What Can You Do? Anything You Want.

One of my favorite parts about writing Ten Ways to Change the World in Your Twenties was having the chance to interview people all over the world engaged in incredible ventures. My inspiring conversations with them further confirmed my faith in the potential for individuals and organizations to use their creativity and energy to affect change even in the most difficult of times.

Many of their “success stories” can be found within the pages of Ten Ways. However, due to space constraints and time (many people were referred to me after the completion of the book), not all of these amazing stories could be included. The world changers I have spoken with are as interesting as they are diverse. In the upcoming months, I will include many of their stories here.

I hope their stories inspire you as much as they did me.

Unless It's a Movie or a Check, I Don't Want It

The Seattle City Council has a great opportunity to curb junk mail on Monday, January 25th by voting to approve the Do Not Mail resolution. Think of it as a spam blocker for your mailbox.

According to Do Not Mail, it takes approximately 200,000 trees to produce Seattle's junk mail every year and another $400,000 dollars to dispose of it.

If you live in Seattle, call or email the city council members, and if you can, attend the meeting on Monday at 2pm at City Hall, 600 4th Ave., 2nd floor.

Whether you live in Seattle or not, there are simple steps you can take to greatly reduce the influx of paper in your mailbox.

How to Help in Haiti

What's happening right now in Haiti is devastating, and everyone I speak to wants to do something to help. The basics are what is needed, and the best way most of us can offer immediate assistance is to give money to a reputable organization that is on the ground in Haiti right now.

Here are links to some of the organizations working in Haiti. Each of them has received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator. Be sure to also check with your employer or university to see if they are offering matching funds.

• Doctors Without Borders
• Oxfam America
• Save the Children
• Partners in Health

Loving the Local Leeks

I've been traveling a lot this year, and it seems that something different is in season every time I return home to visit my local farmers' market in the Ballard neighborhood.

I'm happy to report that there are delicious possibilities for organic, local eating even in the middle of winter. This leek pasta recipe is one of my favorites. It's easy, delicious, and it utilizes leeks, which are a welcome, hearty green in December and January. Thanks to my friend Joe for initially coming up with this recipe, and my husband Steve for adapting it. As an added bonus, he can even find leeks in Jordan!

Winter Leek Pasta

For a pound of pasta you need three big leeks or a handful of midlings. Thin slice the leeks up to where they get really dark green and coarse (you can go higher with smaller leeks), and put them in a bowl of cold water for a while. I also poke the rings to separate them since it's better at getting the dirt out.

Start the water boiling for pasta - spaghetti or linguini work best.

Save some pasta water to add to the leeks later.

Over medium high heat, put in a shallow coat of olive oil and maybe 2-3 tbsp. butter. Also add 1-2 tsp salt to lightly coat the pan, some pepper flakes, and a few cloves of thinly sliced garlic.

Once the butter melts, add the leeks and cook until they're soft (10-15 minutes depending on the stove top). You'll know they're ready when they start to carmelize and brown.

Keep stirring, and add the pasta. You can scoop the pasta straight from the pot into the sauce, and then add about a quarter cup of grated parmesan cheese (is there such a thing as too much?) and toss.

You can (read: should) throw in another tbsp. or two of butter, and if the dish looks dry, add some pasta water while stirring over heat.

Bon Appetit!

Construction for Change: Building Community, Building Hope

Volunteering with an organization is one of the easiest ways to make an immediate impact in the lives of others. In this week's blog, twenty-something guest blogger J. Renee writes about the work of local non-profit Construction for Change, which was founded by three twenty-somethings eager to make a difference.

In 2008, I started volunteering with Construction for Change (CfC). I was immediately impressed by the vision, velocity, and integrity with which this small group of my peers was chasing a dream to help fulfill the UN's Millennium Development Goals.

Construction for Change facilitates building projects for organizations that have long-term visions for the communities they serve. Because fundraising and building projects often swallow up valuable time and resources, they can become a burden. CfC holistically and sustainably partners with organizations, and provides the aid needed to build healthy communities and provide opportunities.

CfC began in 2006 as the vision of three friends, Nick Tosti, Elijah Grindstaff, and Mike McEvoy. They came up with the idea while completing the Construction Management program at the University of Washington. Volunteer projects overseas had exposed them to the obstacles that face the developing world, and they had met many people who work to forge a better quality of life for themselves and their communities.

After a series of introductions, the founding members of CfC met the Zambian ambassador to the US, Inonge Mbukusita-Lewanika, a brilliant example of the great power that is released when women are educated. Inonge’s sister, Mbuywana Mbukusita-Lewanika, is the headmistress of the local school in Limulunga where over five hundred school children needed a new building.

The Zambia group and Mbukusita-Lewanika decided to give the young men behind CfC the chance to learn and fulfill their dreams.

By December 2007, construction in Limulunga was well underway. The new school not only provides room to learn, but also utilizes an existing water supply to improve sanitation with clean water and toilets. The only resources CfC exported to Zambia were a construction manager and the finances to purchase supplies locally. They hired members of the local community to do the construction and used methods of building that were cost efficient, durable, and environmentally conscious.

Students attending class in the new school in Limulunga.

By the time CfC presented themselves to the public in April ’09 at their Inaugural Banquet, “An Evening at the Ground Floor,” the three founding members had already completed over $300,000 worth of construction and built themselves a volunteer base big enough to run multiple projects on multiple continents.

It’s common to hear the members of CfC refer to the work they are doing as “building boxes with triangles on top.” But CfC does so much more; they build communities. Investors, artists, students, contractors and volunteers from Seattle are linked to school children, mothers, teachers and craftsmen in Zambia.

When I sat down with Nick Tosti, CEO and co-founder of Construction for Change, he explained why his organization has been so successful. “People in Seattle want to serve and give their time for something bigger than a paycheck… Internationally, you can do things within your profession. You don’t have to be Bill Gates. You can build something somewhere. You can invest in a community somewhere.”

Students on their way to class after the completion of the first building.

Construction for Change has now completed phase one of the Limulunga school and a community center in Rio De Janeiro. They are currently raising funds for and building a second building in Zambia, a kindergarten and teacher training facility in Cambodia, a sustainable farming program in Kenya and an orphanage in Ecuador. They build with style, sustainable integrity, and a vision to eradicate poverty and build opportunity for those living in impoverished nations.

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After working overseas with a non-profit, J. Renee settled in Seattle to study Creative Writing and International Studies. She takes a special interest in Women's issues and refugees and plans to tell as many stories as she can about the strength and beauty of the overcoming human spirit.