The Story of Nikki

Over the past year, we have found ourselves working with over 500 schools that have implemented our YOU MATTER School Curriculum. Along the journey, there have been numerous moments and experiences that have made us realize that we are right where we are supposed to be.

Meeting Nikki is one them. She is an absolute inspiration. Please enjoy this video about this young woman who has moved all of us at Every Monday Matters to work even harder to make sure that every child knows how much they matter.

The Story of Nikki

Nikki Matters from Every Monday Matters on Vimeo.

Relive Our 1st Annual “Party with a Purpose”

On Monday, May 3rd, we launched our OUR SCHOOLS MATTER Campaign with a bang. We held our first annual “Party with a Purpose” at Smashbox Studios in West Hollywood. The event was hosted by Keisha and Forest Whitaker, Lyn Lear, and a bunch of friends.

Thank you to everyone that came out to support the launch of this campaign. The night was an enormous success. We all need to get involved to help our schools and our youth.

To learn more about the OUR SCHOOLS MATTER Campaign or make a donation, please click here.

To just enjoy some of the memories, keep scrolling down. And, hopefully you can make the next one.

On The Red Carpet

Inside The Party

Watch The Interviews

Click here.

Click here.

E&J Gallo Does It Again

For the second year, E&J Gallo Wines has partnered with us to go out into the community and make a difference. Here is a video of our day together. Gallo is an amazing company that definitely understand the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility. Thank you for all that you do… it is a pleasure working with you.

We also want to thank all of the members of the Gallo Marketing Team for their hard work and amazing spirits. You made a big difference. You matter.

Enjoy the video…

E & J Gallo reaches out… again. from Every Monday Matters on Vimeo.

EMM on NBC News.

Check us out on NBC News!!!

The Elko County has made it official. Let it be stated. Mondays are now officially Every Monday Matters Day in Elko County, Nevada. Thank you to all of the EMM Elko Team that made this happen.

Is your city or county next? We hope so.

EMM on NBC. from Every Monday Matters on Vimeo.

Elko County, Nevada … Officially Declares EMM Mondays!

I just spent three days in Elko, Nevada. That’s right … The City of Elko. Ever heard of it? I hadn’t. But let me paint a picture for you. A picture that hopefully makes you want to visit.

I was contacted by a woman named Jesse James who asked if I would come out to Elko because she wanted to make Every Monday Matters a city or countywide campaign. First of all, I have never received a phone call from a “Jesse James” before, so she immediately had my attention. Secondly, I have never had a city/county want to officially proclaim the first Monday of every month the “Every Monday Matters Monday.” Lastly, I have never been to Elko and it sounded like an interesting adventure.

I flew from Los Angeles to Reno, Nevada, rented a car (they gave me a pick-up truck), and drove for four hours through some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. It genuinely felt like I was driving on a snow-covered moon … with a bunch of trains and riverbeds on it.

Elko, Nevada is a gold-mining town of 20,000 residents. Actually, one of the goldmines in Elko is the largest goldmine in Northern America and the second largest goldmine in the world. I was told that it has the lowest unemployment in the country and the average salary is $70,000. Most of the men work at the local mines, and 90% of the population, male or female, drives a pick-up truck (so I fit in nicely with my rental). Recently, Oprah voted Elko, Nevada the “Best Small Town in America” and their Chamber of Commerce building is an old log cabin built over one hundred years ago. Hopefully this is enough of a Wikipedia-style description to give you an idea of where I spent those three days.

But Elko also offered something else that was so refreshing and addictive. I have never experienced such a “love your neighbor” mentality in all of my life. I believe Elko’s slogan should be “Elko, Nevada – The City of Huggers.” There is a genuine appreciation for one another in Elko. It felt like a family of 20,000 people. They all knew one another by first name, greeted one another with a smile and a hug, and genuinely cared about each other’s life.

I never had to struggle to change lanes on the road. In fact, I think that fellow drivers would actually brake to even give me more space in order to change lanes comfortably. I never had to wonder where a disappearing waiter or waitress went; they were always there to make sure you were ok. Crossing the street at a crosswalk was never a life-threatening experience, as cars would gladly stop to let you walk across. And, I have never had so many people walk up to me to introduce themselves and ask genuine questions about me and my life.

Now, for some people, it might have felt a little strange, but not me. I thought it was beautiful, because it wasn’t just towards me (the guest in town) it was something that they all do with one another. They care, and it showed. They love doing life together. And, if twelve hugs a day is what we need “for growth,” they I grew quite a bit in those three days.

I understand that Elko might not be the destination of your next vacation, but just know that there is a pretty awesome town out there on the Interstate 80 (halfway between Reno and Salt Lake City) that would welcome you with open arms. They might even teach you a few things about Cowboy Poetry, Basque Food, Gold, and the power of hugging. Elko Matters.

Gurrie Middle School EMM Club

The EMM Club at Gurrie Middle School does it again.  They hit their goal of doing 1,000 positive things as a club.  So, they celebrated by volunteering at two homeless shelters in downtown Chicago, having dinner, and ice skating.  What a celebration.

Thanks Gurrie Middle School EMMer’s.  You rock.

A 7-year-old’s Birthday “Party with a Purpose”

We just got a great email from a proud mother. Her name is Lana. She wanted to share with us a newspaper article, from the Merced Sun-Star, that was written about her daughter, Raine. Raine decided that instead of getting gifts for her 7th birthday, she wanted to have an EMM “Party with a Purpose.” Please read the article below. What a beautiful little girl…who already understands how much she matters. It doesn’t get any cooler than that, in our opinion.

By CAROL REITER

Raine Sloan likes cats.

The 7-year-old Atwater resident has a cat named Serafina, a feral kitten that found a home with Raine and her mom, Lana Sloan.

Raine likes cats more than most folks, though. She likes them so much she gave up getting gifts for her seventh birthday a couple of weeks ago. Instead, her party guests brought donations to the Last Hope Cat Kingdom, a local nonprofit cat rescue.

“I’ve always been someone who wants my daughter to be aware of the world,” said Lana. “I want her to know there is more to life than just presents.”

Raine learned about cats from her friend, Jasmine Schmitz. Her grandmother, Renate Schmitz, and her mom, the late Ramona Schmitz, gave Last Hope its start.

“My daughter knew Jasmine because they both go to St. Anthony’s Catholic School, and they are good friends,” Lana explained.

The friendship led to a lot of playtimes together, including some at the cat rescue center in rural Atwater.
“My daughter just absolutely loves cats, and when I asked if she was interested in raising money for Last Hope, she jumped on it,” Lana recalled.

Jasmine’s mother, Ramona, was murdered by her boyfriend in June 2008. Lana had to talk to her daughter about the tragedy because the two little girls were friends and Raine knew Jasmine’s mother.

“When I talked to Raine about helping the cat kingdom, I reminded her that Jasmine’s mommy started it, and that’s all it took,” Lana said.

Staging a party with a purpose isn’t the first time Raine and her friends have helped others. The little girl trick-or-treated for UNICEF at Halloween, along with other students from St. Anthony’s.

Raine is an only child, and her single mom adopted her when she was 9 months old from China. The 7-year-old has reached the age that she wants to help others, and first Lana thought that maybe Raine could hold a party for children in China.

“But then I thought about it, and she doesn’t really have strong ties there,” she said. “But she loves cats and always wants to help them, so this worked out well.”

Now other students at St. Anthony’s have jumped on the “party with a purpose” bandwagon. One little boy is going to have a party soon where children bring a book and a bear, or a stuffed animal.

“The books and the stuffed animals will go to the Atwater Police Department,” Lana said. “They can keep them in their car trunks, and when they come across a child in need, they can give them a book and a bear.”
Renate, Jasmine’s grandmother and one of the founders of the cat rescue, said the money Raine raised has been a solid contribution.

“We got more than $350 in money and donations,” Schmitz said. “Think about it this way: $350 feeds 200 cats for two weeks. That’s a huge help.”

Lana Sloan is pretty sure her daughter isn’t going to stop helping others.

“She didn’t really want the presents this year,” she said. “She’s old enough that she gets it now. It’s not all about her.”

Raine’s own cat’s name, Serafina, comes from the Latin, “seraphim,” or fiery ones. Like Raine, they too were angels.

Mya wears a YOU MATTER Tee on “Dancing with the Stars”

We were pleasantly surprised when someone emailed us that they just saw Mya wearing a YOU MATTER T-Shirt on “Dancing with the Stars” last night. And then the text messages starting coming in…and more emails…and phone calls. What a nice surprise.

Here are some of the screen grabs.

And, of course, thank you Mya. Our resident dancers here at EMM say that you are by far the best and they hope you win it all. Thanks again. You matter!

If you want to buy a shirt for yourself or someone that matters to you, click here.

They are all OUR children.

While I was sitting at my desk working yesterday, I received an email from Uganda with the subject line “WE MISS YOU.” After my initial reaction of “Hmm, is this SPAM?” I decided to open it…and then I was crushed.

Six months ago, I housed two orphans from Uganda and their chaperone. They were a part of the Watoto Child’s Choir – a choir of orphaned Ugandan children that travels the world to put on performances and bring the spirit of Uganda to the world. Having these three amazing young people (Moses, Edwin, and Steven) in my house for a week was one of the best things I have ever done in my life. They taught me about love, appreciation, gratitude, wonderment, hope, faith, joy…and every other amazing positive and redeeming thing about life I could ever want to learn. The theory was that I was the “giver” by letting them stay in my home. The reality is that they gave me far more than I gave them.

As I opened the email, I saw a screen grab of a video. It was Steven…so I hit “play,” and here is what I watched…

They are all OUR children. from Every Monday Matters on Vimeo.

I don’t have children of my own. I have a beautiful niece and nephew (Kate and Gavin), and I have taught hundreds of kids to swim, but my role as a father has yet to begin. Or has it?

In addition to Edwin, Moses, Kate, Gavin, and the children of friends of mine, I have also spent the past eight months working in schools. We have written an amazing K-12 school curriculum, based off our book, that is geared towards making sure our youth understand how much they matter. They matter to themselves, their families, their school, their community and beyond. In a very short period of time, we now have tens-of-thousands of children engaged in our curriculum in schools all across the country. This has led to speaking engagements at schools, emails from students, and one-on-one conversations with kids ranging from 5-18 years old. And, like Edwin and Moses, it has been an eye-opener, because everyday I realize how much I am personally influencing the molding of these beautiful lives. And, I would assume that it has to feel similar to fathering my own children.

The point of all of this is that we, adults, have a huge responsibility to help our youth grow up to be happy, healthy, loving, caring, contributing, confident adults. Whether it is housing ophans from Uganda, getting involved with schools, parenting, uncle-ing, aunt-ing, or any other sort of “ing” we can do, we must assume our responsibility as role models as though it is our mission in life. These children need us…and we need them.

Last week, I received a different kind of email. It was from an 8th-grade student from Florida that I met while speaking. His email was of a different nature…it was about suicide. I remember his face and his story. It was not an easy one. And it taught me something…he needed us (the world). If two orphaned Ugandan children who lost their parents to HIV at the age of four can still find joy, peace, promise, and excitement for life, I am convinced that so can the majority of children here in our country. And we can help. We have to help. Let’s work together to make sure we are always looking to do more listening, mentoring, sharing, loving, laughing, emoting, leading, inspiring, reassuring, educating, and being the best we can be so our youth can be the best they can be. At the end of the day, they are all OUR children.

Children matter. You matter.

JS West Matters

On October 2, 2009, JS West joined us and did our EMM Corporate Social Responsibility Program. It is a one day event that focuses on “team building through making a difference.” We spent the day with 30 JS West Execs and went out into the community and volunteered for four hours. They painted bathrooms and hallways, removed bushes, built houses, sorted clothes, and anything else you could imagine.

It was pretty awesome to watch these men and women step up to the task and fully commit to do whatever was needed. In the end, everyone had a great day and benefitted from the event: the employees, the company, the non-profits, and the people who rely on those non-profits.

It was a pleasure for us to work with such a great company that truly understands what it means to give back. Enjoy this short video of our day together.

Every Monday Matters and JS West from Every Monday Matters on Vimeo.

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