Tag Archives: awards

Good News: 1 making a big difference

by Bullright

There is a good news story here about making a difference in a big way from a surprising young person. Prudential just awarded this youth for his volunteer good work.

Not very often do you hear of someone who managed this kind of accomplishment in the community at just 16. He’s helping veterans which seems to be a passion.

If this doesn’t humble you….

Prudential Spirit of Community Awards (Their site)

Bradley Ferguson, 16, of Northfield, N.J., a sophomore at Mainland Regional High School, started a service-learning club that over the past three years has supported veterans and people in need by refurbishing an American Legion post, collecting food for a community food bank, making lunches for homeless people, and growing fresh produce at several community gardens. When Bradley was in seventh grade, he saw many people in his town lose their jobs and, ultimately, their homes. In an area reeling from the recession, the demand for food was so high that the local food banks were running low on supplies, he said. One day, Bradley watched in horror as a desperate veteran set himself on fire outside the local VA clinic. “This is an image that will never be deleted from my mind,” he said. “His death serves as an inspiration to me to create change.”

With $123,000 in grants obtained by Bradley, his “Post Crashers” club has conducted numerous activities to aid veterans and feed the hungry. Club members and other volunteers helped refurbish the local American Legion post by painting it, replacing tiles, updating the kitchen, and decorating the facility. They also cleared the backyard to build a “victory garden” and a community picnic area. Post Crashers also has made nearly 2,000 sack lunches for the homeless and for veterans living in transitional housing, collected large amounts of nonperishable food items for veterans and a food bank, and worked on gardens that have yielded more than 1,500 pounds of fresh produce for the hungry. ***

 

So someone in High School made this kind of effort in helping veterans and the local Post. No doubt there is a future leader. Already there is local talk about a possible political career. Must have some super-proud parents. Nice that they are honoring him.

Does medium matter to success?

by Bullright

The internet itself is a giant blank page to write on so why not just take that literal approach on a blog? Sometimes I start writing and don’t know where it is going to go. Just let the spontaneity roll down the edges of at least this post.

So I was looking at one of those writer sites, I’ll leave nameless. They were debating about fame and winning an award in writing in print and elsewhere verses — note they set up the juxtaposition — writing on Internet like blogs, FB, comments etc. Someone compared the Internet to a sandbox. That’s why I called it a blank sheet of paper.

The idea is that they are different venues and, one supposes, different talents too. The conclusion is that one must move on from this giant sandbox to a more serious medium to have or show great talent. That has me wondering. Getting fame or recognition in print or other, possibly winning some award, is a more meaningful measure of success? Maybe there are different views on that.

The Internet can be more casual or comfortable, if not seductive and addictive, than stiffer media. I’ll buy that they have their differences. Though the idea is a person must use other means to achieve success than the web. I might be reading more into it than they said, but that is the idea. The Internet is ‘a sandbox but one must build elsewhere,’ as one put it.

A lot to chew on for subject matter. I know there are many aspiring writers on the Internet. It suggests one must move on to other media. Need one give up the web — one or the other? I’m not sure. I wonder what others think?

There is a more freestyle movement on the web that is for sure.

“In the arts, a medium is a material used by an artist or designer to create a work.”- Wikipedia