My Brother's Keeper

Many of you may of learned the story of “The Good Samaritan” from your Sunday School days. The entire story (you can read it in Luke 10 in the New Testament) revolves around a simple question, “Who is my neighbor?”. Hmm. Good question.  The simple answer is: whoever comes into my life and has a need that I can do something about is my neighbor, and I need to love that person as much as I love myself.  O.K., feel free to take some time, get a cup of coffee and ponder that one for a while. It qualifies as “profound”.

On her blog, my friend, fellow-blogger and all-round great person, Felicity Dale recently shared “6 pointers on how to be a good Samaritan”. I thought her points were so good that I’m stealing (er, “borrowing”) them here:

1. The person the Samaritan helped was a stranger
2. The man was in crisis–he had just been robbed and beaten
3. The Samaritan helped those that others ignored
4. He provided medicine (oil and wine and bandages)
5. He took care of his physical needs for shelter and food
6. He helped financially

Am I “My Brother’s Keeper”? Yes, and if you need help Felicity’s 6 points are a great place to start thinking about how to begin your journey into making a difference in someone’s life!

Dear Business Friend,

You are cordially invited to join us for a Continental Breakfast, Thursday, June 30, 8:00AM – 9:00AM, at “The Galleria” located at 3131 N Division (Pounder’s Jewelry).

The purpose of this breakfast is to introduce you to an exciting new video project entitled “My Brother’s Keeper” which has the potential to transform our community. “My Brother’s Keeper” represents our opportunity to have a powerful impact on our community and to fundamentally change the way our community sees, understands and responds to chronic social issues such as hunger, homelessness and related issues. Such an opportunity comes along once in a generation, and this is ours.

The project will consist of a series of half-hour made-for-television reality programs, locally produced and aired. Each half-hour episode will highlight a chronic issue which affects our community (including but not limited to hunger and homelessness), identify a family or an individual struggling with that issue, and then bring the resources to bear to solve the practical problems keeping that person or family stuck where they are. The core idea is simple: to demonstrate how communities can work together to identify, highlight and solve specific problems for specific families and individuals who are stuck in a life-crisis that prevents them from moving forward.

The initial concept has been well received – even enthusiastically endorsed – by numerous ministries, agencies and organizations which are already involved in serving  those in need throughout our community. The consensus seems to be that this is an idea and a project whose time has come, and we need to seize this opportunity to make a difference. As leaders of the business community in Spokane, we need your input, your expertise and your help to make this project a reality.

View Our Promotional Video

We have produced a promotional/informational video which helps to explain and demonstrate what we hope to accomplish.

Reservations & Information

You are welcome to come (and bring a friend), but we are trying to get a headcount of how many to plan for, so your RSVP would be appreciated. There are two simple ways to do this: 1) you can simply send me an e-mail using the “Contact Us” tab in the menu above.  Just say “RSVP” and give me your name and best phone # to call you back and confirm,  or  2) simply call Linda Westhaver at 879-6089  and give Linda your information. We’ll call you back to confirm prior to the breakfast.

Directions

“The Galleria” is located at 3131 N Division (look for the Pounder’s Jewelry sign), in the lower level of the “Bridal Collections” building. The entrance is in the lower rear of the building in the “Bridal Center”.

I look forward to seeing you on Thursday, June 30, 8:00AM – 9:00AM, at “The Galleria” located at 3131 N Division (Pounder’s Jewelry). Come with an open mind and a readiness to transform our community.

Blessings
Maurice Smith, Executive Director
My Brother’s Keeper Television Productions
Cell: (509) 475-8856

Moving Forward

At our last meeting (in May) we tentatively agreed that the first Wednesday of the Month would be an acceptable time for a regular meeting on “My Brother’s Keeper”. So, Wednesday, June 1 will be our next meeting. We will meet at The Salvation Army facility at 222 E. Indiana Ave (Spokane) at 1:30 in the Atrium Room.

We are moving ahead on several fronts, all of which could benefit from your input and involvement. Our Agenda will include:

1. Business Involvement – We will discuss a possible Business Participation breakfast/luncheon in late June to begin soliciting the involvement and participation of the business community in the project. Bring your ideas of businesses which could be approached.

2. Church Involvement – We are beginning to approach local area Churches to invite their involvement and participation. If you have good relations with a local church which you believe would be interested in serving those in need in our city, bring their contact information (or better yet, invite a representative to attend!).

3. “Everyone Has A Story” – we will be discussing and taking your input on the “Everyone Has A Story” project. My thanks to Dan Ruddell for giving me the opportunity to speak to his class at SFCC regarding the project. We are currently collecting written stories and outlines for review so that we can line up interviewees who are ready to tell their stories (I already have a list of over 25 people who have expressed interest).  If you have people in your organization/ministry who want to tell their stories, start making a list so we can begin working with you to get them prepared.

So, these are a few of our discussion agenda items. I hope you’ll make every effort to come on Wednesday, June 1^st, at 1:30 at The Salvation Army (Atrium Room) at 222 E. Indiana. See you then.

Welcome to “My Brother’s Keeper”, an exciting new video-reality project designed to bring our community together by serving others. Over the course of the next several weeks we will be updating this site regularly (check the “Updates” tab in the site menu), adding new material and challenging you to become involved!

I hope you will take some time to explore the site, embrace the vision and discover how you can become part of what many are calling “a game changer” in how we as a community view those around us who are in need and how we respond by serving others.

A wise man (or woman) once observed that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. So, we have created an  introductory video which helps to both illustrate and explain the vision of “My Brother’s Keeper”. We hope you will take the time to view it (because it’s a High Definition video you may need to give it a minute or two to “buffer”, so be patient).

If your internet connection is slow and you need a faster (smaller) version, click here.

Because this page is a “blog” post, feel free to post your thoughts and responses. Let’s consider this our “conversation page”. We will be blogging more here as we discuss this exciting project moving forward. I sincerely hope you will choose to become a part of this on-going conversation.

Blessings,

Maurice Smith, Executive Director