Olympic Fever

Is anyone else SUPER EXCITED about the Paris Olympics?!

I can’t believe today is the day for Opening Ceremonies. It’s here! 

I loooooooove the Olympics. I love watching people strive and dig deep and pull together and give an effort their all. I love the personalities and the suspense. I love the uniforms and the culture.

The Olympic Games showcase the best of humanity's spirit, determination, and collaboration, bringing together individuals from around the globe to celebrate excellence and unity. 

This global event reminds me of the power of coming together to work toward a common goal. 

In much the same way, our efforts in corporate social responsibility and community investment aim to unite us in making our world a better place. 

Let’s make like the Olympics and train rigorously for CSR excellence:

• Collaboration is gold, literally

• Efforts must have (positive!) impact and influence

• Efforts can totally inspire other businesses, communities, and individuals to take action

• Effective CSR embraces and promotes diversity, belonging, inclusion, equity, and access

• CSR can bring people together and foster a spirit of responsible, ethical behavior

Soooo, let’s go! 

Also, here’s the complete schedule of Olympics events for the next two weeks.

With love and appreciation (and immense excitement for the Games!),

Sarah

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🗺️MEASURING SOCIAL TRUST

Housed at the Aspen Institute, Weave: The Social Fabric Project tackles the problem of broken social trust that has left Americans divided, lonely, and in social gridlock. As its name suggests, Weave connects and invests in the people weaving our communities together. 

In June, Weave released its Social Trust Index and Map, and it’s a super cool and inspiring tool. This Map shows the strength of certain neighborhood traits that are correlated with social trust. The data, updated annually from Esri and SafeGraph (among others), is collected locally to be specific and timely. Punch your zip code into the Map to see how your neighborhood fares – and also see examples for building trust and community from other towns around the U.S.

🐐SHE’S THE GOAT

The first two episodes of ‘Simone Biles Rising’ are now streaming on Netflix and, yes, I spent 90 minutes on a recent Wednesday evening watching. I’d recommend you do the same; this documentary was so dang good! I always knew Simone Biles to be absolutely incredible, and now I have that much more awe for her.

Biles gets vulnerable in the documentary, speaking about the most wonderful and devastating moments of her life. She’s an epic gymnast and epic human. Two more episodes will release following the Paris Olympics.

💘NONPROFIT LOVE

In 2006, four organizations – Bancos de Alimentos de México, Feeding America, Food Banks Canada, and Red Argentina de Bancos de Alimentos – together established The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) to alleviate global hunger by supporting community-led food banks.

GFN has grown and grown over the past years and now works in 50+ countries across six continents.

But GFN is so much more than a food banking organization. This nonprofit serves people, strengthens communities, reduces food loss and waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and increases access to vital social services that move families and individuals out of poverty. 

Having known and worked with this organization since 2017, I am obsessed. Check out their website to see how food banks are advancing around the globe – and catch up on food waste policy research, school feeding programs, the future of food, and so much more.