12.14.08 Meeting Notes

December 14^th, 2008 7pm

Boston Task Force Love146

In attendance: Amanda, Arwyn, Paul, Pascha, Kirby Jennifer K., Carrie, Aspen, Emily,

Rachel, Jaime, Jennifer E.

Welcome Aspen and Arwyn, new to our group. Arwyn worked for Love146 and has been to their safe homes.

Meeting at Paul and Pascha’s January 4^th, from 2-5 to start moving logistics

Thanks to Jenn E. and Emily for the logo and gym letter!

Kim and Carrie came up with mock treader sign ups and letters

There are many websites that can help collect donations for non-profits, such as

First giving.com (endorsed by BBB). However they charge 7%

Razoo.com is another

T-shirts: We may want to approach gyms and ask if they want personalized t-shirts with their gym name on them

American Apparell and Screened.com might be a good place to start for T-shirt production

Should we direct people to get t-shirts online or sell them in person; in person may be better

$25 fee to be a treader that earns treaders a t-shirt

We could have a kick-off day at church and at certain gyms, where we could man a table to sell t-shirts and do sign ups

We will concentrate on a definitive number of gyms, preferably those that are large enough to have a community outreach director, that has sway over all the gyms many locations (ie: Healthworks)

Challenge the Boston Metro softball league to get involved

Carrie will talk to Sarah about this

Paul and Pascha to email Kathy at Love146 and find out what other local churches support this cause

Jenn E. to ask Joanna about T-shirts, Jenn and Kirby will connect

Everyone to be thinking of a catchphrase for the back of the T-shirt

Kick-offs at gyms should happen from 5-7 on weeknights

March 1^st start for the public is more realistic

Jan-we will make schedule for the gym outreach, kick-off tables

We should request stage time again at the Vineyard when we get closer

Test launch here at church Feb15th, March 1^st launch for the public

By Feb 15^th we should have:

-webiste

-T-shirt

-procedure for how to handle money (both t-shirts and donations)

Paul’s company has bought the domain “tread on trafficking” We should have a website up and running soon

Emily to update gym letter and make a gmail address for tread on trafficking

We will take turns monitoring this email address with Emily and Jaime going first

Any money spent on Love146 can become a tax write off

We are a ‘GREEN’ group so that’s why we don’t print anything. J

We are focusing on certain gyms but if you belong to a gym that we haven’t targeted by all means, approach them

All money should be handled by paypal

At the gyms we’ll need internet access and a table

January 10^th, Saturday from 12-6 is the next Sew in!

We should be always striving for our goal of 1 on 1 conversations

Arwen will give us a workshop in January with talking points for Love146 presentations

“Real men protect those who cannot protect themselves.” This might be helpful in regards to approaching men about this topic, which can be scary for them.

Great Article

CBS covered the New York photography event and gives some great info on Love146.  Check it out here: www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/01/entertainment/main4640707.shtml

Virtual Meeting Notes

Notes provided by the wonderfully organized Jaime B.!

Boston Task Force Love146

Virtual Meeting Sunday 11/30/08 6:30

In attendance: Kirby, Jaime, Carrie, Paul, Pascha, Kimberley

-main focus of the media group this week, will be our logo for ToT and the media sheet to be used in approaching gyms and also advertising (like radio and publications)

-also thinking about the website tree

-media team will be meeting this week

Kirby-has extensive marketing experience

-is going to work on T-shirt design, billboard design and a logo for the Quilting

Project and pdf-able posters

-also familiar with legalities of branding

Jennifer Eastman has secured the involvement of multiple gyms through one contact at Beacon Hill Athletic

-may be a good idea to have a sign up fee for becoming a ‘treader’ that gets you a T-shirt that treaders can use, that will help spread the word even more

-It will be a good idea not to quantify people’s miles

-we need to give serious thought to the functionality of the website and what we need it to do, especially in terms of collecting info about treaders and donors

-Carrie and Kimberley to convene to make decisions about how the process will work, eg. How information will be tracked and how money is collected and how much people sponser per mile and so on

-they will also draft a letter to treaders and a mock sign up sheet

Kirby can create PDF’s and such of these documents

-This Saturday from 12-6 in the Cambridge chapel on 12/6 will be the quilting event

-Park Street speech was a big success with lots of people willing to participate in our cause

-Very few people responded to Paul’s inquiry about helping to fund the ToT website

-The Lydia fair in the Spring will benefit Love146-this is a performance event

-By next meeting, we will have already sent a gym letter to all members with gym connections, so that hopefully by the time we meet on Dec 14, people will have already touched base with gyms

-It would be great to have material to drop off at gyms and tell gym management that we’ll be back in a week to touch base, if no one is available to meet with us initially.

Tasks:

Carrie and Kimberley- specs for ToT, mock up of sign up sheet and letter to trackers

Media girls (Jaime, Emily, Jennifer E and Jennifer K)-mock up letter to gyms and publicity and logo firming

-once this is done, we will send to Paul, before forwarding to whole group with reminder of gym contacts

(both of these teams will consider what the website needs to support our program)

Kirby-once logo is set, will begin design of T-shirts, billboard, posters, and business cards. Also she can begin design of quilting logo

Next live meeting, Dec 14^th, Sunday 6:30 Cambridge Living Room

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you feel moved to make a donation to Love146 this week, check out their Thanksgiving e-cards. You could make it in honor of someone you're feeling thankful for this year.


Hope you all have a wonderful, happy Thanksgiving.

Some Thanksgiving Reading

Just wanted to make you all aware of the June 2008 Trafficking in Persons report put together annually by the U.S. government. You can find the report here, and it's fascinating: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/.

I blogged about a few of the initial things I found to be most interesting (http://seasonoflight.blogspot.com), and will continue to do so as I make my way through the report. Feel free to check it out, and comment on your own impressions.

Also wanted to pass along a great story link from Rachel: http://globalhealthlaw.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/battling-child-sex-slavery-in-cambodia/
If you don't know much about Somaly Mam, this is a great place to start. Her story is incredibly inspiring.

Keep reading and keep learning! And spreading the word...

Update on Love146 as an organization

Here's a breakdown of where the funds to Love146 go:

$1.1 million budget in 2007:
86% Programs
8% Fundraising
6% Management & Administration

If you want to read more about what makes a good charity, read the BBB rating process for Love146 here.

11/16 Meeting Recap

We had a great meeting last night with a big turnout--17 of us gathered to brainstorm for Tread on Trafficking, and came up with some great ideas & next steps.

We opened with prayer and then read some stats and figures about child trafficking.  We then opened the discussion to brainstorm and figure out logistics around our Tread on Traffficking idea.  We decided to broaden ToT to include exercise activities outside of just gyms, including running and biking clubs, etc.  We determined the best way to track participant miles was to have a PDF file available for download on the eventual ToT website.  

We also discussed why gyms would want to participate in the initiative.  The reasoning was threefold:

• It gives members a reason to keep working out, or increase their involvement with the gym
• Good press
• Opportunity to run promotions with gym-related prizes (e.g., free personal training) 

We then broke out into three brainstorming groups:

1. Advertising
2. Gym outreach
3. Logistics

We're currently working on designing a Tread on Trafficking logo, which will then be implemented as part of the website, press kits, advertising materials, and business cards.   The website will include the following:

• A link to Love146
• A link to Skreened.com, where interested participants can buy tshirts advertising/in support of Love146
• PDF form to track their miles
• Description of ToT
• Stats about trafficking
• List of participating gyms
• Contact email
• Testimonies

Our fundraising goal is $14,600 by May 1.

Our other pre-event to do's:

• Approaching gyms
• Designing a sign up sheet 
• Designating a person to collect sign up sheets
• Designating a person to email those who are interested
• Jenn will see if she can find some helpful insight from a gym manager that she knows in order to refine talking points when approaching gyms

Other orders of business:

• Sending out reminders to treaders to send payment
• Make checks payable to Love146
• Send thank yous to participants, gyms, and any other businesses that participated
• Email gym the the name of number one prize winner
• Send email updates

Thanks to everyone for coming out and giving your time, energy and ideas.  Special thanks to Jaime for taking such great notes--and Kim for some realllly good snacks. :) 

10/19 Meeting... rocked!

Love 146 Boston Task Force
10/19/08

Agenda:
1. Discuss Not for Sale, 1st Chapter
2. Review Mission and Goals for coming year
3. Review Tread on Trafficking fundraising idea
4. Open time for discussion
5. Close in Prayer

Mission and Goals (draft)

For this year, we believe, with God’s help, we can accomplish the following:
1. Create a viable, sustainable Task Force that involves dozens of people from many churches and many different faith-backgrounds
2. Educate thousands throughout Greater Boston through regular, persistent communication about human trafficking and Love 146’s relief efforts (email campaigns)
3. Educate and motivate 1,000 people in the Greater Boston area to donate to the cause
4. Sponsor 100 1x1x1 meetings – 1 on 1, 1 hour meetings about human trafficking to raise awareness
5. Raise $50,000 by Dec 31, 2009 for Love 146

Tread on Trafficking (draft)
Tread on Trafficking is a walk-a-thon like event that will take place at gyms throughout New England from February 15th to March 31st. Treaders will ask others to sponsor them per mile on a bike, treadmill, or other exercise machine. The goal is to capture 1,000+ sponsors of treaders throughout the Boston area. We hope that since many undertake a new exercise regime at New Year’s, Tread on Trafficking will appeal to gym owners and they will sponsor/promote the event as it drives gym usage at a time when new members can be vulnerable to slacking off; Valentine’s Day is also Love 146’s key holiday. Finally, we aim to posit stories in various media outlets before, during, and after this event, highlighting key points about Love 146 and its mission.

The next steps in this campaign are to begin to research local gym owners and franchisees, asking for their support of this program. Our goal should be to gather 5-6 gyms to agree to post signs, flyers, and promotional material before our next meeting in November.

Reminder: Love146 Task Force Meeting Sunday Oct 19th at 6:30pm

A reminder that we're meeting again on Sunday night at the Cambridge Vineyard Site, in the living room of the Ministry Center.

We'll be discussing Not for Sale and, if you've signed up for the Google Group -- see the link on the left -- there's a copy of the discussion materials awaiting you there.

Call + Response Coming to Kendall Square

The new movie, Call + Response is coming to Kendall Square.

KENDALL SQUARE
One Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA 02139

October 9
October 13–16

Next Meeting: 10/19 at 6:30pm, Cambridge Vineyard Ministry Center

Greetings all,

We'll be meeting again in October on Sunday, the 19th at 6:30pm, in the Living Room of the Ministry Center of the Vineyard, Cambridge Campus.

Here's a map and directions:

Please read at least the first section of the book, Not for Sale by David Batstone.

We'll spend the first 30 minutes talking about the book and the issue of child trafficking, the second 30 minutes talking more about the structure of the Task Force, and the last 30 in smaller groups, working on ideas for short-term projects.

To summarize our conversations so far, our goals for this year are:

1. Foster conversations about the issue of global trafficking and sexual exploitation of children.

2. Create opportunities for awareness and fund-raising through small-scale events, such as the gym "tread on trafficking" treadmill-athon idea.

3. Grow and maintain a network of people, communities, and organizations to mobilize larger, more inclusive events come late 2009/early 2010.

Our hope is that, during our next meeting, we can flesh out the ideas and make these goals more concrete and actionable.

We hope to see you there.

In the meantime, consider making a donation directly to Love146.

P.S. We'll be updating this blog weekly on Sunday nights.

Next Steps.

Thanks, again, for everyone who came out last night. We had 22 people there, which was a pleasant surprise for us!

Jaime summarized the conversation below, so let me post some next steps:

1. Read "Not For Sale" by David Batstone (link on the left)

2. Check out the Love146.org website (ditto)

3. Join the Google email group and the Facebook news group so we can stay connected

4. Check back on this blog later this week to keep brainstorming ideas

I've put in a request to meet up again on 10/19, same time and place and will post it once it's approved.

Thanks again and more to come!

Notes from the September Meeting

Boston Task Force

1st Meeting

Monday 9/22/08

Leaders: Paul and Pascha Griffiths
Notes by: Jaime Babstock (thanks!)

* We started by listening to Paul and Pascha talk about Love146 and the issue of child sex trafficking.
* We decided that everyone would read “Not for Sale” as a group, available at local bookstores and Amazon.com
* All attendees introduced themselves and told a little of their interest in Love146
* We then broke up into two groups: Brainstorming and Logistics
* Brainstorming to focus on ideas for events, to generate awareness and money
* Logistics focused on how to get other people involved


Brainstorming

* Kim-
1. dessert benefit, focus on food
2. Kim can bake!
3. silent auction

* Pascha-
1. Beloved Quilts Project-worked really well in the past, when tied in with Gala event
2. What if we made quilts with the word “Beloved” in the native language of the children we are trying to benefit?
3. Perhaps the quilt could be given to the children
4. Fashion week! Challenge designers at local design schools to create clothes for a fashion show, to benefit Love146

* Okami-
1. experienced great success with Quilt Fundraisers at a local shelter

* Deidre (drum roll please, for the idea of the night)
1. What if people got sponsored to run or walk for Love 146 but not at an organized event..at their own local gym, on their treadmill!!
2. Perhaps Gyms can compete where members try to run 146,000 miles collectively or people individually can aim for 146 miles
3. This could run over the course of half a year
4. Possible Slogans “What are you running for” “Tread on Human Trafficing”
5. Gyms, Senior Centers (with walking clubs), mothers walking their children, could all get in on it.

* Jaime-
1. perhaps a fundraiser with IMAX at Jordan’s Furniture
2. Could definitely acquire IMAX comp passes for auctions
3. Perhaps Up with People would partner with Love146 in some way

* Pascha
1. Love146 does partner with worthy organizations

* Jaime/Deidre

1. Benefit concert, “Lydia Fair” (modeled after Lillith Fair) was a success in the past

2. There are lots of artists in this church

* Pascha

1. We must realize that every event, is an opportunity to get people involved in future events

2. So whenever one event is happening, there should be another one on the backburner, so that we can take advantage of every opportunity, to build momentum

* Jaime

1. We should have a webpage, specifically for out task force

2. perhaps Love146 will create a part of their page, that would allow us and other task forces to piggy back…who can we ask about this?

3. gmail allows people to create their own webpage

4. love146 the boston task force should have their own email address anyway

5. a website for our group, would be a great place to track something like the love146 ‘walk-a-thon’ event that Deidre was speaking of

6. We should have a presence as the task force on Facebook and myspace as well

* Pascha

1. A silent auction would be a great place to get a large sum of money in one shot

2. perhaps we should look into how programs like “Walk for Hunger” track such things (even though theirs is only on one day in a specific location)

3. perhaps we could have our first event in September

Kim—perhaps people could shovel or plow in exchange for donations to Love146

Pascha and Paul—People should feel empowered to do whatever they feel will benefit the organization, even if these are personal efforts

Logistics and Brainstorming combine

Logistics decided that it was important to find other venues to speak about Love146 as they did at our church

Also it would be helpful to host events where people can come and get information and hear people speak about Love146 and how they can help

We should have a series of small events leading up to larger ones

Kim would like to head up creating a newsletter

We should all read “Not for Sale” and plan to meet up again in a month

Paul will create google groups and also a blog, where we can all dialogue about our

Ideas

Danny has connections for Boston Billboards and also he will try to make sure our bookstore at Vineyard sells “Not for Sale”

We closed with prayer.

What is Love146?

From the Love146 site:

The trafficking and rape of children for profit is one of the darkest stories on the planet. This physical, mental and emotional trauma leaves children broken and scarred for life. Interventions for these children are critical to their survival. This is why Love146 exists.

Love146 works toward the abolition of child sex trafficking and exploitation through prevention and aftercare. Love146 trains aftercare workers, multiplies safehomes, aids socioeconomic development programs in high risk communities and provides a voice for these victims of modern-day slavery.

Founded in 2002 (as Justice for Children Intl.), Love146 is a registered public charity. Love146 is a 501c3 non-profit organization.

More at: www.love146.org