"Go. Make beauty in this world. Discover your gifts, and move. Be consumed by your projects, inside and out, so that you live and breathe and swim in them. You are excessively dedicated to your work. You are always on your path. You are relentlessly committed to making everyone around you better.
Do work."
-Cory Chu-keenan

Native Elements Fundraising show! 12/4 @ MINK

Be Nice! Days 3-4

Day 3: today i truly forgave someone that hurt me pretty badly. at first i thought this would be hard to do, because i was so sad about the situation at first. when i forgave her however, i felt as though a weight had been lifted off my chest, and i felt happy not to carry this heavy feeling in me anymore. it's so nice to not hang on to bad feelings, and now we're all good! secondly, i was at the climbing gym and cleaned up a puddle of water by the fountain that someone might have slipped on. and thirdly, i cleaned up my sister's dog's mess on the floor. normally i would ask her to do it, cuz let's face it, cleaning up dog mess is no picnic. but i decided to do it myself and saved her the trouble!

Day 4: today was Thanksgiving and i didn't have much opportunity to go out in public and perform acts of kindess. so, i decided to write emails to 3 people in my life, listing the 10 things i like and admire about them the most. we often appreciate little things in other people, and don't tell them often enough. my lists included things like:

- you stand up for other people and act with integrity
- you bring out the fun, playful side in others
- you're talented and have the potential and drive to create any life that you want
- you're incredibly generous, helpful and supportive
- you always smell good

i received an email back from one of my friends the next day, expressing her happiness and surprise upon reading my email :)

Donors & Sponsors!

Here is a list of my generous donors & sponsors thus far.....THANKS EVERYONE!!!
If you'd like to donate or be my sponsor for the Be Nice! campaign, please click the "Donate Here" button to the right!

Anson Ho

Andrea Stern

Angela Cronin

Asian Chan Orlando

Austin Marshburn
Being Yoga
Brian Desmond

Brian Stewart

Busola Omolayole

Christine Maog
Cil Agbunag
Cory Chu-Keenan

Denise Trevino

Donna Meneses
Emily Vu
Eran Marom

Gigi Miranda

Gregg Heaton

Head Tripz

Isso SF
Janice Mallari

Jaime Lalongisip

Joann Guico

Joe Nguyen

Jose Mauras
Julie Tsang

Lisa Chen

Lynie Hitomi

Mae Felicitas

Malcolm Steward
Maria & Eddie Sassin

Maree Biscarra
Marissa Chang-Flores

Matt Cohen

Mike Braxton

MINK Bar

Murphy's Pub

Native Elements

Sammie Host

Serena Seifer

Rob Roden
Robin Duffy

Ryan Cronin

Satori Yoga Studio

Serena Seifer
Sudha Patel
Tania Riss
Taramin Lourie

TJ Berrings

Toi Lynn Wyle
Tyler Brown
Whitney Gallegos

Zipcar SF

And of course, thank you to everyone who came out to attend the fundraising events!

Be Nice! Days 1-2

the Be Nice! campaign has begun! it's going well so far, and i wanted to share my first 2 days..

Day 1: today i got in touch with two people from my past who i had unfinished business with. i wrote them sincere emails, expressing my appreciation for them, and making amends the best way i knew how. it felt really good to say things that i'd meant to say for so long. and, i know the letters must have made them smile. for my other act of kindness, i bought a meal for a homeless guy downtown. as i left the yoga studio after teaching, i ran into a man rummaging through trash, looking for food. his hands were black even though his face was white, and i think they were just really dirty. i asked him if he wanted something from Jack in the Box. he nodded his head 'yes,' and when i asked him what he wanted to eat, he didn't seem to know what to say. so, i got him a cheeseburger meal and handed it to him as i walked to the Bart. he seemed shocked, and looked at me as he said "God bless you!"

Day 2: 1) i bought a drink for one of my difficult customers at work. this wasn't easy for me to do, because he really is hard to be around. he's the kinda guy that's says really offensive things without even realizing it, and makes people feel uncomfortable all the time. but i thought, he's a nice guy deep down and doesn't mean to be difficult. when bought him a drink, he was totally surprised and appreciative :) 2) i smiled and said 'hello' to 3 people today. they smiled happily and greeted me back. 3) when i bartend downtown, we usually wrap up our leftover plain hotdogs in paper and put them outside for anyone to take. but i thought, "a plain hotdog isn't very much fun to eat." so i dressed it up with a bun, ketchup, mustard and relish before wrapping it up and putting it outside.

Sponsor me to BE NICE!

As part of my fundraising efforts, I am starting a “Be Nice!” campaign. I commit to going out of my way to perform THREE random acts of kindness everyday for the next THREE weeks!

Now I know what you're thinking. "But Julie, you're already so nice!" Well, it's true. But these acts of kindness will be things I wouldn't normally do, or that might be difficult for me to do. Things like: paying honest compliments to people who are unkind to me (I work in a bar, so it's not hard to find these people); writing Thank You letters or sending gifts to people who have positively influenced me; buying a meal for a homeless person; or letting LOLs (little old ladies) have my seat on the Bart (jk - I already do do that sometimes.) My campaign begins today. I will blog about these kind acts to keep you updated on my progress and experiences…the funny, the unexpected and the lessons learned.

You can sponsor me for any amount you like! 100% of the donations go towards the Global Seva Challenge: South Africa. Just send me an email (juliesglobalchallenge@gmail.com) stating the $ amount per act you’d like to sponsor me for. When I finish being nice to people on Dec. 13th, you can submit your donation here (select "Global:South Africa," then "Julie Mallari" from the drop-down menus). And remember, every dollar counts! (More dollars are better). Many thanks!

Sponsor me for any $ amount / act of kindness:
.25/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $15.75
.50/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $31.50
$1/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $63.00
$5/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $315.00
$10/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $630.00
OR you can donate any flat amount!

FUNdraising is FUN!

ok, i know that was really dorky. i apologize.

but it is fun! i spent the evening at Cil's house w/ a few other wonderful friends to plan the details of our Speed Dating event on Dec 2nd. pizza, soda, and Serena's hilarious wit = a great night. we were quite productive and completed our Speed Date to Fight the HIV flyer! check it out, RSVP and send it out to all your single friends! (and to your friends that probably should be single). now that it's 3:30am, i should probably get some shut-eye..

The wheels are in motion...

i've been working a lot in the last few days, exploring ideas, connecting with people, making plans... and i'm excited to report that things are starting to fall into place! so far...

1. we've secured a date and venue for a Native Elements concert, an awesome bay area island reggae band (thank you Cil and Native Elements!).

2. we have a venue for hosting a speed-dating night! (yes, a speed-dating night!) i plan on registering 30 sexy singles (15 guys, 15 girls) for a night of cocktails, appetizers and flirtatious conversation. how fun will that be to watch...

3. my friend's husband, a local comedian, and 3 of his friends will volunteer their time to perform stand-up for a comedy show in SF! venue is tentatively secured, so now it's just a matter of ironing out the details and marketing.

these are the main events scheduled so far, and i'm working on a few other ideas as well. the biggest challenge for me now is to stay focused, organized and positive. sometimes i start thinking, "hm, maybe that idea isn't going to work" or "well, would people really want to come to that?" and i'm realizing that you really never know until you try. this will be a trial & error process, so we'll have to put it out there and see what happens!

My story...

greetings friends!

today i committed to taking Off the Mat's Global Seva Challenge of raising $20,000 in 33 days. the money will go towards HIV prevention as well as supporting, feeding and educating AIDS orphans in South Africa. when i reach my goal of $20,000 by December 15th, i will travel to South Africa in February 2011 for 2 weeks on the Bare Witness Tour to work directly with the organizations and children that are supported by this fundraising. i will be documenting my experiences through writing and photography, so those who support me in this endeavor can see the direct impact of their donations.

i heard of this seva challenge last weekend at a karma yoga workshop in SF with Kerri Kelly. i attended the workshop because, like so many others, i am looking for ways to live a more purposeful life. i thought a karma yoga (selfless service) workshop would provide me with some structure and inspiration because, also like so many others, i have difficulty translating my good intentions into action. good intentions are just not enough to create change in a world that greatly needs, and is fully capable of, change.

Christine, one of the other students in the workshop, was $3000 away from her $20,000 goal. as she spoke of her experience and of the Off the Mat (OTM) organization, i started to get inspired. OTM's Global Seva Challenge is a program that "builds community, provokes critical consciousness about global issues of social justice and equity, and raises significant funds to support communities in crisis." what an amazing way to give back; i wanted to join the challenge! i thought, "if i start now and the trip is in February, i'll have 3 months to raise the money."

so, i decided to go for it. 3 months would be a stretch, but hey, anything's possible! i started brainstorming like crazy for fundraising ideas. i was getting excited! the next day, however, i did some research and found out that the money is due by December 15, 2010. my heart sank. 5 weeks? how in the world am i going to raise $20,000 in 5 weeks?! i almost threw in the towel. i held it in my hand, drew my arm back, and was about to let go. and then i thought... well... hm... call me crazy (many people do anyway), but maybe it is possible. how would i know if i didn't even try? even if i didn't reach $20,000, all the money i raise is still going to support these organizations in South Africa... and isn't that the point?

so here i am, ready to work, think, collaborate and hope. everyday i will set my intentions of reaching this $20,000 goal. it's going to take some time, creative ideas, and help from others, 3 things that i'm not lacking. every time i tell someone of this challenge, (and after their eyes widen and shrink back down to normal size), they add another fundraising idea to my list. i've got everything from hosting a speed-dating night to donation-based yoga classes; the list is long. now it's just a matter of getting focused, and thinking positive. all comments and other fundraising ideas are welcome! thanks for reading, and i hope you join me on this journey, as i'll be writing about my progress over the next 5 weeks. wish me luck!