise funds. You can fix broken trucks or use your own vehicle to collect food. You can glean usable products from donated damaged goods, working alongside others in a warehouse. You can package bread and muffins. You can answer phones. You can type letters or pack bags of groceries. You can play the piano in a soup kitchen, cook a meal, or put together menus from the ingredients at hand. You can make sure your company, your neighbourhood market, or your local bakeries and restaurants recycle their leftover food, and, if they don't, you can salvage it yourself. These are just a few of the possibilities, and these just relate to hunger. Look around you. Many people find opportunities for service arising from their work and professions. Work is what we do every day; it is often what is most familiar to us. We may find that our professional talents can be used to help outside. Each of us knows what is calling and how we can answer. A few years ago, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the now well- known makers of an American ice cream, creamy Vermont, were becoming aware of the disappearance of the rain forests but were kept busy by their rapidly growing company. At the same time, Jason Clay, the executive director of Cultural Survival, was working on an agroforestry scheme; he hoped to introduce First World consumers to products that could be grown under the rain forest canopy in 'extractive reserves', parts of the rain forest that could be farmed and thereby preserved. They met one night — the ice cream makers and the foundation head — and the idea of Rainforest Crunch was born. This cashew and Brazil nut brittle uses large quantities of nuts, which provide the forest people with three to ten times what they usually earn. And 40 percent of the profits from the confectionery goes to rain forest preservation organisations. Ben and Jerry have found a way to support endangered Amazonia right where they are — within the framework of their business. And, as is the way of creative ventures, it has continued to grow. As the nuts are prepared for the crunch, they give off 'nut dust' at the rate of hundreds of pounds per week. Ben and Jerry began storing the dust, knowing it has nutritional value but not knowing what to do with it. Just as it threatened to overwhelm them ('Corporate Execs Buried in Nut Dust'), they conceived of the Rainforest Crunch Cookie, which could use the dust as flour. They had already proved that people will buy and eat sweets for a good cause, so they knew they had a market. And, to maximise the good effects, they connected with Bernie Glassman, abbot of the Zen Community of New York. The Zen Community had responded to the plight of the homeless in its area by creating a holistic programme that included job training at Greystone Bakery. Ben and Jerry's idea was perfect — the Rainforest Crunch Cookies could not only give livelihood to Brazilian cooperatives and raise money for other rain forest preservation work but could generate jobs and training for homeless mothers in New York. A stroke of compassionate genius. And it all happened right where everyone already was — at work. |